pg42 Questions on Schrodinger’s Cat (part 1 of 5)

The question is: What is the definition of “observation” (at here, it means particularly “collapse” to a definite quantum state)?  Who said an observation, or collapsing, must be made by a physicist?  What if my reader demands that the observation, or collapsing, must be made by the reader himself?  On the other hand, there are billions of atoms and molecules in my body which are not observed, or collapsed, by any physicists.  Are they not in existence (or not in a definite state) because they are not being observed, or collapsed, by a physicist, or anybody?  There are billions of billions of atoms and molecules in the planet earth which are not being observed, or collapsed, by any physicists.  Are they not in existence (or not in a definite state) because they are not being observed, or collapsed, by any physicist, or anybody? 

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pg41 QUANTUM MECHANICS (part 5 of 5)

Paradox Of Schrodinger’s Cat

While experiments confirmed Copenhagen interpretation in the part that quantum systems are not “collapsed” to a fixed state until observed, it suffers from another problem.  In the same year, 1935, Schrodinger devised another paradoxical thought experiment showing the absurdity of the interpretation.  In simple terms, assume we have a box with a cat and a jar of poison inside.  Assume there is a radioactive substance nearby.  There is a possibility that the substance decays and emits a particle in the first day.  If the substance does decay in the first day, the emitted particle will be captured by a Geiger counter, which in turn will trigger to release the poison from the jar and the cat will be dead.  If the substance didn’t decay in the first day, no poison will be released and the cat will be alive.  The physicist will come to open the box the next day to see (that is to perform the observation) if the cat is dead or alive.  Since the observation is not made until the next day, the whole quantum system including the Geiger counter, the whole box and the cat would be in an undetermined condition with the cat being in both dead and alive possible states.  The system would not be collapsed to a fixed determined state until observation time on the next day.  This of course cannot be true as no one believes the cat can be in both dead and alive states.  Then how can we make sense of this? 

Next, we’ll investigate more on the paradox of Schrodinger’s cat and quantum collapsing, as they are critical to the establishment of objective identity. 

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pg40 QUANTUM MECHANICS (part 4 of 5)

Absurdity of Copenhagen Interpretation

This is absurd as can be seen in the following example.  Suppose a particle disintegrates into two particles, one spins clockwise and the other anticlockwise.  The two particles will travel opposite to each other at very high speed.  According to Copenhagen interpretation, before observation the spin directions of the two particles are undetermined, both having possibilities of being clockwise and being anticlockwise.  Only at observation time, they are collapsed to a determined state.  If particle A is observed (which means collapsed) to being clockwise, then the other, particle B, must be observed (collapsed) to being anticlockwise “instantly”, even if they have travelled to different corners in the universe.  It is unbelievable that the two particles, being widely apart, can communicate instantly at infinite speed (much faster than light). 

EPR Paradox and Confirmation of Copenhagen Interpretation

On the contrary, Einstein’s view (cooperated with Podolsky and Rosen, 1935, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPR_paradox) is that the two particles must have determined states of spin directions at time of separation, just waiting to be measured.  But neither Einstein, nor Bohr and Heisenberg lived long enough to witness an experimental confirmation of one view or the other.  An observation done in 1982 in the University of Paris by Aspect etc. confirmed that the Copenhagen interpretation is correct.  That is, quantum systems don’t have determined state until observation time.  Only at observation time, the system is “collapsed” to a fixed state. 

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pg39 QUANTUM MECHANICS (part 3 of 5)

The Copenhagen Interpretation - Quantum Collapse at observation time

We will explore quantum collapse and the related concepts here because they are critical in the establishment of identity horizontally.   

The Copenhagen interpretation formulated by Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg is the “standard” interpretation of quantum mechanics.  The major aspect of this interpretation is that the state of a quantum system (say, the momentum or spin of a particle) is “not determined” until it is measured.  It doesn’t mean the state is already determined before measurement, just waiting to be observed.  It means the state is completely “undetermined” before observation is made.  Therefore, it is meaningless to ask where the particle is before measurement.  Only at observation time, the undetermined possibilities are “collapsed” to a fixed determined state.  In other words, the act of observation plays a role in determining the state of the particle. 

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pg38 QUANTUM MECHANICS (part 2 of 5)

Uncertainty in Quantum Mechanics

Uncertainty principle is an aspect of quantum mechanics.  It says the position or momentum (velocity) of a particle is undetermined until it is measured.  The uncertainty of position multiplies the uncertainty of momentum (velocity) equals or greater than the plank constant, h = 6.26 * 10 ^-27 erg.s.  That means, if you want to catch (measure) the particle within a smaller area (higher precision), the momentum (velocity) would be found (measured) to be within a larger deviation range.  And vice versa. 

Quantum mechanics applies to both microscopic and macroscopic objects.  Since the plank constant, h, is a very small value, the uncertainty of either position or momentum (velocity) of macroscopic objects (such as, a desk, a planet, etc.) is usually unnoticeable as compared to the size of the object.  But it is highly noticeable for microscopic objects, such as, electrons, protons, atoms, or molecules, because the uncertainty is much larger than the size of the particle.  There is no certainty of finding a particle, or an atom, at any definite position.  There is only a curve to express the probability of finding it at each position and time, and another curve to express the probability of finding it at each momentum (velocity) and energy value.  But for macroscopic objects, such as a desk, a star, etc. the probability curve almost coincides with the shape of the object, because the uncertainty is almost zero (as compared to its size).  Still, the object is not solid, but waves. 

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pg37 QUANTUM MECHANICS (part 1 of 5)

Brief description of quantum mechanics

Quantum mechanics is a strange aspect of matter most dramatic at very tiny scales, i.e. regions smaller than 0.00000001 cm.  It says all matter is governed by waves.  The probability of finding a particle at each position and time can be expressed by a curve (a packet wave).  That is, there is not a definite position and time (that is, there is an uncertainty) that the particle will be found.  The curve (packet wave) is composed of numerous mono waves.  The probability of finding a particle possessing each momentum (velocity) value and energy value is also expressed by a curve, i.e. there is not a definite value of momentum (velocity) and value of energy to be found for the particle either (that is, there is also an uncertainty).  Although the strange characteristics of quantum mechanics are manifested most dramatically at tiny scales, it applies to all sized of objects, even to astronomical scales. 

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pg36 The objectivity of molecules and biological bodies (part 2 of 2)

2.  A person is recognized as an individual person not only by himself but by all his/her friends as well.  It cannot be denied that the collection of particles being viewed as a body is not entirely the individual’s own personal viewpoint.  The same view is actually shared by all people.  It is not possible to view two human bodies as one unless they are actually conjoined twins.  We don’t have subjective liberty to choose our viewpoint.  There is objectivity in each biological (conceptual) structure acted by biological laws and also in each molecular (conceptual) structure acted by chemical laws. 

An objective identity implies it is not any subjectively selected collection of particles.  Rather, it is a special collection which together follows another set of non-physics laws (e.g. chemical or biological laws), on top of physics laws (and the set cannot be changed at wish).  On the other hand, subjective identity is any wishfully selected set of particles, with each particle following physics laws individually.  It is a mystery how each molecule or biological body establish its objective identity? 

We will talk a little about quantum mechanics before tackling this problem.  

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pg35 Topic 6 - The reality of objects – The Objective View – How Identity Established? (part 1 of 2)

The objectivity of molecules and biological bodies. 

Earlier we mentioned that all objects are illusory when viewed vertically.  That is, from the physics point of view, all animals and molecules are simply collections of particles.  That they are viewed as animals or molecules is nothing more than an illusion. 

But, it actually is not entirely like that when viewed horizontally, because: 

1. We can always insist to choose the physics point of view, i.e. only elementary particles are recognized in the world, which follow physics laws only.  In this case, no molecules, no animals, etc. are recognized.  Then how can a collection of particles (grouped together as an astronaut) fly to the moon?  As mentioned before, physics laws pose no intention.  Particles move randomly without any intentional will.  The world should be like a dead world on Mercury. 

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pg34 Overlapping of laws at different levels (part 3 of 3)

3. Alternatively, if one is uncomfortable with treating molecules as conceptual structure, he/she may consider a molecule as consisting of a set of exactly prescribed atoms.  But in this case when any atom is dropped off from the molecule, this molecule must be considered dead and cease to exist.  The molecule is reborn when the lost atom is refilled.  Likewise, a dog may be defined as being composed of a set of exactly prescribed cells.  But then according to this definition it must be considered dead when any of its cells are dropped off.  The dog is reborn when the cell is refreshed. 

Obviously, the second choice of the above three is the most close to the way we comprehend the world.  This choice opens large uncertainty in chemistry, larger uncertainty in biology and even larger uncertainty in social activities, e.g. economics, which is in general agreement with what is observed.  But the more important by-product is its commonality with the uncertainty in quantum mechanics.  We see here uncertainty is common to all sciences.  The uncertainty in quantum mechanics is just one special case of the general uncertainties in all sciences.   

Next we’ll turn to the undeniable objectivity of human bodies, molecules, etc.

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pg33 Overlapping of laws at different levels (part 2 of 3)

2. If we wish to recognize a molecule, or a dog, as a special individual object which follows its own chemical laws, or biological laws, then we have to give up treating them as particles following physics laws.  Because chemical laws already contain a high percentage (but not 100%) of physics laws, it would be overlapping each other if both of them are applied simultaneously.  The little percentage not governed by physics laws is due to drop-offs, which cannot be calculated.  If there were no drop-offs, applying chemical laws simultaneously with physics laws should pose no problem, as chemical laws can be translated completely into physics laws.  But when drop-off happens, we can choose only one set of laws at any moment. 

When choosing to recognize molecules and use chemical laws, there are two ways to deal with it.  The first way is to treat molecules as a conceptual structure because its component atoms can be dropped off and replaced by similar atoms from time to time.  This causes an uncertainty which is beyond control of the chemical law, as the law is acting on the conceptual structure rather than on fixed atoms.  This is the same to biological laws when we consider a dog not as a collection of particles or molecules, but as an individual animal.  Obviously, the uncertainty in a chemical law is larger than the uncertainty in the physics of quantum mechanics and the uncertainty in a biological law is even larger than the uncertainty in chemical laws. 

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