Can Any Theory Unify Wave/Particle, Space/Time, and Energy/Mass Dualities?

[jrrship]

Does any theory explain all these dualities:

Wave/Particle Duality, Space/Time Duality, and Energy/Mass Duality.

Does ST or LQG account for all these dualities?

What I mean is, can ST or LQG show that these dualities are unified by some deeper physical model?

Can any theory show that all the dualities arise from a common physical reality?

Thanks!

 

[william donnelly]

Well wave/particle duality is just QM. space/time and energy/mass are just special relativity. So the answer is, a theory that has all these features is ordinary qft.

 

[jrrship]

Well wave/particle duality is just QM. space/time and energy/mass are just special relativity. So the answer is, a theory that has all these features is ordinary qft.

Yes, perhaps.

But what is the underlying physical reality?

Can I picture it?

If QFT has both wave/particle duality and space/time duality, does it not then unify QM and SR?

But back to the original question--what is the physical model that unifies all the dualities on a physical level.

Saying "QFT does it--move along now," does not quite seem satisfactory.

Thanks!

 

[jrrship]

Wave/Particle Duality & Space/Time Duality

Has wave/particle duality ever been incorporated with space/time duality?

Do they arise from the same underlying physical reality?

Can they?

If so, what would this be?

For instance, quantum mechanics implies non-locality. And too, two photon's that originate from a single point and travel in opposite directions, stay in the exact same place in time. In fact, each travels an interval defined by the null vector. So it seems that even though they are far apart in our reference frame, in tehir own, they are yet in the exact same place. So it would make sense that they are entagled on a quantum level.

Has wave/particle duality ever been incorporated with space/time duality?

Albert Einstein (1924) said: There are therefore now two theories of light, both indispensable, and - as one must admit today in spite of twenty years of tremendous effort on the part of theoretical physicists - without any logical connections.

What is the logical connection between light as a wave and light as a particle?

 

[william donnelly]

Yeah, sorry my original answer was a little trite. I was just trying to answer the question "Does any theory explain all these dualities". I thought you might be surprised to know that you don't have to go to anything so exotic as lqg or string theory to do this. QFT does unify QM and SR.

As for underlying physical reality (or "ontology" if you want to impress your philosophy prof), you run into problems that many people in interpretations and philosophy of physics have torn their hair out about. See this link for an intro: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/quantum-field-theory/

 

[jrrship]

But does QFT say that wave/particlee duality and space/time duality and mass/engery duality arise from the same physical reality?

If so, what is the postulate? What is the premise?

Fo instance, Einstein's two postules show that space/time duality and mass/engery duality arise from the same physical reality.

What is QFT's postulate that shows that wave/particlee duality and space/time duality and mass/engery duality arise from the same physical reality?

Thanks!

 

[chroot]

I don't think anyone here can answer your question, because no one here knows what "underlying physical reality" really means. It's a nonsense term.

Scientific theories are selected because they allow us to predict the results of experiments. They aren't chosen because they somehow mirror some "underlying physical reality." Many phenomena, such as signal propagation through filters, are very well described by mathematical machinery (e.g. phasors in the complex plane) that certainly does not exist in the physical world.

So what? After all, we can't actually see or grab hold of electrons -- all we can do is deduce their nature by how they interact with things in carefully designed experiments. Physics does not concern itself with the phiosophy of what an electron really is, since it's very likely that that question has no meaningful answer. Instead, we simply try to find models which predict the outcomes of experiments. Physicists have been rather successful so far in this endeavor.

- Warren

 

[chroot]

Admin note: I have moved this thread to the Philosophy of Science, Math, Logic forum, since it seems to deal entirely with a philosophical question.

- Warren

 

[jrrship]

Actually, physics is the study of physical reality

 

[Jimmini]

Does any theory explain all these dualities:

Wave/Particle Duality, Space/Time Duality, and Energy/Mass Duality.

Does ST or LQG account for all these dualities?

What I mean is, can ST or LQG show that these dualities are unified by some deeper physical model?

Can any theory show that all the dualities arise from a common physical reality?

Thanks!

Not yet. Even the Standard Model is being revised as stars exceed speeds that should cause them to burn off.
It might be possible that with wave/particle function that the environment determines the state.

 

[william donnelly]

What is QFT's postulate that shows that wave/particlee duality and space/time duality and mass/engery duality arise from the same physical reality?

If I had to come up with one postulate that did what you describe, probably it would be:
Each type of particle corresponds to an irreducible representation of the Poincare group.

The Poincare group is also the group that underlies space/time duality and energy/mass duality. So maybe this is the type of thing you are looking for?

 

[chroot]

Actually, physics is the study of physical reality

Only in the sense that we try to create theories which accurately predict the outcomes of experiments. There's no reason for the models themselves to resemble "physical reality" in any way at all. As I've said, what do we know about the physical reality of electrons, beyond what they do in experiments? We can't see them or touch them, so our human-scale notion of "physical reality" is meaningless.

- Warren

 

[Jimmini]

Only in the sense that we try to create theories which accurately predict the outcomes of experiments. There's no reason for the models themselves to resemble "physical reality" in any way at all. As I've said, what do we know about the physical reality of electrons, beyond what they do in experiments? We can't see them or touch them, so our human-scale notion of "physical reality" is meaningless.

- Warren

I like your answer. Myself, I sometimes think that when I dream or imagine something, what are its' physical limits ? In reality, my dream or imagination. And yet what defines our physical reality ? Mathematics ?
To answer poincare and wave/particle duality.
An electron may be a solid in the absence of other energies(free radical), but when present in a specific field of weak or strong nuclear potential, its' attributes may be relative to its' environment.

 

[FunkyDwarf]

What is the logical connection between light as a wave and light as a particle?

Mkay first up ill just say a few things about what you said, and if I am wrong please others correct me. According to particle physics, which as far as i know, is the prevailing model for explaining physical phenomenon, says that light is a particle, the photon, which is the force carrier for the EM fields. (the photon being a discrete packet of wave energy)

Furthermore, I've never heard the space-time relationship described as 'duality' and as such am skeptical of its use. Its not so much duality in the way that people think of wave particle duality as much as the two being inescapably woven together, rather than being two separate observed states. Space and time are linked by, for example, the equations of special relativity and Lortenz transformations, which show that as space is affected by speed (and in GR, gravity) so time is warped in a similar manner, thus they both move and are distorted together as a pair.

Hope this helps
-G

 

[Demystifier]

What is the logical connection between light as a wave and light as a particle?

See e.g. Sec. II in
http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0609163

 

[marlon]

Has wave/particle duality ever been incorporated with space/time duality?

What is space time duality ? Where does it apply in QM ?

And too, two photon's that originate from a single point and travel in opposite directions, stay in the exact same place in time.

In the exact same place ? How can you say that about photons which respect the uncertainty principle ?

In fact, each travels an interval defined by the null vector.

The null vector ?

Albert Einstein (1924) said: There are therefore now two theories of light, both indispensable, and - as one must admit today in spite of twenty years of tremendous effort on the part of theoretical physicists - without any logical connections.

What is the logical connection between light as a wave and light as a particle?

QM is just ONE theory, the duality does not mean that there are TWO versions of QM.

marlon

 

[chroot]

Admin note: two threads on the same topic have been merged here.

- Warren

 

[grahamc]

I don't think anyone here can answer your question, because no one here knows what "underlying physical reality" really means. It's a nonsense term.

Here's how I get my head around wave particle duality. Imagine a long long line of dominos each with the same number of dots on one face. When you tip the first domino the others start tumbling in sequence.

If you take a snapshot of the next domino as it is about to tumble you can see it as a "particle" with properties. In other words as an individual domino with markings on it. But by taking this snapshot you ceaae to be able to determine the position of the currently tumbling domino.

Now if you look side-on at the tumbling dominoes you will see a wave like effect as the tumble front advances. You get a rough idea of where the about-to-tumble domino is but you cannot see enough to determine its properties.

Depending on your point of view/perspective the domino is either a wave or a particle.

 

[Jimmini]

Graham,
I like your response.

I don't think anyone here can answer your question, because no one here knows what "underlying physical reality" really means. It's a nonsense term.

Here's how I get my head around wave particle duality. Imagine a long long line of dominos each with the same number of dots on one face. When you tip the first domino the others start tumbling in sequence.

If you take a snapshot of the next domino as it is about to tumble you can see it as a "particle" with properties. In other words as an individual domino with markings on it. But by taking this snapshot you ceaae to be able to determine the position of the currently tumbling domino.

Now if you look side-on at the tumbling dominoes you will see a wave like effect as the tumble front advances. You get a rough idea of where the about-to-tumble domino is but you cannot see enough to determine its properties.

Depending on your point of view/perspective the domino is either a wave or a particle.