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The Reality Crisis in Physics

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Particle-Wave Duality. Uncertainty Principle. What Does It All Mean? ... 8. The World as Duality Interpretation. The world consists of potentials and actualities. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: The Reality Crisis in Physics


1
The Reality Crisis in Physics
  • Presented by
  • Dr. Richard B. Gomez
  • Physicist

2
I think that it is safe to say that no one
understands quantum mechanics
  • - Richard Feynman-

3
Outline of Talk
  • Introduction to Quantum Physics
  • Quantum Facts
  • The Quantum Interpretation Question
  • The Quantum Measurement Problem
  • Eight Interpretations of Reality in Physics
  • Concluding Remarks

4
Introduction to Quantum Physics
  • Classical Physics
  • Quantum Theory
  • The Bohr - Einstein Debate
  • Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen (EPR)
  • Bells Theorem

5
Quantum Facts
  • Stern - Gerlach Experiment
  • Photon Polarization
  • Two-Slit Experiment
  • Aspects Experiment

6
The Quantum Interpretation Question
  • Particle-Wave Duality
  • Uncertainty Principle
  • What Does It All Mean?

7
The Quantum Measurement Problem
  • The Paradox of Measurement
  • Schrodingers Cat

8
Eight Interpretations of Reality In Physics
  • Realism
  • Copenhagen Interpretation
  • No Deep Reality
  • Observation Creates Reality
  • Undivided Wholeness
  • Many - Worlds Interpretation
  • Quantum Logic
  • Neorealism
  • Consciousness Creates Reality
  • Heisenbergs Duplex World

9
Herbert (1985) lists eight different
interpretations of our world, all based on the
same experimental results 1. The Copenhagen
Interpretation 1. There is no deep reality. Our
physical world is real enough, but its quantum
foundations are not real (Segrè, 1980). This
interpretation was favored by Niels Bohr and
Werner Heisenberg. 2. The Copenhagen
Interpretation 2. Reality is created by
observation. The world has a phenomenal reality,
but we each create our own reality through our
observations (Wolf, 1984). John Wheelers famous
maxim states that no elementary phenomenon is a
real phenomenon until it is an observed
phenomenon (Herbert, 1985, p. 18). 3. The
Undefined Wholeness Interpretation. Quantum
wholeness suggests that everything is inherently
interconnected. This connection is unaffected by
time or space. Adherents include David Bohm,
Fritjof Capra, and Walter Heitler. 4. The
Many-Worlds Interpretation. Reality in an
increasing number of parallel worlds. Every
possible outcome of every decision actually
occurs, but it does so by splitting off into new,
parallel universes (Wolf, 1988). Formulated in
1957, by Hugh Evertt, one of its chief adherents
today is Paul Davies (1980). 5. The Quantum
Logic Interpretation. The world obeys a reasoning
which is non-human. In the same way that
Einsteins relativity requires a new way of logic
from the old Newtonian universe, so the quantum
world requires a new logic in order for us to
understand it. Its chief adherent today is
quantum theorist David Finkelstein. 6. The
Neorealism Interpretation. The world is composed
of ordinary objects and is ruled by logic and
reason and order. The champions of this view were
several pioneers in quantum mechanics including
Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Erwin Schrödinger,
and Prince Louis de Broglie. 7. The
Consciousness Creates Reality Interpretation. In
this view, it is not enough to observe phenomena,
such as a camera or recording device, but the
observer must be conscious. Adherents include
Nobel laureate Eugene Wigner and the famous
mathematician John von Neumann. 8. The World
as Duality Interpretation. The world consists of
potentials and actualities. Our everyday world is
real, but atoms and subatomic particles only
exist in the form of possibilities. This
interpretation was described by Werner
Heisenberg.
10
Concluding Remarks
  • Neils Bohr
  • Anyone who is not shocked by quantum theory has
    not understood it.
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