The True Identity of the Quantum
An alternative history of quantum mechanics favouring Schrödinger’s continuous ontology and a fractal Universe
Introduction
It’s important to distinguish the development of two branches of quantum mechanics: the first involves the Copenhagen interpretation and the pursuit of more particles and the second, the development of technology, chemistry and biology. I have nothing but admiration for the second but am critical of the first.
In these six essays and podcasts I have tried to unravel the accepted historical account of quantum mechanics to demonstrate where, how and why the first branch of it veered off in the wrong direction down a rabbit hole of nonsense.
You may have come across the view that quantum mechanics is so crazy and complicated that no-one, not even experienced physicists can actually understand what is really happening.
Richard Feynman’s admonition to those who question quantum mechanics was ‘Shut up and calculate!’ My view is that there should be no sacred cows and that it is philosophically legitimate to examine the logical foundations of this particular branch of physics.
One of the hurdles encountered when reviewing nineteenth century physicists, is that they are frequently characterised as one-trick ponies: for example Faraday and induction, Maxwell and the four equations, J.J. Thomson and the electron etc. Whereas these physicist wrote extensively on a wide range of topics and dealt with them not only as scientists but as philosophers. Their insights into the possible structure of atoms are remarkable in addition to their views on the ether and the nature of mass, space, force and charge. Of course, the proponents of the quantum revolution in the early twentieth century made a great deal of noise about the end of classical physics and heralded a glorious new era of the quantum. Their claims are vastly overstated. Most, if not all electric and wireless technology in use today stem from James Clerk Maxwell’s theories.
Subjects
About the Author
The author, Kay Strang, has degrees in Philosophy and Law and more recently in the 3rd year of an undergraduate degree in Maths and Physics realised there were flaws in the text-book account of quantum physics and decided to investigate. These essays and podcasts are the result of around three years of independent research into the transition from 19th to 20th century physics.
They are designed to be provocative and challenge the accepted narrative that is still included in University texts and popular science publications and offers an alternative approach, which is more philosophically sound, and based on a physically realistic interpretation of Schrödinger’s wave mechanics.
The Ultra Violet Catastrophe or a Storm in a Teacup
The historical framing of this putative problem and its solution is misleading. Rayleigh, who was not a fan of the equipartition theory which was designed to calculate the average energy of gas molecules, applied it to the continuous phenomena of electro-magnetic radiation and demonstrated that it was not a universal theory. The term ‘ultra-violet catastrophe’ was coined by Paul Ehrenfest many years later. It is proposed that the correct maths to apply to continuous phenomena is vector calculus. However Oliver Heaviside and J.W. Gibbs who jointly developed vector calculus around the end of the 19th century were possibly sidelined by Peter Tait’s avid support of quaternions. Planck’s solution to this non-problem was to borrow a mathematical device from Boltzman’s writings and use it with some suspect alterations to arrive at h.
This section includes a podcast, a more detailed essay, a booklist, an annotated note of Maxwell’s equations and a selection of papers by Maxwell and Planck. There is also an ebook Black-Body Radiation and the UVC Disambiguation which covers the history in more detail.
Einstein’s other Blunder
An account of Einstein’s interpretation of the photo-electric effect involving discrete photons. His analysis had ontological consequences, namely the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, which he later criticised as an incomplete and self contradictory theory. This section includes the podcast, a more detailed essay, a booklist, a note on the Compton Scattering Experiment and Einstein’s 1905 paper on inter alia the photo-electric effect.
Heisenberg, the Salieri of Physics
Heisenberg and Schrödinger had competing theories about the atomic model: Heisenberg took a discontinuous particle approach and his rival Schrödinger, a continuous wave approach. Heisenberg prevailed by hi-jacking Schrödinger’s wave equation which had been intended to describe real phenomena, and along with Max Born, turned it into a probability calculator for the whereabouts of a particle. This led to a certain amount of confusion and the so-called ‘particle-wave duality’. This section includes a podcast, a more detailed essay, a booklist, a note on Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle and a paper on the Sokal Hoax.
Atomic Circus: Jumps and Spins
Atomic spectra was used to support the idea that electrons can jump between energy levels or ‘stationary states’ in the atom. Schrödinger rejected this and thought a more natural explanation was to view the electron as a standing wave changing frequencies. The notion of the ‘spin’ of an electron was an example of mathematical expediency at work, rather than anything physically real. This section includes a podcast, a more detailed essay, a booklist, a note on The Atom and the Brighton Rock which highlights the contradiction in the particle model of the atom and Schrödinger’s two papers on quantum jumps.
Magic Particles
The Quantum Cat Meets the Quantum Computer
Schrödinger’s intention was that his cat analogy serve as a criticism of the notion of a particle being in a superposition of states. Once again the supporters of the Copenhagen interpretation hi-jacked the criticism and used it to support the notion. The theory underlying quantum computers is this unsound notion. Superposition is a quality unique to waves, for example several vibrations overlapping each other and causing an interference pattern. So it is not surprising that after several decades quantum cats and quantum computers remain chimeras. This section includes a podcast, a more detailed essay, a booklist, a note on the imaginary number i and a 1935 paper by Schrödinger on the present status of quantum mechanics.