Has anyone seen God? Probably QM has!!
Yeah! It's finally time now to go on to what could be the complete understanding of the universe and of God. I say 'could' because I still haven't been able to attempt to solve a last riddle that makes the theory complete. Till that riddle is solved, this 'proof' is nothing but a summary of all the parallels that are found between the Indian concept of God and the picture of the universe as painted by Quantum Mechanics
First, let us briefly review, in an amateurist way I must confess, the history and the chief implications of Quantum Mechanics (QM). I must also confess that I, being a Chartered Accountant by profession, can claim as much mastery over Physics as we bloggers can claim over the art of writing epic poetry. I am no expert, just a curious reader. So expect some factual errors, incorrect terminology and weak maths. It's the idea behind all this that I want to convey. I will be satisfied if I am able to establish sufficient interconnection between the two theories.
So,before QM was born, classical physics used the Rutherford model to describe an atom, one in which electrons orbitted around the nucleus. The fatal problem with this theory was that if electrons orbitted ceaselessly, they would keep losing energy. This would cause them to move to a closer orbit. Eventually, all electrons would spiral into the nucleus and there would be no atom. If that were true, all matter would 'decay' and we wouldn't be here, talking about decaying matter. This led Neils Bohr (often called the Father of QM) to suggest a new model in which electrons could revolve only in certain allowed orbits, and not in orbits in between the allowed ones. They would lose energy only when an electron jumped from an orbit to another with a lower energy level. But he offered no explanation as to why only certain orbits were allowed, and why they lost energy only while 'jumping'. The explanation came when Max Planck suggested the existence the concept of quanta (singular - quantum). A quantum was a packet of energy which was the smallest unit possible for the transfer of energy. Thus if an electron wanted to lose energy, it had to have atleast one quantum of energy to lose. Otherwise it had to keep its energy with itself. As a small diversion I would like you to note that this quantum is renamed 'photon' when we're talking about light energy. Thus a quantum is nothing but a 'particle' of energy!
Though the concept of quanta was accepted because of its sane and verifiable implications, all this still seemed a lot arbitrary to physics. Quanta only described a mechanism for energy transfer, there was still no explanation for the arbitrary choice of 'allowed orbits'. This came and stayed after a series of 'interference experiments' conducted by physicists. The most interesting of these, I will describe here. Remember that the sequence of these events is not all so logical as it looks on this page.
The 'Double - Slit Experiment' was peformed by Thomas Young. It consisted of a setup in which a partition was set between a point light source and a screen. Two vertical slits were cut close together in the partition. What was observed was expected. The screen was lit and was dark in alternate parts, called 'fringes'. This can happen when waves passing through one slit interfere with those passing through the other. These two alternately cancel each other out and reinforce each other, giving rise to these 'fringes'. But QM said that all energy including light had to be in particle form, - Einstein had proved this in his 'Photoelectric Effect' experiment - then how could particles 'interfere'? The answer would be found when light was emitted particle by particle, that is only one photon at a time. That was done, and the answer was mind boggling. The screen still showed fringes! This meant that every photon interfered. But with what? Answer - Itself! This was because light is not only particles or only waves. It is both! But hold on, the most incredible part is yet to come. Every photon is also a wave, not of 'something' but a wave of different probablities pertaining to different positions that the 'particle' 'could' be found in. In other words, the photon passed through both the slits at the same time........ This experiment was repeated with particles of 'usual' matter, that is, electrons. And the same observations were made!!!
What did all this mean? It meant this- and please take a minute to absorb this. We know that position, velocity, temperature are all physical quantities. Since time immemorial we have been measuring these quantities, that is comparing them with some other quantities. For us, the whole world can be fit on a scale. The apple is here, two centimetres away... it weighs so and so...etc. But QM and these experiments gave a completely different picture. The electrons passed through both slits at the same time.. but why only those two slits? That sounds arbitrary again, no? Actually they passed through those two slits, that is, they travelled through those two paths, and also through every other possible path. The electrons, at some point of time before reaching the screen, were 'scattered' throughout the Universe..... they were actually in the form of 'waves' (don't confuse these with physical - eg. sea waves - waves, we use the word 'wave' because it is a good term!!) of probabilities, each probablity associated with a position in the universe, depicting the chance that the electron can be found in that position, if measured. That is why even one electron could show interference patterns, as it was in the form of a 'wave packet' in which waves could interfere with each other....
There you are. That is where you can clearly see a 'victory' for Spirituality, especially Hinduism. (I cannot be assertive as regards other religions, my knowledge about them is not deep enough.). Hinduism tells me that God, or The Underlying Principle, or Brahman, or the Universe is everywhere, yet nowhere. It is inside you and outside you, but it has no shape, size etc. QM agrees with Hinduism. All particles in the Universe, in other words, The Universe itself is omnipresent but it is not in any one position! That is with respect to position. The same logic applies for other quantities like time, mass etc. Physics is leading us to the same ideal that our sages and saints had found out long ago..... but through different means. But if the Universe is 'diffused' in this way, then why do we see it the way we do? Why don't we see the real picture of the Universe, or Brahman, or God, with naked eyes? Yes, QM does tell us why. So does Hinduism. But here is the riddle I was talking about... their answers are different. Let's deal with this issue in the next article... But before I end, I would also like to point out that the riddle is solvable.. and the answer, i feel, will be revealed by a third and even more mysterious science, The Science of Psychology!!!
First, let us briefly review, in an amateurist way I must confess, the history and the chief implications of Quantum Mechanics (QM). I must also confess that I, being a Chartered Accountant by profession, can claim as much mastery over Physics as we bloggers can claim over the art of writing epic poetry. I am no expert, just a curious reader. So expect some factual errors, incorrect terminology and weak maths. It's the idea behind all this that I want to convey. I will be satisfied if I am able to establish sufficient interconnection between the two theories.
So,before QM was born, classical physics used the Rutherford model to describe an atom, one in which electrons orbitted around the nucleus. The fatal problem with this theory was that if electrons orbitted ceaselessly, they would keep losing energy. This would cause them to move to a closer orbit. Eventually, all electrons would spiral into the nucleus and there would be no atom. If that were true, all matter would 'decay' and we wouldn't be here, talking about decaying matter. This led Neils Bohr (often called the Father of QM) to suggest a new model in which electrons could revolve only in certain allowed orbits, and not in orbits in between the allowed ones. They would lose energy only when an electron jumped from an orbit to another with a lower energy level. But he offered no explanation as to why only certain orbits were allowed, and why they lost energy only while 'jumping'. The explanation came when Max Planck suggested the existence the concept of quanta (singular - quantum). A quantum was a packet of energy which was the smallest unit possible for the transfer of energy. Thus if an electron wanted to lose energy, it had to have atleast one quantum of energy to lose. Otherwise it had to keep its energy with itself. As a small diversion I would like you to note that this quantum is renamed 'photon' when we're talking about light energy. Thus a quantum is nothing but a 'particle' of energy!
Though the concept of quanta was accepted because of its sane and verifiable implications, all this still seemed a lot arbitrary to physics. Quanta only described a mechanism for energy transfer, there was still no explanation for the arbitrary choice of 'allowed orbits'. This came and stayed after a series of 'interference experiments' conducted by physicists. The most interesting of these, I will describe here. Remember that the sequence of these events is not all so logical as it looks on this page.
The 'Double - Slit Experiment' was peformed by Thomas Young. It consisted of a setup in which a partition was set between a point light source and a screen. Two vertical slits were cut close together in the partition. What was observed was expected. The screen was lit and was dark in alternate parts, called 'fringes'. This can happen when waves passing through one slit interfere with those passing through the other. These two alternately cancel each other out and reinforce each other, giving rise to these 'fringes'. But QM said that all energy including light had to be in particle form, - Einstein had proved this in his 'Photoelectric Effect' experiment - then how could particles 'interfere'? The answer would be found when light was emitted particle by particle, that is only one photon at a time. That was done, and the answer was mind boggling. The screen still showed fringes! This meant that every photon interfered. But with what? Answer - Itself! This was because light is not only particles or only waves. It is both! But hold on, the most incredible part is yet to come. Every photon is also a wave, not of 'something' but a wave of different probablities pertaining to different positions that the 'particle' 'could' be found in. In other words, the photon passed through both the slits at the same time........ This experiment was repeated with particles of 'usual' matter, that is, electrons. And the same observations were made!!!
What did all this mean? It meant this- and please take a minute to absorb this. We know that position, velocity, temperature are all physical quantities. Since time immemorial we have been measuring these quantities, that is comparing them with some other quantities. For us, the whole world can be fit on a scale. The apple is here, two centimetres away... it weighs so and so...etc. But QM and these experiments gave a completely different picture. The electrons passed through both slits at the same time.. but why only those two slits? That sounds arbitrary again, no? Actually they passed through those two slits, that is, they travelled through those two paths, and also through every other possible path. The electrons, at some point of time before reaching the screen, were 'scattered' throughout the Universe..... they were actually in the form of 'waves' (don't confuse these with physical - eg. sea waves - waves, we use the word 'wave' because it is a good term!!) of probabilities, each probablity associated with a position in the universe, depicting the chance that the electron can be found in that position, if measured. That is why even one electron could show interference patterns, as it was in the form of a 'wave packet' in which waves could interfere with each other....
There you are. That is where you can clearly see a 'victory' for Spirituality, especially Hinduism. (I cannot be assertive as regards other religions, my knowledge about them is not deep enough.). Hinduism tells me that God, or The Underlying Principle, or Brahman, or the Universe is everywhere, yet nowhere. It is inside you and outside you, but it has no shape, size etc. QM agrees with Hinduism. All particles in the Universe, in other words, The Universe itself is omnipresent but it is not in any one position! That is with respect to position. The same logic applies for other quantities like time, mass etc. Physics is leading us to the same ideal that our sages and saints had found out long ago..... but through different means. But if the Universe is 'diffused' in this way, then why do we see it the way we do? Why don't we see the real picture of the Universe, or Brahman, or God, with naked eyes? Yes, QM does tell us why. So does Hinduism. But here is the riddle I was talking about... their answers are different. Let's deal with this issue in the next article... But before I end, I would also like to point out that the riddle is solvable.. and the answer, i feel, will be revealed by a third and even more mysterious science, The Science of Psychology!!!
posted by Ranjeet Bhide at 3:39 AM
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