Feb 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006cqgra..23.1393e&link_type=abstract
Classical and Quantum Gravity, Volume 23, Issue 4, pp. 1393 (2006).
Other
Scientific paper
Quantum mechanics is one of the most successful theoretical structures in all of science. Developed between 1925-26 to explain the optical spectrum of atoms, the theory over the succeeding 80 years has been extended, first to quantum field theories, gauge field theories, and now even string theory. It is used every day by thousands of physicists to calculate physical phenomena to exquisite precision, with no ambiguity in the results. To claim that this is a theory which is not understood by those physicists is absurd. And yet, as eminent a physicist as Richard Feynman, who did as much as anyone else to extend quantum theory to field theories and was a master at producing those exquisite calculations, could say that anyone who claimed they understood quantum theory clearly did not understand quantum theory.
One hundred years ago Einstein postulated one of the most unsettling features of the theory, the wave-particle duality, with his particulate explanation for light of the photoelectric effect, and an explanation which was in direct conflict with Maxwell's brilliant development of a wave, or field, theory of light. Einstein believed that the particulate nature would ultimately be explainable by some sort of non-linear theory of electromagnetism, and was outraged by the acceptance of the community of the probabilistic quantum theory. His programme was of course dealt a (near?) fatal blow by Bell's discovery that the three desiderata - a theory which agrees with experiment, a theory which is local in its effects, and a theory in which nature, at its heart, is not probabilistic - are incompatible.
That discomfort felt by Einstein and by Feynman is felt by numerous other people as well. This discomfort is heightened by the fact that the theory of gravity, another of Einstein's great achievements, has resisted all efforts at reconciliation with quantum mechanics. This book explores that discomfort, and tries to pin down what the locus of that discomfort is.
For many, the locus is in the probabilistic nature at the heart of the theory. Nature should surely, at some fundamental level, know what it is doing. The photon, despite our inability to measure it, should know where it is and how fast it is going. The papers by t'Hooft, Hiley, and Smolin fall into this camp. Some suspect that the macroscopic world of our immediate sense experiences, and the microscopic world of quantum phenomena, are genuinely different, that the fundamental conceptual nature of physics changes from one to the other, with some unknown boundary between them. Penrose, in his preface alludes to his speculations on this, as does Leggett to his own speculations in his paper. And a number of articles (e.g., by Hartle, Rovelli, and others) opine that if only everyone looked at quantum mechanics in the right way (their way), it would lose its mystery, and be as natural as Newton's world view. (I myself tend to this position, which is however somewhat tempered by the realization that the clarity and naturalness of my viewpoint is not shared by the others who believe equally firmly in their own natural, clear, but radically different, viewpoint). A number of articles simply examine the counterintuitive nature of quantum theory in general, using it to make sense of time travel (Greenberger and Svozil) and demonstrating the unusual features of induction about the past from present observations within quantum theory (Aharonov and Dolev).
The book is not free from rather overblown titles (e.g., 'Liberation and Purification from Classical Prejudice', or 'A Quantum Theory of the Human Person') but those articles nevertheless contain at least amusing speculations.
In quantum gravity, the incompatibilities between the two masterstrokes of the twentieth century are highlighted. There is a strong suspicion amongst many in this field that progress in understanding quantum gravity demands a deeper understanding of the great mystery of quantum theory which this book explores. This book is a useful and, at times, fascinating introduction to the flounderings which are taking place in trying to understand not only the solution but even what the problem is. Finally, however, the question of the title of this book remains unanswered.
No associations
LandOfFree
Book Review: does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Book Review:, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Book Review: will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1488791