Transition from classical physics to quantum physics: the role of interference

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lazzaro Immediata ◽  
Sergio Pagano
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Physics ◽  
Classical Physics

Visualizability and Intelligibility

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henk W. de Regt
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Physics ◽  
Niels Bohr ◽  
Wave Mechanics ◽  
Classical Physics ◽  
Matrix Mechanics ◽  
Contextual Theory ◽  
Erwin Schrödinger ◽  
Gradual Loss ◽  
Depth Study

This chapter investigates the relation between visualizability and intelligibility, by means of an in-depth study of the transition from classical physics to quantum physics in the first decades of the twentieth century. In this development, the issue of visualizability played a central role. After a brief discussion of the visualizability of classical physics, it examines the gradual loss of visualizability in quantum theory, focusing on the work of quantum physicists Niels Bohr, Wolfgang Pauli, Werner Heisenberg, and Erwin Schrödinger. The chapter presents a detailed analysis of the role of visualizability (Anschaulichkeit) in the competition between Schrödinger’s wave mechanics and Heisenberg’s matrix mechanics, and in the discovery of electron spin. The contextual theory of understanding asserts that visualizability is one out of many possible tools for understanding, albeit one that has proved to be very effective in science. This conclusion is supported by an analysis of the role of visualization in postwar quantum physics, especially via Feynman diagrams.

scholarly journals God, Mind, Evolution, and Quantum Reality Based on Process Metaphysics

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-71
Author(s):  
Mark Germine
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Physics ◽  
Unsolved Problem ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Scientific Models ◽  
Classical Physics ◽  
Process Metaphysics ◽  
Quantum Reality ◽  
External Relations ◽  
Non Locality

The genesis of actuality from potentiality, with the apparent role of the observer, is an important and unsolved problem which essentially defines science‟s view of reality in a variety of contexts. Observation then becomes lawful and not emergent. Panentheism is needed to provide a mechanism for order outside of blind efficient causality, in a Universal final causality. Classical physics is over a hundred years out of date, yet scientific models remain mechanistic and deterministic. Deism, a remnant of classical cosmology, is examined and rejected by scientists and philosophers, and certain pre-scientific notions of religion are scorned, putting the matter to rest. Quantum physics, in its basic form, is necessary if there is to be any philosophical or scientific notion of free will and self-determination, as potentiality. Quantum metaphysics is also needed because classical physics is fundamentally limited to localized external relations, lacking the internality and non-locality of relatedness. God, or the equivalent, is necessary to complete the equation. Physicists now tell us that reality is fundamentally mental and is created by observation. Observation is here taken to mean experience, with experience going all the way down to the lowest order of a Universal mentality.

Irving Langmuir, 1881-1957

1958 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 167-184 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Alpha Particle ◽  
Quantum Physics ◽  
American Association ◽  
Scientific Progress ◽  
Single Event ◽  
Classical Physics ◽  
Physico Chemical ◽  
Modern Physics ◽  
Further Development

In the winter of 1942, as retiring President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Irving Langmuir addressed the membership on the topic ‘Science, commonsense and decency’. He was concerned with the interaction of scientific progress and human endeavour and took the opportunity to reveal his own ideas concerning problems of human behaviour and morality. He recognized two categories of phenomena in modern physics which he termed convergent and divergent phenomena. He included among the convergent phenomena all those fluctuating details of individual atoms and molecules which average out giving a result that converges to a definite state. Many of the phenomena of classical physics belong in the convergent category. To a second class he assigned the divergent phenomena where, from a small beginning, increasingly large effects are produced. Quantum physics includes many such phenomena. Langmuir chose as an illustrative example the Wilson cloud-chamber experiment. Here, a single swift particle, say an alpha particle, whose release from its parent is unpredictable as to time and direction, subject only to the laws of chance, in its passage through the chamber leaves a trail of ions. If the chamber atmosphere be super-saturated, droplets are formed; illumination renders these visible and photography can record the multiple divergent consequences from a single event, the release of the swift particle. In further development of this theme of divergence Langmuir went on to state that ‘when we consider the nature of human affairs it is to me obvious that divergent phenomena frequently play a role of vital importance’. Langmuir’s birth on 31 January 1881 comes within the category of his divergent phenomena, from which beginning profound effects on the development of physico-chemical science finally resulted.

The Essence of Quantum Computing

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajendra K. Bera
Keyword(s):  
Hilbert Space ◽  
Quantum Computing ◽  
Quantum Physics ◽  
Quantum Algorithms ◽  
Quantum Computers ◽  
Turing Machines ◽  
Classical Physics ◽  
Core Set ◽  
The World ◽  
Subordinate Role

It now appears that quantum computers are poised to enter the world of computing and establish its dominance, especially, in the cloud. Turing machines (classical computers) tied to the laws of classical physics will not vanish from our lives but begin to play a subordinate role to quantum computers tied to the enigmatic laws of quantum physics that deal with such non-intuitive phenomena as superposition, entanglement, collapse of the wave function, and teleportation, all occurring in Hilbert space. The aim of this 3-part paper is to introduce the readers to a core set of quantum algorithms based on the postulates of quantum mechanics, and reveal the amazing power of quantum computing.

It Keeps Me Seeking

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Briggs ◽  
Hans Halvorson ◽  
Andrew Steane
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Quantum Physics ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Good Argument ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Argument From Design ◽  
Relationship Of

Two scientists and a philosopher aim to show how science both enriches and is enriched by Christian faith. The text is written around four themes: 1. God is a being to be known, not a hypothesis to be tested; 2. We set a high bar on what constitutes good argument; 3. Uncertainty is OK; 4. We are allowed to open up the window that the natural world offers us. This is not a work of apologetics. Rather, the text takes an overview of various themes and gives reactions and responses, intended to place science correctly as a valued component of the life of faith. The difference between philosophical analysis and theological reflection is expounded. Questions of human identity are addressed from philosophy, computer science, quantum physics, evolutionary biology and theological reflection. Contemporary physics reveals the subtle and open nature of physical existence, and offers lessons in how to learn and how to live with incomplete knowledge. The nature and role of miracles is considered. The ‘argument from design’ is critiqued, especially arguments from fine-tuning. Logical derivation from impersonal facts is not an appropriate route to a relationship of mutual trust. Mainstream evolutionary biology is assessed to be a valuable component of our understanding, but no exploratory process can itself fully account for the nature of what is discovered. To engage deeply in science is to seek truth and to seek a better future; it is also an activity of appreciation, as one may appreciate a work of art.

scholarly journals The Invariant Set Postulate: a new geometric framework for the foundations of quantum theory and the role played by gravity

2009 ◽  
Vol 465 (2110) ◽  
pp. 3165-3185 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. N. Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Theory ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
State Space ◽  
Fractal Geometry ◽  
Quantum Physics ◽  
Nonlinear Dynamical Systems ◽  
Physical Reality ◽  
Invariant Set ◽  
Geometric Framework

A new law of physics is proposed, defined on the cosmological scale but with significant implications for the microscale. Motivated by nonlinear dynamical systems theory and black-hole thermodynamics, the Invariant Set Postulate proposes that cosmological states of physical reality belong to a non-computable fractal state-space geometry I , invariant under the action of some subordinate deterministic causal dynamics D I . An exploratory analysis is made of a possible causal realistic framework for quantum physics based on key properties of I . For example, sparseness is used to relate generic counterfactual states to points p ∉ I of unreality, thus providing a geometric basis for the essential contextuality of quantum physics and the role of the abstract Hilbert Space in quantum theory. Also, self-similarity, described in a symbolic setting, provides a possible realistic perspective on the essential role of complex numbers and quaternions in quantum theory. A new interpretation is given to the standard ‘mysteries’ of quantum theory: superposition, measurement, non-locality, emergence of classicality and so on. It is proposed that heterogeneities in the fractal geometry of I are manifestations of the phenomenon of gravity. Since quantum theory is inherently blind to the existence of such state-space geometries, the analysis here suggests that attempts to formulate unified theories of physics within a conventional quantum-theoretic framework are misguided, and that a successful quantum theory of gravity should unify the causal non-Euclidean geometry of space–time with the atemporal fractal geometry of state space. The task is not to make sense of the quantum axioms by heaping more structure, more definitions, more science fiction imagery on top of them, but to throw them away wholesale and start afresh. We should be relentless in asking ourselves: From what deep physical principles might we derive this exquisite structure? These principles should be crisp, they should be compelling. They should stir the soul. Chris Fuchs ( Gilder 2008 , p. 335)

scholarly journals From Information and Quantum Physics to Consciousness and Reality

Sci ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Peter Verheyen
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Physics ◽  
Entanglement Entropy ◽  
Relativity Theory ◽  
Recent Theory ◽  
Algorithmic Information Theory ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
The World ◽  
Algorithmic Information ◽  
Role Of Information

How does the world around us work and what is real? This question has preoccupied humanity since its beginnings. From the 16th century onwards, it has periodically been necessary to revise the prevailing worldview—but things became very strange at the beginning of the 20th century with the advent of relativity theory and quantum physics. The current focus is on the role of information, there being a debate about whether this is ontological or epistemological. A theory has recently been formulated in which spacetime and gravity emerges from microscopic quantum information—more specifically from quantum entanglement via entanglement entropy. A recent theory describes the emergence of reality itself through first-person perspective experiences and algorithmic information theory. In quantum physics, perception and observation play a central role. Perception of and interaction with the environment require an exchange of information. Via biochemical projection, information is given an interpretation that is necessary to make life and consciousness possible. The world around us is not at all what it seems.

From Information and Quantum Physics to Consciousness and Reality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Verheyen
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Physics ◽  
Entanglement Entropy ◽  
Relativity Theory ◽  
Role Perception ◽  
Algorithmic Information Theory ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
The World ◽  
Algorithmic Information ◽  
Role Of Information

How does the world around us work and what is real? This question has preoccupied humanity since its beginnings. From the 16th century onwards, it has been periodically necessary to revise the prevailing worldview. But things became very strange at the beginning of the 20th century with the advent of relativity theory and quantum physics. The current focus is on the role of information, there being a debate about whether this is ontological or epistemological. A theory has recently been formulated in which spacetime and gravity emerges from microscopic quantum information, more specifically from quantum entanglement via entanglement entropy. A latest theory describes the emergence of reality itself through first-person perspective experiences and algorithmic information theory. In quantum physics, perception and observation play a central role. Perception, interaction with the environment, requires an exchange of information. Via biochemical projection, information is given an interpretation that is necessary to make life and consciousness possible. The world around us is not at all what it seems.

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