Relativistic Bohmian trajectories of photons via weak measurements

Bohmian mechanics is a nonlocal hidden-variable interpretation of quantum theory which predicts that particles follow deterministic trajectories in spacetime. Historically, the study of Bohmian trajectories has mainly been restricted to nonrelativistic regimes due to the widely held belief that the theory is incompatible with special relativity. Here we derive expressions for the relativistic velocity and spacetime trajectories of photons in a Michelson-Sagnac-type interferometer. The trajectories satisfy quantum-mechanical continuity and the relativistic velocity addition rule. Our new velocity equation is operationally defined in terms of weak measurements of momentum and energy. We finally propose a modified Alcubierre metric which could give rise to these trajectories within the paradigm of general relativity.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures. Published in Nature Communication