Road to Reality
The double-slit experiment is quite famous, known to anyone who's taken high school, or at least, first year physics.
In the experiment, light shines through the two slits on the left and results in the interference pattern on the right. The interference pattern is a result of the waves from the two slits reinforcing and canceling each other. If the above experiment was repeated with bullets, instead of light -- ie. large particles, not a wave -- the pattern above would not result. If small particles were to be used in the experiment -- say, electrons -- the above pattern would occur however. Even if the particles were sent one at a time through the slits, the interference pattern would still occur. Somehow, the electron is managing to interfere with itself -- somehow, it's traveling through both slits -- being in two places at the same time. This has been experimentally confirmed.
Welcome to the weirdly, wonderous world of quantum physics.
At atomic sizes, matter and energy are governed by the laws of quantum mechanics -- particles can exist in infinite positions and energies -- at the same time. There has been two explanations for this quantum conundrum:
Enter Sir Roger Penrose. Penrose doesn't like either interpretation because they both ignore the effects of gravity -- in fact, conventional quantum wisdom suggests that there must be something wrong with Einstein's theory of gravity. Penrose thinks gravity is just fine -- in fact, in his interpretation of the duplicity of the quantum world, gravity plays a big part.
Penrose's Interpretation -- particles generate a separate gravitational field for every potential state they exist in. That requires a lot of energy however. For large particles -- such as planets and people -- the energy required to maintain separate gravitational fields for each potential state is insurmountable. Very quickly, large particles settle into a single state we observe -- ie. the higher the energy required to maintain a system of many possibilities, the more unstable it is. For small particles however, such as photons or electrons however, less energy is required for them to maintain their gravitational field in more than one potential state. In fact, for particles the size of electrons or a few atoms, we may be able to observe them in the short period of time they maintain a dual existence -- proving Penrose's hypothesis.
For more of Penrose's research, check out the following:
In the experiment, light shines through the two slits on the left and results in the interference pattern on the right. The interference pattern is a result of the waves from the two slits reinforcing and canceling each other. If the above experiment was repeated with bullets, instead of light -- ie. large particles, not a wave -- the pattern above would not result. If small particles were to be used in the experiment -- say, electrons -- the above pattern would occur however. Even if the particles were sent one at a time through the slits, the interference pattern would still occur. Somehow, the electron is managing to interfere with itself -- somehow, it's traveling through both slits -- being in two places at the same time. This has been experimentally confirmed.
Welcome to the weirdly, wonderous world of quantum physics.
At atomic sizes, matter and energy are governed by the laws of quantum mechanics -- particles can exist in infinite positions and energies -- at the same time. There has been two explanations for this quantum conundrum:The Copenhagen Interpretation -- particles exist in every potential until observed. This interpretation was favoured by Niels Bohr and Wernet Heisenberg, but has no basis in theory. In fact, it suggests the absurd -- that the universe doesn't become real until it is observed. The Many Worlds Interpretation -- particles exist in every state simultaneously, but each state exists in its own alternative, parallel universe. We therefore only observe particles in one state, because we're only in one universe.
Enter Sir Roger Penrose. Penrose doesn't like either interpretation because they both ignore the effects of gravity -- in fact, conventional quantum wisdom suggests that there must be something wrong with Einstein's theory of gravity. Penrose thinks gravity is just fine -- in fact, in his interpretation of the duplicity of the quantum world, gravity plays a big part.
Penrose's Interpretation -- particles generate a separate gravitational field for every potential state they exist in. That requires a lot of energy however. For large particles -- such as planets and people -- the energy required to maintain separate gravitational fields for each potential state is insurmountable. Very quickly, large particles settle into a single state we observe -- ie. the higher the energy required to maintain a system of many possibilities, the more unstable it is. For small particles however, such as photons or electrons however, less energy is required for them to maintain their gravitational field in more than one potential state. In fact, for particles the size of electrons or a few atoms, we may be able to observe them in the short period of time they maintain a dual existence -- proving Penrose's hypothesis.
For more of Penrose's research, check out the following:
The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe -- Roger Penrose, October 2005. The Nature of Space and Time [PDF] -- Stephen Hawking, 1994. Conscious Events as Orchestrated Space-Time Selections [PDF] -- Stuart Hameroff, Roger Penrose, 2003. Towards Quantum Superpositions of a Mirror [PDF] -- Roger Penrose, et al, 2002.
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