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But we don't have even a set of definite trajectories. If we see e.g. an electron coming towards a hydrogen atom and then an electron moving away from it, not o
by lmm 2y ago
But we don't have even a set of definite trajectories. If we see e.g. an electron coming towards a hydrogen atom and then an electron moving away from it, not only do we not know whether the incoming electron "bounced off" or whether it settled into the orbital and "kicked" the electron that was already there out, but in a fundamental physics sense what occurred is some weighted average of both (in the same way that we don't merely "not know" which of the two slits an electron went through but in an important physical sense it partially went through both).
- jostylr 2y agoIt depends on the theory. The Bohmian theory, which is what I have been using, is one in which electrons have actual positions that change over time along trajectories. We may not have access to that data, but that is fine. Certainly in simulations one would be able to see which scenario happened. For some, it might be the same electron moving away, for others it would be kicking one out. One could definitively say which one is happening in the simulation. In experiments, we cannot say that because our access to the knowledge is limited by quantum equilibrium. The quantum formalism is very much like thermodynamics in that regard; the individual details are missing, but the larger picture can be computed. Nevertheless, in a Bohmian world, the electrons have their distinct identities as distinguished by, and only by, their trajectories.