Re: Quantum physics question.

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 07:02:13 -0700, Lorentz <drosen0000@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

Does "interference" of the waves possibly play a part, perhaps forming
particles?

You are referring to a "waves only" approximation of quantum
mechanics. The particle is a wave packet. One way to approximate the
behavior of a particle is to analyze it as a wave packet. This at
least gets you an object with partially defined size, and a partially
defined velocity. This is insufficient. Two problems with the idea of
interference forming the particle. First, the amplitude of a wave in
quantum mechanics is quantized. Second, the particle formed by
interference alone is unstable, in that it spreads slowly.

What if the universe can supplement the wave such as the energy
associated with the Casimir effect? Holograms depend on the reference
beam to reproduce the original image.

Excuse me for messing, I don't know what I am talking about. I
vaguely know what you are saying, but I am interested. This boundary
between Newton mechanics and Quantum is so "unnatural." Going from a
work a day, touchy, freely world to one only statistically real is
hard to grasp.


1) To model all the experimental results that we associate with
particles, one needs a quantized amplitude to the wave. The amplitude
of the wave has to be constrained in some way related to the de
Broglie relations. A wave packet does not intrinsically have a
quantized amplitude. Therefore, the quantization of amplitude can not
be explained by interference alone.

I used to sail and sometimes the waves would come from different
directions, where they crossed there would often be a small slap of
surface water. This is the image I had in my mind. The interference
generating a new parcel of energy.


A simple case will show what I mean. Consider a laser. A light wave
with a fixed frequency is confined between two mirrors. It has an
initial amplitude, and from that amplitude one can calculate an
initial number of photons. One can't change the amplitude continuously
because one can't add or subtract a fractional number of photons.
However, a laser contains an amplifying medium that increases the
amplitude of the wave. Assume the amplitude is being increased slowly.
You add one photon, the amplitude goes up by a certain amount. One
can't add a smaller amount and get a smaller change in amplitude. This
jumpiness in amplitude is the nonintuitive part of wave particle
duality. Picturing the particle as a wave packet doesn't help you
picture the jumpiness in wave amplitude. Wave-particle duality can't
be explained by wave interference alone.

In another group someone used the idea of a "God view" of photon
activity. My view of photons is an energy packed released as an
electron moves from a higher energy orbit to a lower one. Outdated
perspective I believe. However, can we be sure the particles are
actually operating in an isolated field? I am thinking of the Casimir
energy field again.


2) Another little problem with the wave only approximation is
that wave packets aren't stable without some type of nonlinear
interaction. The standard Schroedinger equation is linear with respect
to amplitude. It does not have a nonlinear interaction. The wave
packet, where each component obeys a linear Schroedinger equation,
spreads slowly ("slowly" depends on the initial conditions, of
course). A particle has to hold together forever, otherwise it isn't a
particle. This is sometimes called dispersion.

"Forever"? Doesn't everything eventually decay or change form
(dispersion)?



.

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