Quantum Physics

I'm hoping the Europa news coming out on Thursday is more than just a tease.

Based on the first minute, 20 minutes of that would be great with a drink and perhaps some Norc-weed.

{{Need some smarter heads than mine- quantum entanglement- some scientists have extended the furthest this us been tested before by firing one half of the proton at a specially designed satellite then altering the positive/negative of the other half of the pair down here on earth- and it still works instantaneously- so does this prove that in reality there is in fact no distance between objects? Or that there is some sort of as yet unseen invisible connecting strand between the two regardless of distance by which they communicate the others state? And if so why does the distance the information needs to travel appear to take no time at all to do so? }}}

Halfy can answer this better I'm sure, but although this is long-distance entanglement experiment is incredibly cool, I don't think there's anything that actually exceeds the speed of light.

The key word..."why does the distance the information needs to travel appear to take no time at all to do so?"
Think of it as a slight-of-hand trick where the physicist makes a particle disappear from one hand and instantly pulls it out of your ear with the other hand.

The rule to be tested (derived decades ago by John Bell, so this is known as "Bell's Theorem") is that either
a. Quantum connections can travel faster than light
b. There are hidden variables that can explain the quantum connections
This will take some explanation.

Bell explained the hidden variables by reference to a certain Professor Bertelmann, who was famous for always wearing mismatched socks.  If you raised one pants leg and exposed a blue sock, you knew immediately that the other sock would be pink.  This didn't mean that there was a quantum connection between the socks, because one sock was always blue, the other always pink.  No mystery at all in the connection between Bartelmann's socks.

But if an electron and anti-electron annihilate and produce two oppositely moving photons, one will have spin up, the other spin down (yes, photons have spin, the waves are actually more like corkscrews than simple up and down).  But this is where the great quantum mystery comes in: it doesn't matter which way you point the measuring apparatus, you'll always measure full spin.  The photon can't know which direction you'll measure the spin, so it must assume it when measured.  The spin can't have been pre-existing.  

So there are no hidden variables, the influence travels instantaneously.  But you can't transfer information this way, because the experiment has to wait for the photon to get there first.  You know intellectually that when you measure one photon the other has to be doing the opposite, but since you had to chase that photon down anyway, a fat lot of good that information will do you; you may as well have just attached the message to the photon.

I really don't know anything else that demonstrates this particular quantum weirdness other than spin, and the fact that spin picks its direction based on the apparatus is damn hard to wrap one's head around.  There's simply no good way to explain it.  It pops out of the mathematics and doesn't do the least thing to make itself intuitive.  Nothing but a damn nuisance.

{{{Ummm ok....right, I think....but Halfy surely its more like pulling up the leg seeing the sock is green, saying 'aha the other is therefore pink', then changing the green sock for a pink one and the other leg changes to a green one instantly- how does it know you changed the first leg's sock at all? }}

{{{ Don't fall for it Petty! It's the oldest physicist trick in the book!!While he's got you looking at your socks he's really picking you sporran!!! }}}

Petty: you have to accept that if they are quantum socks, not Bertelmann socks, then the sock doesn't take on a color until you lift the pants leg, then they BOTH take on color at the same time.  It's an instantaneous quantum connection that happens at the point of measurement, and after that point the connection is over and things are back to normal.  If you don't like it, ranting and raving doesn't seem to help.

For example if you look at my hand....no, THIS hand, over here.  Don't look at the other hand!  That's right.  So my hand is moving to your left.  Look - this works better if you turn your whole head to the left, not just your eyes.  No, no, don't look back at me, keep your attention to the left, stop glancing at my other.....oh drat it, never mind.  

{{ Hold on- so if you take a pair of socks, and you send the green one to space on a satellite and keep the pink one here- how do you know its the pink one and you have to change it to a green unless you pull up the trouser leg of time and space to see? But if you look your already then too late anyway?!!!
And why is my sporran lighter!!!!! Halfy!!!! }}}}

The point is that socks are NOT quantum. But yes, if they happened to be quantum socks and you are wondering whether it changes or not....then as quantum socks you won't know the color until you look. So saying "you send the green one to space" automatically means they are not quantum socks. Once you know, the thing is over. As quantum socks, all you know is they have a 50% chance of being either green or pink. Once you see one is green, the other becomes pink.

And how do we know they aren't already a certain color until you check? Because you have a detector that can only see pink and green, and another than can only see pink and blue, and when you look you either see green or blue (and pink) socks, depending on which detector you use. But you know socks are completely green, blue or pink. Since the socks don't know which detector is coming, they must become green or blue upon observation.

But historically speaking, Bertelmann has blue, not green socks. Somehow in the larger scheme of things that must make a difference.

My socks all have black holes

That's what keeps your feet stuck to the ground.

{{Mine have a 6 metre exclusion zone around them }}

That's what keeps your feet stuck to the ground.

True, but they still suck!

Pettytyrant101 wrote:{{Mine have a 6 metre exclusion zone around them }}

Between those and the kilt there's a strong argument for pursuing your love life while naked.

{{That's what I keep telling her! But she insists I wear the whole hazard suit }}}

{{Just wow- so amazing and cool!The tesla car and dummy occupant riding through space on the back of a massive rocket! Humanity at its best and most wonderfully ridiculous- if only we were like this more often! (Also love the Hitchhikers Guide 'Don't Panic' reference on the dashboard ) }}

I have to give it to Elon Musk, he did it right. I also love the video of the two booster rockets touching down in sync (supposed to be 3, but whatever).

Just talked to a guy who knows somebody who tried starting a company with Elon Musk as Chief Technical Officer. Turns out Musk has too much ego to be anything except Chief Executive Officer, so they split up.

{{ In fairness to them on the boosters, they were trying to land the third one onto a pretty small space in the middle of the sea- that's got to be a touch tricky! Overall though so far its providing a very good proof of concept I'd say. }}}

reminds me of Slim Pickens in Dr Strangelove

Shock twist! Elon's clone is inside the suit. But he'll be okay as long as Elon takes care of himself. Quantum physics means that whatever happens to earth!Elon also happens to space!Elon. It's a little lonely, maybe, but his virtual reality helmet should give him some good distractions when he gets bored.

{{The power of buckie to unleash inventive thoughts at 3am continues!!!

'A Scottish-based team of scientists has created a new method of accurately dating the past....existing radiocarbon dating techniques are expensive, energy intensive and use huge arrays of equipment. There are currently only four centres in the UK hosting such a facility....The old machine is the size of a couple of buses and creates a 4.5m volt electric field to produce a particle beam travelling at a fifth of the speed of light.
It is impressive - but also out of date. Because beside it stands the new PIMS machine.
It stands for Positive Ion Mass Spectrometry, a technique which has taken fourteen years to develop...
It works with samples of carbon dioxide gas rather than solid carbon. That means there is no longer a need for a high energy particle accelerator.
Instead a strong plasma generates a beam of charged carbon atoms. A gas collision cell switches the charge from positive to negative and "cleans" the beam to produce enough carbon-14 to measure...."It turns out that isobutane camping gas can replace particle accelerators in making measurements," says Prof Freeman.
"Having realised this we have developed a new instrument technology around putting carbon-14 through camping gas. "....
"Because this machine is so much simpler than the conventional technology, it takes it away from the national facilities and the expertise that is required," he says.
"This machine could go into any laboratory, any department, any company in the world and could be run by just about anybody."
It is smaller, faster, cheaper and even more accurate than existing methods.
"You're more likely to win the lottery twice than get an interference signal on this system," Dr Shanks says.
"This allows us to measure one particle in a thousand million million."


Camping gas and plasma instead of a hulking great particle beam accelerator- if thats not a 3am buckie idea I've never heard one! }}}

I can't quite follow the details there, I'm hoping this isn't another Theranos in the making.

{{Heres the full article Halfy}}

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-44526368