Quantum Theory

Quantum mechanics ‘works’ in proton + electron scale. Let’s enlarge it – imagine proton rotating around chloride anion … up to two charged oppositely macroscopic bodies rotating in vacuum. We can easily idealize the last picture to make it deterministic (charged, not colliding points). However, many people believe that Bell’s inequalities says that the first picture just cannot be deterministic. So I have a question – how this qualitative difference emerge while changing scale? In what scale an analog of EPR experiment would start giving Bell’s inequalities? I know – the problem is: it’s difficult to get such analog. Let’s try to construct a thought experiment…

Hi! I read somewhere that two metal plates were placed parallel to each other and that after time these two plates moved slowly closer together. This test supposedly proved the existence of virtual particle pairs. Supposedly it was the pressure of the virtual particle pairs that was causing the plates to move closer together. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? If not I'll dig it up. At any rate this test always bothered me and it came to me why? Wouldn't gravity pull these two plates closer? Thanks, Rusty

If you have a quantum system undergoing decoherence what happens when it reaches a point in which its changed or whatever, but is no longer experiencing any environmental push to continue to change? Would the system just oscillate about through a finite range of possibilities, would those possibilities be deterministic and why? I mean water going from solid to liquid. If you could get down to the smallest quanta of energy that could change the bulk behavior of that matter in terms of its state, would it at that scale somewhat shift between being a liquid and or a solid, or would it just stay in one or the other until the environment changed it? Lets say a particl…

If many worlds is true, and every possible outcome of a system that can happen, happens...then this has a few strange implications.... 1.) When you watch or read fictional media, for example, a film, you are actually watching another world that actually exists somewhere. Conversly, intelligent species of other worlds are all watching you! Do everthing! Because the possibilities are infinite! They see everything. Every soap you ever watched exists somewhere as a society! Freaky! 2.) Therefore, creativity is not actually creativity. It is coincidental awareness of another world, withinin our world. A mini replication of a system. 3.) Imagine your worst nightmar…

Say you observe an electron or photon to detect which slit it entered through. Does the observation add more energy to the particle than it began with?

Why is technitium radioactive? Why is the atomic mass of potassium greater than argon, nickle greater than cobalt?

im trying to learn what light is but it seems that im a phd or two shy of being able to understand what i read when i try to learn on my own. heres what im trying to learn. i want to know what light actually is. as in, what is it made of? from what i have researched so far i gather that we have a strong grasp on the concept of light but we dont know what light is fundamentally. i think light travels through a vacuum much like a particle would but light isnt a particle, its a wave. if its a wave, what medium is the wave travelling through? does light have the same makeup as a magnetic field? if it does, what the hell is a magnetic field? hehe ok, i have so many little…

Louis Crane is a math professor at Kansas State who has published a bunch of legitimate mathematical physics research in the usual peer-review journals. He also produces research papers that don't get published, for whatever reason: http://www.slac.stanford.edu/spires/find/hep/www?rawcmd=a+Crane%2C+Louis&FORMAT=WWW&SEQUENCE= Three years ago, Crane applied for and was awarded a $2 million grant from a foundation called FQXi which has the stated aim of supporting far-out research that would not normally be funded by the government. His proposal was to study the feasibility of using black holes to power spaceships. Crane did, indeed, deliver the goods. …

Does anyone know if there is a figure skating program out there in which you can take spins/jumps and type them into the computer and coreograph it to music without using a real figure skater so it's all electronic??? Avi

why is it safe to be in your car whilst being struck by lightning? THanks science communitye!

Is the magnetic field of a magnet made of virtual particles?

Been reading a bit about the double slit experiment. Surely, freezing a point in time (from the observer's perspective) would result in the wave function of the particle not being oberved at that point in time, hence the single slit result? The only reason the wave exists is because the particle changes position over time?

If a wave is observed, I'm thinking it becomes a particle. It collapses into that shape, at least. If correct so far, then shouldn't it lose its wave/particle duality after the collapse, and just be a particle? Taking it further (...if such is the case that it becomes a particle only), does it ever revert back to its wave/particle form? Also, something from another thread... What is the difference between observing an electron and a photon randomly bumping it? Why doesn't it act the same as purposeful interaction/observation?

I had thought that the energy of a photon is entirely kinetic, since it has no rest mass. Is this true? At the edge of the Schwarzschild radius of a neutral non-rotating black hole, a photon can only just escape the black hole if it goes in the opposite direction of the black hole. If the kinetic energy equals the potential gravitational energy, then mc^2 = GMm/r <=> r =GM/c^2 Yet, this is HALF the actual distance to the black hole, since the Schwarzschild radius equals 2GM/c^2 . What's wrong?

I apologies for my lack of knowledge but I would like something explained if you can. It is possible for an atom or particle to be in two places at once hence the multi-verse. Hence quantum physics. But to have a quantum event. So.. we can dismiss the human effect as that is not a quantom event. It's a collection of quantom events not the singular. If a free radicle or singular atom or particle was to hit my DNA in one cell and destroy part of the code that would then be a quantum event. So are the resulting effects of said cancer a quantum event? Am I alive in an off shoot of the result because it's quantum? And because I can not imagine myself in the future …

From what I have read, once two particles interact and become entangled, any interaction will end this entanglement. So then, what exactly is this entanglement? For instance, two protons become entangled, would the force of a magnetic field altering the position of one have the same effect on the other, even though it is no where near the field? Or, if measuring the state of one of our protons ends the entanglement, and so does any interaction, what does this entanglement really matter? That is to say, if I can't measure it, and if interacting with it in any way ends it, who cares and how is it being proposed for quantum computing? As you can tell I obviou…

Hello, This concerns the test where you have a barrier with two slits cut out of it, set in front of a wall or blackboard (or something that will show hits upon it) and devices that will shoot sub-atomic particles. My understanding is this: when particles are shot into the barrier with two slits, you get a wave-like pattern on the wall behind it. However, if you watch the barrier (or take measurements?) to see where the particles are going, the pattern on the wall behind it changes and you get two lines with no wave-like interference pattern. There is a goofy little video that shows this test here: The test is shown about half way through the video. H…

Hi, In quantum mechanics there is a... what?... I don't know so I'm hoping someone can help me... I'll say theory for now though this might be wrong. It says something like this 'If there is a probability that something can happen then, it does happen but in parallel universes.' I hope I've gotten that close enough to correct for someone to know what I'm talking about -- it's been 20 years since I really dug into quantum mechanics. First is this a prediction? a theory? or what? Second, does it have a name? Third has anything about this changed in the last 20 years? How likely is it that this really exists? Finally... gulp, does string theory h…

Hi! I've heard that the quantum world is mostly empty space. I need a way to visualize how much and, at different levels. In thinking about this I immediately hit the 1st problem; of what substance, in what state and at what temperature. Then, at the molecular, atomic or sub-atomic level? So how about this... in the following I am always talking about a solid (not gas, liquid or plasma) at 72 degrees Fahrenheit. I'll take anything any body knows as long as its using somekind of a comparative scale. Some 'completely made up' examples of what I'm looking for: (Molecular Level) * If an iron molecule were 1 inch in diameter, each molecule would be 2 i…

eigenfunctions are values of operators, so i hear. the subshells of atoms contain neutrons or protons and when the atom is excited some particles jump out to higher states... is this correct to say? in particle creation, so i hear, a photon is absorbed into a system. and when the particles annihilate a photon is released, right? but the two particles that are created have certain properties meaning that one is just like the other going backwards in time. so what we have now is a situation that involves a particle being created, emitting a photon, and then going back in time. that is my understanding. semiempirical equations, eigenfunctions, excited states, neutr…

Hi! This regards the famous experiment were photons (or other particles) were fired through two slits and the wave pattern appeared -- even when fired one at a time... and then we 'watched' to see what was actually passing through the slits and the wave pattern collapsed and we then got two lines instead of the wave pattern... First, how did we 'watch'? Since I do now know the answer to the above, I will assume we just aimed a special camera at one (or both) of the slits. Then... (did we try to trick the universe?) 1. Did we try recording instead of watching it live and then... not watching the recording -- burning the tape!?!? 2. Did we try putting the …

In QED (Quantum Electrodynamics) virtual photons are absorbed by electrons and this is what we feel as force. But how does a electron physically absorb a photon?

I heard somewhere that when a electron or photon tunnels through a potential barrier, it disappears and reappears on the other side, is this true?

Richard Feynman was the one I thought understood quantum mechanics better than anyone else. My opinion, nothing else. Now here are the quotes that surprised me: 1. " nobody understands quantum theory " 2. " I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics ". POLL: I agree...__ I disagree...__ I am not sure...__ Please feel free to add any comments you care to about this. ...Dr.Syntax .....I must have screwed because the poll appears above this posting. PLEASE SCROLL UP AND REGISTER YOUR VOTE

Hi, (Instructions: proceed to the first incorrect statement which probably invalidates the rest of the post and just deal with that) String along with me and tell me if I have this right... or, what to change: Lets look at open end strings whose ends are anchored to 'our' brane (unless its a closed zero-mass string {graviton} passing though). First, all 'we' can interact with are the strings on our brane, yes? Second, to visualize a brane we normally have wavy sheets waving next to each other... each brane having their own open end strings anchored to them and gravitons floating from one brane to another... however, this is just to visualize the arrangement.…