Posted on 11/18/2011 5:52:08 AM PST by ShadowAce
At the heart of the weirdness for which the field of quantum mechanics is famous is the wavefunction, a powerful but mysterious entity that is used to determine the probabilities that quantum particles will have certain properties. Now, a preprint posted online on 14 November1 reopens the question of what the wavefunction represents — with an answer that could rock quantum theory to its core. Whereas many physicists have generally interpreted the wavefunction as a statistical tool that reflects our ignorance of the particles being measured, the authors of the latest paper argue that, instead, it is physically real.
“I don't like to sound hyperbolic, but I think the word 'seismic' is likely to apply to this paper,” says Antony Valentini, a theoretical physicist specializing in quantum foundations at Clemson University in South Carolina.
Valentini believes that this result may be the most important general theorem relating to the foundations of quantum mechanics since Bell’s theorem, the 1964 result in which Northern Irish physicist John Stewart Bell proved that if quantum mechanics describes real entities, it has to include mysterious “action at a distance”.
Action at a distance occurs when pairs of quantum particles interact in such a way that they become entangled. But the new paper, by a trio of physicists led by Matthew Pusey at Imperial College London, presents a theorem showing that if a quantum wavefunction were purely a statistical tool, then even quantum states that are unconnected across space and time would be able to communicate with each other. As that seems very unlikely to be true, the researchers conclude that the wavefunction must be physically real after all.
David Wallace, a philosopher of physics at the University of Oxford, UK, says that the theorem is the most important result in the foundations of quantum...
(Excerpt) Read more at nature.com ...
Does that mean now is now 5,000 light years away?
IIRC..Einstein died NOT believing in qunatum theory..
Can someone shed some light on the implications of this?
Speaking of wave function. When I was little, my blue-sky question was always, why do waves go up and down? Later I wondered the same thing about more subtle kinds of waves.
I’m still wondering. Light can travel in waves. Energy too. Why? Why up and down? This way and that way. Whatever makes it go either way, why does it let it go instead of just pulling it one way?
What’s with the tennis match?
A philosopher of physics. What does that tell us?
If conciseness affects matter (the jinx in the machine), and thoughts are energy (human energy field), wouldn't the energy emitted from thoughts backed by strong emotion affect things at a distance as well?
Wouldn't that energy attract and communicate with like energy instantly, and explain miracles (with the results based on the intensity and spirit of energy transmitted)?
If thought energy can affect things at a distance, wouldn't that validate the use of prayer?
I think it probably refers to "PhD in Physics", since PhD is "Doctor of Philosophy".
Or you can get raw with these strings. Either way, the violin is sweet yet lethal.
Do it!
I agree. I'd love to dig a lot deeper into this. Right now, all I do is read a LOT of books on the subject. In fact, sometimes I have to read the same book twice to "get it."
When it comes to the scientific jargon that's needed to explain what I've learned - I really suck at it. That makes consolidating the right words to hold up my end of a conversation difficult.
Cowabunga, baby! Ride the wave!
Yes!
Or you can get raw with these strings. Either way, the violin is sweet yet lethal.
Do it!
I clearly do not know why, but your question is very intriguing...
It should be. Energy never dies, for one. Where does it go, especially since it's conscience of itself, after the body dies!
Secondly, if nothing exists until it's observed, that energy field has to be in play and in the body, or there is no observer, and therefore nothing observed.
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