Nobody understands what consciousness is and how it works. Nobody understands quantum mechanics either. Could this be more than just a coincidence? "I can't identify the real problem, so I suspect there isn't a real problem, but I'm not sure there isn't any real problem." The American physicist Richard Feynman said this about the puzzling paradoxes of quantum mechanics. Today, physicists use this theory to describe the smallest objects in the universe. But he could say the same about the intricate problem of consciousness.
Some scientists think that we already understand consciousness or that it is just an illusion. But to many others, it seems that we have not even come close to the essence of consciousness at all.
The perennial conundrum called “consciousness” has even led some scientists to try to explain it with quantum physics. But their diligence was met with a fair amount of skepticism, and this is not surprising: it seems unreasonable to explain one riddle with the help of another.
But such ideas are never absurd and did not even come from the ceiling.
On the one hand, to the great displeasure of physicists, the mind initially refuses to comprehend early quantum theory. What's more, quantum computers are predicted to be capable of things that normal computers can't. It reminds us that our brains are still capable of feats beyond the reach of artificial intelligence. "Quantum consciousness" is widely derided as mystical nonsense, but no one has been able to definitively dispel it.
Quantum mechanics is the best theory we have, capable of describing the world at the level of atoms and subatomic particles. Perhaps the most famous of her mysteries is the fact that the outcome of a quantum experiment can change depending on whether we choose to measure the properties of the particles involved or not.
When the pioneers of quantum theory first discovered this "observer effect", they were alarmed in earnest. It seemed to undermine the assumption at the heart of all science: that somewhere out there exists an objective world independent of us. If the world really does behave depending on how—or if—we look at it, what would "reality" actually mean?
Some scientists have been forced to conclude that objectivity is an illusion and that consciousness must play an active role in quantum theory. Others simply did not see any common sense in it. For example, Albert Einstein was annoyed: does the moon exist only when you look at it?
Today, some physicists suspect that it is not that consciousness affects quantum mechanics ... but that it appeared at all, thanks to it. They think we may need quantum theory to understand how the brain works at all. Could it be that just as quantum objects can be in two places at the same time, a quantum brain can have two mutually exclusive things in mind at the same time?
These ideas are controversial. It may turn out that quantum physics has nothing to do with the work of consciousness. But at least they demonstrate that strange quantum theory makes us think about strange things.
The best way for quantum mechanics to penetrate into human consciousness is through the double slit experiment. Imagine a beam of light that hits a screen with two closely spaced parallel slits. Part of the light passes through the slits and falls on another screen.
You can think of light as a wave. When waves pass through two slits, as in the experiment, they collide - interfere - with each other. If their peaks match, they reinforce each other, resulting in a series of black-and-white streaks of light on a second black screen.
This experiment was used to show the wave nature of light for more than 200 years, until the advent of quantum theory. Then the experiment with a double slit was carried out with quantum particles - electrons. These are tiny charged particles, the components of an atom. In some strange way, these particles can behave like waves. That is, they undergo diffraction when a stream of particles passes through two slits, producing an interference pattern.
Now suppose that quantum particles pass through the slits one by one and their arrival on the screen will also be observed step by step. Now there is nothing obvious that would cause the particle to interfere in its path. But the pattern of particle impact will still show interference fringes.
Everything indicates that each particle simultaneously passes through both slits and interferes with itself. This combination of the two paths is known as the state of superposition.
But here's what's weird.
If we place the detector in or behind one of the slits, we could find out whether particles pass through it or not. But in this case, the interference disappears. The mere fact of observing the path of a particle—even if that observation should not interfere with the motion of the particle—changes the result.
The physicist Pascual Jordan, who worked with quantum guru Niels Bohr in Copenhagen in the 1920s, put it this way: “Observations not only disturb what is to be measured, they determine it… We force the quantum particle to choose a certain position.” In other words, Jordan says that "we ourselves produce the measurements."
If so, objective reality can simply be thrown out the window.
But the oddities don't end there.
If nature changes its behavior depending on whether we look or not, we might try to cheat it. To do this, we could measure which path the particle took when passing through the double slit, but only after it had passed through it. By that time, she should already have "decided" whether to go through one path or through both.
The American physicist John Wheeler proposed such an experiment in the 1970s, and in the next ten years the “delayed choice” experiment was carried out. It uses clever methods to measure the paths of quantum particles (usually light particles - photons) after they choose one path or a superposition of two.
It turned out that, as Bohr predicted, it makes no difference whether we delay measurements or not. As long as we measure the path of the photon to its hit and registration in the detector, there is no interference. It seems that nature "knows" not only when we peep, but also when we plan to peep.
Eugene Wigner
Whenever we discover the path of a quantum particle in these experiments, its cloud of possible paths "compresses" into a single, well-defined state. Moreover, the delay experiment suggests that the very act of observing, without any physical intervention caused by the measurement, can cause the collapse. Does this mean that true collapse occurs only when the measurement result reaches our consciousness?
This possibility was proposed in the 1930s by the Hungarian physicist Eugene Wigner. “It follows from this that the quantum description of objects is influenced by the impressions entering my consciousness,” he wrote. "Solipsism can be logically consistent with quantum mechanics."
Wheeler was even amused by the idea that having living beings able to "observe" had transformed what had previously been many possible quantum pasts into one concrete story. In this sense, says Wheeler, we become participants in the evolution of the universe from the very beginning. We live in a "participatory universe," he says.
Physicists still can't decide on the best interpretation of these quantum experiments, and to some extent the right is given to you. But, one way or another, the implication is obvious: consciousness and quantum mechanics are somehow connected.
Beginning in the 1980s, English physicist Roger Penrose suggested that this connection could work in a different direction. He said that whether consciousness affects quantum mechanics or not, perhaps quantum mechanics is involved in consciousness.
Physicist and mathematician Roger Penrose
And Penrose also asked: what if there are molecular structures in our brain that can change their state in response to a single quantum event? Can these structures take on a state of superposition, like the particles in the double slit experiment? Could these quantum superpositions then show up in the way neurons communicate via electrical signals?
Could it be, said Penrose, that our ability to maintain seemingly incompatible mental states is not a perceptual quirk, but a real quantum effect?
After all, the human brain seems to be able to process cognitive processes that are still far beyond the capabilities of digital computers. We may even be able to perform computational tasks that cannot be performed on ordinary computers using classical digital logic.
Penrose first suggested that quantum effects are present in the human mind in his 1989 book The Emperor's New Mind. His main idea was "an orchestrated objective reduction". Objective reduction, according to Penrose, means that the collapse of quantum interference and superposition is a real physical process, like a bursting bubble.
Orchestrated objective reduction relies on Penrose's assumption that gravity, which affects everyday objects, chairs or planets, does not exhibit quantum effects. Penrose believes that quantum superposition becomes impossible for objects larger than atoms, because their gravitational influence would then lead to the existence of two incompatible versions of space-time.
Penrose further developed this idea with the American physician Stuart Hameroff. In his book Shadows of the Mind (1994), he suggested that the structures involved in this quantum cognition could be protein filaments called microtubules. They are found in most of our cells, including brain neurons. Penrose and Hameroff argued that during the process of oscillation, microtubules can take on a state of quantum superposition.
But there is nothing to support that this is even possible.
Experiments proposed in 2013 were supposed to support the idea of quantum superpositions in microtubules, but in fact, these studies did not mention quantum effects. In addition, most researchers believe that the idea of orchestrated objective reductions was debunked by a study published in 2000. Physicist Max Tegmark has calculated that the quantum superpositions of molecules involved in neural signals cannot survive for even the instant it takes to transmit a signal.
Quantum effects, including superposition, are very fragile and are destroyed in a process called decoherence. This process is due to the interactions of a quantum object with its environment, since its "quantumness" leaks.
Decoherence was thought to be extremely fast in warm and humid environments such as living cells.
Nerve signals are electrical impulses caused by the passage of electrically charged atoms through the walls of nerve cells. If one of these atoms were in a superposition and then collided with a neuron, Tegmark showed that the superposition should decay in less than one billionth of a billionth of a second. It takes ten thousand trillion times longer for a neuron to fire a signal.
That is why ideas about quantum effects in the brain do not pass the test of skeptics.
But Penrose relentlessly insists on the OOR hypothesis. And despite Tegmark's prediction of superfast decoherence in cells, other scientists have found manifestations of quantum effects in living beings. Some argue that quantum mechanics is used by migratory birds that use magnetic navigation and green plants when they use sunlight to produce sugar through photosynthesis.
With all this, the idea that the brain can use quantum tricks refuses to go away forever. Because they found another argument in her favor.
Can phosphorus maintain a quantum state?
In a 2015 study, UC Santa Barbara physicist Matthew Fisher argued that the brain may contain molecules that can withstand more powerful quantum superpositions. In particular, he believes that the nuclei of phosphorus atoms can have such an ability. Phosphorus atoms are found everywhere in living cells. They often take the form of phosphate ions, in which one phosphorus atom combines with four oxygen atoms.
Such ions are the basic unit of energy in cells. Most of the cell's energy is stored in ATP molecules, which contain a sequence of three phosphate groups attached to an organic molecule. When one of the phosphates is cut off, energy is released that is used by the cell.
Cells have molecular machines for assembling phosphate ions into groups and breaking them down. Fischer proposed a scheme in which two phosphate ions could be placed in a certain kind of superposition: in an entangled state.
Phosphorus nuclei have a quantum property - spin - that makes them look like small magnets with poles pointing in certain directions. In an entangled state, the spin of one phosphorus nucleus depends on the other. In other words, entangled states are superposition states involving more than one quantum particle.
Fisher says the quantum mechanical behavior of these nuclear spins can resist decoherence. He agrees with Tegmark that the quantum vibrations Penrose and Hameroff talked about will be highly dependent on their environment and "decohere almost immediately." But the spins of nuclei do not interact so strongly with their surroundings.
And yet the quantum behavior of the spins of phosphorus nuclei must be "protected" from decoherence.
Quantum particles can have different spins
This can happen, Fischer says, if the phosphorus atoms are incorporated into larger objects called "Posner molecules." They are clusters of six phosphate ions combined with nine calcium ions. There are some indications that such molecules may be present in living cells, but so far they are not very convincing.
In Posner molecules, Fischer argues, phosphorus spins can resist decoherence for a day or so, even in living cells. Therefore, they can also affect the functioning of the brain.
The idea is that Posner molecules can be taken up by neurons. Once inside, the molecules will activate a signal to another neuron by disintegrating and releasing calcium ions. Because of the entanglement in Posner's molecules, two of these signals can become entangled in turn: in some way, it would be a quantum superposition of "thought." “If quantum processing with nuclear spins is actually present in the brain, it would be an extremely common phenomenon that happens all the time,” Fisher says.
The idea first occurred to him when he was thinking about mental illness.
Lithium carbonate capsule
“My introduction to brain biochemistry began when I decided three to four years ago to investigate how and why the lithium ion has such a drastic effect in the treatment of mental disorders,” Fisher says.
Lithium drugs are widely used to treat bipolar disorder. They work, but no one really knows why.
“I wasn't looking for a quantum explanation,” Fisher says. But then he stumbled upon a paper that described how lithium preparations had different behavioral effects in rats depending on which form—or "isotope"—of lithium was used.
At first, this puzzled scientists. From a chemical point of view, different isotopes behave almost the same way, so if lithium worked like a conventional drug, the isotopes should have had the same effect.
Nerve cells are connected to synapses
But Fisher realized that the nuclei of atoms of different isotopes of lithium can have different spins. This quantum property could influence how lithium-based drugs work. For example, if lithium replaces calcium in the Posner molecules, the lithium spins can have an effect on the phosphorus atoms and prevent them from entangling.
If this is true, then it could explain why lithium can treat bipolar disorder.
At the moment, Fisher's suggestion is nothing more than an intriguing idea. But there are several ways to check it. For example, that the spins of phosphorus in Posner molecules can maintain quantum coherence for a long time. This is Fisher and plans to check further.
Yet he is wary of being associated with earlier notions of "quantum consciousness," which he considers speculative at best.
Consciousness is a deep mystery
Physicists don't like to be inside their own theories. Many of them hope that consciousness and the brain can be extracted from quantum theory, and maybe vice versa. But we do not know what consciousness is, not to mention the fact that we do not have a theory that describes it.
Moreover, occasionally there are loud cries that quantum mechanics will allow us to master telepathy and telekinesis (and although somewhere in the depth of concepts this may be true, people take everything too literally). Therefore, physicists are generally afraid to mention the words "quantum" and "consciousness" in the same sentence.
In 2016, Adrian Kent of the University of Cambridge in the UK, one of the most respected "quantum philosophers", proposed that consciousness can change the behavior of quantum systems in subtle but detectable ways. Kent is very careful in his statements. “There is no convincing reason to believe that quantum theory is an appropriate theory from which to derive a theory of consciousness, or that the problems of quantum theory should somehow intersect with the problem of consciousness,” he admits.
But he adds that it is completely incomprehensible how one can derive a description of consciousness, based solely on pre-quantum physics, how to describe all its properties and features.
We don't understand how thoughts work
One particularly exciting question is how our conscious mind can experience unique sensations like the color red or the smell of roasting meat. Except for visually impaired people, we all know what red looks like, but we can't describe the feeling, and there's nothing in physics that can tell us what it looks like.
Feelings like these are called qualia. We perceive them as unified properties of the external world, but in fact they are products of our consciousness - and this is difficult to explain. In 1995, philosopher David Chalmers called this the "hard problem" of consciousness.
"Any mental chain about the connection of consciousness with physics leads to serious problems," says Kent.
This prompted him to suggest that "we could make some progress in understanding the problem of the evolution of consciousness if we allowed (or even just assumed) that consciousness changes quantum probabilities."
In other words, the brain can actually influence the measurement results.
From this point of view, it does not define "what is real". But it can affect the likelihood that each of the possible realities imposed by quantum mechanics will be observed. Even quantum theory itself cannot predict this. And Kent thinks that we could look for such manifestations experimentally. Even boldly assesses the chances of finding them.
“I would guess with 15 percent certainty that consciousness causes deviations from quantum theory; and another 3 percent that we will experimentally confirm this in the next 50 years,” he says.
If this happens, the world will no longer be the same. And for that, it's worth exploring.
Hello dear readers.
What is the relationship between quantum physics and human consciousness?
The fact is that today's knowledge of modern science in the form of quantum physics sheds light on many incomprehensible phenomena associated with consciousness, the unconscious and the subconscious.
Of course, it is extremely difficult to understand what consciousness is. It seems that consciousness is the main part of a person, you can say it is, and we are, but how consciousness works, no one fully knows. Quantum physics has come a long way in understanding this fascinating question. Agree, unraveling this mystery is very interesting.
It also turns out that by parting a little the veil of this mystery, a person's worldview changes so much that he begins to understand what life is, what is the meaning of life. He begins to treat life correctly, and this leads to increased health and happiness.
Observer theory in quantum physics
When strange effects were discovered in the microcosm, scientists saw that the presence of an observer affects the result of how an elementary particle behaves.
If we don't look at which slit an electron goes through, it behaves like a wave. But it is worth spying on him, so he immediately turns into a solid particle.
You can read more about the famous double-slit experiment.
At first it was a mystery how the presence of an observer affects the result of the experiment. Can human consciousness really change the world around us? Scientists have actually made stunning conclusions that human consciousness affects everything that surrounds us. Many articles appeared on the topic of quantum physics and the observer effect with different explanations.
They also remembered the ancient methods of changing the world around them, attracting the right events, the influence of thoughts on karma, the fate of a person. Many newfangled techniques and teachings have appeared, for example, the well-known Transurfing. We started talking about the connection between quantum physics and the influence of the power of thought.
But in fact, such conclusions were too fantastic.
Even Einstein was dissatisfied with this state of affairs. He said: “Does the Moon only exist when you look at it?!”
Indeed, everything turned out to be more logical and understandable. Man has exalted himself too much, even assuming that he can change the Universe with his consciousness.
The theory of decoherence put everything in its place.
Human consciousness occupied an important, but not the most important place in it. The influence of the observer in quantum physics was only a consequence of a more fundamental law.
The theory of decoherence in quantum physics
The result of the experiment is affected not by the human consciousness, but by the measuring device, with the help of which we decided to see through which slit the electron passed.
Decoherence, that is, the appearance of classical properties of an elementary particle, the appearance of certain coordinates or spin values, occurs when the system interacts with the environment as a result of information exchange.
But human consciousness, it turns out, can really interact with the environment, and therefore produce recoherence and decoherence, do it at a more subtle level.
After all, quantum physics tells us that the information field is not an abstract concept, but a reality that can be studied.
We are permeated by more subtle worlds with their own space and time. And above it stands a non-local quantum source, where there is no space and time at all, but only pure information of the manifestation of matter. It is from there that the classical world familiar to us arises in the process of decoherence.
A non-local quantum source is what spiritual teachings, religions called the One, World Mind, God. Now it is often called the World Computer. Now it turned out to be not an abstraction, but a real fact, quantum physics studies it.
And human consciousness can be said to be a separate unit, a part of this World Mind. And this particle is able to change recoherence and decoherence with the surrounding objects, and therefore influence them, change something in them only by the power of its consciousness.
How does this happen, what can you control in the world with your consciousness, and what does it give?
New human capabilities
- Theoretically, a person with the power of thought can change something in any object at any distance. For example, to change the property of an electron, to produce its decoherence, as a result of which it will pass through only one slit. Perform teleportation, change something in an object, move it without touching it, and so on. And it's not fantasy anymore.
Indeed, with the help of consciousness, through subtle levels, one can connect with a distant object, get quantumly entangled with it, that is, be one with it. To produce decoherence, recoherence, which means to materialize any part of an object or, on the contrary, dissolve it in a quantum source. But all this is in theory. To do this, you really need to have a very strong, developed consciousness and a high level of energy.
It is unlikely that an ordinary person is capable of this, so this option will not suit us. Although now it is possible to physically explain many paranormal things, the unusual abilities of psychics, mystics, yogis. And many people are capable of some of the miracles described above. All this is explained within the framework of modern quantum physics. It's funny when in the TV show "The Battle of Psychics" on the side of the skeptics is a scientist who does not believe in the ability of psychics. He just lagged behind in his professionalism.
- With the help of consciousness, you can connect with any object and read information from it. For example, the objects of a house store information about their inhabitants. Many psychics are capable of this, but it is also not suitable for ordinary people. Although...
- After all, it is possible to foresee a future catastrophe, not to go where there will be trouble, and so on. After all, now we know that there is no time at more subtle levels, which means we can look into the future. Even an ordinary person is often capable of this. This is called intuition. It is quite possible to develop it, we will talk about this later. You don't have to be a super visionary, you just need to be able to listen to your heart.
- You can attract the best events in your life. In other words, choose from the superposition those options for the development of events that we want. This is within the power of an ordinary person. There are many schools that teach this. Yes, many intuitively already know this, and try to apply it in life.
- Now it becomes clear how we can heal ourselves, be perfectly healthy. Firstly, with the help of the power of thought to create the correct information matrix for recovery. And the body itself, according to this matrix, will produce healthy cells, healthy organs from it, that is, it will perform decoherence from this matrix. That is, constantly thinking that we are healthy, we will be healthy. And if we rush about with our illnesses, thinking about them, they will continue to haunt us. Many people knew about this, but now all these things can be explained from a scientific point of view. Quantum physics explains everything.
And secondly, to direct attention to a diseased organ, or to work with a muscle clamp, an energy block with the help of relaxation. That is, with our consciousness, we can communicate with any part of the body directly through subtle communication channels, get quantum entangled with them, which is much faster than through the nervous system. A lot of relaxation in yoga and other systems has also been developed on this property.
- Manage your energy body with the help of consciousness. This can be applied both for healing, as it is used in qigong, and for other more advanced purposes.
I have listed only a small part of the possibilities that the new physics opens up for man. To list everything, you need to write a whole book and even more than one. In fact, all this has been known for a long time, has been successfully applied in many schools, systems of health improvement and self-development. It's just that now all this can be explained scientifically, without any esotericism and mysticism.
Pure awareness in quantum physics
What does it take to successfully apply the opportunities that I mentioned above, to become a healthy and happy person? How to learn to change recoherence and decoherence with the outside world? How to see, to feel around you not only the classical world familiar to us, but also the quantum world.
In fact, with the mode of perception with which we usually live, we are not able to quantumly control the environment, because our ordinary consciousness is maximally condensed, one might say, imprisoned for the classical world.
We have many levels of consciousness embedded in us (thoughts, emotions, pure consciousness or soul), and they have different degrees of quantum entanglement. But basically a person is identified with the lower consciousness -.
Ego is the maximum decoherence, when we separate from the whole world, lose contact with it. The extreme form of ego is selfishness, when a separate consciousness is separated from the Unified consciousness as much as possible, thinking only about itself.
And we need to strive for that level of consciousness where we are connected, connected, quantum entangled with the whole world, with the One.
Decoherence of consciousness is a narrow vision of the situation, according to a certain program. This is how most people live.
And the recoherence of consciousness is, on the contrary, sensory perception, freedom from dogmas, a look from a higher point of view, a vision of the situation without errors. Flexibility, the ability to choose any feeling, but not become attached to it.
To come to such a consciousness, which means to feel the quantum world around you, you need two things: in everyday life, as well as constant practice and.
Mindfulness will help us unhook from constant attachments to material objects, and therefore reduce decoherence.
And meditation through relaxation and non-doing leads to a deep recoherence of consciousness, detachment from the ego, access to higher, subtle, non-dual spheres of being. After all, inside of us there is a pure consciousness, which connects with the Single, quantum source. through meditation aims to open this source within us.
It is in it that there are inexhaustible sources of energy. It is there that you can find happiness, health, love, creativity, intuition.
Meditation, awareness brings us closer to quantum consciousness. This is the consciousness of a new, healthy, happy person who understands quantum physics and applies this knowledge to improve his life. A person with a correct, wise, philosophical outlook on life without selfishness.
After all, egoism is suffering, unhappiness, decoherence.
What does the knowledge of quantum physics give a person
What you have read today is very important not only for you, but for all mankind.
It is the understanding of the new achievements of science in the form of quantum physics that gives hope for improving the lives of all people. Understanding that you need to change, change, first of all, yourself, your consciousness. Understanding that in addition to the material world there is a subtle world. Only in this way can one come to a peaceful sky above one's head, to a happy life on the whole Earth.
Of course, the rethinking of new knowledge, their more detailed presentation cannot be described in one article. To do this, you need to write a whole book.
I think it will happen someday. In the meantime, I will once again recommend two wonderful books to you.
Doronin "Quantum Magic".
Mikhail Zarechny "Quantum-mystical picture of the world".
From them you will learn about the connection of quantum physics with spiritual teachings (yoga, Buddhism), about the correct understanding of the One or God, about how consciousness creates matter. How quantum physics explains life after death, the connection of quantum physics with lucid dreams, and much more.
And that's all for today.
See you soon, friends on the blog pages.
At the end there is an interesting video for you.
A new experiment could shed light on the surprising hidden mechanics of quantum superpositions.
Superposition- the concept that tiny objects can exist in several places or states at the same time - is the cornerstone of quantum physics. A new experiment is trying to shed light on this mysterious phenomenon.
The main question in quantum mechanics, to which no one knows the answer: what actually happens in a superposition - a kind of state in which particles are in two or more places or states at the same time? A group of researchers from Israel and Japan have proposed an experiment that will finally allow us to know something precise about the nature of this mysterious phenomenon.
Their experiment, which the researchers say could be done within months, should allow scientists to understand where an object - in the specific case, a particle of light called a photon - is actually located when it is in superposition. And the researchers predict that the answer will be even stranger and more shocking than "two places at once."
A classic example of superposition involves shooting photons through two parallel slits in a barrier. One of the fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics is that tiny particles can behave like waves, so that those passing through one slit "interfere" with those passing through another, their undulating ripples, magnifying or changing each other, creating a characteristic structure on the detector screen. The strange thing, however, is that this interference occurs even if only one particle is fired at a time. The particle seems to pass through both slits at once. This is the superposition.
And this is very strange: measuring which slit a particle passes through invariably indicates that it passes through only one slit, and in this case, wave interference (“quantum”, if you want) disappears. The very act of measurement seems to "destroy" the superposition. " We know something weird happens in superposition says physicist Avshalom Elitzer of the Israel Institute for Advanced Study. “But you can't measure it. This is what makes quantum mechanics so mysterious.”
For decades, researchers have stalled at this apparent impasse. They cannot say exactly what a superposition is without observing it; but if they try to look at it, it will disappear. One possible solution, developed by Elitzur's former mentor, Israeli physicist Yakir Aaharonov at Chapman University and his collaborators, suggests a way to learn something about quantum particles before measurement. The Aharonian approach is called the two-state formalism (TSVF) of quantum mechanics, and the postulates of quantum events are in a sense determined by quantum states not only in the past but also in the future. That is, TSVF assumes that quantum mechanics works the same way both forward and backward in time. From this point of view, the causes seem to be able to propagate backward in time, occurring after the effects.
But this strange concept should not be taken literally. Most likely, in TSVF one can get retrospective knowledge of what happened in a quantum system: instead of simply measuring where the particle ends, the researcher chooses a specific place to look. This is called post-selection, and it provides more information than any unconditional view of the results. This is due to the fact that the state of the particle at any moment is evaluated retrospectively in the light of its entire history up to the measurement, including the measurement. It turns out that the researcher - simply by choosing a specific result for the search - then comes to the conclusion that the result should occur. It's a bit like if you turn on the TV at the moment when your favorite program should be broadcast, but your very act causes that program to be broadcast at that very moment. “It is generally accepted that TSVF is mathematically equivalent to standard quantum mechanics,” says David Wallace, a philosopher of science at the University of Southern California who specializes in the interpretation of quantum mechanics. "But it leads to some things not being seen differently."
Take, for example, a variant of the two-second experiment developed by Aharonov and collaborator Lev Vaidman in 2003, which they interpreted using TSVF. The pair described (but did not build) an optical system in which one photon acts as a "shutter" that closes the slit, causing another "probing" photon to approach the slit to be reflected as it appeared. After measuring the probe photon, as shown by Akharonov and Vaidman, one can notice a photograph of the shutter in a superposition that simultaneously closes (or even arbitrarily many) slits at the same time. In other words, this thought experiment in theory would make it safe to say that the gate photon is both "here" and "there" at the same time. Although this situation seems paradoxical from our daily experience, it is one well-studied aspect of the so-called "non-local" properties of quantum particles, where the whole notion of a well-defined position in space dissolves.
In 2016, physicists Ryo Okamoto and Shigeki Takeuchi of Kyoto University experimentally confirmed the predictions of Aharonov and Weidman using a light-guided circuit in which shutter photography is created using a quantum router, a device that allows one photon to control the route of another. “This was a groundbreaking experiment that allowed us to establish the simultaneous position of a particle in two places,” says Elitzur's colleague Eliahu Cohen of the University of Ottawa in Ontario.
Now Elitzur and Koen have teamed up with Okamoto and Takeuchi to come up with an even more mind-blowing experiment. They believe that this will allow researchers to know with certainty more about the location of a particle in a superposition at a sequence of different points in time before any actual measurements are made.
This time the path of the probe photon will be divided into three parts by mirrors. Along each of these paths, it can interact with the gate photon in superposition. These interactions can be thought of as being done in boxes labeled A, B, and C, each located along each of the three possible photon paths. By considering the self-interference of the probe photon, it will be possible to retrospectively conclude with certainty that the gate particle was in a given box at a certain time.
The experiment is designed in such a way that the probe photon can only show interference in the case of interaction with the gate photon in a certain sequence of places and times: namely, if the gate photon was in both blocks A and C at some time (t1), then at a later time (t2) - only at C, and even later (t3) - both at B and at C. Thus, interference in the probing phenomena among the boxes at different times is the idea of Elitzur, Cohen and Aharonov, who proposed last year that one particle simultaneously passes through three boxes. "I love how this article asks questions about what's going on in terms of whole histories, not instantaneous states," says physicist Ken Wharton of San Jose State University, who is not involved with the new project. "Talking about 'states' is an old pervasive bias, whereas full stories tend to be much richer and more interesting."
This is exactly what Elitzur claims the new TSVF experiment gives access to. The apparent disappearance of particles in one place at a time - and their reappearance in other places and times - suggests a new and unusual vision of the underlying processes associated with the non-local existence of quantum particles. Thanks to the TSVF lens, Elitzur says, this shimmering, ever-changing existence can be understood as a series of events in which the presence of a particle in one place is somehow "cancelled" by its own "opposite side" in the same place. He compares this to a concept introduced by the British physicist Paul Dirac in the 1920s, who argued that particles have antiparticles, and if put together, particle and antiparticle can annihilate each other. This picture at first seemed to be just a manner of speaking, but soon led to the discovery of antimatter. The disappearance of quantum particles is not "annihilation" in the same sense, but it is somewhat similar - these supposed opposite particles, Elitzur believes, should have negative energy and negative mass, allowing them to cancel their counterparts.
So while the traditional "two places at the same time" superposition may seem rather odd, "perhaps the superposition is a collection of states that is even crazier," says Elitzur. "Quantum mechanics just tells you about their average state." The subsequent selection allows you to isolate and test only some of these states at a higher resolution, he suggests. Such an interpretation of quantum behavior would be, in his words, "revolutionary" because it would entail a hitherto unacceptable menagerie of real (but very strange) states underlying contradictory quantum phenomena.
The researchers say doing the actual experiment will require fine-tuning the performance of their quantum routers, but they hope to have their system ready for it in three to five months. While some observers expect it with bated breath. "The experiment should work," says Wharton, "but it won't convince anyone because the results are predicted by standard quantum mechanics." In other words, there is no good reason to interpret the result in terms of TSVF.
Elitzur agrees that their experiment could have been conceived using the conventional view of quantum mechanics that reigned decades ago, but that never happened. " Isn't that a good indication of the reliability of the TSVF? he asks. And if anyone thinks they can formulate a different picture of "what's really going on" in this experiment, using standard quantum mechanics, he adds: " Okay, let them try!»
- Translation
Since the advent of quantum theory in the 1900s, everyone has been talking about the strangeness of this theory, according to Owen Maroney, a physicist at Oxford University. How it allows particles and atoms to move in multiple directions at the same time, or rotate clockwise and counterclockwise at the same time. But words can't prove anything. “If we tell the public that quantum theory is very strange, we need to test this claim experimentally,” says Maruni. “Otherwise, we are not doing science, but talking about all sorts of squiggles on the board.”
This is what led Maruni et al. to develop a new series of experiments to reveal the essence of the wave function - the mysterious essence underlying quantum oddities. On paper, the wave function is simply a mathematical entity, denoted by the letter psi (Ψ) (one of those squiggles), and is used to describe the quantum behavior of particles. Depending on the experiment, the wave function allows scientists to calculate the probability of seeing an electron at a particular location, or the chances that its spin is up or down. But the math doesn't say what the wave function really is. Is it something physical? Or just a computational tool to work with the observer's ignorance about the real world?
The tests used to answer the question are very subtle, and they still have to give a definitive answer. But researchers are optimistic that the denouement is near. And they will finally be able to answer the questions that have tormented everyone for decades. Can a particle really be in many places at the same time? Is the universe constantly divided into parallel worlds, each of which has our alternate version? Is there even something called "objective reality"?
“Such questions sooner or later arise for anyone,” says Alessandro Fedrici, a physicist from the University of Queensland (Australia). "What is really real?"
Disputes about the essence of reality began even when physicists found out that a wave and a particle are only two sides of the same coin. A classic example is the double slit experiment, where individual electrons are fired into a barrier that has two slits: the electron behaves as if it passes through two slits at the same time, creating a striped interference pattern on the other side of it. In 1926, the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger came up with a wave function to describe this behavior and derived an equation that could be calculated for any situation. But neither he nor anyone else could say anything about the nature of this function.
Grace in Ignorance
From a practical point of view, its nature is not important. The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum theory, created in the 1920s by Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg, uses the wave function simply as a tool for predicting the results of observations, without thinking about what happens in reality. “Physicists cannot be blamed for this 'shut up and count' behavior, as it has led to significant breakthroughs in nuclear and atomic physics, solid state physics and particle physics,” says Gene Brickmont, a statistical physicist at the Catholic University in Belgium. “So people are advised not to worry about fundamental issues.”
But some people still worry. By the 1930s, Einstein had rejected the Copenhagen interpretation, not least because it allowed two particles to entangle their wave functions, leading to a situation in which measurements of one of them could instantly give a state to the other, even if they were separated by huge distances. In order not to put up with this "terrifying interaction at a distance", Einstein preferred to believe that the wave functions of the particles were incomplete. He said that perhaps the particles have some hidden variables that determine the result of the measurement, which were not noticed by quantum theory.
Experiments have since demonstrated the feasibility of a frightening interaction at a distance, which rejects the concept of hidden variables. but that hasn't stopped other physicists from interpreting them in their own way. These interpretations fall into two camps. Some agree with Einstein that the wave function reflects our ignorance. These are what philosophers call psi-epistemic models. Others see the wave function as a real thing - psionic models.
To understand the difference, consider the thought experiment Schrödinger described in a 1935 letter to Einstein. The cat is in a steel box. The box contains a sample of radioactive material that has a 50% chance of emitting a decay product in one hour, and an apparatus that will poison the cat if the product is detected. Since radioactive decay is a quantum-level event, Schrödinger writes, the rules of quantum theory say that at the end of the hour, the wave function of the inside of the box must be a mixture of a dead and a living cat.
“Roughly speaking,” Fedrichi puts it mildly, “in the psy-epistemic model, the cat in the box is either alive or dead, and we just don’t know it because the box is closed.” And in most psionic models, there is agreement with the Copenhagen interpretation: until the observer opens the box, the cat will be both alive and dead at the same time.
But this is where the argument comes to a head. Which interpretation is true? This question is difficult to answer experimentally because the difference between the models is very subtle. They should essentially predict the same quantum phenomenon as the highly successful Copenhagen interpretation. Andrew White, a physicist at the University of Queensland, says that in his 20-year career in quantum technology, "this problem was like a huge smooth mountain with no ledges that you couldn't climb."
Everything changed in 2011, with the publication of the quantum measurement theorem, which seemed to eliminate the “wave function as ignorance” approach. But upon closer examination, it turned out that this theorem leaves enough room for them to maneuver. Nevertheless, it has inspired physicists to think seriously about ways to resolve the dispute by testing the reality of the wave function. Maruni had already developed an experiment that worked in principle, and he and his colleagues soon found a way to make it work in practice. The experiment was carried out last year by Fedrici, White and others.
To understand the idea of the test, imagine two decks of cards. One contains only reds, the other contains only aces. “You are given a card and asked to guess which deck it is from,” says Martin Ringbauer, a physicist at the same university. If it's a red ace, "there's a crossover and you can't tell for sure." But if you know how many cards are in each deck, you can calculate how often such an ambiguous situation will occur.
Physics in danger
The same ambiguity happens in quantum systems as well. It is not always possible to find out, for example, how a photon is polarized by one measurement. "In real life, it's easy to tell west from just south of west, but in quantum systems it's not that easy," says White. According to the standard Copenhagen interpretation, there is no point in asking about polarization, because the question has no answer - until one more measurement determines the answer exactly. But according to the “wave function as ignorance” model, the question makes sense - it’s just that in the experiment, as in the one with decks of cards, there is not enough information. As with maps, it is possible to predict how many ambiguities can be explained by such ignorance, and compare with the large number of ambiguities allowed by standard theory.
This is exactly what Fedrichi and the team tested. The group measured the polarization and other properties in the photon beam, and found a level of intersection that could not be explained by "ignorance" models. The result supports an alternative theory - if objective reality exists, then the wave function exists. “Impressive that the team was able to solve such a complex problem with such a simple experiment,” says Andrea Alberti, a physicist at the University of Bonn (Germany).
The conclusion is not yet carved into the granite: since the detectors captured only a fifth of the photons used in the test, one has to assume that the lost photons behaved in exactly the same way. This is a strong assumption, and the group is now working on ways to reduce losses and produce a more definitive result. Meanwhile, the Maruni team at Oxford is working with the University of New South Wales (Australia) to replicate this experiment with easier-to-trace ions. “In the next six months, we will have an undeniable version of this experiment,” says Maruni.
But even if they succeed and the “wave function as reality” models win, then these models have different options. Experimenters will have to choose one of them.
One of the earliest interpretations was made in the 1920s by the Frenchman Louis de Broglie, and expanded in the 1950s by the American David Bohm. According to the Broglie-Bohm models, the particles have a certain location and properties, but they are guided by a certain "pilot wave", which is defined as a wave function. This explains the double slit experiment, since the pilot wave can pass through both slits and produce an interference pattern, although the electron itself, drawn by it, passes through only one of the two slits.
In 2005, this model received unexpected support. Physicists Emmanuel Fort, now at the Langevin Institute in Paris, and Yves Codier of the University of Paris Diderot asked students what they thought was a simple problem: to set up an experiment in which drops of oil falling on a tray would merge due to the vibrations of the tray. To the surprise of everyone around the drops, waves began to form as the tray vibrated at a certain frequency. “The drops started moving on their own on their own waves,” says Fort. “It was a dual object—a particle pulled by a wave.”
Since then, Fort and Coudier have shown that such waves can guide their particles in the double-slit experiment exactly as the pilot wave theory predicts, and can reproduce other quantum effects. But this does not prove the existence of pilot waves in the quantum world. “We were told that such effects are impossible in classical physics,” says Fort. “And here we showed what is possible.”
Another set of reality-based models, developed in the 1980s, attempts to explain the strong difference in properties between large and small objects. “Why can electrons and atoms be in two places at the same time, but tables, chairs, people and cats cannot,” says Angelo Basi, a physicist at the University of Trieste (Italy). Known as "collapse models," these theories say that the wave functions of individual particles are real, but can lose their quantum properties and bring the particle to a certain position in space. The models are constructed in such a way that the chances of such a collapse are extremely small for a single particle, so that quantum effects dominate at the atomic level. But the probability of collapse increases rapidly when particles combine, and macroscopic objects completely lose their quantum properties and behave according to the laws of classical physics.
One way to test this is to look for quantum effects in large objects. If the standard quantum theory is correct, then there is no size limit. And physicists have already done the double-slit experiment with large molecules. But if the collapse models are correct, then quantum effects will not be visible beyond a certain mass. Various groups plan to search for this mass using cold atoms, molecules, metal clusters and nanoparticles. They hope to find results in the next ten years. "What's cool about these experiments is that we'll be putting quantum theory to exact tests where it hasn't been tested yet," says Maruni.
Parallel Worlds
One “wave function as reality” model is already known and loved by science fiction writers. This is the Many Worlds interpretation developed in the 1950s by Hugh Everett, who was then a student at Princeton University in New Jersey. In this model, the wave function determines the development of reality so strongly that with each quantum measurement, the universe splits into parallel worlds. In other words, when we open a box with a cat, we create two Universes - one with a dead cat, and the other with a live one.It is difficult to separate this interpretation from the standard quantum theory, since their predictions coincide. But last year, Howard Wiseman of Griffith University in Brisbane and colleagues came up with a testable multiverse model. There is no wave function in their model - particles obey classical physics, Newton's laws. And the strange effects of the quantum world appear because there are repulsive forces between particles and their clones in parallel universes. “The repulsive force between them creates waves that propagate through all the parallel worlds,” Wiseman says.
Using a computer simulation in which 41 universes interacted, they showed that the model roughly reproduces several quantum effects, including particle trajectories in the double-slit experiment. With an increase in the number of worlds, the interference pattern tends to the real one. Because the theory's predictions vary across the number of worlds, Wiseman says, it's possible to test whether the multiverse model is correct—that is, that there is no wave function and that reality works according to classical laws.
Since the wave function is not needed in this model, it will remain viable even if future experiments rule out "ignorance" models. In addition to it, other models will survive, for example, the Copenhagen interpretation, which argue that there is no objective reality, but only calculations.
But then, as White says, this question will become the object of study. And while no one knows yet how to do it, “what would be really interesting is to develop a test that checks whether we have an objective reality at all.”
Hello dear readers. If you do not want to lag behind life, to be a truly happy and healthy person, you must know about the secrets of quantum modern physics, at least have a little idea of what depths of the universe scientists have dug out today. You have no time to go into deep scientific details, but you want to comprehend only the essence, but to see the beauty of the unknown world, then this article: quantum physics for ordinary dummies or, one might say, for housewives, is just for you. I will try to explain what quantum physics is, but in simple words, to show clearly.
"What is the connection between happiness, health and quantum physics?" you ask.
The fact is that it helps to answer many incomprehensible questions related to human consciousness, the influence of consciousness on the body. Unfortunately, medicine, relying on classical physics, does not always help us to be healthy. And psychology can't properly tell you how to find happiness.
Only deeper knowledge of the world will help us understand how to truly cope with illness and where happiness lives. This knowledge is found in the deep layers of the Universe. Quantum physics comes to the rescue. Soon you will know everything.
What does quantum physics study in simple words
Yes, indeed, quantum physics is very difficult to understand because it studies the laws of the microworld. That is, the world at its deeper layers, at very small distances, where it is very difficult for a person to look.
And the world, it turns out, behaves there very strangely, mysteriously and incomprehensibly, not as we are used to.
Hence all the complexity and misunderstanding of quantum physics.
But after reading this article, you will expand the horizons of your knowledge and look at the world in a completely different way.
Briefly about the history of quantum physics
It all started at the beginning of the 20th century, when Newtonian physics could not explain many things and scientists reached a dead end. Then Max Planck introduced the concept of quantum. Albert Einstein picked up this idea and proved that light does not propagate continuously, but in portions - quanta (photons). Prior to this, it was believed that light has a wave nature.
But as it turned out later, any elementary particle is not only a quantum, that is, a solid particle, but also a wave. This is how corpuscular-wave dualism appeared in quantum physics, the first paradox and the beginning of discoveries of mysterious phenomena of the microworld.
The most interesting paradoxes began when the famous double-slit experiment was carried out, after which the mysteries became much more. We can say that quantum physics began with him. Let's take a look at it.
Double slit experiment in quantum physics
Imagine a plate with two slots in the form of vertical stripes. We will put a screen behind this plate. If we direct light onto the plate, then we will see an interference pattern on the screen. That is, alternating dark and bright vertical stripes. Interference is the result of the wave behavior of something, in our case light.
If you pass a wave of water through two holes located side by side, you will understand what interference is. That is, the light turns out to be sort of like it has a wave nature. But as physics, or rather Einstein, has proven, it is propagated by photon particles. Already a paradox. But it's okay, corpuscular-wave dualism will no longer surprise us. Quantum physics tells us that light behaves like a wave but is made up of photons. But the miracles are just beginning.
Let's put a gun in front of a plate with two slots, which will emit not light, but electrons. Let's start shooting electrons. What will we see on the screen behind the plate?
After all, electrons are particles, which means that the flow of electrons, passing through two slits, should leave only two stripes on the screen, two traces opposite the slits. Have you imagined pebbles flying through two slots and hitting the screen?
But what do we really see? All the same interference pattern. What is the conclusion: electrons propagate in waves. So electrons are waves. But after all it is an elementary particle. Again corpuscular-wave dualism in physics.
But we can assume that at a deeper level, an electron is a particle, and when these particles come together, they begin to behave like waves. For example, a sea wave is a wave, but it is made up of water droplets, and on a smaller level, molecules, and then atoms. Okay, the logic is solid.
Then let's shoot from a gun not with a stream of electrons, but let's release electrons separately, after a certain period of time. As if we were passing through the cracks not a sea wave, but spitting individual drops from a children's water gun.
It is quite logical that in this case different drops of water would fall into different slots. On the screen behind the plate, one could see not an interference pattern from the wave, but two distinct impact fringes opposite each slit. We will see the same thing if we throw small stones, they, flying through two cracks, would leave a trace, like a shadow from two holes. Let's now shoot individual electrons to see these two stripes on the screen from electron impacts. They released one, waited, the second, waited, and so on. Quantum physicists have been able to do such an experiment.
But horror. Instead of these two fringes, the same interference alternations of several fringes are obtained. How so? This can happen if an electron flies through two slits at the same time, and behind the plate, like a wave, it collides with itself and interferes. But this cannot be, because a particle cannot be in two places at the same time. It either flies through the first slot or through the second.
This is where the truly fantastic things of quantum physics begin.
Superposition in quantum physics
With a deeper analysis, scientists find out that any elementary quantum particle or the same light (photon) can actually be in several places at the same time. And these are not miracles, but the real facts of the microcosm. This is what quantum physics says. That is why, when shooting a separate particle from a cannon, we see the result of interference. Behind the plate, the electron collides with itself and creates an interference pattern.
Ordinary objects of the macrocosm are always in one place, have one state. For example, you are now sitting on a chair, weigh, say, 50 kg, have a pulse rate of 60 beats per minute. Of course, these indications will change, but they will change after some time. After all, you cannot be at home and at work at the same time, weighing 50 and 100 kg. All this is understandable, this is common sense.
In the physics of the microcosm, everything is different.
Quantum mechanics asserts, and this has already been confirmed experimentally, that any elementary particle can be simultaneously not only at several points in space, but also have several states at the same time, such as spin.
All this does not fit into the head, undermines the usual idea of the world, the old laws of physics, turns thinking, one can safely say it drives you crazy.
This is how we come to understand the term "superposition" in quantum mechanics.
Superposition means that an object of the microcosm can simultaneously be in different points of space, and also have several states at the same time. And this is normal for elementary particles. Such is the law of the microworld, no matter how strange and fantastic it may seem.
You are surprised, but these are only flowers, the most inexplicable miracles, mysteries and paradoxes of quantum physics are yet to come.
Wave function collapse in physics in simple terms
Then the scientists decided to find out and see more precisely whether the electron actually passes through both slits. All of a sudden it goes through one slit and then somehow separates and creates an interference pattern as it passes through. Well, you never know. That is, you need to put some device near the slit, which would accurately record the passage of an electron through it. No sooner said than done. Of course, this is difficult to implement, you need not a device, but something else to see the passage of an electron. But scientists have done it.
But in the end, the result stunned everyone.
As soon as we start looking through which slit an electron passes through, it begins to behave not like a wave, not like a strange substance that is located at different points in space at the same time, but like an ordinary particle. That is, it begins to show the specific properties of a quantum: it is located only in one place, it passes through one slot, it has one spin value. What appears on the screen is not an interference pattern, but a simple trace opposite the slit.
But how is that possible. As if the electron is joking, playing with us. At first, it behaves like a wave, and then, after we decided to look at its passage through a slit, it exhibits the properties of a solid particle and passes through only one slit. But that's the way it is in the microcosm. These are the laws of quantum physics.
Scientists have seen another mysterious property of elementary particles. This is how the concepts of uncertainty and collapse of the wave function appeared in quantum physics.
When an electron flies towards the gap, it is in an indefinite state or, as we said above, in a superposition. That is, it behaves like a wave, it is located simultaneously at different points in space, it has two spin values \u200b\u200b(a spin has only two values). If we didn’t touch it, didn’t try to look at it, didn’t find out exactly where it is, if we didn’t measure the value of its spin, it would fly like a wave through two slits at the same time, which means it would create an interference pattern. Quantum physics describes its trajectory and parameters using the wave function.
After we have made a measurement (and it is possible to measure a particle of the microworld only by interacting with it, for example, by colliding another particle with it), then the wave function collapses.
That is, now the electron is exactly in one place in space, has one spin value.
One can say that an elementary particle is like a ghost, it seems to exist, but at the same time it is not in one place, and with a certain probability it can be anywhere within the description of the wave function. But as soon as we begin to contact it, it turns from a ghostly object into a real tangible substance that behaves like ordinary objects of the classical world that are familiar to us.
"This is fantastic," you say. Sure, but the wonders of quantum physics are just beginning. The most incredible is yet to come. But let's take a break from the abundance of information and return to quantum adventures another time, in another article. In the meantime, reflect on what you learned today. What can such miracles lead to? After all, they surround us, this is a property of our world, albeit at a deeper level. Do we still think we live in a boring world? But we will draw conclusions later.
I tried to talk about the basics of quantum physics briefly and clearly.
But if you don’t understand something, then watch this cartoon about quantum physics, about the experiment with two slits, everything is also told there in an understandable, simple language.
Cartoon about quantum physics:
Or you can watch this video, everything will fall into place, quantum physics is very interesting.
Video about quantum physics:
How did you not know about this before?
Modern discoveries in quantum physics are changing our familiar material world.