How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revolution

Henry and Eve have finally tested their quantum computer (QC) with resounding success! It may enable much faster and better modelling of complex pharmaceutical designs, long-term weather forecasts or brain process simulations than classical computers. A 1,000-qubit QC can process in a single step 21000 possible superposition states: its speedup is exponential in the number of qubits. Yet this wondrous promise requires overcoming the enormous hurdle of decoherence, which is why progress towards a large-scale QC has been painstakingly slow. To their dismay, their QC is “expropriated for the quantum revolution” in order to share quantum information among all mankind and thus impose a collective entangled state of mind. They set out to foil this totalitarian plan and restore individuality by decohering the quantum information channel. The appendix to this chapter provide a flavor of QC capabilities through a quantum algorithm that can solve problems exponentially faster than classical computers.

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Planck’s Derivation of E=hν

The Quantum Cookbook ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198827856.003.0002 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 19-34

Author(s):

Jim Baggott

Keyword(s):

Albert Einstein ◽

Black Body ◽

Black Body Radiation ◽

Theoretical Interpretation ◽

Irreversible Processes ◽

Second Law ◽

Statistical Interpretation ◽

Classical Structure ◽

Quantum Nature ◽

Quantum Revolution

Planck was unwilling to accept Boltzmann’s statistical interpretation of the second law. He therefore needed to find a way to show how irreversible processes could result from continuous matter. Planck chose the physics of black body radiation as a battleground. After discovering his radiation law in October 1900, he sought a deeper theoretical interpretation for it. Now thermodynamics is not the most obvious place to look for evidence of the quantum nature of radiation and, in an ‘act of desperation’, Planck had to torture the theory in a way that would eventually allow this conclusion to emerge from an entirely classical structure. Planck’s derivation heralded the very beginning of the quantum revolution, but only in promise, not in deed. The revolution began in earnest in 1905 with the help of Albert Einstein.

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The Alchemical Body of Carl Jung

10.1093/oso/9780197581032.003.0008 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 164-191

Author(s):

Simon Cox

Keyword(s):

Substance P ◽

Carl Jung ◽

Active Imagination ◽

Kundalini Yoga ◽

Subtle Body ◽

Dream Analysis ◽

Critical Reflexivity ◽

Body Concept ◽

Quantum Revolution ◽

Eastern Traditions

This chapter traces the subtle body concept through the work of Carl Jung, who is introduced to the idea by G. R. S. Mead’s theosophical books. After tracing Jung’s early engagement with the Orient, the chapter moves to an analysis of the subtle body concept in his work, specifically in his engagements with Eastern traditions: Daoism, Kundalini Yoga, and Tibetan Bardo Yoga. After examining Jung’s use of the subtle body concept in his translation-commentaries on Eastern texts, the chapter turns to how Jung incorporates the concept into his own psychology of individuation based on the techniques of active imagination and dream analysis. The chapter turns to Jung’s seminars on Nietzsche, where he presents the subtle body concept with a unique dose of critical reflexivity and Kantian rigor. It ends with Jung’s late-life speculation about a future where, following the quantum revolution and spitting of the atom, humans evolve into subtle body–dwelling creatures who occupy a world of psychical substance.

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Editorial for the Special Issue “Selected Papers from the 16th International Conference on Squeezed States and Uncertainty Relations (ICSSUR 2019)”

Quantum Reports ◽

10.3390/quantum2030031 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

pp. 450-452

Author(s):

Luis L. Sánchez-Soto ◽

Margarita A. Man’ko

Keyword(s):

20Th Century ◽

Physical Reality ◽

Early 20Th Century ◽

Uncertainty Relations ◽

Squeezed States ◽

Special Issue ◽

International Conference ◽

Quantum Revolution

The first quantum revolution started in the early 20th century and gave us new rules that govern physical reality [...]

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Quantum mechanics: why complex Hilbert space?

Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences ◽

10.1098/rsta.2016.0393 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 375 (2106) ◽

pp. 20160393 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

G. Cassinelli ◽

P. Lahti

Keyword(s):

Hilbert Space ◽

Quantum Mechanics ◽

Complex Hilbert Space ◽

Complex Field ◽

Quantum Revolution

We outline a programme for an axiomatic reconstruction of quantum mechanics based on the statistical duality of states and effects that combines the use of a theorem of Solér with the idea of symmetry. We also discuss arguments favouring the choice of the complex field. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Second quantum revolution: foundational questions’.

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