Quantum Theory and the Observation Problem

      How does physics describe reality? Theoretical terms are never directly observable, not even in early mechanics. The speculative character of all scientific concepts, even that of 'position' in early mechanics was adequately emphasized by Mach. Newton himself was only too acutely aware of the formal nature of his theory's 'description'.

      Our present view of the everyday world allows for macroscopic objects to factually have only one definite physical state, out of many logical possibilities. If we toss a coin, logically speaking, both heads and tails are possibilities. In an actual toss, however, only heads or tails will show up. We shall refer to this view of the objects of the everyday world as the classically-definite (CDEF) conception of an object and its state. According to this CDEF conception, an object is always (factually) in only one of its many (logically) possible states. In addition, all the properties that we can associate with such a factual state of the object will have determinate values at all times, whether measured or not. This CDEF conception is independent of any physical theory and is basic to everyday naive realism.

      In this paper I shall argue the possibility for abandoning the CDEF conceptions altogether while interpreting quantum theory, even at the observational level, despite their demonstrated pragmatic usefulness. I shall argue for this move by raising both theoretical and experimental considerations that call into question how far terms such as wave-particle duality and superposition adequately convey the quantum implications of the corresponding formal terms. Indeed, the central thesis of this paper will be that we cannot even begin to comprehend the essential nature of the quantum mechanical description unless we develop an alternative, quantum-compatible conception of everyday objects in everyday thinking.

      We shall call the task of identifying such a conception of everyday objects and developing appropriate formal ideas based on it as the 'observation problem'. We then discuss certain interpretive insights of Einstein and Bohr that shows both of them recognized the observation problem as the principal one. Toward solving the observation problem, I identify a range of properties I label as ‘relational properties’. We routinely attribute to macroscopic objects in everyday thinking, and I discuss how in fact they are quantum-compatible. I discuss in broad terms how incorporating this relational property viewpoint into quantum physics would solve the observation problem. Such a solution would also simultaneously altogether avoid the measurement problem, which is an artifact of our current pragmatically successful strategy of retaining a classical view of the macroscopic world, while applying quantum theory to the microscopic world.

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Creation and Quantum Mechanics

Background

      December 14, 1900, is called the birthday of quantum mechanics. On this date German physicist Max Planck first presented his new quantum concepts. At this time it was generally thought that the classical physics of Isaac Newton fully explained all the physical processes of nature. Planck instead showed that many deep mysteries remained. For the past century, scientists have struggled with the meaning and implications of quantum mechanics. There are several different quantum interpretations, some of them quite philosophical. Certain experimental results agree with quantum theory to astounding accuracy. Other quantum predictions appear to defy common sense. A few scientists, both secular and creationist, reject the validity of quantum mechanics entirely. Creationist Thomas Barnes has offered one alternative model (Barnes, 1983).

Four Traditional Quantum Concepts

Max Planck (1858-1947) German scientist, founder of quantum mechanics.

  

    Max Planck showed that the energy content of an object cannot be any arbitrary amount. Instead, energy occurs only in small discrete bundles called quanta. Increasing energy must not be pictured as a smooth ramp, but instead as a stairway (figure 1). Quantum effects only become apparent on the small scale of atomic particles. For larger objects, such as a person, the individual energy steps are extremely small and unnoticeable. Otherwise we might find ourselves living in a bizarre quantum world where everything happened in jumps, as with a blinking strobe light.
      The second well-known concept is that light and matter show both wave and particle behavior. The light meter of a camera illustrates the particle nature of light. In this device, incident light photons collide with electrons, somewhat like marbles, and produce an electric current which indicates the light intensity. Likewise, the wave nature of electrons is used to produce magnified images in an electron microscope. As with energy quantization, the wave nature of larger objects is not noticeable.

Figure 1. In the older classical view an object's energy may be any amount (a). In the quantum view, energy may only occur in discrete levels or steps (b).

      A third concept is called the Uncertainty Principle, formulated by Werner Heisenberg in 1927. It describes an inherent limitation on our measuring ability. For example, as we determine the position of a particle more precisely, its motion (actually momentum) and thus its future location become less well known. Likewise, precise knowledge of a particle's motion hinders knowledge of its present location. This limitation is far different from classical physics where it is thought possible to know an object's position and speed exactly. In this olderdeterministic view, the exact future course of an object theoretically can be calculated. The Uncertainty Principle invalidates this exact knowledge for any particle. Note that this principle does not place a limit on the Creator who makes the particles and rules in the first place, but only on ourselves.

      Fourth, particles are usually described by such properties as their mass, speed, size, and electric charge. In quantum mechanics these quantities can be incorporated into a wave function, given the symbol y . This wave function is a descriptive model of particles. It is mathematically complex and unobservable. The square of y (with its complex conjugate) is found to give the probability of the particle's location, a very useful but poorly-understood concept. The wave function y can further be substituted into a famous equation constructed by Erwin Schrodinger in 1926. From this equation many particle properties can be calculated. Mystery cloaks these computational steps, although the results agree closely with experiment. The Schrodinger Equation cannot be derived from theory; it simply "works." Albert Einstein was uncomfortable with the equation and never fully accepted it.

New Quantum Concepts

      Three newer quantum ideas will be presented. Each had enjoyed experimental success in recent years. First is the "nonlocality" of particles. Interference experiments show that a single electron somehow is able to "spread out" and pass through two separate openings at the same time. Instead of a single particle, the electron can be pictured as a "wave packet" which can shrink or expand with time. Similar experiments also have detected a single beryllium atom in two slightly different locations at once (Monroe, et al., 1996).

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Quantum Physics and Vedic Metaphysics

      Consciousness is the primary issue in human life. Indeed, without consciousness, there are no other issues. Consciousness and its corollaries are fundamental to every thought, word and action. Yet how strange it is that no universally accepted, comprehensive theory of consciousness exists in Western science. The reason for this is clear: until recently, science intentionally restricted its domain to empirical investigations of the manifest objective world, while consciousness is intrinsically subjective and immanent.
      However, without a practical theory of consciousness, science cannot adequately explain the world in which we live. Consciousness is the most basic experiential fact of existence. Without a theory of consciousness, Quantum Mechanics in particular has nowhere to turn but to mathematical theories of chance and probability to explain observations of subatomic energy transactions. Einstein famously expressed his discomfort with this by saying, “God does not play dice with the Universe. ” Quantum Mechanics cannot predict the behavior of a quantum system until a macroscopic conscious entity interferes with it, decohering the indeterminate superposition of the quantum wave function into a definite classical result.
      Clearly, Quantum Mechanics is missing something; just as clearly, what is missing is a workable theory of consciousness. The sometimes bizarre concepts and calculations of quantum theory all depend on the existence and actions of an observer. Any observer must be conscious, and therefore the consciousness of the observer is critical to the outcome of any quantum experiment. However, so far Quantum Mechanics still treats the observer ’s consciousness as a ‘black box,’ as if consciousness were proscribed from serious scientific inquiry. Whether this is a consequence of Western science’s origins as a weapon against the intellectual repression of the Church, or because of materialistic empirical bias of theorists and researchers, is not the issue here. The intent of this work is to present and explore an extant theory of consciousness from an ancient tradition of vital, living importance to hundreds of millions of adherents and practitioners all over the world, and to evaluate its potential value to modern science.

Translating Vedanta

      With recent developments in Quantum Mechanics and the philosophy of science, the dialogue of Western scientific thought has advanced to the point where its cutting edge exposes many issues equivalent to those discussed in Vedanta. Now that this has occurred, the timeless principles of Vedanta can be expressed in the technical language of Quantum Mechanics and the philosophy of science, with little or no attenuation of meaning. Quantum physics and Vedanta address the same philosophical object: the inconceivable, immeasurable and immanent nature of Absolute Reality, of which the observable phenomenological cosmos is but a tiny subset. The two disciplines approach the subject from widely divergent points of view and use vastly different language to treat it. Nevertheless, the commonality of subject between Western science and Vedanta makes it possible to reconcile them without diminishing the importance or subtlety of either. Scientific Vedanta is the first attempt to translate the enduring wisdom of Vedanta into the new scientific language of Quantum Physics.
      The insights of Vedanta philosophy and practice provide tremendous theoretical and practical advantages over a strictly Western scientific approach to the mysteries of life and existence. The keys to these advantages are thatVedanta recognizes the transcendental nature of consciousness, and the practical ability of directed consciousness to act, in effect, as co-creator of the universe to realize its full potential. Vedantic consciousness theory provides a workable interface between the individual and the Universal Quantum Wave Function, which contains all possibilities of all possible universes. Through this interface, one can enter into a direct personal relationship with the Infinite and engage in an eternal, ecstatic dance of mutual reciprocation. Translating the recondite philosophy and practical methods of Vedanta into accessible Western scientific language opens profound possibilities of expanded consciousness to millions of scientific-minded people all over the world.
What is Vedanta?
      The Sanskrit term Vedanta is a compound of veda + anta. Veda can refer to the Vedas, the sacred sanatana-dharma tradition of Bharata (India), or in a more general sense, it simply means true knowledge. Anta means the conclusion or end. So Vedanta can be interpreted either literally, as the final conclusion of the voluminous literature of the Vedic tradition; or more figuratively, as the ultimate knowledge, once knowing which, there is nothing further to be known. Vedanta appears herein in both meanings, but chiefly in the latter sense. In other words, Vedanta is the highest knowledge of the Vedic tradition, exactly as Quantum Mechanics and allied fields are the most advanced subjects in Western science.

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The mystery of mass: What makes one particle light and another heavy?

The author of 'Massive' introduces a short film that summarises quantum mechanics and the quest for the Higgs boson

Large Hadron Collider (LHC) generates a 'mini-Big Bang'

      The Large Hadron Collider has successfully created a "mini-Big Bang" by smashing together lead ions instead of protons.
      The scientists working at the enormous machine on Franco-Swiss border achieved the unique conditions on 7 November.

      

      The experiment created temperatures a million times hotter than the centre of the Sun.
    

      The LHC is housed in a 27km-long circular tunnel under the French-Swiss border near Geneva.
Up until now, the world's highest-energy particle accelerator - which is run by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (Cern) - has been colliding protons, in a bid to uncover mysteries of the Universe's formation.
      Proton collisions could help spot the elusive Higgs boson particle and signs of new physical laws, such as a framework called supersymmetry.
      But for the next four weeks, scientists at the LHC will concentrate on analysing the data obtained from the lead ion collisions.
      This way, they hope to learn more about the plasma the Universe was made of a millionth of a second after the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago.
      One of the accelerator's experiments, ALICE, has been specifically designed to smash together lead ions, but the ATLAS and Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiments have also switched to the new mode.

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Freud's approach to dreams

      With his psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud opened the door for dreams to become a subject of scientifical research. He became interested in dreams when dealing with his patients because they were telling dreams spontaneously. He soon systematically included interpretation of dreams in psychoanalysis right besidehypnosis and free association. In the end of 19th century he eventually researched the mechanism of dreaming. The analysis of dreams is indispensable tool in therapy for each psychoanalyst since then, and for Freud, dreams are even the key to theoretical understanding ofsubconscious. He explained also dreams of people, who did not suffer from mental illness, in psychoanalytic way and so he was changing hispsychotherapy in theory in the very beginning.
      When we become tired of receiving of and responding to stimuli from environment we try to fall asleep. The main characteristic of psychical state of a sleeper is therefore a withdrawal from reality and cessation of taking all interests in it. We try to fall asleep by disconnecting from all sources of external stimuli. We lay down in a silent, dark room and cover our body to keep it comfortably warm and so minimize input from environment. Of course, an absolute withdrawal in which we would stop to perceive environment is not possible. In other words, the sleeper does not have a 'switch' to switch off at the time of sleeping and switch on back, when the time for awakening comes. After all, if such absolute withdrawal was possible to achieve, the sleeper would risk not to wake up again, since more and more strong stimuli in the morning are exactly what wakes up the sleeper. These stimuli disturb us also during the sleep, and our mentality is forced to respond to them - with dreams.

Dream Symbolism

      Freud derived dream symbols from the resistance of dream interpretation. He noticed that resistance regularly occurred with certain elements of dreams even in dreams of mentally healthy people. He claimed that formation of visual answer on stimulus (dream) is not coincidental. He figured out that some parts of manifestcontent typically correspond with certain latent content. Freud called these manifest elements symbols - to which he ascribed constant meaning. The dream symbols are in his opinion more or less sexual.
      Number three has in dreams symbolic meaning of man's sexual organ. All dream ideas which consist of three parts can mean the man's sexual organ. Phallus is symbolically substituted with all things that are similar to it by their form, namely long things that jut out: mountains, rocks, sticks, umbrellas, poles, trees... Then objects for which the penetration in the body and harming is characteristic - weapons: knifes, daggers, lances, sabres, swords... and fire arms: guns, rifles, revolvers, cannons... Obviously, the phallus is also substituted with objects from which water runs: pipes, watering-pots, fountains... and with objects that can be lengthened: hanging lights, extensible pens, aerials... Balloons, airplanes, helicopters, rockets, etc. are symbols of erection. Less evident male sexual symbols are reptiles and fish, especially a symbol of snake. A hat and a coat as well as various machines and appliances have the same meaning.
      Female genitalia are symbolically represented with hollow objects that can contain things: shafts, pits and caves, vessels and bottles, boxes, suitcases, tins, pockets, closets, stoves, ships... The same holds for house with entrances, passages and doors, churches, chapels, castles, mansions, fortresses and even landscape itself. The material such as wood and paper as well as objects made of them: a table, a book... symbolize the same. Typical female symbols among animals are snails and mussels and their shells. Apples, peaches and fruits in general symbolize breasts.
      All kind of playing (playing instruments also), sliding, slipping and breaking branches are symbols of masturbation. The teeth falling out and extraction of them are symbols of castration as a punishment for masturbating (castration's complex).
      Various rhythmical activities such as dance, riding, raising and threatening with weapon symbolize sexual intercourse itself. Typical activities that symbolize sexual intercourse are also climbing and going down the ladder or stairs and running inside a house. The queen and king or empress and emperor and similar relations symbolize parents. The fall into water or raising out of it symbolizes birth.
      Many dreams which seemed puzzling before, become more clear when considering Freud's symbols and the censorship of dream. Although dream symbols allow for direct interpretation of dreams, we must never do that without previous knowledge of patient's psychological background. The dream can be understood, Freud held, only in light of the dreamer's associations to it. After telling the dream, the therapist has to ask the patient to engage in free associations stimulated by certain element of the dream. When following the spontaneous flow of thoughts and feelings, the patient is asked to describe it as fully as possible. The patient, however, has to consider an agreement that s/he will tell every idea without trying to censor or control it in any way. We tell the patient "a rule that must not be broken: when telling [dreams] s/he must not leave out any idea even if s/he gets one of four objections: that idea is irrelevant, too senseless, that is not connected with the issue or is too embarrassing." (Freud 1977) Only such a rule will ensure efficient relationship between the dream teller and dream interpreter.

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