Abstract

A situated observer is an observer as modeled within the world characterized by one’s physical theory. A physical theory arguably only makes empirical predictions if it makes predictions for the records of a situated observer. In this spirit, one has a satisfactory solution to the measurement problem only if one has a formulation of quantum mechanics that makes the right empirical predictions for the records of a situated observer. Bohmian mechanics addresses the measurement problem by explaining what measurement records are, how a situated observer might produce them, and why a situated observer should expect the standard quantum predictions. The notion of an effective wave function is crucial in understanding how the theory makes empirical predictions.