Incompatibility between Quantum Mechanics and Relativity

[wavering]

The incompatibility between Quantum Mechanics and Relativity is one of the stumbling blocks in physics

Is it possible that this problem is related to the phenomenon of emergence? For example, a traffic engineer can treat the movement of a large number of vehicles as the flow of a liquid. But at the level of an individual car this does not work.

Another example is the behaviour of a flock of starlings, at the individual level it is just a bird but in large numbers they form complex mathematical patterns in the sky

So similarly, relativity may work when we are looking at very large numbers but break down at the micro level - just like the vehicle and bird analogy

Nobody would say "how can this thing behave like a car at the micro level but like a liquid at the macro level?" so maybe at the micro level Quantum Mechanics holds sway but at the macro level Relativity holds sway?

 

[Orodruin]

(Special) Relativity is not incompatible with quantum mechanics. The development of relativistic quantum mechanics and quantum field theory was a cornerstone in the development of the standard model of particle physics, one of the most successful physical theories to date. You should not be surprised to get a non-relativistic QM theory when you take certain limits in relativistic QM, just as you should not be surprised that Newtonian mechanics is only valid as an approximation of SR for low velocities.

 

[gianeshwar]

Question is not precisely clear.As I so far understand QM effects come into play at subatomic level irrespective of velocities and relativistic effects come into play at near light speeds irrespective of sizes.
Do you want to compare single electron through two slits and flow of electrons in Young's double slit experiment and compare the patterns on screen.
How you are linking relativity?
Or you are thinking of Boltzmann work of Gas Laws etc.
Please simplify your question.
I am not an expert but am serious to understand.

 

[ZapperZ]

The incompatibility between Quantum Mechanics and Relativity is one of the stumbling blocks in physics

Is it possible that this problem is related to the phenomenon of emergence? For example, a traffic engineer can treat the movement of a large number of vehicles as the flow of a liquid. But at the level of an individual car this does not work.

Another example is the behaviour of a flock of starlings, at the individual level it is just a bird but in large numbers they form complex mathematical patterns in the sky

So similarly, relativity may work when we are looking at very large numbers but break down at the micro level - just like the vehicle and bird analogy

Nobody would say "how can this thing behave like a car at the micro level but like a liquid at the macro level?" so maybe at the micro level Quantum Mechanics holds sway but at the macro level Relativity holds sway?

The link below is a lecture from a typical, college course in Relativistic Quantum Mechanics:

http://www.physics.gla.ac.uk/~dmiller/lectures/RQM_2008.pdf

I have no clue on where you get the idea that QM and Special Relativity are not compatible, when it is already well established and even taught in school as a standard course!

What I suspect is that you are confusing the problem with incorporating gravity, and thus, General Relativity, within the quantum field theory picture, with the misunderstanding that the entire theory of Relativity is incompatible with QM. You need to straighten out your misunderstanding.

Zz.

 

[PJC01]

Your analogy of the traffic engineer and the flock of starlings is a good way to think about emergence in the context of the incompatibility between Quantum Mechanics and Relativity. Emergence is a phenomenon where complex behaviors or properties arise from simpler components, and it is often seen in systems with many interacting parts.

In the case of Quantum Mechanics and Relativity, both theories have been extensively tested and confirmed to be accurate in their respective domains. However, when trying to combine the two theories to explain phenomena at a very small scale and at a very large scale, they seem to contradict each other.

One possible explanation for this is that at these extreme scales, emergent properties arise that cannot be described by either Quantum Mechanics or Relativity alone. Just like how the movement of individual cars cannot fully explain the flow of traffic, or how the behavior of a single bird cannot fully explain the complex patterns of a flock, the behavior of particles and objects at a quantum level and at a cosmic level may give rise to emergent properties that cannot be predicted by either theory alone.

So, it is possible that the incompatibility between Quantum Mechanics and Relativity is due to the phenomenon of emergence, where new properties and behaviors emerge at extreme scales that cannot be explained by either theory alone. Further research and exploration in this area may shed more light on this intriguing problem in physics.