A Vision for a Bohm-Style Theory of Quantum Electrodynamics

Abstract

Despite many successes of quantum electrodynamics (QED), we do not presently have a good understanding of this field of physics. QED has all of the foundational problems that standard non-relativistic quantum mechanics has, and further ones in addition. I discuss some of these problems and some options for what a Bohm-style theory of QED, with an ontology in space and time, could look like. I also point out why the proposal made by Bohm himself in 1952 for QED is not quite convincing. Finally, I outline the kind of Bohm-type theory of QED that I would consider convincing, and report about recent progress toward this kind of theory.