Quantum Physics Made Simple

[Judas Maccabeus]

All I know is that my life is rather Heisenbergian....

Much of what we do has a certain uncertanity about it.

I try to focus on the one certainly I have in life.

J.M.

[karpos]

One of the odder things about quantum uncertainty is that it even affects time.

What are you referring to?

Gravitational and velocity time dilation. We see velocity time dilation in space travel and gps satellites and see gravitational dilation when dealing with super massive objects like black holes and such.

[Bootstrap]

One of the odder things about quantum uncertainty is that it even affects time.

What are you referring to?

Gravitational and velocity time dilation. We see velocity time dilation in space travel and gps satellites and see gravitational dilation when dealing with super massive objects like black holes and such.

I didn't realize there was a relationship between time dilation and quantum uncertainty. I think of time dilation as a consequence of special relativity, and I don't think know a common model for special relativity and quantum physics. Can you help me connect the dots? This stuff is way over my head.

[Josh]

I'm not referring to time dilation; rather, quantum uncertainty affects both space and time. Just as a particle can be uncertain in the space dimension, it also can "uncertainly" suddenly appear a little sooner or later than you expect it to.

I'm trying to remember the book I read back in 2002 that explained this.

[karpos]

What are you referring to?

Gravitational and velocity time dilation. We see velocity time dilation in space travel and gps satellites and see gravitational dilation when dealing with super massive objects like black holes and such.

I didn't realize there was a relationship between time dilation and quantum uncertainty. I think of time dilation as a consequence of special relativity, and I don't think know a common model for special relativity and quantum physics. Can you help me connect the dots? This stuff is way over my head.

velocity and mass both 'warp' time. We see velocity time dialation all the time in space travel (they have to reset/sync clocks in gps satellites all the time. Mass dilates it too...if you were close to a black hole, time would be warped as well


here is a good example

http://www.emc2-explained.info/Special- ... 0jrWtJKiUk

If you left earth travelling close the speed of light and then came back to earth, you would have aged less than someone on earth that merely stayed on the ground.

Time dilation was observed in the 60s and 70s in the apollo moon missions as the clocks on the spacecraft were out of sync with clocks on the ground.

[MaxPC]

velocity and mass both 'warp' time. We see velocity time dialation all the time in space travel (they have to reset/sync clocks in gps satellites all the time. Mass dilates it too...if you were close to a black hole, time would be warped as well


here is a good example

http://www.emc2-explained.info/Special- ... 0jrWtJKiUk

If you left earth travelling close the speed of light and then came back to earth, you would have aged less than someone on earth that merely stayed on the ground.

Time dilation was observed in the 60s and 70s in the apollo moon missions as the clocks on the spacecraft were out of sync with clocks on the ground.

Very true and it requires the use of a differential equation. It wasn't much of a difference though, 5 secs or so. Still it does provide concrete data that helped to confirm these theories.

[Josh]

My understanding is that the relationship between general relativity (or even just special relativity) and quantum mechanics is not well understood, although a theory about this relationship is a quest of many scientists.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_m ... _mechanics

Even with the defining postulates of both Einstein's theory of general relativity and quantum theory being indisputably supported by rigorous and repeated empirical evidence, and while they do not directly contradict each other theoretically (at least with regard to their primary claims), they have proven extremely difficult to incorporate into one consistent, cohesive model.

[lesterb]

So how much of this is rock solid science and how much is theoretical?

Plus what are the practical implications of all this? What do we get in return for the millions that are going into this kind of research?

[Josh]

Quantum mechanics dates back to the 1930s as does general relativity.

In terms of practical implications... the atom bomb seems like a pretty major one, but that was back in 1945.

[Bootstrap]

There's nothing more practical than a good theory.

If "rock solid science" means "exactly how the world works" ... these are mathematical models of reality, not reality itself. Each model works better for some things than for others, and there are boundary areas where one model contradicts another. We know in part and we see in part.

On the other hand, scientists and engineers can do some pretty amazing practical things with some of these theories. And they predict some amazing things that have turned out to actually exist, like gravity waves (https://www.space.com/31922-gravitation ... means.html).