pilot wave

Noun

pilot wave (plural pilot waves)

1. A theoretical matter wave that guides the motion of point particles.
   • To do their job, the pilot waves must travel to the far slit and return in time to influence the electron's path depending on whether that slit is open.1999, Alan A. Grometstein, The Roots of Things: Topics in Quantum Mechanics, →ISBN, page 321
   • The theory of the pilot wave is a proposal in order to undersand the basic ontology of the microworld as composed of two different entities given simultaneously: a wave and a particle.2001, Gennaro Auletta, Giorgio Parisi, Foundations and Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, →ISBN, page 471
2. (broadly) A wavefunction on some measurement of information that guides the consciousness or behavior of individual people.
   • Pilot waves and projections from the implicate order to the explicate order of sense-perceptible phenomena are inscrutable to our everyday consiousness, at least directly.1998, Michael Knapik, Developing Intelligent Agents for Distributed Systems, →ISBN, page 18
   • Speaking in general terms, my hypothesis is that the pilot wave of my consciousness directs my consciousness through configuration space in the sense of actualizing these possibilities; e.g. a possible hue becomes an actual content of my visual awareness by virtue of being actualized by a mental...2003, Quentin Smith, Aleksandar Jokic, Consciousness: New Philosophical Perspectives, →ISBN, page 430