Quantum Theory

If photons must be laterally polarized, how can photons, exchanged along the line between two particles, explain the longitudinal "pushing" & "pulling", along that line, caused by Electrostatic forces ??

Why is Einstein's Theory of Relativity not a Law of Relativity ? I hope the answer to this is fact based enough not to be speculative , thus keeping at bay the wrath of the higher powers that be .

Please ponder the SWE, for the Hydrogen atom: [math]E \Psi \; = \; \hat{K} \Psi \; + \; V \Psi[/math] where [math]\hat{K} \propto - \nabla^2[/math] is the 'QM KE', or 'Q-KE', operator. Now, the energy [math]E[/math] is a constant. But, the potential energy [math]V[/math] varies through space, being "very negative" near the nucleus, and "nearly zero" far from it. Thus, this leads to two regions, of the Schrodinger solutions, for the Hydrogen wave-functions: Classically-allowed region (r < rBohr,n) -- Q-KE is positive; wave-function is 'concave down'; "body" Classically-forbidden region (r > rBohr,n) -- Q-KE is negative; wave-function is 'concave …

If I am right (which I hope I am) a positive charge is attracted to a negative charge and vice verse. So how come the electron doesn't come crashing down on the nucleus because its protons. I understand that the nucleus has an overall neutral charge. But what about isotopes they can have a positive charge? So why don't we see electrons bombarding our nucleus?

hi i need help grasping the theory of quantum mechanics or rather quantum physics. does any one have suggestions how to study this course.

I was wondering, in regards to what quantum theory is, i know of planks quantum theory of energy, but that quantum theory includes many other components of reality like uncertainty and the wave-functions. So are there various types of quantum theories encompassing the various ideas in the realm of quantum mechanics etc or is there just the 1 quantum theory which contains all the various components..

I have just been listening to a very interesting podcast from the BBC on this subject (which sadly may not be available to non-UKers) It seems that Rutherford (um, or was it Chadwick?) showed that the energy spectrum of beta decay is continuous, and it was generally realized that this experimental fact seemed to violate energy conservation. Question: How is this conclusion implied from the finding? It is not obvious to me. It further seems that W. Pauli, in the 1930's, proposed that beta decay "generated" (in a manner that is not clear to me) an hitherto un-detected particle called the neutrino that in some sense restored energy conservation, and that in the 1…

Virtual particles are scientific law right? The process in pairs generates gamma rays and this is happening all over the place, so why am I not dead of radiation poisoning? Why aren't there many radioactive atoms in every substance on Earth and in the entire universe? Couldn't this also account for some of the randomness generated by electrons? Classically, its like an electron gets a little boost of energy once in a while at a random time, which seems like it could be explained by the gamma-rays from virtual particle pairs.

The shortest laser pulse ever produced is roughly between 3~10 fentoseconds. Due to the time-energy uncertainty principle, since we know so precisely the time period in which this phenemenon has occured, we need to have a big uncertainty in the energy of this photons. My question is: can't we produce such a short laser pulse and use the photoelectric effect to determine it's energy? If not, why not? If so, doesn't that violate the uncertainty principle?

Since particle waves tend to act like sine waves, is there someway I can use a normal graphing calculator or normal 3D one to make predictions in the QM world using the sine function?

Does anyone know how to expand the last term. My understanding is sigma refers to the 3 Pauli matrices with the addition of the identity matrix for time theta the Grassmann coordinates mu space time Einstein summation index My assumption is this expands to 2 equations (Q, theta are 2x1 matrices) and the theta sub-index on the sigma matrices means to select the alpha row, beta column for each of the sigma matrices. ------------------ Also my first post - i would appreciate hints on formatting, especially how to insert HTML code symbols for Greek α θ etc.

Okay I am here to help. It seems like a lot of people misunderstand what exactly the wave function is, so I want to give my educated understanding of this. The wave function itself is not physical, but it is mathematical, hence a function. So when someone says, the wave function collapsed, it does not mean something physically collapsed, but that the mathematical model collapsed. To say further, the wave function describes all possible states in which the system can be in. For example the photon traveling towards a double slit; now while the photon has a particle-wave duality, this is separate from its wave function, though the wave function might describe the p…

I was wondering why and how there is a 'hydrogen spectrum'.. since hydrogen has only 1 electron, so shouldn't it give off/have only 1 colour or frequency not multiple...

This theory based way of deducting (Science) is of great interest to me. But, being a Buddhist - I must consider how it produces actual, world-considering, productive, end results. In that I mean, does knowing what quanta is actually make the world a better place? If yes, how? If no, how? I will define productive, for the sake of the conversation: A series of actions that cost little to no resources that brings about a change that brings about even less consumption of resources and energy for generations to come. Creating something convenient, like a car in this example; is not productive as in consumes several times the resources and energy needed for a perso…

I was wondering if it would be possible to contain a photon for a long amount of time. Possible contain it in a mercury buble in a vaccum (im only 14 so im no physicist)? By the way, Im asking because i have an excellent idea that exploits the entanglement theory, but i need to read the polarity of the photon and be able to contain it for a long amount of time. Thanks.

sorry if this has been asked before, i tried to search for it but couldn't really find anything. my question is: what is the current status behind the collapse of the wave function, what are the scientists saying? did the actual act of observation collapse it or did the method of observation collapse it. ive seen many sites talking about the dual slit experiment and how when we tried to peek which slot the electron went through it only went though one. but what i don't get is what are they implying? we collapsed the wave function through the act of observing or because of the method of observation we used? Thanks for your time.

Photons are the gauge boson for the electromagnetic force. Does this mean that magnetic fields are actually just permeated with photons? It gets confusing, because I have never really thought of photons outside of thinking about electromagnetic waves, but if they carry out the forces of all electromagnetic interractions, wouldn't they be curving around magnets extemely fast? When i hold two magnets together, is the interactions between them happening at c?

What does knowledge about quantum states, such as electron shape and wave function characteristics, contribute to understanding of how atoms combine and break down in chemical processes? Are their fundamental revelations about atomic structuring that provide revealing insights into how atoms interact that were not apparent prior to quantum theory developments?

Hello. I put this in Quantum Theory instead of Speculations, which I hope is okay. I think it's plausible enough to belong here - but I bet all the nutters think that about their threads, don't they? Anyway, I asked a question about something or other concerning aspects of the MWI, and no-one seemed to know what the hell I was going on about, which I'm sure must be a failure of understanding on my part. (http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/55414-antimatter-in-the-multiverse/) So here I invite you to tell me what your understanding of it is, as briefly or as fully as you'd like. Thanks.

What is an atoms nucleous made of ? What makes it different than the space around it? Does it have a definate shape and size ? How is it's huge nuclear force contained and what keeps the protons and neutrons from wandering off outside of it ? Is there a larger concentration of "vacuum" energy inside the nucleous than there is outside of the nucleous?

So I heard that when you shine light like a laser through a narrow vertical slit, it appears as a dot. But, when that slit becomes very narrow, the light passing through starts to spread horizontally, and the reason for that is because your more precisely confining the area or measuring the area and therefore the less precisely the direction of the light is determined. But, for some reason, that doesn't seem to make sense. Why wouldn't the light then spread vertically AND horizontally if the direction is becoming less determined? It just seems like there's some conventional or classical way to explain this. Is there?

Although I'm pretty sure there's another equation for this which I can't remember, I noticed that in an energy level of say, 1, or the ground state, the wave of a single electron has 1 crest, and one troff, or two vertices total, and the amount of electrons that are allowed in that energy state is 2. Then I go to the second energy state, the wave of a single electron with its maximums and minimums has 4 vertices, and the energy level is 2, and 8 electrons are allowed. At the third energy level, there are 6 maximum and minimum vertices, and the energy is 3, and there are 18 electrons allowed in that state. It would appear as though the amount of electrons allowed in a sing…

I would like a little clarification on the "Reason why quantum theory is accepted to be one of the foremost physical (metaphysical?) theory of nature". Currently have no knowledge about the intricacies of physics, having only skimmed over the basics of classical (newtonian) physics. I interpreted on an introduction to quantum theory, that the results that quantum theory predicts are in highly ideal conditions that can not be physically achieved by us or it considers possibilities which are beyond the feasible spectrum of environmental phenomena. How is the theory viable in this context ? Another example if the heisenberg principle states that we can never measure the pos…

I have been trying to increase my knowledge on the elementary particles of matter. I have already known that their are (for some odd reason) three generations of elementary particles. Each one being heavier and having more energy than the last generation. So, this brings me to the Muon, the second generation of the electron. I read about how particle accelerators have created muonic atoms. Tau based atoms are impossible, I have heard. What my question is, is if muonic atoms have similar or different chemical properties than regular electron atoms. They are obviously a lot heavier, and probably tighter together. Would muonic helium act like regular helium, or in sens…

There's an uncertainty relationship involving position. Is there one for the spacetime metric? If so, what is it?