Riding A Quantum Wave : an article by: GF Willmetts
Sometimes, interesting ideas make for better articles than story speculation. More so in the isolated world we currently live in and I have more thoughts to myself and how often have we speculated on the nature of reality and our universe in particular. Prepare for some heavy mental thinking and me doing it in an explanation manner and hope you know some basic physics, with a little emphasis on wave theory and quantum physics.
I’ve commented in the past agreeing with the scientists that at quantum level what governs the quasi-particle-wave reality isn’t a match for our own physical reality. I mean, at our level there is really nothing quite like it, well except electro-magnetic fields but they don’t turn into particles, well not at our level anyway. Even so, you do have to wonder why the two different levels are so radically different considering how we’re connected to each other.
So, let’s apply something here. Supposing reality was actually part of a quantum wave. It doesn’t matter whether we are in the trough or crest in some respects as one or the other would be the peak particle and the other the peak wave. In a standing wave, they would be direct opposites and never the twain shall meet and you wouldn’t know if you were travelling in any direction. Well, unless there was a giant double slit barrier that our quantum wave had to pass through and we might not even notice at our scale.
For those who missed the double slit barrier experiment, you have a barrier with two holes through it. You fire a single photon through one hole and yet the photon switches from particle to wave and gives multiple patterns on the wall behind the barrier. Ergo, at quantum level, sub-atomic particles can switch between being a particle or a wave and we really have no idea why or how.
That’s all very well but how was matter or more specifically our universe created and why doesn’t it appear to have the same property. We do have knowledge and proof of the Big Bang and the universe expanding away from it. Where there is one quantum wave, we wouldn’t know how many more were out there. All it would take is one rogue wave or some barrier to hit our quantum wave and you would have a rupture and mass escaping into how wide inside the wave is and creating our conventional matter and here we are. We just haven’t had an opportunity to switch back to wave or maybe not hit the wall yet.
It can even rationalise dark energy as either part or the remains of the collision just wasting away. Conceivably, dark matter could be part of it, switching between wave and particle which would explain its elusiveness. I should point out that just because both are called ‘dark’ that it is a subjective description and we have yet to have proof they are connected, let alone the same thing but I have a tidy mind. About the only thing we can make a connection to is we know both are out there but we haven’t been able to capture any of it or what exactly it is. A further quandary is how can something be so close and so far at the same time unless it was in its own resonance wave.
The problem with any hypothesis is its possible to make anything fit the pattern if it appears logical and doesn’t upset anything we currently know. By describing ourselves as being part of a giant quantum wave doesn’t actually change the way we live our lives. There is no knowledge of the wave measurements and how much relative time has passed for the wave in motion compared to the duration of our own universe so far.
However, we can draw some comparisons to what we have seen at our own quantum level that I can made some comparable estimates at. We know that there are standing waves and although the switch between wave and particle is too fast for us to see, we don’t know what causes the change other than getting through an obstacle. Remember the double slit barrier experiment and how a photon can seemingly be twice in the same place. If we were a small dot on such a wave, I doubt if we would tell the difference as to what was going on. If we apply this to the massive quantum wave we might be in, then the scale is so vast, we certainly wouldn’t even spot whether we are at the trough or crest of any wave or we were moving at all.
What it does do is bring a comparable consequence. That quantum waves are the same and exist at our level as well as what we can observe at our own sub-atomic level. That, in itself, brings a form of unity to a physical and wave reality, just at our scale, we can’t see the wave we’re in. Whether there is an even much larger quantum wave out then its scale would be so large that we would never be able to even imagine the scale we are dealing with.
The problem with all scientific theories is a need for evidence and a working model that can be observed. At quantum level, we do indeed have sub-atomic molecules that seem to phase between particle and wave format and we are limited in what measurements we can make of them. As far as we know, there are no examples of collisions that have resulted in micro-universes. Even if there had, there’s no knowledge of how long they lasted before being destroyed. How we measure events that way is all time-relative. We make our own measurements of time but its only in numbers we make yourselves.
Looking at how it was enforced by religion about our importance in the universe being constantly eroded that we now know we’re a tiny speck in the cosmos, being a product of a damaged giant quantum wave just enforces this. We were an accident and an even tinier one in the scale of things. Whether it could be duplicated, even at a quantum level would be hard to do. After all, quantum waves collide all the time and we never any other big bangs.
Occam’s Razor says keep things simple scientifically and you can’t get simpler than this. Please bear in mind this is a theory in development and needs to be challenged if it is to stand up. It does bring together the differences in quantum sizes and makes both more alike. It no doubt raises as many questions as resolves things we already know. We have a starting point. Let there be light.
© GF Willmetts 2020
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My thanks to Rosie Oliver as my bouncing board for some of my thoughts in the above and Pauline Morgan for pointing out Pilot Wave Theory at the last minute even if I think it’s a transitory thing.
