The True Identity of the Quantum
An alternative history of quantum mechanics favouring Schrödinger’s continuous ontology and a fractal Universe
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Subjects 7-12
The Particle Menace Part 1:
The Solar System Model of the Atom
The Bohr-Sommerfeld model of the atom is described including the four quantum numbers used to identify electrons and explain the Zeeman effects and Pauli’s exclusion principle. While this particle model is serviceable it is ontologically flawed. This section includes the podcast, a more detailed essay, a pdf with information on quantum numbers, the energy levels of electrons, the emission and absroption spectrum of the hydrogen atom and a table of the standard model of elementary particles which may be helpful in following the podcast; there is also a detailed a note on the SternGerlach experiment, a booklist and a paper by Leibniz, Primary Truths.
The Particle Menace Part 2:
The Wave Model of the Atom
Schrodinger’s wave model of the atom is described and how he chose to interpret it by looking for analogies in light and fluid mechanics. His realism was rejected and one of the main criticisms was that the wave model could not provide the permanence and stability required of the atom. This criticism is dealt with in the later podcast on The Space Theory of Matter and the Vortex Atom. This section includes the podcast, more detailed essay, a note on Dirac and Quantum Field Theory (QFT), a booklist and a paper by C. G. Darwin The Electron as a Vector Wave and Maxwell’s paper on Analogies in Nature.
The Particle Menace Part 3:
Farewell to Primitive Concepts
Discovering how concepts such as energy, mass, space, force and charge can be replaced by frequency, density and motion .This section includes a podcast, a more detailed essay, a note on gravitational and inertial mass including interpretations of Newton’s bucket of water experiment and some of the qualities of gyroscopes, a booklist and a transcription of the Xmas lectures at the Royal Institution 1974 (which were banned for a time) by Eric Laithwaite.
The Return of the Ether Part 1: Fields
Identifying the anomalies in the gravitational, electrostatic and quantum fields. Demonstrating that given the contradictions in each of them any attempt to unify them is a fruitless exercise. This section includes a podcast, a more detailed essay, a note on the flaws of Renormalisation, a booklist and a 1920 paper by Einstein on Ether and Relativity.
The Return of the Ether Part 2:
The Space Theory of Matter and the Vortex Atom
Examines the merits of a theory that could replace the current particle theory of matter. This section includes a podcast, a more detailed essay, a note on Non-Euclidean Geometry and Infinity, a booklist and a paper by W. K. Clifford The Space Theory of Matter.
The Return of the Ether Part 3:
Dynamics and the Continuum
The chances of arriving at a unified field theory increase if duality is removed and all phenomena is considered as variations of motion in one single continuum. What the continuum is, is an open question: a void, ether, a superfluid, plasma or something else? This section includes a podcast, a more detailed essay, a note on Leibniz’s incredibly logical explanation of why anything exists at all, a booklist and a paper by Maxwell Action at a Distance and Einstein’s 1905 paper on Special and General Relativity.