A Persistent Particle Ontology for Quantum Field Theory in Terms of the Dirac Sea

Abstract

We show that the Bohmian approach in terms of persisting particles that move on continuous trajectories following a deterministic law can be literally applied to quantum field theory. By means of the Dirac sea model—exemplified in the electron sector of the standard model neglecting radiation—we explain how starting from persisting particles, one is led to standard QFT employing creation and annihilation operators when tracking the dynamics with respect to a reference state, the so-called vacuum. Since on the level of wave functions, both formalisms are mathematically equivalent, this proposal provides for an ontology of QFT that includes a dynamics of individual processes, solves the measurement problem, and explains the appearance of creation and annihilation events. 1. Bohmian Mechanics from Quantum Mechanics to Quantum Field Theory2. The Dirac Sea Model3. Equilibrium States and the Vacuum4. Excitations of the Vacuum and the Fock Space Formalism5. The Appearance of Particle Creations and Annihilations6. The Merits of the Bohmian Approach