Historical Debates Over the Physical Reality of the Wave Function
First published: 2026
Brief summary
Traces the history of de Broglie's double-solution and pilot-wave theories, in which a pair of waves both propagate in three-dimensional physical space and satisfy the same wave equation -- foundational context for later spherical standing wave models.
Article
Historical Debates Over the Physical Reality of the Wave Function is a preprint published by arXiv in 2026. It traces the history of de Broglie's double-solution and pilot-wave theories, in which a pair of waves both propagate in three-dimensional physical space and satisfy the same wave equation -- foundational context for later spherical standing wave models.
Historical account of de Broglie's 1927 'principle of the double solution' involving paired 3D physical-space waves, foundational to later WSM interpretations. It also considers no single numeric period but detailed wave-equation history. This gives the cycle claim a specific numerical and evidential setting rather than presenting periodicity only as a visual impression.
The article reports the following result: De Broglie's 1927 paper on wave mechanics and atomic structure featured 'the principle of the double solution,' a pair of waves both propagating in three-dimensional physical space and satisfying the same appropriately specified wave equation. The argument is strongest when its equations, assumptions and testable predictions are stated clearly and compared with established quantum and relativistic models.
For cycles researchers, the article brings together wave function realism, de broglie double solution, pilot-wave theory, quantum foundations. It is relevant to wave-based models of matter because it links physical interpretation to standing waves, phase, wavelength and relativistic or quantum behaviour.
Because it is a preprint, the work should be read alongside later peer-reviewed publications and independent replications. It remains useful because the proposed cycle, dataset and analytical approach are stated clearly enough to be scrutinised.
Source details and credits
- Source / publisher: arXiv
- Source type: Preprint
- URL type: PDF
- Credits: arXiv
- URL: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2602.09397