The epistemic view of quantum states and the ether

Abstract

The idea that the wave function represents information, or knowledge, rather than the state of a microscopic object has been held to solve foundational problems of quantum mechanics. Realist interpretation schemes, like Bohmian trajectories, have been compared to the ether in pre-relativistic theories. I argue that the comparison is inadequate, and that the epistemic view of quantum states begs the question of interpretation.