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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