Hunting for Snarks in Quantum Mechanics

A long‐standing debate over the interpretation of quantum mechanics has centered on the meaning of Schroedinger’s wave function Ψ for an electron. Broadly speaking, there are two major opposing schools. On the one side, the Copenhagen school (led by Bohr, Heisenberg and Pauli) holds that Ψ provides a complete description of a single electron state; hence the probability interpretation of ΨΨ* expresses an irreducible uncertainty in electron behavior that is intrinsic in nature. On the other side, the realist school (led by Einstein, de Broglie, Bohm and Jaynes) holds that Ψ represents a statistical ensemble of possible electron states; hence it is an incomplete description of a single electron state. I contend that the debaters have overlooked crucial facts about the electron revealed by Dirac theory. In particular, analysis of electron zitterbewegung (first noticed by Schroedinger) opens a window to particle substructure in quantum mechanics that explains the physical significance of the complex phase fac...