QM interpretations and pilot waves (with a side of fluid dynamics)

Ok, this article (from Quanta Magazine, reprinted by Wired) recently came to my attention, and it seems very interesting, and I'd love to hear some feedback on it, especially from people with a solid grounding in modern, mainstream physics.



http://ift.tt/1m1ZnS6



Basically, they seem to have found some fluid-dynamics phenomena, using oil and water, that appear to replicate some of the more mysterious elements of QM, like tunneling and quantization and double-slit interference.

Quote:

“This is a classical system that exhibits behavior that people previously thought was exclusive to the quantum realm, and we can say why,” said John Bush, a professor of applied mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has led several recent bouncing-droplet experiments. “The more things we understand and can provide a physical rationale for, the more difficult it will be to defend the ‘quantum mechanics is magic’ perspective.”

The article mentions that physicists are a bit skeptical, and mentions at least some of the reasons why. (I suspect there's more reasons for skepticism that they didn't mention, which is one of the reasons I'm posting this.)



So what do you think? Are "pilot waves" really a way to resolve the various interpretations of QM? And what might be doing the "waving", and is it distinguishable from aether? And is this hypothesis even testable?

via JREF Forum http://ift.tt/1k8DJre