Configuration-space dynamics, velocity fields, and the origin of nonlocality in de Broglie–Bohm quantum theory

In many-particle quantum mechanics the wave function is irreducibly defined on configuration space. In the de Broglie–Bohm theory this fact is made explicit: both the wave function and the actual motion are naturally described as evolving in configuration space, while the familiar three-dimensional motions of particles arise only as projections of this higher-dimensional dynamics. In this paper we argue that configuration space should be regarded as the fundamental arena of quantum dynamics. On this view, the nonlocal correlations observed in ordinary three-dimensional space are not mysterious dynamical influences but direct consequences of local evolution in configuration space. This perspective is developed and illustrated through a detailed analysis of momentum measurement and which-way detection in the iconic two slit experiment, in the two-particle interferometry experiment of Horne–Shimony–Zeilinger and in the Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen experiment.