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How David Bohm and Hugh Everett changed quantum theory


David Bohm and Hugh Everett were once ostracized for challenging the dominant thinking in physics. Now, science accepts their ideas, which are said to enrich our understanding of the universe.

In 1926, Schrödinger published his equation for these “matter waves.” Its solution, the “wave function” denoted by the Greek letter Ψ (psi), contains all possible information about a quantum entity such as an electron in an atom. This superposition exists until an observer measures the properties of the electron, which makes its wave function “collapse”; the cloud of possible outcomes yields just one result, a definite value emerging into the classical world. Though from different backgrounds, Bohm and Everett shared characteristics that helped them seek answers: mathematical aptitude, necessary to manipulate quantum theory; and unconventional career paths, which separated them from the orthodoxy of academic physics.

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