- #1
Idunno
- 42
- 1
Hi, I was just wondering if the following can be viewed as an explanation for randomness in quantum events. My knowledge of quantum physics is not all that good. I've got a bit of philosophical bent, which is the source of my interest. Anyways...
Assume that when particles interact, what determines what will happen is based on the information available to the particles that interact. It's hard not to write this in anthropomorphic terms, so I'll just give up and write it with words like "decide", "sense", and so on. Another way to put this assumption is that particles "sense" their environment (presumably through their wavefunction) and, based on what environment they "sense", they mutually "decide" what to do next (or you could say nature "decides" what to do next). So the outcome of quantum particle interactions is determined by the information available to the particles.
Now assuming this to be true, it seems to me, as ignorant as I am, that this could explain why quantum interactions are unpredictable. Let me explain why.
If the above assumption is true, then it seems to follow that each particle "senses" a different environment from every other particle, that is, the set of information for every particle is different from every other particle. This would be because (1) every particle is in a different location from every other one, so they all "see" a different field than each other. (2) Each has different light cones, so they all have different information from each other. Therefore no particle can "sense" what another particle can "sense". You cannot duplicate the exact field that one particle "senses", even if you painstakingly build an environment to be the same, as there are just too many particles out there.
Now, further supposing that what the particle(s) will "decide" to do depends sensitively on the environment they can "sense", it would seem that there would be no way to predict what it will do, simply because we will always have incomplete information. Hence, in this view, what will happen is determined by the information the particles have, but is not determinable by us, because we don't have that information, and can't have it.
So, in this view, it seems to me that you cannot expect to be able to predict what a particle will do, because you will never have the requisite information. So then you would expect to find what will happen next to be undeterminable, and a particle "choosing" a random outcome out of a set of possibilities would seem intuitive. At least it does to me, and I hope I have made no logical error here. :)
When you put an instrument near a particle, the instrument (which is just another collection of particles) cannot measure the same enviromnment that the other particle, as it is not in the same place and does not have the same light cone.
So I hope that my idea is clear, and I'm interested to know what people think. I have not seen this idea before and argument before, so I thought I'd ask those who know more than I do. I don't know what this would mean for other weird aspects of quantum mechanics, but it seems to fit this aspect. One thing I just thought of that might defeat this idea is if you put two particles on opposite sides of a third, then maybe this would be enough information to know what the third is "sensing". So maybe that defeats this idea, Idunno. :)
Assume that when particles interact, what determines what will happen is based on the information available to the particles that interact. It's hard not to write this in anthropomorphic terms, so I'll just give up and write it with words like "decide", "sense", and so on. Another way to put this assumption is that particles "sense" their environment (presumably through their wavefunction) and, based on what environment they "sense", they mutually "decide" what to do next (or you could say nature "decides" what to do next). So the outcome of quantum particle interactions is determined by the information available to the particles.
Now assuming this to be true, it seems to me, as ignorant as I am, that this could explain why quantum interactions are unpredictable. Let me explain why.
If the above assumption is true, then it seems to follow that each particle "senses" a different environment from every other particle, that is, the set of information for every particle is different from every other particle. This would be because (1) every particle is in a different location from every other one, so they all "see" a different field than each other. (2) Each has different light cones, so they all have different information from each other. Therefore no particle can "sense" what another particle can "sense". You cannot duplicate the exact field that one particle "senses", even if you painstakingly build an environment to be the same, as there are just too many particles out there.
Now, further supposing that what the particle(s) will "decide" to do depends sensitively on the environment they can "sense", it would seem that there would be no way to predict what it will do, simply because we will always have incomplete information. Hence, in this view, what will happen is determined by the information the particles have, but is not determinable by us, because we don't have that information, and can't have it.
So, in this view, it seems to me that you cannot expect to be able to predict what a particle will do, because you will never have the requisite information. So then you would expect to find what will happen next to be undeterminable, and a particle "choosing" a random outcome out of a set of possibilities would seem intuitive. At least it does to me, and I hope I have made no logical error here. :)
When you put an instrument near a particle, the instrument (which is just another collection of particles) cannot measure the same enviromnment that the other particle, as it is not in the same place and does not have the same light cone.
So I hope that my idea is clear, and I'm interested to know what people think. I have not seen this idea before and argument before, so I thought I'd ask those who know more than I do. I don't know what this would mean for other weird aspects of quantum mechanics, but it seems to fit this aspect. One thing I just thought of that might defeat this idea is if you put two particles on opposite sides of a third, then maybe this would be enough information to know what the third is "sensing". So maybe that defeats this idea, Idunno. :)