Essay Abstract

Finding the ultimate "stuff" that light and particles are made of will undoubtedly increase our understanding of how the universe works. The Copenhagen Interpretation, along with other theories and ideas are discussed in attempt to enhance what we know and what we might be capable of finding out.

Author Bio

Chris Kennedy has worked as a Science Education Consultant for over fifteen years in New York State.

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  • [deleted]

Chris,

An excellent summation of quantum light phenomena.

I'm merely a naive information systems analyst, but there are several subtly interesting aspects of Bell test experiments that may support a physically oscillating particle-wave state manifestation of matter.

In a simple grating test, 'photons' do not pass through holes placed too far apart. I think the simplest explanation for this is that it is the propagating wave state manifestation of matter that passes through multiple grating holes.

If the grating holes are considered to physically partition propagating waves containing element state 'information' dispersed throughout some expanse of spacetime, the seemingly separate waves passing through the grating can be considered as separated, independently directed wave-fronts still representing the singular, originally emitted wave. Dispersed through spacetime, they may even continue to be physically adjoined to the singular origin wave.

Each of the partitioned wave fronts can be individually detected as particles at varying points in spacetime: they will all continue to reflect the characteristic properties of the originally emitted wave.

I think this scenario supports an oscillating state manifestation of elements in which elements are originally emitted as propagating waves. At some characteristic interval they may manifest as a stationary, spinning massive particle. Terminal detection through material absorption of wave momentum produces a stationary particle manifestation.

While I may have overlooked something, I suggest this interpretation as the simplest, physical explanation for quantum entanglement.

A very interesting essay.

Sincerely,

Jim

    BELL .....

    If one analyzes polarity, he constrains the parameter which become temporarily quantized. Therefore, the only polarity really measurable was 0 or 90 degrees, the rest as other angles was artefacts... Basic quantum mechanics!

    The same with electrons. In linear confinement, Direction becomes a quantum number: one way or the other!

    Marcel,

      Hi Chris, I was very impressed with your informative and easy-to-read summation of physics w.r.t the particle/wave duality of nature. I have made some foundational conclusions myself with regard to the visualisaiton of this duality, namely the Archimedes screw model for the graviton, which appears to have been overlooked in our science history. Believe it or not, this simple idea can also explain DARK ENERGY, due to the fact that a helical screw GRAVITON will become a force of repulsion, an ANTI-GRAVITON, if it travels around a wraparound universe i.e. a hypersphere. Best of luck in the competition.

      Alan

        Jim,

        Thanks for your interest and kind words. I think your ideas are interesting and you raise some good points. In my essay, one of my many concerns is what "happens" to the mass of these electrons while in the wave state. I enjoyed reading your essay and will look forward to seeing if your ideas can get batted around for discussion.

        Chris

        Marcel,

        Yes your polarity comment is correct. Zeilinger (for example) does a great job of explaining how that works. The point I was making however was if you set up the polarizers at the exact same angle (and I should have specified this in my essay) but offset their distances to be hit by the photons at different times, what can we say about the second photon before it passes through the polarizer after we know that the first one has successfully passed through? And why?

        If this isn't what you were getting at, please let me know.

        Thanks,

        Chris

        Alan,

        Thanks - I'm glad you enjoyed it. I will have to read your work over the next few days to see how your model relates to the duality.

        Chris

        • [deleted]

        Chris,

        I think we're examining some of the same questions, but I've been so audacious as to discrd the uncertainty principle as being unphysical, preferring that the correlation between quantified characteristic properties is determined by an elementally characteristic particle-wave state manifestation probability.

        Most directly, it's the quantisized mass associated with more stationary particles that is not exhibited by propagating waves. Rather, it is the manifestation of wave state propagation that is inhibited in massive classes of particles. These exclusionary properties could be the product of alternating, probabilistic particle-wave state manifestations in which mass and kinetic energy are conserved by conversion.

        Similarly, you ask "So where does the charge go?" Could the charge property of highly propagating electrons possibly a dependent characteristic determined or perhaps encoded by some relation between spin, mass and propagation conversion rates? In this case charge does not disappear in the electrons propagating wave state but is rather encoded by spin, mass and propagation characteristics.

        Of course I'm more than speculating - I'm guessing in the hopes of possibly inspiring productive thoughts in those who are more capable but constrained by their vast knowledge. Hopefully these are not just idle speculations.

        Excellent essay!

        Jim

        Chris,

        Thanks for the remarks on my essay. I've also answered them on my page. Your essay does a great job of showing up the absurdities currently implied by quantum mechanics. I especially liked your examination of "where does the charge go?" and "where does the mass go?" when the electron is in its 'unphysical' state before being measured.

        Having just re-read John Bell' 1990 paper "Against 'Measurement'" where he finds various QM authorities in conflict with each other and appears to want to 'bring back' the deBroglie-Bohm 'pilot wave' by searching for a way to stop the 'spreading' of the electron wave-function, I am once again struck by the fact that so many on this site are so sure about quantum mechanics, despite Feynman's contention that no one understands it and despite Bell's clear confusion about fundamental issues.

        You mention EPR and Bell and note that Bell's inequality has "since been put to the test many times." If you have not yet had a chance to read Joy Christian's work here, you might wish to do so. If Bell's inequality was wrongly calculated [as I believe] then all of the so-called 'violations' of the inequality mean absolutely nothing!

        You ask the fascinating question, "Is there any explanation why a photon and an electron will produce the same pattern in a double slit experiment?" Excellent question! The explanation is shown on page 6 of my essay where the C-field circulation induced by the 'particle' momentum "looks the same" for both photons and electrons, and it is the C-field that interacts with the mass surrounding the slits. Note that the C-field does not 'carry' the particle, like the Bohm 'quantum potential'. The relation between the C-field wave circulation and the momentum of the particle is Lenz-law-like as described in my essay. If one changes, the other changes.

        And I loved your question about identity while 'spread out'. Why doesn't the 'disappeared' electron re-appear as a muon? [A cheeseburger is not realistic.]

        The wave-function (on page 6 in my essay) may achieve Bell's goal of 'stopping the spreading' when the C-field equation is taken into account, but I need to convince myself first.

        So thank you for reading my essay (it may make more sense the next time) and thanks for writing an excellent essay yourself. Good luck in the contest.

        Edwin Eugene Klingman

        Edwin,

        Thank you for your kind words on my essay. I just found out about Joy Christian's paper through reading your thread yesterday. I will try to read it over the next couple of days. I will also think about your C-field propagation mechanism relating to electrons and photons alike. With regard to page 5 of your essay: Could we say that the G-field is a variation or manifestation of the C-field? I ask because you suggest the commonality of each field experiencing a curvature, as well as relating electrons and quarks as a limit for one, and a black hole (also made of electrons and quarks) as a limit for the other. So are the fields curving while space is curving too, or not necessarily? Or do these fields for all practical purposes represent space?

        I also share your concern about cheeseburgers spontaneously appearing, although I have a friend who can make several disappear in less than a minute.

        Good luck to you as well!

        Chris

        ALSO POSTED ON EDWIN'S THREAD

          Chris,

          Because you ask several good questions that require a reasonably lengthy answer, and because the answers are relevant mostly to my essay and I answer one by linking to an earlier comment on my page, I answered these on my page.

          Thanks for reading my essay and asking for clarification.

          As for Joy Christian's work, his math is beyond most of us, but it makes sense to me. And if he is correct, the consequences are absolutely major for physics, since all of the so-called 'violations' of Bell's inequality would mean nothing.

          And finally, if you know someone who can make the cheeseburgers 'disappear' then logic seems to demand that they can 'appear'. Wow!

          Edwin Eugene Klingman

          • [deleted]

          Dear Chris,

          Very nice, very pleasantly readable essay. I appreciate your concentration on the 2-slit experiment; as Feynman said, that's really what quantum mechanics is all about.

          With the effort you devoted to the peculiar behavior of the electron, however, I'm surprised that you didn't mention Wheeler-Feynman absorber theory as another explanation. Too off-the-wall?

          Your final paragraph is beautifully stated.

          Good luck in the contest!

          Best,

          Tom

            Tom,

            Thanks for your kind words. To be honest, the W-F absorber theory isn't any more off-the-wall than Many Universes theory, so I suppose I could have thrown it in for a sentence or two. Feynman is one of my favorites of all time but some, if not all of the time reversal aspects of his theory create a little discomfort with me. It seems that Feynman himself later in life - softened his time symmetry implications on cause and effect. Having said that, there are some things out there that need serious explanation if there is no symmetry, such as what is observed in the spin echo experiments for example.

            Take care,

            Chris

            • [deleted]

            Chris,

            This essay was well-written. Clear and concise with examples and a sense of humor.

            What if light is just a wave that appears like a particle because of how it interacts with matter?

            The shape of the field is there soon after the experiment is set up. The "photon" is an event in that field.

            Here is what I mean: a metal is a good conductor of heat because electrons help conduct heat. When a metal become a (type I) super-conductor it becomes a very poor conductor of heat. The electrons perfectly conduct electric current, but not heat. In normal state metals, heat flow produces electric current flow and electric current flow can produce heat flow.

            I think the reason for lack of electron heat flow in type I super-conductors is that the electrons are not "moving". The have momentum, mass and charge, but are undefined in time. An electron or "photon" is not defined in time and by extension place until it is involved in enthrophy.

            All the best,

            Jeff

            Jeff,

            Thanks for your comments. Yes - the particle concept could be thought of as an emergent property but if you subscribe to the Copenhagen Interpretation, at times it is more emergent than others. So the question becomes why? what happens during the back and forth transition?

            With regard to the electron in the superconductor - I have always thought it possible that some particles participate in the measurement of time but do not "experience" it. It's possible that the electrons time-flowing behaviors are nearly suspended while in the superconductor. Something is surely happening since photons themselves slow down due the the effect of the superconductor on the electric/magnetic fields.

            Chris

              • [deleted]

              Chris,

              If you think of an electron as not being part of time flow unless involved in an entropy event such as resistance or heat-flow then light appearing as a particle makes sense. An irreversible event defines time and we see it an a photon. Something that goes back and forth between states is reversible and no "photon" is seen.

              Jeff

              4 days later

              Dear Chris,

              I wanted to say hello and let you know I found your essay riveting all the way through. You seem to have supplied a pretty good assessment of where we are at. The essay asks a lot of questions, but seems to have a good grasp of the situation.

              I am in favor of exploring both roads of smooth analog motion and discrete quantum methods to their fullest extent. Like you, I have questions about each. I do tend to favor analog systems. My essay attempts to explore a possible model for an analog system that surprisingly has a simple set of equations with a lot of implications packed into them. Although my essay does not discuss locality (if I'm using that term correctly), I expect its unique features of particle motion to explain data observed in Bell Inequality experiments. So I feel the door is not closed on a smooth analog reality, and the right analog model may offer a very good way to look at it.

              Thanks for your very readable and relevant essay. It gets a high mark from me and I hope it does well.

              Kind regards, Russell Jurgensen

                Chris

                I can't imagine how I missed your excellent essay til now! ..You say;

                "Do we now have enough evidence to absolutely eliminate the need for further investigating the possibility of a more physical model that would also be consistent with the experimental data? If your answer to that very long question is yes - chances are, you are probably correct," Thanks for a nice resume, good identifiction of the issues and excellent writing style.

                Thank god I'm probably correct!

                I have a more physical model, which avoids Bells inequalites and derives SR and QR from a quantum mechanism, rigorous logic and empiricism. As an educational consultant you really do need to read and understand it. It takes just a little more conceptual power manipulating dynamic variables than our brains are used to, but then the clear obvious simplicity of it hits you.

                Do look at the lively string too.

                Please let me know if you grasped it at once. A group of 12 year olds did (using a sliding block of ice) as I explained in a post to the pair of educationalists languishing here, but most physicists tend not to! (about 1 in 5 now do).

                Best of luck

                Peter

                  Russell,

                  Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. It's great that we can share these ideas from all over the world. I have read your essay and posted a comment on your thread.

                  Chris

                  Peter,

                  Thanks for the observations and kind words. I read your essay and posted comments on your thread. I like your relativity discussion you are having on your thread. For now I'm going to stick to my current passion, which is: "What the heck is going on during entanglement anyway???"

                  Maybe after the contest - I can join your relativity discussion.

                  Chris