Posted on 11/09/2014 4:39:03 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Two USC researchers have proposed a link between string field theory and quantum mechanics that could open the door to using string field theory—or a broader version of it, called M-theory—as the basis of all physics.
"This could solve the mystery of where quantum mechanics comes from," said Itzhak Bars, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences professor and lead author of the paper.
Bars collaborated with Dmitry Rychkov, his Ph.D. student at USC. The paper was published online on Oct. 27 by the journal Physics Letters.
Rather than use quantum mechanics to validate string field theory, the researchers worked backwards and used string field theory to try to validate quantum mechanics. In their paper, which reformulated string field theory in a clearer language, Bars and Rychov showed that a set of fundamental quantum mechanical principles known as "commutation rules'' may be derived from the geometry of strings joining and splitting...
Quantum mechanics is extremely successful as a model for how things work on small scales, but it contains a big mystery: the unexplained foundational quantum commutation rules that predict uncertainty in the position and momentum of every point in the universe.
"The commutation rules don't have an explanation from a more fundamental perspective, but have been experimentally verified down to the smallest distances probed by the most powerful accelerators. Clearly the rules are correct, but they beg for an explanation of their origins in some physical phenomena that are even deeper," Bars said. The difficulty lies in the fact that there's no experimental data on the topic—testing things on such a small scale is currently beyond a scientist's technological ability.
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
Am I the only one who finds it odd that there is a field of study (quantum mechanics) for which the “foundation” of it is as of yet not certain?
Didn’t these scientists get the memo on the new and approved scientific method from the global warming crowd?
Great news, Sheldon can go back to it.
He’s not crazy, his mother had him tested.
Speaking of spooky action: How do they know there is are two particles occupying multiple states at once?
The problem with string theory is its lack of predictive ability. The equations have so many arbitrary parameters that it can model basically anything.
M-theory has been around for a long time (since 1995). It constrains some values forthose arbitrary parameters, but the model still doesn’t have any real predictive ability. It’s a nice mathematical framework, but that’s all it really offers.
It’s like saying “climate change is a scientific theory”. Ok, so climate will change. Granted. So from that hypothesis tell me what you the mean world temperature will be in 50 years from now. String theory has the same problem.
The race is on to develop a computer based on entwined subatomic particles.
My cat is a big supporter of the string theory.
That's nothing, nothing.
We have people who can vote in three different states in the same election.
“The race is on to develop a computer based on entwined subatomic particles.”
Okiedokie.
It was entirely unpredicted, and George Bush's Fault.
I don't see how this is an issue. The established method for dealing with such difficulties is to declare a set, S, of all such arbitrary parameters, and then label set S "Dark Matter."
See? Problem solved.
Happens all the time. It's a normal part of the scientific process.
For example, gravity. When Newton developed his theory of gravity it described a force pulling every object in the universe towards every other object. The theory worked perfectly well. It explained all the observations, and you could predict the motions of the planets, and falling objects. It was clearly right. Yet Newton was troubled by having to postulate this mysterious force. How could there be a force pulling two objects together when nothing connects those objects?
It wasn't until Einstein came along with his General Theory of Relativity that there was an explanation for this force.
String theory is knot easy to understand.
Ba-da-dum.
Thank you, I’ll be here all week. Tip your wait staff.
No one really understands quantum mechanics....it’s just too odd.
It also lacks any known (at least to me) method for validating the theory. Like the book on the subject states: It's not even wrong. Let alone provably right. It's neither. It just IS.
Love reading these articles.... I don’t understand them but for some reason I still love reading them.
Oh you mean when they just say its so and everyone agrees with them so that makes it chiseled in stone? That memo?
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