An Introduction to Pilot-Wave HydrodynamicsConfirmed

by Hanne Silverans (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics)

Monday May 25, 2026, 2:30 PM → 3:00 PM America/Toronto

PI/4-400 - Space Room (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics)

When you put a millimetric droplet on top of a vertically vibrated fluid bath, the droplet creates waves that guide its subsequent motion. This coupled “walker” exhibits phenomena reminiscent of quantum systems, such as diffraction, tunneling and orbital quantization. In recent years, this framework has therefore been used as inspiration for a possible new way of explaining how quantum effects arise. Could this be the basis of a local realist (history-dependent) model of quantum after all? In this talk, we will outline some of its successes and some of its challenges.