Quantum Theory

I am studying an on-line course, called Quantum Mechanics Concepts from DrPhysicsA. I am on the 3rd lecture on electron spin. The lecturer is very good and quite precise in his language, but I am hung up on the meaning of some terms and a concept. He describes axis of spin as indicated by a line in some direction and rotation around that axis by an arrowhead, according to the corkscrew rule. Fine. He goes on, though, to speak of spin up and spin down states. What is meant by this-- axis or rotational direction? I SEEM TO BE CONFLATING THE TWO PARAMETERS. The results (and predictions) of experiments based on alignment of AXIS of measuring devices relative to AXIS o…

Is it possible for a gravitational wave to assist in the seperation of a virtual particle pair? Let's say our control model is of a VP produced in very flat space a long way from any strong gravitational field. In this case the 2 virtual particles quickly come in contact with their partner and annihilate. Now, what if instead during that same series of events a gravitational wave crossed that part of space, could it be timed/positioned so that space expands, pulling the particles away from each other at the crucial moment and upon the following contraction the particles no longer align, preventing their annihilation. Could successive wavelengths as they pass increase…

Multiple part question: An electron has several properties, including a -1 charge, with an electric field that becomes weaker with distance according to the inverse square law. Theoretically, at least, we can measure that field down to a Planck volume, but not within a Planck volume. Do we know if fields vary within Planck Volumes? Gravity distorts space-time, but it cannot distort a Planck volume, because Planck length is calculated from constants, speed of light, gravitational constant, and the Planck constant, and the Planck volume is a volume of space with sides 1 Planck length. Is a Planck volume merely a measurement limit, and space is continuous (as fields …

Is dark energy considered the opposing force of both gravity and electromagnetism? As the theorized force behind the increasingly rapid expansion of our universe and eventual destroyer of atomic cohesion, can dark energy be viewed as an antimatter-like force opposite to gravity and electromagnetism?

I have a question about how we measure entangled particles. As I understand it, once we measure entangled particles - the connection is severed. I was wondering: Is it the act of severing the connection that allows us to know that the particles were indeed entangled, or is it more the byproduct of the measurement? To put it another way: could it be like trying to operate with a machete when you need a scalpel. Can our current "tools" be refined, or will it always be that we break the connection no matter how fine-tuned the measurement device is? I guess the real question is: What is it about how we currently measure entanglement that severs the connection, and …

If entanglement goes faster then the speed of light...shouldn't it influence time?

According to Wikipedia: String theory describes particles as vibrating strings; in other words, strings with waves. The orbital wave-like function and the string vibration apparently interact, because adding energy to an electron causes it to change orbital, and possibly vibrate more energetically. What can be deduced about string theory from observing these interactions in various atoms.

This confuses me, why is a particle being distinguishable from another a factor in determining the number of configurations? Surely the configurations exist independent of our ability to distinguish them. As a thought experiment I visualised a room with a billiards table in it. The table is packed in a lattice with cue balls. Two people are in the room, Bill and Ben. Bill leaves and Ben, switches as many balls as he likes or none at all and then asks Bill to return. This process is repeated hundreds of times over the course of the day. Bill could apply the quoted logic to the cue balls and Ben would know he was completely wrong. Since for us, particles can mov…

I was reading an article on the physics of the attractive force between electron and nucleus. It explained how physicist believe that the attraction is maintained by an exchange of positive and negatively charged photons between the nucleus and electron. Given this electromagnetic attraction my question is, what is the force that keeps these particles at such a vast subatomic distance and not collide because of this strong attraction? Is it the force generated by the collision between the oppositely charge photons or some other unknown force? I welcome your insight.

Hi, i have not been able to find any information or theory or merly a speculation by scientists about how entangled particles communicate instantly on arbitray large distances. How is it possible when nothing travels faster than light ?

Perhaps a little of topic but what is the theoretical slowest speed of light?

Are the two related somehow? Or am I way off? Isn't florescence the breaking (loss of KE) of an electron as it moves between shells? Wiki didn't link the two.

From wiki: Is this ground state equal to the combined spins of the particles in the system. Is the kinetic energy only angular momentum?

If there was a higher 5th dimension and the universe we observe is a 4 dimensional slice of this, could all point particles have size in 5 dimensions but only intersect our universe at a tangent or 0 dimensional point. Like a circle touches a line without intersection. Could heisenbergs uncertainty principle be the result of vibrational movement or KE in the 5th dimension? Does it make sense to view a singularity as a zero point particle. Where all its mass in 5d no longer intersects the 4D universe but touches it at a single point. Could 0 point energy, or virtual particles be random intersection, due to the uncertainty principle of 4d space and 5d space. I…

Hi, I'm currently doing a PhD and I've done a short video to explain it to my non-physicists familly and friends. It's about carbon nanotubes and how to use them to produce single photons. Here it is : link removed by mod Hope you enjoy it

Can Klein tunneling take place between two slabs of graphene separated by sufficiently large distance? Through meters of air?

So I've been exchanging emails with Eric Reiter about his alpha coincidence experiment. Basically he claims to emit alpha particles toward a gold foil. The foil causes the particle to either reflect left or travel forward, detector A or B. But he claims a single alpha particle travels in both directions. He has a slab of Am-241 taken from a smoke detector. Not sure on the thickness. First off he claims two alpha particles are emitted from each nucleus traveling 180° from each other in both directions. Alphas from Am-241 have extremely low penetration depth. So it seems the alphas emit mostly from the nucleus of atoms near the surface of the material. What's the likeli…

Have anyone measured the time a photon take from emitting to detection do determine what surface it is reflected from? Both in one surface and with two surface reflection. Where is the photon reflected? Can the time of the photon be measured that accurately? Regards Magnus

Hi Folks...its nice to be back... Ive got some confusion and am looking for links or perspectives to help clear it all up. If Bell's theorem is proving that there is no such thing as unknown local variables, does this imply or prove that quantum entanglement (non local variables) is at work in some systems? Or does it prove that truly random actions are coming from "nowhere"...an effect without a cause? Ive read a lot about Bell's theorem, and I think I understand it, but the bottom line is never made clear in my eyes. Does it require that some communication is breaking the speed of light? Or that some pairs of particles simply do not need local position to influence…

hi, I have some questions about quantum entanglement/teleportation. The idea is that correlation does not imply causation, concerning entangled particles. That's shown in the fact that entangled particles are described as single wave functions. We know there are channels between entangled particles which enable teleportation. So why don't those channels cause the correlation? Why can't entanglement be about causality? If it is, then entangled particles would copy information, which goes in against the no-cloning theorem. How can you know you are transmitting and not copying information during a teleportation? Teleportation collapses the entanglement, it col…

Sorry for another thread about Zitterbewegung. I was wondering if Zitterbewegung, being the hypothetical trembling motion of elementary particles, could explain the uncertainty of an electron's location resulting in its orbital (with the electron orbital viewed simply as an electron's probable location around an atomic nucleus). My idea is basically that residual amounts of external radiation from the rest of the universe affect the electron, causing trembling motion. The electron still stays coupled with the atomic nucleus following a path of least resistance; if the 'residual Zitterbewegung-inducing radiation' were to cause the electron to escape the atomic nucleus, t…

While dynamics of (classical) field theories is defined by (local) PDEs like wave equation (finite propagation speed), some fields allow for stable localized configurations: solitons. For example the simplest: sine-Gordon model, which can be realized by pendula on a rod which are connected by spring. While gravity prefers that pendula are "down", increasing angle by 2pi also means "down" - if these two different stable configurations (minima of potential) meet each other, there is required a soliton (called kink) corresponding to 2pi rotation, like here (the right one is moving - Lorentz contracted): Kinks are narrow, but there are also soltions filling the entire univ…

I don't want to present a new theory but something to think about. Within our universe we have a lot of space and it interacts with matter and fields and generally obeys the laws of physics or at least doesn't stop them. Gravity passes through it as does magnetic and electromagnetic waves. When discussing string theory I see that Michio Kaku suggests that there may be eleven dimensions. These dimensions have membranes or branes I think was a term he used. I believe he suggested that the universe may be the surrounded by a membrane and considered it the 11th dimension. Also string theory suggests the possibility of multiverses and that they may not have the sam…

So in one respect psycologically there is a theory that brain is evolutionary proceeding overconfidence as a survival mode. Any our assumption is under that condition . In the other respect we now know that in the brain microtubules the scientists found quantum vibrational modes. So if the quantum mechanics is obeyd by the kingdom of uncertanity so how it is possible our brain to proceed the first process of overconfidence ?

How Photons are particles in QM, and don't have a specific Particle Wave Distribution? Will the 'A 4-vector' or E,B coincide on this wave - that is assumed to be present?!