The Idea of the Quantum: or, How to Avoid the Feeling that You Don't Understand the Quantum Theory

To accept Special Relativity we give up Absolute Time. What do we give up to accept Quantum Theory?  After all these years Heisenberg's 1925 discovery paper for Quantum Theory is still opaque, in contrast to  Einstein's for Special Relativity. In hindsight, to accept Quantum Theory we must give up the Classical Principle, which is hardly ever even stated, for the Quantum Principle.  Today this is naturally inferred from a well-known polarization study of Malus in 1805.  Problems  like "spooky...

To accept Special Relativity we give up Absolute Time. What do we give up to accept Quantum Theory?  After all these years Heisenberg's 1925 discovery paper for Quantum Theory is still opaque, in contrast to  Einstein's for Special Relativity. In hindsight, to accept Quantum Theory we must give up the Classical Principle, which is hardly ever even stated, for the Quantum Principle.  Today this is naturally inferred from a well-known polarization study of Malus in 1805.  Problems  like "spooky action at a distance", ``state vector collapse",  and the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen "paradox" are penalties for  disrespecting the Quantum Principle.  If Time permits,  I will quantize him too.

Event Details

Date/Time:

  • Date: 
    Saturday, November 23, 2013 - 6:00am

Location:
CULC Room 144 (Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons)