3 ms·
It seems to me that the resolution of the quantum mysteries might come from three sources: (1) the Holographic Principle, (2) Dark Matter, and (3) the Planck Le
by combatentropy 8y ago
It seems to me that the resolution of the quantum mysteries might come from three sources: (1) the Holographic Principle, (2) Dark Matter, and (3) the Planck Length.
1. The Holographic Principle. The universe looks three dimensional but fundamentally it is different. 3-D space is a projection from some 2-D circuit board. If I believe that, then I have no problem hearing about (a) hidden variables or (b) spooky action at a distance.
2. Dark Matter. The universe is 98% unaccounted for. Could it be that space is not a vacuum? Perhaps we are like fish in water, moving through it but taking it for granted. How can "something" have travelled through "nothing" (a vacuum) anyway? Maybe there's an aether after all.
3. The Planck Length. Space is not an infinitely smooth line but instead there is a fundamental bit size. We thought atoms were it, that's how they got their name ("atom" means uncuttable). Later we found inside them protons and neutrons, and within those, quarks. Someone therefore might imagine that we could go on subdividing forever. But the Planck Length is a hard stop: 0.000000000000000000000000000000016 of a millimeter.
If we are immersed in invisible water, then it's unsurprising that there are "waves." And yet if there is a fundamental smallest size, like the grains of photographic film, then it's not all that weird to say that you can think of matter as particles. Perhaps that's all that a "particle" is, a piece of the water.
- gus_massa 8y ago2) As far as I know, Dark Matter is totally unrelated to the quantum mysteries (uncertainty principle, measurement problem, ...) 3) In elementary particles, the magnetic moment is twice the expected value of a fake classical particle of the same mass and charge (for a complete accurate explanation see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-factor_(physics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-factor_(physics) ) For elementary particles the number is 2. For non elementary particles, it can be any number. For electrons/muons/quarks the number is almost 2, and the difference is caused because the elementary particle has a cloud of virtual particles around. We can calculate this correction quite well. So there is a high chance that electrons/muons/quarks are actually elementary particles. Anyway, I don't understand how the subdivision of the current elementary particles is related to the quantum mysteries. You get the same mysteries with electrons (that are probably elementary) and with protons (that are definitively not elementary).
- l33tman 8y agoYou're correct, particle physics or QFT is not needed to appreciate the fundamental QM "mysteries", any non-trivial evolving measurable observable will do.
- Muha_ 8y agoIMHO quantum mechaninc is too simple and fundamental for such complicated explanations. It only claims that probabilities of some elementary observations determined by complex number vectors wich evolve unitary.