Series: Quantum Mechanics

Blogs about Quantum Mechanics

Quantum
Realm

Particle
Physics

Consciousness
Reality

Bruce
Lipton

Universe
Provides

Holographic
Universe

Quantum
Conversation

String
Theory

Quantum
Mechanics

The Quantum Realm

TERMS:

• QFT - Quantum Field Theory (Neils Bohr)
• CFT - Classical Field Theory (Einstein)
• SR - Special Relativity
• GR - General Relativity
• WF - Wave Function
• SM - Standard Model
• LQG - Loop Quantum Gravity
• Planck length - 1.6 X 10^-35 meters (1.6 is the multiplier that gives a precise numerical value to the scale, 10^-35. It's like saying the distance from here to there is around 100 km, but the precise distance is actually 116 km)
• Planck energy - 1.22 X 10¹⁹ GeV
• Planck time - 5.4 X 10^-44 seconds

Podcast
As I was watching a podcast between Sir Roger Penrose and Federico Faggin about Quantum Physics and consciousness, a few words were bounced around - quantum field, wave function collapse, special relativity and quantum gravity. I have a vague sense of what they are, but to pin them down? I had to ask AI and embark on a new learning curve about the quantum realm.

understanding the Double Slit Experiment is to understand Quantum Mechanics

Quantum Field Theory (QFT)
QFT is a theoretical framework combining Quantum Mechanics (reality at the sub-atomic level) with Special Relativity (electromagnetism, strong and weak nuclear force - gravity is not included). QFT successfully predicts the behavior of the fundamental forces (electromagnetism, strong/weak nuclear force) through its interaction with the Field - this is the cornerstone of the Standard Model of Particle Physics. In contrast, the Classical Field Theory (CFT) describes forces, but does not produce particles, e.g. electromagnetic field when excited does not produce an electromagnetic particle. In QFT, particles arise because the Fields get excited. The Math holds up when dealing with electromagnetism and strong/weak nuclear force. But when gravity is introduced into QFT, anomalies and inconsistencies happen.

When gravity is treated under the QFT principle (as a force that produces a graviton particle when the gravity field gets excited), the results produce an infinite number of infinities - the Math simply doesn't hold up - thus, to make the Standard Model work, gravity has to be excluded.

Special relativity
Special relativity is General Relativity without Gravity (SR = GR - Gravity). Gravity is omitted because without gravity, the Standard Model is precise, predictable, and reliable. Once you throw gravity into the fray, the whole thing implodes. GR (which includes gravity) was formulated by Einstein describing the behavior of space/time especially as they move at high speeds approximating the speed of light. Space and time are not separate but a singularity composed of 3 dimensions for space and 1 for time. SR gave rise to Time Dilation and E=MC².

Gravity: The Rogue Particle
In General Relativity, gravity is not a particle but a result of mass/energy bending space/time (not as a particle caused by the Gravity Field getting excited as per QFT). Another incompatibility is that in QFT, interactions are probabilistic (you don't know exactly the position and momentum of the particle until the Field gets excited and manifests the particle) while in General Relativity, interactions are deterministic (outcomes are computational and predictable). QFT only works with Special Relativity (without gravity), not with General Relativity (includes gravity). This is a fundamental problem in Theoretical Physics known as Quantum Gravity. If gravity is put in the QFT equation, issues come up basically because QFT and GR have fundamental differences (QFT is probabilistic vs GR being precisely predictable):

2 Conditions where gravity is incompatible with QFT:

1. Higher energies - these are energies far higher than energies we interact with in daily life. Some examples of high energy are the LHC (LHC doesn't have enough energy to detect a graviton. Energies close to the Planck Energy are needed to produce a graviton), cosmic rays (high energy particles from outer space), nuclear fusion in the sun, and Planck Energy (the highest theoretical scale in physics). These high energies are enough to probe deep into fundamental particles. The Higgs Bozon was discovered using the high energy released by the LHC.
2. Small scales - we are talking about the very small world like Planck Scale.

Gravity and QFT Incompatibilities

1. Renormalizability
A Planck Scale is high in energy and infinitiesimally small. Infinites in a mathematical equation are essentially errors. In QFT, infinities happen, but they can be renormalized by tweaking the charge and mass of the particle to come up with finite predictions. But with gravity at these small scales, the number of infinities are infinite making the whole equation non-sensible - thus, QFT is not a compatible framework with gravity to come up with anything meaningful. Gravity at the small scale is not renormalizable.

2. Extreme Warping of Space/Time
At Planck's scale (where energies are high at a very small scale), gravity (the curvature of space/time) is amplified so much that space/time curves extremely that the smooth/continuous Field background of QFT no longer holds - so everything collapses.

3. Singularities and Black Holes
In high energies, energy can be concentrated on a small region creating a mini black hole with a singularity having infinite density and gravity that it warps space/time to nullify the smooth/continuous background of QFT. This produces mathematical inconsistencies (non-renormalization of gravity, ) and physical paradoxes (black hole losing information, time being a fixed background in QFT but an intrinsic part of space/time in GR, black hole having an infinite density in GR but it warps space/time that QFT no longer operates) that collapse the equation. This doesn't necessarily mean the theory is wrong but it is incomplete - thus the proposal of alternate "Theories of Everything" like String Theory, Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG), and the Holographic Simulation.

Quantum Theory of Gravity
Because of the incompatibility between QFT and GR, scientists have been searching for a theory that can include gravity (at higher energies and small scale) into Quantum Mechanics without any mathematical anomaly. Solving this anomaly is a big step toward the "Theory of Everything" - putting all the forces of nature in an elegant mathematical equation. There are several propositions:

1. String theory - this suggests that you can go infinitiesimally smaller than the particle until you see its building blocks - vibrational energies resembling strings. How these strings vibrate causes particles to manifest - including gravity. For this to work, you have to deal with 11 dimensions - not just 4. Also, this cannot be experimented on. Also, it's been 40 years since the proponents have been working on this with nothing to show for.
2. Loop quantum gravity (LQG) - this approach quantizes space/time into irreducible 'pixels' at the Planck's Scale (GR treats space/time as smooth continuous fabric of the universe that is deterministic - you can compute distance and volume at any scale). Therefore, space/time is no longer an infinite continuous fractal but 'pixilated' (quantized and no longer divisible, just probabilities) in LQG. In String Theory, space/time is still fluid and continuous, but an emergent from tiny strings at a much smaller scale. But for now, this is still a hypothesis and not fact. There is no instrumentation currently to probe at Planck's Distance (1.6 X 10^-35 meters) and Plank Time (5.4 X 10^-44) seconds, so we don't know.
   
   This has serious ramifications. If space/time is quantized, then it's computational. If it's computational, then it's programable. If it's programable, then perhaps this reality including us is just a program - a simulation, giving rise to the Simulation Hypothesis.
3. Black holes - black holes have an intensified gravity not explained by classical physics. Studying the nature of black holes might give an insight on quantum gravity.

Quantum Wave (Wave function)
Quantum Wave describes individual particles. It predicts where a particle might be and how it is behaving - it doesn't tell you exactly where it is nor its momentum (thus QFT is probabilistic). Particles have 2 features - wave-like properties or mass-like properties. Particles behave like waves but when they are observed or measured (like in the double slit experiment), the wave 'collapses' to a specific position of the particle (meaning they turn into a mass from being a wave).

What happens if the Graviton Particle is discovered?
The Graviton Particle is the Holy Grail. This has been predicted but never produced. It takes high energy close to the plank energy to detect it (orders of magnitude greater than the LHC), if it can be produced. So far, its existence is only in theory. But when discovered, it is a game changer. If the Graviton Particle is produced by a super powerful particle accelerator, then QFT is validated - that gravity is a field giving rise to a particle. Does it mean that GR is wrong? Does it mean that gravity is not caused by the warping of space/time (as per GR)? Well, not exactly. This means that the warping of space/time is still real, but it is now caused by countless gravitons interacting with each other at the quantum level. In short, the warping of space/time (a feature of GR), is an emergent phenomenon with QFT as an underlying principle. This means that gravity can now be explained complementarily by GR and QFT - there is no more any contradiction. This means that GR and QFT fall under a much bigger framework - that again would be the "Theory of Everything".

Quantum Field (QF)
QF is more pervasive because we are talking about the entirety of space (unlike wave function that only describes one particle). While QF is pervasive across space, there is a Field for each Particle Type - a proton field when excited, gives rise to a proton particle. Each Field gives rise to its particular particle e.g. the proton field, when excited, manifests the proton particle. This proton particle is the building block of reality as we see it. The Field is an energy that permeates all of reality including empty space. QF can create and destroy particles (eg photons are created and destroyed when they interact with other charged particles). In QFT, the Field is primary and the basic element - not the particles. Particles are just the excited state of the field - quanta.

If the Graviton is detected, GR merges with QFT. Does that solve the "Theory of Everything"?
NO. Discovery of the Graviton is a monumental breakthrough. It puts gravity in the Standard Model of Particle Physics, but there are still incompatibilities between GR and QFT at high energies (black holes and big bang) and small scale (Planck Scale).

1. Space/Time - this is a sticking point and needs to be redefined between the 2 theories - QFT treats space/time as a fixed background while GR treats space/time as a smooth continuous fabric.
2. Unification with other forces - the discovery of graviton still requires a unifying theoretical framework for gravity, electromagnetism and strong/weak nuclear force as aspects of the same fundamental interaction. There is no such framework yet. Gravity is still a stand-alone - even with a graviton. String Theory hopes to achieve this by suggesting gravity is an emergent phenomenon of an underlying fundamental substrate - a band of energy shaped like a string.
3. Non-renormalization - the discovery of graviton does not resolve the non-renormalization of gravity - it still produces an infinite number of infinities when factored into QFT.
4. Dark Matter and Dark Energy - the Standard Model accounts for elementary particles and fundamental forces, but it cannot explain 95% of the known universe which is Dark Matter (gravitational force keeping the galaxies from spinning away) and Dark Energy (force accelerating the expansion of the universe). Dark Matter and Dark Energy do not interact with anything we know of. We cannot detect it, we cannot measure it. We just know 'there's something out there that accounts for these anomalies'.
5. Wave function collapse - the discovery of graviton does not account for the collapse of the wave function (when the field collapses into a particle). Physicists simply accept that as a fact but were never able to explain why.
6. Experimentable and Producing predictions - the mathematical equation should be consistent for all forces and particles (no infinities). They should be experimentable producing what it predicted. But String Theory is not experimentable and hasn't produced any of its predictions (11 dimensions, supersymmetry, microscopic black holes, multiverse).

Ending Thoughts
It took me 4 days to wrap my head around Gravity, Quantum Field Theory, and General/Special Relativity. Whoa! I've asked AI more questions with every answer it gave me. I kept drilling down until I got it. It was a deep rabbit hole and I was only at the opening. I could have gone deeper, but I have other things to accomplish.

What's my takeaway? Well, it gave me insight on the deeper substrates of reality far beyond our human perception. Collapsing the wave function by the sheer presence of my mind gives me an idea how consciousness relates to reality. Or how reality could be architectured through consciousness. It made me wonder what lies beyond the limits of our human perception. Many things began to race in my mind. Once you ponder on them, you see reality beyond the daily grind. Reality has many layers to it. This makes me ponder on existence, purpose and life.

Devouring knowledge about anything that interests you is very rewarding - your curiosity is satiated, you find bearing, you might even find out what role you are playing in this cosmic stage, and perhaps you can even see a way to make it a 'call to action' for greater productivity. All this is now possible because of AI. Before AI, my questions were left unanswered or it would have taken days of research to gain that information. It was a huge stumbling block. Now, the world's knowledge base is accessible at your fingertips - there is no excuse anymore to remain ignorant. The more I learn, the more I appreciate the richness of this universe and the more I find meaning in my human existence.

--- Gigit (TheLoneRider)
YOGA by Gigit | Learn English | Travel like a Nomad | Donation Bank

Sir Roger Penrose and Federico Faggin

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Philosopher King

(November 18, 2024) Ever since I saw the movie Captain Fantastic where the archetype 'philosopher king' was idealized in a dysfunctional political system, I couldn't get the thought out of mind especially in this day and age where politics have become synonymous with power, wealth and control. Who do we have now who can be 'philosopher king'? And who have been philosopher kings in humankind's history?...more »»

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