- #1
dayalanand roy
- 109
- 5
Being a non- physicist, it is extremely difficult for me to conceptualize QM. I hope to get some definite help at this forum.
QM says that the sub-atomic particles exist as both waves and particles. It is not that much difficult to conceptualize.
QM also says that the sub-atomic particles can exist as waves in more than one place simultaneously (superposition state). It is a bit difficult to conceptualize.
QM further says that the moment one observes or interferes with their superposition states, they collapse to their physical state. This postulate is extremely difficult for me to conceptualize. The difficulty becomes more compounded when scientists extrapolate this observation of micro-world to macro-world. Some people say that the moon is not moon until we observe it.
Now I would like to draw your attention to a very simple phenomenon that can be witnessed at our home (my attention was drawn towards it by my sons). Let us observe a fan (preferably at night), hanging from the ceiling and rotating at full speed. Suppose for a moment that it is rotating here for thousands of years and we know nothing about the number, shape or the color of its blades. We do not even know that the fan has blades. So, what do we see there? Just a hazy cloud like structure (though with a definite periphery). We cannot get any information about the blades while it is rotating. Can we compare this hazy cloud with the cloud formed by the rotating electrons around the nucleus? Now switch off the lights so that it is dark in the room. Pick up your camera and just throw a flash of light onto the fan (it flashes for a very short moment). In the flashlight, the blades of the fan become clearly visible in their full shape, as if they are not rotating but are stand still.
However, here we do know that the blades are still rotating and the flashlight is just a technique to make the blades visible. I think here we cannot say that the flashlight just collapses the rotating blades to a stand-still position.
Is there some analogy between this scenario and the subatomic scenario? Is the collapse of sub-atomic waves into their physical form as a result of observation is similar to the above phenomenon. I would be obliged to get some feedback. Dayalanand
Regards.
QM says that the sub-atomic particles exist as both waves and particles. It is not that much difficult to conceptualize.
QM also says that the sub-atomic particles can exist as waves in more than one place simultaneously (superposition state). It is a bit difficult to conceptualize.
QM further says that the moment one observes or interferes with their superposition states, they collapse to their physical state. This postulate is extremely difficult for me to conceptualize. The difficulty becomes more compounded when scientists extrapolate this observation of micro-world to macro-world. Some people say that the moon is not moon until we observe it.
Now I would like to draw your attention to a very simple phenomenon that can be witnessed at our home (my attention was drawn towards it by my sons). Let us observe a fan (preferably at night), hanging from the ceiling and rotating at full speed. Suppose for a moment that it is rotating here for thousands of years and we know nothing about the number, shape or the color of its blades. We do not even know that the fan has blades. So, what do we see there? Just a hazy cloud like structure (though with a definite periphery). We cannot get any information about the blades while it is rotating. Can we compare this hazy cloud with the cloud formed by the rotating electrons around the nucleus? Now switch off the lights so that it is dark in the room. Pick up your camera and just throw a flash of light onto the fan (it flashes for a very short moment). In the flashlight, the blades of the fan become clearly visible in their full shape, as if they are not rotating but are stand still.
However, here we do know that the blades are still rotating and the flashlight is just a technique to make the blades visible. I think here we cannot say that the flashlight just collapses the rotating blades to a stand-still position.
Is there some analogy between this scenario and the subatomic scenario? Is the collapse of sub-atomic waves into their physical form as a result of observation is similar to the above phenomenon. I would be obliged to get some feedback. Dayalanand
Regards.