Quantum Theory

I've been thinking about causality for... a couple of minutes now, and generally people believe you must have cause to create an effect, but is this always the case? Here's what I'm thinking: B leads to C,which leads to A, which leads to B, circular. B: Mankind invents time travel, and decides to witness the "Big Bang", but he wants front row seats so he gets there a little early, too early and without a universe to contain him and his time-ship it explodes instantly in a Big Bang. C The Universe is created, and time and space evolve enough to allow the creation of life, earth and human beings. A A man sits his lab and says "I've done it! I've actu…

Hi folks. I recently posted the following on my blog more or less as is, in the hope that somebody who knows about such things would be around, but no luck. So I thought I repost it here. Please ignore the idealism references - no need to argue about that. I just want to get a better handle on the properties of an ideal condensate. Thanks for any replies. I have been wondering about the properties of an ‘ideal gas’ in relation to idealism, specifically a ‘Bose-Einstein condensate’. It was a thought put into my head by Schrodinger, who speaks of the mystics as ‘particles in an ideal gas’. It seems that the Pauli-exclusion principle usually limits the number of boso…

I never understood how the forces of nature came to be. Like what is gravity really? I know no one knows this for sure, but I have read that it is possible that matter is given to objects by higgs boson particles and that gravity could actually be a particle called a gravitron? How exactly does the whole forces might be particle theory work?

Low mass particles, including electrons and photons, are subject to the laws of quantum physics. Earlier I was pondering the nature of electricity, and how quantum mechanics could play various roles in the behavior of electric currents. I became curious about one possibility, which might be of interest to the development of quantum computers or understanding how the brain and its neurons work: Can you have a circuit where an electric current might choose a different path based on its quantum state? I'm curious for both standard electronics as well as electrochemical circuits. In regard to electronic devices, I'm wondering if a circuit can be designed to redirect elect…

I am an undergraduate student about to complete my 1st year in the field of Information science and engineering or information technology. I am interested in pure physics especially high energy physics and some parts of quantum Physics. My question is, Is there any possibilities i can have my post-graduation study in the field of Physics(purely theoretical physics like high energy physics) ? In schools like Mit , caltech ....

The photoelectric effect shows that light travels in packets on energy called quanta. Light has been shown to knock electrons off metal. There is no doubt that light travels. ------ Leaving aside the cause for fun and mocking about this thread, I think that there are some important question for debate: The concept of “movement” for a lay man is created by everyday experience of material “things” that change place … In the case of sun-light “the things “ are a torrent particles (photons) that flow like a not interrupted flow of water from a hose. Now when we see the flow of water, we don’t see the molecules of water, and in the example of sun-light, the torrent of phot…

Hello everyone I am new here I would like to know how to calculate the h constant at home... It is hard to understand, base log 10 systems.. It is this base log system of 10, that is really hindering me to move forward. It is also Newtonian Mechanics, that is " confusing me " with photon energy and light "speeds".. Then you have the fractions to deal with. However, Distance and Frequencies is my main focus... Until I know this I refuse to move forward with anything else..

Hi I am in high school and really want to learn quantum theory. Is there any way I can begin? Or do I have to finish my high school science before attempting? Are there any free books/ courses/videos that will help me learn?

Swanson say: Matter has the property of mass, and of energy. Please,can you give a definition of matter, out of it's properties? I think the property can't be identified with owner..

I really don't know in which category to post this, so i just ended up doing so here. I just though about the fact that people think that everything exist of something, mainly something smaller. Like an atom consists of protons, electrons and neutrons. What if at some point energy took form into something which from there fuses into bigger things ending up as stuff known to us like electrons et cetera. I just think that since, as far as the Energy-Law is concerned, energy can not be produced nor lost,but instead just changes form, couldn't it take the form of matter. For example energy can be in form of electrical energy. The thought of things just being made of small…

hi all. I am reading John Gribbins popular science book 'In search of Schrodingers cat' at the moment and would be interested in your opinions or explanations of the following questions What are the origins of the probabilities that form a fundamental part of Quantum Theory. there is no explanation in the book, so far. It seems taken as a given that the probabilities just 'are'. For instance, when an electron or other packet of energy is emitted from the atom, the suggestion is that there is no way to confidently predict the moment precisely. I am aware of the concept of half lives. Could it be said that the probabilities exist because the events that cau…

I am having some trouble understanding the wave function. I tried to look up the formula to maybe understand what was going on with the orbitals. I found the formulas, but I have no idea what I am looking at. There are certain variables I understand, and certain ones I do not. I was hoping someone here could explain the basics of the wave functions to me.

Consider the instant of time when a photon is born.... now, divide this instant of time into small intervals each measuring plank time... what is the speed of the photon in first such instant?... c or less or zero or whatever.....

Can any on explain what is the difference between Raman scattering and fluorescence???

When does collapse of a wave function associated with an elementary particle happen? a) When someone tries to measure the particle. b) When someone actually measures it. c) When someone just thinks about measuring the particle.

Malus's law simulation algorithm: L1= (rand()%100 < ((cos(P1) * cos(P1)) * 100)) ? 1:0 L2= (rand()%100 < ((cos(P2) * cos(P2)) * 100)) ? 1:0 Using Malus's law calculate probability of photon L1 passing through polarizer P1, and L2 through P2. If random number between 0 and 100 is less than photon's probability percentage the photon goes through (= 1), otherwise it gets blocked (= 0). if (L1 == L2) MATCH++ else MISMATCH++ RESULT= (MATCH - MISMATCH)/(N_MEASURE/100)) If both L1 and L2 passed through (1 = 1) or both got stopped (0 = 0) increase matching pairs counter, otherwise increase opposite pairs counter. That's all, just like in the experiment. Here is roughly…

Many of you must be familiar with polandball comics. Well, I decided to make particleball comics, where balls represent the subatomic particles of the standard model I've created two comics to get things going. Upquark is sad Tiny but heavy (it may be hard for some people to understand this one) what do you think?

there is this theory that we are all brains in a jar hooked up to a machine that is giving us dreams. However this also does not explain how we can have dreams if reality is too a dream. This argument if assumed true beats all other arguments. A valid argument is based on valid information and facts. The conclusion should be objective not subjective. Saying "I believe he is guilty because I hate him" is not a good argument in court. It is also not a good argument as to why this person needs to be convicted. However if we assume the brain in the vat theory is the ultimate truth we have just destroyed this concept. Since we have just made all objective material subjective. …

Quantum physics governs the universe on the tiniest of scales. Things over here can affect others over there, instantaneously and without anything crossing the space between them. A century ago, during the initial shots in the quantum revolution, the best minds of a generation Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr squared off in a battle of physics. How could the rules of the quantum world, which work so well to describe the behavior of individual atoms and their components, conflict so dramatically with the everyday rules that govern people, planets, and galaxies? Quantum mechanics may be counterintuitive, but it's one of the most successful theories in the history of science,…

Can a person be able to see "with their naked eye" length contraction in units of 3mm contract to about .5 mm?" If the answer is yes, then their is no need to further add comments, however, if the answer is no, can you " please tell me" how this could be possible' perhaps even in detail... Please no joking around about booze nor hallucinates, this is a serious question, thanks

in the schrodinger equation, say, or any other eigenfunction equation in quantum mechanics, what does it mean when the wavefunction is not an eigenfunction of the hamiltonian operator (or the operator in question)? does that mean that you cannot measure the energy or that its variable or what? :S confuses me

Hy. How the vacuum energy and density is measured ?

Hi everyone, I'm working on a pretty relaxed end-of-the-year school project, the only objective of which is to explain a mathematical concept to the class. I've chosen quantum cryptography. By Monday, I would like to be able to: Define quantum mechanics for the class. Explain the math behind photon polarization. Explain how the BB84 (sending photons with laser pulses) and Eckert (communicating with two entangled photons) quantum key distribution protocols work. Explain the applications of quantum cryptography. I can accomplish all but the second objective by myself. I understand Wikipedia's explanation of the BB84 protocol pretty well, but I do not understand the actual …

Here is the link, the area in which this is stated is right a bit above the 10th page, close to the end of the article: Spacetime at the Planck Scale: The Quantum Computer View http://arxiv.org/ftp/gr-qc/papers/0304/0304032.pdf Planck Scale defines the laws of Physics.. Here is the copied area of interest: As we have already said, we believe that the recursive functions computed by quantum space-time at the Planck scale are the laws of Physics in their discrete, abstract, and fundamental form. Does this mean that the laws of nature are " pre-defined" by a deductive logical " computer" system defined as Quantum Mechanics, or did I mi…

{EDIT} I just saw the notice about the speculation thread. Trying to delete here and move there. SORRY! I am sorry as I am trying to understand more about photons and how they work so this might sound dumb, but I was thinking about a problem/theory that needed some greater help. Also, sorry if this post is not appropriate for this thread, quantum theory seemed a good place to start on the topic of photons. Please, educate me on the topic! Any help/links/suggestions is appreciated. First: Do photons travel in a straight line? Second: How long does a photon last/exist? Third: Do/can photons bounce/ricochet? (assuming the surface does not absorb/diffuse/etc) Fourth…