Null-Hypothesis - Quantum mechanics shows that there are no photons

submitted by zyxzevn from self.Physics

sorted by:
top
newinsightfulfun
you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]magnora7 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I think the pilot wave theory solves a lot of the problems with the photon particle/wave duality. It also requires no magic and nothing weird, which makes it very appealing: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_wave_theory

Pilot waves are simply ripples in the electromagnetic field. We know the field exists, and we know when things move in it, it creates waves in that field, just like when a boat moves across water.

The waves physically represent quantum coherence, and explain "action at a distance" as well as explaining the double-slit experiment perfectly. So really photons are both particles and waves. A particle sitting in the middle of a wave, like a boat surrounded by waves on a lake. However this particle can never sit still, or else it collapses, which is why photons cannot be measured at rest, or any other speed than the speed of light. So there is an interaction of the waves and the particle at light speed that apparently holds it all together to produce all the effects that have been measured from photons.

[–]zyxzevn[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Thanks for reply.

As I understand it, the Pilot Wave assumes that there is some kind of substance that carries those waves. That is a magic substance, because we do not know what it is. And you think there are waves without substance, you have undetectable magic waves.

The results of the pilot wave theory are also slightly different from the experiments. In some cases the path that pilot-wave-particles should take, are not possible in certain experiments. That is what I read. I think that such paths can even be blocked, but I don't know an example.

But if you just forget about the substance and use the electromagnetic field as the carrier of the photon-wave, you can just forget about the particles. You get exactly the Loading theory.

The problem with quantum mechanics comes pure from the particles. In optics scientists often fall back to electromagnetic fields instead of photons. No particles, no problem. That is why I think it is the simplest explanation. Not necessarily the correct one, but one that should be thoroughly tested.

[–]magnora7 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

That is a magic substance, because we do not know what it is.

It's the electromagnetic field, which is a proven substance to exist everywhere in the universe, and carries all electromagnetic waves.

I think there are a lot of dumb interpretations of quantum physics that hopefully die off after the more quality and testable hypotheses are tested.

[–]LishLash 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Electromagnetic fields propagate throughout 3D physical space, which makes them inherently relativistic. Pilot Waves do not propagate in 3D physical space, they manifest in complex-valued Configuration Space, which is inherently non-relativistic. Pilot Waves are produced by the evolution of the quantum wave-function, evaluated via Schrodinger's Equation. These solutions are expressed as superposed complex-valued probability amplitudes in Configuration Space. Physically realizable solutions are projected into 3D physical space as probability density fields, according to Born's Law (= the conjugate square of the probability amplitude), which Bohmian Mechanics derives from its Quantum Equilibrium Hypothesis. The probability density field is not a physical entity, it is just a prediction of the likelihood of detecting a particle at any specific point in 3D physical space.

According to Bohmian Mechanics, relativistic particle trajectories do in fact exist, but their sole property is the actual location of the particle in 3D physical space at any point in time. That physical trajectory is the sole "hidden variable" in Bohmian Mechanics, and as shown by Bell's Theorem, can only be a non-local hidden variable (in order to remain consistent with QM). All other properties that can be measured are not those of the particle itself, but of the Pilot Wave that guides the motion of the particle. What BM contends is that in practice, the only things we can actually detect are the 3D positions of particles. If particles did not manifest in 3D physical space, there would be nothing to detect, since the only way we have of detecting e.g. an electromagnetic field is to observe how it deflects particle trajectories.

The non-locality of the Pilot Wave is the inevitable result of it manifesting in Configuration Space, which like the quantum wave-function itself, is inherently non-relativistic. This means that unlike the relativistic propagation of electromagnetic waves in 3D space, Pilot Waves propagate instantaneously throughout Configuration Space. This non-local (i.e. non-relativistic) property of Pilot Waves is what is misinterpreted as "faster-than-light information transfer" by those who mistakenly assume Pilot Waves propagate in 3D physical space.