- 03
- May
The last 100 years have been a time of great progress for Physicists. The turn of the nineteenth century brought the end of the traditional deterministic view of the universe, bringing with it the birth of something new and radical: uncertainty. With the coming of such a counter-intuitive view, many preconceived ideas about reality were forever skewed. For over 200 years, it was believed that one knew the momentum and position of every particle in the universe, one could infer exactly where every single particle would be a million years from then, or, because the arrow of time has no hold on Newtonian physics, where it was a million years ago. Certainty may seem like a very abstract thing to lose due to a theory of physics, and may not even affect many individuals who learn about it’s demise, but there are far greater implications of these new Quantum Physics. In Search of Schrodinger’s Cat explains to the reader some of the old theories of light and matter, and then proceeds to explain how they were changed forever by the new physics.
The beginning of quantum mechanics came about over a simple paradox that physicists had been trying to figure out for some time: how much energy was available in an oven at a particular time and at a particular electromagnetic wavelength. Intuitively, the amount of energy available in a black body (such as the sun, or an electric stove), can be seen (roughly estimated) by the amount of radiation that it emits (the “color” of the electromagnetic spectrum that is manifest in the emitting body). Classical physics says that this amount of energy should increase without limit as the wavelength of the electromagnetic waves approaches zero. This aspect of classical physics was predicted by the law of Rayleigh-Jeans, and henceforth came to be known as the “ultraviolet catastrophe”. However, Max Planck proved (though without tangible physical evidence) that there was no way that this could be possible. In order to prove this, he assumed that all of the things that are “being waved” can only absorb and release energy in small, discrete packets called quanta. His hypothesis is quantified by the equation E = hf, where h is Planck’s constant, and f is the frequency. The results of this assumption can be seen below:
By simply assuming that energy came in only discrete packets, Plack resolved one of the main conflicts in physics during the early twentieth century. His results, however effective for the moment, went on to change the face of physics as it was known.
What is light? For centuries, scientists had speculated about the nature of light. Newton believed that light was a stream of particles (then called ‘corpuscles’, or ’small packets of light’). One of his contemporaries, Christiaan Huygens, believed that light was a wave. Many of the great minds of science, including Einstein himself (who wondered what it a beam of light would look like if only he could run fast enough to catch up with it) contributed to this speculation, but not much came of it, until a certain experiment revealed something that no one could have foreseen. When light is shined through an opaque object with two parallel slits in it, the phenomenon predicted by classical physics is that there will be two bands of light showing on the paper behind the opaque surface. Experiment, however, has shown that what results behind the object is an interference pattern. This result is not so strange- one of the theories was bound to be true. The strange thing is that if you are to turn down the frequency of the light so that only one photon is emitted from the source every ten seconds, the interference pattern still appears after enough photons have hit the wall behind the emitter. This means that light is both a wave and a particle, and that light particles can interfere with each other even after they’ve collided with a surface.
This strange finding can be applied to all subatomic particles. Price Louis de Broglie found that all matter can be described by waves with infinitesimally small frequencies, and that all bodies of matter wave to a certain extent. The concept of a matter wave is one that is not well explained by classical physics; in fact, it is impossible to explain matter waves in such a manner. In the early 1900s, physicists concluded that the waves of matter that they were finding didn’t show the matter at all- it showed where the matter might be. Given the new condition of uncertainty that physicists were just beginning to come to grips with, quantum physicists showed that the wave found emitted from a particle covered the entire universe, and the crests of the wave showed where the particle was most likely to be at a given time. Since it is impossible to know both the location and the momentum of a particle to infinite precision (even a macroscopic object), these wave functions fit perfectly into the newly defined architecture of quantum mechanics.
The book talks about not only these issues, but several other key ideas in the quantum world. Although this book is a bit dated, it still offers a comprehensive beginner’s look into the established world of quantum mechanics and the subatomic world of uncertainty that surrounds us.
July 27th, 2006 at 12:19 am
Does’nt this beg the question that thereis a range of possible locations for any object dependant upon the angle of observation of the signature wave,a sort of microcosmic address rather than an exact point plus or minus standard deviation,bear with me im rather new at this
July 29th, 2006 at 5:48 pm
The wave is basically a “range” of possible locations. The thing is, thus far, *nobody* has been able to predict where within that range matter will manifest. It’s completely random, and there’s nothing we can do about it.
You really should read this book, or it’s follow-up, “Schrödinger’s Kittens and the Search for Reality”. It serves to explain, with excellent clarity, how confusing it all really is.
August 30th, 2006 at 11:04 pm
schrodingers cat- it is what it is at that moment
(if mwi is theoretically correct, then i pity the persons who have to clean all those litter baskets)
sorry, i’m just having fun with the subject…
September 27th, 2006 at 9:26 am
This site is interesting and very informative, nicely interface. Enjoyed browsing through the site. Keep up the good work. Greetings
October 21st, 2006 at 11:10 pm
To Michael Mudge, I wonder if the range is actually Random?
Perhaps the random fluctuation is simply a case where we are unable to adjust quickly enough to compensate.
Consider acceleration; as the speed of a body accelerates, does the rate of acceleration not decrease proportionate to the increased speed of the object?
November 8th, 2006 at 4:35 am
Kill the kat is kill the lab
November 8th, 2006 at 4:37 am
This not our concern, but….
February 14th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
maybe this whole universe is just a one big string of space, time, reality,and quantumlaws,linking us all from bact. til primates.in a supersimulation
February 25th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Let us not get ahead of ourselves–these maybes and ifs are not falsifiable and therefore not scientific. Quantum mech has been verified through empirical evidence, but the silliness that is string theory has not. Let us return first to Popper on the notions of what a valid scientific claim is, THEN bring our attention to what possibilities there are.
March 12th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
What happens to thoughts?
Is this reality a slowly manifested soul dream created by thought?
Just as we believe a dream is real -
do we believe this reality is real because we are IN IT?
Once we leave this life (by death) do we then wake up from the dream?
Is everything outside myself my creation, as in a dream?
Am I alone, yet one with everyone I create?
Is everyone and thing I create a way of working through past thoughts that I could not let go of?
Am I the cat in the box and the observer?
What the in the world is going on?
Did I create this planet, universe and if so -
my infinity?
Got any anwers or is it just me here
alone on this island
that you can compress to the size of a
small rock.
March 24th, 2007 at 12:20 am
I’m thankful for the work done by Plank and the rest, since without them I wouldn’t be reading this right now, but I came here to read a nice cat story. Reading this catless post has collapsed my wave form.
April 26th, 2007 at 12:55 am
1.
Where does the quanta h come from?
The constant h Planck took from heaven
(phenomenological ) and brought it into physics.
2.
At the interaction of the electron with the vacuum,
the energy and mass of it become infinite, it means
that electron disappeared in the heaven.
Maybe, therefore the energy of vacuum is not equal to zero.
3.
Between constant h and electron there is
constant a (fine structure constant) .
What does this constant mean?
This constant remained unknown in modern physics and
on Feynman’s expression that this quantity is
” by the god given damnation to all physicists “.
4.
I want to say, that the constant h comes from heaven
and the electron goes to heaven and still nobody knows
what light quanta, electron and vacuum are.
Maybe, therefore the interpretation of physics
seems such paradoxical.
Maybe, therefore the physicists make measuring
not understanding the deep essence of the processes .
==============.
P.S.
We used to think that if we knew one, we knew two,
because one and one are two. We are finding
that we must learn a great deal more about `and’.
/Sir Arthur Eddington /
============================
Max Planck
Nobel Lecture, June 2, 1920
“There is in particular one problem whose exhaustive
solution could provide considerable elucidation.
What becomes of the energy of a photon after complete emission?”
This question still waits for its answer.
========
http://www.socratus.com
May 3rd, 2007 at 6:23 pm
well i kinda like kitty uran
June 13th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
The forensics and DNA are in and it’s pretty clear that Schrodinger did it, the bastard.
June 25th, 2007 at 1:35 am
I cannot completely commit to Camp 1 as I do think there are times, and situations, where users have to take responsibility for their own choices. For example, if someone choses to remain on dialup when higher speed connections are available, and within t
July 11th, 2007 at 1:44 am
Schrodinger’s experiment is flawed… In fact, in a closed system such as the cat in the box with the poison gas, physically all matter is conserved only displaced somwhat… which, in the end brings about the question of the consciousness of the cat… that is, is consciousness an incoherent entity by itself or is does it comes about only by a particular arrangement of all the parts… I think the psi-function that is a combination of a dead and live cat is very real. To a certain degree, I think we are all a little bit alive and a little dead as well…
July 21st, 2007 at 1:28 am
Hey, great info. It serves to explain, with excellent clarity, how confusing it all really is.
July 31st, 2007 at 7:32 am
Hellow, nice site. This site is interesting and very informative.
August 5th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
According ” The Law of conservation and transformation energy ”
the schrodingers cat never can dead.
August 6th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
If the schrodingers cat cannot die,
it means its energy is conserved.
In other words, how to understand
the Low of transforming energy of
the schrodingers cat, of one single electron,
of one single photon.
August 8th, 2007 at 3:17 am
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August 24th, 2007 at 6:48 am
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September 15th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
I have read that the schrodinger’s cat analogy was created to get across the idea of the observation principal. The act of observation determines whether the cat is alive or dead by collapsing the matter wave (or something)? So why does the cat not observe itself and collapse its own matter wave? It would help if someone could answer my question or if I am completely missing the point turn me in the right direction. And no big scientific words, I’m only 15 and my quantum mechanical vocabulary has yet to fully bloom.
October 10th, 2007 at 12:17 am
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November 9th, 2007 at 9:19 am
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November 12th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
just imagine if the theory supporting the basis of ides in science were incorrect. eg in the calculation to calculate a calculation for plancs constant… sorry
December 1st, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Nail fungus picture and treatment by Waldon Research labs.
January 9th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
I Think, İt’s Very Nice…
April 11th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Jack
Man, your mind fascinates me. Thanks again for sharing.
April 14th, 2008 at 2:17 am
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Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. ~ Leo Tolstoy
April 29th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Skin Fungus - Index
Nails are formed by keratin, as epidermal cells below the nail root move up to the surface of our skin; each cell is formed into a thin plate by layers to form our finger and toe nails. As the cell numbers grow, the nail is constantly pushed forward wi…
April 30th, 2008 at 5:50 am
Nails are formed by keratin, as epidermal cells below the nail root move up to the surface of our skin; each cell is formed into a thin plate by layers to form our finger and toe nails. As the cell numbers grow, the nail is constantly pushed forward with growth. When they are healthy, the fingernails will grow on the average of three or four times faster than the toenails do. Just as our hair does, our nails grow faster on average in the summer months compared to the winter months. The white spots on the…
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Measuring Penis
A snail walks into a bar and the barman tells him there’s a strict policy about having snails in the bar and so kicks him out. A year later the same snail re-enters the bar and asks the barman “What did you do that for?”:)
May 7th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
My cat suffers awful vagaries
In a box full of geeky contraries
Just by radiation
In shoebox-like station
Its full life-and-death status varies
But I have no fear in the matter
Since hearing the quantum mech chatter
The geeky techs’ views
Mean my state I can choose
So of death/life I pick the latter.
May 8th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
[...] Quantum Mechanics and Schrodinger’s Cat [...]
September 15th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
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