Recent content by gerbilmore

As a relevant side note, are there any examples of the double slit experiment where the measuring device which establishes which slit the photon goes through is switched OFF and then switched ON to take measurements. I'd expect to see the pattern switch almost immediately from an interference...

Thanks. I'll get there! :) Would you mind explaining what you mean? Why a misstatement? I could, in theory, travel at the speed of light, couldn't I? That's true. My understanding of QM began, many years ago, quite by accident, with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Bleep_Do_We_Know...

Thanks. I recognise there subject matter is highly complex, but there's so much contradictory information out there; it's hard to know what to believe! The videos look like a great immediate starting point though - much appreciated.

Thanks. I will certainly look into the book and watch the videos. As an aside... From: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_time "Theoretically, this is the shortest time measurement that is possible." ?

Seems to be the case, hence my questioning :) So, let me revisit my question: With reference to the double slit experiment, would I be right in saying that something which at first glance appears quite mind-blowing i.e. the suggestion that a particle (as a wave) takes every possible route from...

I wasn't saying I was right, I was asking the question. So I don't mean jump I mean 'travel' ... essentially do whatever a particle does to get from A to B, where A is its starting point and B is anywhere else in the universe. And by one unit of Planck time I'm referring to the shortest possible...

How so? My understanding is that there are many things not fully understood in QM and GR.

That gives me a much clearer sense of an infinite universe, and actually shows how a finite and an infinite universe are, arguably, quite similar. It suggests something finite but limitless as opposed to something stretching into the distance for an eternity. It's amazing how just a difference...

Understood. So am I right in saying that in that example an infinite result or proposition would be incorrect, but in other examples (infinite universe, perhaps not described mathematically?) it may not? I guess I'm trying to understand why infinity seems to be plausible (accepted?) in some...

Understood. However, to flip that around with an example, if our universe is flat (which is seems to be by my understanding) then that suggests it may be infinite—infinity is therefore posited as a possible real phenomena. We could have an infinite universe made up of a finite amount of energy...

I realize that a result of infinity suggests something has gone wrong, but why? Why is infinity an unacceptable answer? It seems very beautiful. Perhaps a separate thread. I find this all fascinating.

Thanks for your answers; very useful for further reading, although something still niggles. I'm struggling to think of another way to accurately describe what I mean (probably because I'm wrong!) but how about this example: x + y = z (representative of GR) y + x = z (epresentative of QM) Two...

Thanks for explaining that example.; very useful. I do still feel that in some ways this says something about our willingness to accept contradictory findings. But arguably that's also how we describe something as 'wrong'! :) Not that I'm suggesting I'm right by any means of course, but I would...

Is this the case? Are there any examples you could quote? That may answer my question in some ways, although I still feel my reasoning stands.

Why not? Simply because that's counterintuitive?