What Happens When Point-Like Particles Interact?

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Quantum theory challenges the principle of local causality established by classical and relativistic models, raising questions about the nature of physical bodies, which are often assumed to be geometric points. The discussion emphasizes the ambiguity in defining "physical" and the disconnect between everyday experiences and theoretical physics, particularly regarding interactions and collisions at the quantum level. It is argued that classical theories fail to account for phenomena like particle annihilation and transformation, which quantum physics addresses through the concept of changing probabilities within fields. Participants express a desire for a more tangible understanding of reality, moving beyond abstract mathematical models. Ultimately, the conversation highlights the complexities and philosophical implications of reconciling quantum mechanics with our perception of physical reality.
  • #91
glengarry said:
No, I've gotten beyond that idea. What I think I have come up with is a general mathematical context (i.e. harmonic standing waves, "Riemannization", Fourier summation, minimization of maximum amplitude) that is capable of inspiring the most imaginative mathematical minds to start working towards the idea of theoretical physics as a discipline that requires the positive proof inherent in mathematical theorems rather than the merely negative style of proof that is inherent in Popper's falsifiability doctrine.

But in order to begin the process of inspiring people, I need to describe how the various phenomena (I have already mentioned them in a previous post) can be understood as "believable" possibilities from within this context. This means that people are going to have to give me a break about giving them "wildly successful" predictions about phenomenon X, Y, or Z (this is the language of QM which can supposedly predict everything, but yet describe nothing).

I mean, I really do want to get into the details, but I want to feel like I am doing something collaborative rather than simply trying to bang something into people's heads that they might not be ready to hear.

so, it sounds like you (think you) have a 'end product', but you don't have all/any of the 'details' to establish it
 
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  • #92
rewebster said:
so, it sounds like you (think you) have a 'end product', but you don't have all/any of the 'details' to establish it

No, I think that I have a mathematical context through which interesting questions can be asked and answered. I think I have just enough details to get certain talented mathematicians to start thinking in terms of mutually inclusive, harmonically oscillating geometric entities that are constantly trying to find positions of equilibrium from within the context of a Fourier summed universal spatial manifold.

I'd love to hear what you think about all of this...
 
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  • #93
glengarry said:
No, I think that I have a mathematical context through which interesting questions can be asked and answered. I think I have just enough details to get certain talented mathematicians to start thinking in terms of mutually inclusive, harmonically oscillating geometric entities that are constantly trying to find positions of equilibrium from within the context of a Fourier summed universal spatial manifold.

I'd love to hear what you think about all of this...

I think, or was wondering really, if you think you've got 'part' of it, why hasn't it fallen into place for you?

It still sounds like you're missing 'parts'; and, if its your own idea, then you may not have the right parts in place yet, or the right parts to begin with---

There's a whole lot of papers out there that are basically conjectures.

If you're at a point where there's a problem, then you may not be on the right path. If you're at a point where things seem to fit, but then you don't have the next step, my suggestion is to submit it for publication.
 
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  • #94
glengarry said:
I am psychologically unstable. This does not mean that I am dangerous, it only means that my moods are highly influenced by the thoughts that are running through my mind. That is, if I am in the process of making some kind of exciting connection, I tend to become fairly manic. Otherwise, depression can easily begin to set in.

This is the problem you should be working on brother. Not how to solve math problems...
 
  • #95
magpies said:
This is the problem you should be working on brother. Not how to solve math problems...

How, exactly, am I supposed to "work on" my own mind? I am my mind! Thinking about the universe is precisely how I cope with my mental issues...
 
  • #96
rewebster said:
I think, or was wondering really, if you think you've got 'part' of it, why hasn't it fallen into place for you?

It still sounds like you're missing 'parts'; and, if its your own idea, then you may not have the right parts in place yet, or the right parts to begin with---

This has nothing to do with typical articles that are submitted for publication in academic journals. This rather has everything to do with rethinking our understanding of theoretical physics as a formalism that merely predicts certain phenomena--so that it can instead be built upon a robust mathematical system that will allow believable ontological models to be constructed.

My idea is much better understood as a paradigm shift rather than a simple equation (or set of equations) that can be "solved" in order to attain a specific result. This latter version is how the academic establishment currently understands the nature of theoretical physics.

I don't want any fame from this. I just want to be recognized as having an ability that has value within the world at large, so that I can find a place within society that can lead to a happy and fulfilling life. I am simply not capable of compromising my intellectual or moral standards so that I can live a typical consumerist kind of life.

We have to understand that the mathematics involved within my idea verges on infinite complexity. We are talking about solving partial differential equations, morphing them into spherical shapes, "Fourier summing" them together, and finding out how they will reach equilibrium.

The "bleeding edge" of mathematics, however, has only just recently come into a proof of the Poincare conjecture, which merely describes the way in which individual three-dimensional manifolds can be morphed into spheres. And if you look into Perelman's three papers, I feel pretty confident that you will agree that the mathematics involved with making any kind of statement about three-dimensional manifolds is something entirely different than what the typical theoretical physicist imagines mathematics to be.

So what I am trying to do is to redefine theoretical physics as nothing other than interactive differential geometry, which, to put it mildly, will find extraordinary resistance by the powers that be in the academic physics establishment. I think that people will start to become interested when I get into detail about the various phenomena (esp. the electromagnetic and optical phenomena) that can be intuitively understood from within the context of the mathematical object, U.

Also, it is important to understand that my online efforts are only a tiny fraction of my total energy expenditure in getting my ideas out in the open. I currently live on and around the UCLA campus, and I have been making myself very well known by way of holding signs around campus so that people will get interested in what I have to say. My current sign says:

Thesis: "The axioms of quantum mechanics are logically absurd." Einstein thought so, and so do I!

I get very different responses from the different kinds of people that I talk to. The "know it all" physics undergrads and grad students tend to respond the most negatively to me, since my ideas only push their understandings into theoretical irrelevancy. But I really don't care about what they have to say, because they are typically too prejudiced to open their minds to another way of thinking about physical theory.

My best responses are from those who are interested in philosophy or math, and preferably both at the same time. I have had some very good conversations with both kinds of students, some of whom became visibly excited by the concept of theoretical physics that I describe to them.

But the "holy grail," as far as I am concerned, is to get the attention of one of the smartest people in the world, Terence Tao, who is a mathematician at UCLA. What I am trying to do is to create a kind of general buzz around campus that there is a person (me) who has exciting things in store for the future of theoretical physics, and that Mr. Tao would be a perfect person to provide an expert opinion on the nature of the mathematical object (U) that I have in mind.

That is, he specializes in partial differential equations and in Fourier analysis (among other subjects), and he is also well versed with issues in differential geometry. If I can just get him to contemplate the possibilities that are inherent within U, I feel that he would be inspired to comment on it in his blog, thus conferring instantaneous legitimacy (at least in the eyes of mathematicians) to this new idea of what theoretical physics can be.

I know this all sounds ridiculous coming from an anonymous, disembodied voice on the internet, but if I were to talk to you face-to-face, I promise you that you would feel differently about all of this. I am slowly but surely building up a real world following, and they should be filtering into this forum to see how I handle myself with you guys, even if they don't take part in the conversation. So, to all of my potential interlocutors, you should be aware of the possibility that all of this can very well lead to something fairly significant, and that your ability to make a well-considered point can have a real impact on the future course of theoretical physics.

At the moment, I am highly eager to get into the special relativity (i.e. signal propagation) aspects of the model, but I have no interest in doing this unless I can feel a positive vibe coming from you guys. Indeed, I want this to be a collaborative effort (just like Terence has collaborative "polymath" projects on his blog), so that we can provide legitimacy to the idea that the openness of the WWW is truly a force for good for humanity rather than simply a place to waste a few hours every day.
 
  • #97
Ok I'll bite what would you want us to do to help you? <-- keep in mind I am lazy and have my own projects.
 
  • #98
glengarry--from your post #96---if you haven't already, create a facebook page and put your writings on it (and allow comments)----

--see where it goes from there, that is, if (or maybe, since) you don't want to see if it will be accepted for publication at a journal.

--I think you're allowed to put personal writings on your own PF blog also---but I'd ask or find out first for sure...
 
  • #99
glengarry, maybe instead of standing on Bruin Walk you should just go to the MS building if you really want to talk to Terence Tao?
 
  • #100
glengarry said:
So much hay is made out of the fact that quantum theory—and its associated experiments—violates the principle of local causality, as canonically developed by the classical (Newtonian) and relativistic (Einsteinian) models. But no one ever really asks about what these models are 'truly' saying about physical reality. That is, in all of these theories, it is axiomatically assumed that material bodies, in the elemental sense, come in the forms of geometric points. But there is a major difference between the following two ideas:

1) points as the solutions to linear, analytical equations
2) points as 'really existing' physical objects

In fact, it is my thesis that the desire to satisfy idea #1—at least within the community of mainstream academic physics—has always overshadowed the question that idea #2 is constantly begging. And this question is:

"If the form of physical bodies, in the most elementary sense, is not that of the geometric point, then what is it?"


Mental constructs of ....(fill in the blank with "1D strings", "loops", "mathematics", "bits", or something else)



But before we even demand from ourselves a [hypothetical] answer to this question, let us return to the original question: How is local causality possible?

That is, we will assume the existence of two elementary bodies that come in the form of geometric points, and for the sake of simplicity, we will consider a one-dimensional space. Now, just like those 'cars approaching each other from opposite directions' questions, we will consider our particles, A and B, to be involved in the same kind of collision course.

So A and B are now approaching each other with some arbitrary relative speed (it makes no difference what the individual velocities might be in a given frame of reference). So, A and B get closer and closer until something happens. My question is simply this:

"What is the nature of this 'something' when we say that two physical bodies, in the form of points, have 'interacted'?"

And I ask this because of this difficulty: the only way that we can say that two points are not different is when they are, in fact, the same point. So here are the choices that we have left:

1) The two points are not interacting precisely because they are different—i.e. there is some amount of space between them.
2) It is senseless to say that interaction exists precisely because there is only a single point in existence.

Anybody have any comments about this difficulty?




This is a philosophical question and will reflect the underlying philosophy of the poster.
 

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