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page 10: The emergence of quantum mechanicsTable of contents 10.1: An introduction to quantum theory10.2: Function space 10.3: Complex numbers, periodic functions and time 10.4: The double slit experiment 10.5: How does it work? 10.6: Superposition 10.7: Which slit does the particle go through? 10.8: Feynman's jewel 10.9: Wigner's mystery 10.1 An introduction to quantum theoryWe are attempting to construct a universe from a primordial quantum of action. In broadest terms we might imagine that the mechanism for this construction has two phases, familiar to us from Darwinian evolution: variation and selection. Quantum mechanics is a mathematical theory which provides us with both these elements of evolution. The theory involves two distinct and apparently incompatible processes. The first, described by the Schrödinger equation, is believed to be a continuous error free deterministic process which describes the evolution of undisturbed quantum systems through time. This is described on this page and leads to the discussion of error free communication on page 11: Quantization: the mathematical theory of communication. John von Neumann (2014): Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Schrödinger equation - Wikipedia The second describes the interruption of this process by observation which leads, after some preparation on page 12: The quantum creation of Minkowski space and page 13: Is Hilbert space independent of Minkowski space?, to a discussion of the so called measurement problem on page 14: Measurement: the interface between Hilbert and Minkowski spaces 10.2: Function spaceA Hilbert space is a function space, which means every point in the space represents a function, f. By establishing an origin in this space we may imagine every point in it as a vector from the origin (that is zero) to the point representing the function. We may divide functions into real and complex, depending on whether the domain of the function are real or complex numbers. Complex numbers are often written z = x + iy or z = w + iv where x, y, w and v are real numbers and i is the imaginary unit i = √-1 (i2 = -1). Two outstanding features of complex numbers are that they do not have a natural order, and that they are naturally periodic. Real number - Wikipedia, Complex number - Wikipedia 10.3: Complex numbers, periodic functions and timePoints and vectors in the Hilbert space of quantum mechanics are represented by complex numbers. Complex numbers may be represented as vectors on the complex plane with one real dimension x and one complex dimension iy. Complex plane - Wikipedia The complex plane is a simple application of the coordinate system developed by Descartes to create geometric representations of algebraic functions. A simple real linear function like f = ax + b appears on the Cartesian plane as a family of straight line whose steepness or gradient depends on a. If b = 0 this line runs through the origin. As b varies, the point at which the line intercepts the y axis moves up and down the axis. Linear function (calculus) - Wikipedia The next most interesting family of function are those which involve x2, known as the conic sections since we can visualize them by slicing through a three dimensional cone in various ways. The simplest of these is the circle, where we take slices off the cone parallel to its base. Conic section - Wikipedia The circle provides us with another and more informative polar graphical representation of complex numbers using a circle on the complex plane. A circle is the locus of line which lies at a fixed distance r, from a point, the centre of the circle. Quantum mechanics (aka wave mechanics) describes periodic motion in some domain, which maybe a mathematical abstraction like Hilbert space or real spacetime. The cyclic nature of complex numbers is perfect for describing such motion. Since we understand Hilbert space here to be a mathematical ideal which exists outside space and time, we must imagine the variables in quantum mechanics to be pure numbers without any specific relationship to physical space and time. Page 13: Is Hilbert space independent of Minkowski space?, explains that Hilbert and quantum mechanics precede the existence of space-time. "Distances" in quantum mechanics are measured by angle or phase which are conveniently represented by the polar form of complex numbers. Polar coordinate system - Wikipedia Complex numbers have no natural order, unlike the real numbers 1, 2, 3, . . .. We can however assign a length to a complex vector z called its absolute value, symbol |z|, which measures the distance of the point z from the origin of coordinates . The equation of a circle with radius r is x2 + y2 = r2, which shows that |z| = √ x2 + y2. We designate a specific point z on this circle by the angle θ between the positive x axis and the radius ending at z. This angle is called the argument or phase of z. The complex number z = x + iy can therefore be represented by the equation z = |z| θ. The phase θ, measured in radians, may take any real value. In pure quantum mechanics |z| is normalized to 1 so that only phase of the vector is significant. The abstract world of quantum mechanics is kinematic and formal rather than dynamic and concrete. We understand kinematic processes, like the motions we see in a projected movie, as processes without causality. The motions we see in movies are artificially constructed and have no need to follow the usual rules of physical causality. Here we understand motions in the Hilbert space of the Universe in a similar way. It is driven by its source, the initial singularity, which plays the roles historically attributed to divinities and angels. It is not physically constrained like events in Minkowski space. It acts as a source of variation from which the actual physical motion in Minkowski space are selected by the laws or symmetries of physics as we shall see on page 14 referenced above. This situation enables the existence of a form of evolution by variation and selection in the physical domain. Warner Brothers Loony Tunes The quantum energy equation, which we write E = ℏ ω where ω is the angular frequency in radians per second dθ/dt, measures the rate at which the vector representing a quantum state is rotating in the complex plane. We equate one quantum of action to one full turn θ = 2π. Although we use the terms energy, action and angular frequency these terms simply point to numbers in ideal Hilbert space some of which will come to represent observable quantitites in real Minkowski space. Since the action of the quantum of action is to act, we imagine that there is always formal kinematic energy present in the quantum world whose local value is the rate at which state vectors are rotating. This is represented by another form of the quantum energy equation, ∂ψ/∂t = Hψ where t is a number and H is the energy matrix representing the energy of each element in a superposition of quantum states. Quantum superposition - Wikipedia, Hamiltonian (quantum mechanics) - Wikipedia We are inclined to think of frequency as the rate of repetition of some event. Another way to look at it is its inverse, the period between events. From this point of view, high energy physics may be seen as the physics of very short periods or fast processes. One of the beauties of Hilbert space is that it is ideally suited for representing periodic functions like music. Much of the content of music is more easily felt and understood as intervals rather than as frequencies.
10.4: The double slit experimentA common simple illustration of the difference between the behaviour of microscopic quantum particles and macroscopic classical particles is provided by the double slit thought experiment. If we spray real bullets at random at a barrier with two holes, we see that some bullets go through one or other hole and strike a target behind the holes in line with the holes. Quantum particles, on the other hand, appear to go through both holes and interact with themselves to generate an interference pattern on a screen behind the holes. Double-slit experiment - Wikipedia In his lectures on the double slit experiment Richard Feynman summarizes the quantum experiment in three propositions:
10.5: How Does it Work?Feynman then goes on to ask:
“How does it work? What is the machinery behind the law?” No one has found any machinery behind the law. No one can “explain” any more than we have just “explained.” No one will give you any deeper representation of the situation. We have no ideas about a more basic mechanism from which these results can be deduced. 10.6: SuperpositionThis statement seems to be a bit pessimistic. The explanation, devised in the first decades of the twentieth century, is quantum mechanics. The key idea, identified by Paul Dirac in his treatise on quantum mechanics, is superposition, which simply means the addition of vectors representing physical states in Hilbert space. Paul Dirac (1930,1983): The Principles of Quantum Mechanics (4th ed)We meet a simple classical version of superposition in the bathroom. A bath or shower is supplied with two sources of water, one painfully hot, the other painfully cold. We adjust the taps until the temperature if just right by adding cold water and hot water.
We understand the amplitudes added by quantum superposition are waves represented by the complex numbers described in section 10.3 above. The quantum world is in perpetual motion, the frequency of the waves depending on their energy. Although in the two slit experiment quantum particles interfere with themselves, a large number of them must have the same energy, that is the same frequency, to create a clear pattern on the screen. The random frequencies in white light do not produce the effect.
We can get an idea of the addition of moving waves by throwing stones into smooth pond. When two stones fall simultaneously close by we see that when the expanding circles of waves spreading from each impact meet they add and subtract from one another to form a complex patterns which seem to pass through one another unaffected. Jessica Haines: Two stones wave patterns The phenomenon is also clear in sound. We can usually distinguish voices of different instruments or people sounding together. No musical instrument generates a perfectly pure note. They all produce overtones related to the fundamental frequency of each note, and it is these overtones that make the difference between C on a piano and C on a trumpet. Listening to an orhestra we can often pick out the contributions from different instruments even though they are playing the same note. Catherine & Johnathan Karoly: Heitor Villa-Lobos: The Jet Whistle The quantum probability amplitudes referred to here are invisible and undetectable, but can be calculated and represented mathematically to give results that match our experimental observations (see page 15 Quantum amplitudes and logical processes are invisible). We assume that the invisible amplitudes of quantum theory behave mathematically just like the visible and audible interference of real physical waves of water and sound. In the early days of wave mechanics, physicists often found themselves studying sound waves to gain insight into quantum waves. Each slit in the two slit experiment emits a quantum wave. Because the slits are separated, the paths taken by the waves to any point on the screen, except the exact centre, have different lengths. When the waves add at a given point sometimes they are in phase and the added amplitudes have a corresponding large absolute value giving a high probability of observing a particle (Feynman's proposition 1 above). When they are out of phase and cancel one another, the probability is low and it is unlikely that a particle will appear. The observed pattern of particle impacts on the screen is the result. The kinematic behaviour of vectors in Hilbert space has an effect on the dynamic behaviour of events in Minkowski space. We might see a similar effect at the movies. Although the moving pictures and sounds may be purely kinematic and artificially created, they can nevertheless have the real emotional effects on the audience that the movie makers seek. The movie is a signal carrying information which relies on the intelligence of the viewers to be realized as physical emotion. 10.7: Which slit does the particle go through?It seems intuitively obvious that a real particle would go through one slit or the other. If we block one slit, or devise a way to decide which slit the particle goes through, however, the interference pattern is lost. (Feynman's proposition 3). How can this be?
The answer proposed here, to be explained on page 12: The quantum creation of Minkowski space and page 13: Is Hilbert space independent of Minkowski space?, is that the formalism of quantum mechanics operates at a level that lies beneath the spacetime familiar to us in everyday life. From an intuitive point of view, we can say that Hilbert space is the realm of the imagination of the Universe, just as our own minds are the realm of our imagination. Imagination has a significant input into what we do just as quantum theory has a significant input into what the Universe does. In the case of quantum mechanics, this input is not deterministic. The heart of the measurement problem discussed on page 14: Measurement: the interface between Hilbert and Minkowski is the uncertainty arising in the choice and timing of the outcomes that arise from a particular experiment. The theory is capable of predicting the exact nature of each of these random outcomes. What is cannot predict is the exact moment at which a quantum event will occur. Nor is our imagination deterministic. It provides us with many options from which we ultimately select what we actually do. This changes as our experience changes. Here we touch on the heart of Einstein's difficulty with quantum mechanics. His theories of relativity are based on the notion that the behaviour of the physical world is independent of observers. This idea is implemented mathematically by general covariance which maintains the independence of phenomena as the frames of reference used by observers change. This principle holds in the classical world, but in the quantum world interactions are more like conversations where two sources of communication interact with one another, sharing messages that change the state of both. In effect, to observe is to be observed, and the Universe is in effect conscious because it observes itself. When we meet, we are both changed, General covariance - Wikipedia This idea becomes more plausible as we progress. It lies at the heart of cognitive cosmology, the idea that we can produce a comprehensive theory of everything by interpreting the Universe as a mind. 10.8: Feynman's jewelQuantum mechanics would never have been possible without the discovery of complex numbers which are perfect for repreenting the periodicity of the musical source of the Universe. In section 3 we equated the absolute value of a complex number with the radius of a circle in the complex plane. This equation is consequence of the Pythagorean theorem, the square on the hypotenuse of a right angled triangle in equal to the sum of the squares on the other two sides. Pythagorean theorem - Wikipedia Very early in a course on trigonometry, we learn that in a right angled triangle, the sine of each of the acute angles is the ratio of the length of the side opposite the angle to the hypotenuse, and the cosine of that angle is the ratio of the side adjacent to the angle to the hypotenuse. This leads us to the conclusion that for any angle θ sin2 + cos2 = 1. In the field of complex numbers, this insight can be taken a step further. Feynman writes: In our study of oscillating systems we shall have occasion to use one of the most remarkable, almost astounding, formulas in all of mathematics. From the physicist’s point of view we could bring forth this formula in two minutes or so, and be done with it. But science is as much for intellectual enjoyment as for practical utility, so instead of just spending a few minutes on this amazing jewel, we shall surround the jewel by its proper setting in the grand design of that branch of mathematics which is called elementary algebra. His first conclusion is that, given the invention of complex numbers, every algebraic equation can be solved. This is the fundamental theorem of algebra. On page 14: The measurement problem we will see that this theorem makes the solution of quantum mechanical problems possible. Fundamental theorem of algebra - Wikipedia
He then goes on to conclude: we summarize this with the most remarkable formula in mathematics: This result is known as Euler's formula. Here, we might say, is the formal mathematical backbone of quantum mechanics. Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol 1, chapter 22: Algebra, Euler's formula - Wikipedia 10.9: Wigner's mysteryWhat does this remarkable collusion between mathematics and physics mean? After a critical discussion, Wigner writes:
Let me end on a more cheerful note. The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve. We should be grateful for it and hope that it will remain valid in future research and that it will extend, for better or for worse, to our pleasure, even though perhaps also to our bafflement, to wide branches of learning. Eugene Wigner (1960): The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences I feel that there is a theological reason for this gift which was expressed by Aquinas in his explanation of the limits to God's omnipotence:
. . . God is called omnipotent because He can do all things that are possible absolutely; . . . For a thing is said to be possible or impossible absolutely, according to the relation in which the very terms stand to one another, possible if the predicate is not incompatible with the subject, as that Socrates sits; and absolutely impossible when the predicate is altogether incompatible with the subject, as, for instance, that a man is a donkey. Aquinas, Summa I, 25, 3 The formalist approach to mathematics proposed by Hilbert, which justifies the existence of Cantor's Paradise, puts a similar bound on the "omnipotence" of mathematics: every mathematical statement is acceptable as long as it does not involve a contradiction. God and mathematics are playing the same game, and this may be why, in a cognitive universe, mathematics, physics and theology have a lot in common. Formalism (mathematics) - Wikipedia, Cantor's paradise - Wikipedia Feynman's first rule tells us that the real probabilities that we measure are determined by the square of the absolute value of the complex probability amplitudes computed by quantum theory. We calculate this square by multiplying a complex number by its complex conjugate. In a sense we might say that a complex number represents something that is half real and its complex conjugate represents the other half, and the multiplication providing us with the whole reality. This idea will gain substance as we go along. Ultimately we will conclude that Hilbert space is the scene in which the Universe observes itself, that is where it is conscious of itself, talking to itself. This is analogous to the way we consciously talk to ourselves to decide what to do. Hilbert space is the imagination of the Universe, the source of the variation which makes its evolution possible. Von Neumann, discussing quantum measurement, concludes that measurement increases the entropy of the Universe, it is the source of creation. John von Neumann (2014): Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Chapter V (revised on Tuesday 6 A ugust 2024) |
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