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Reference: Essays on Substance

Einstein & Quantum Mechanics

In a letter dated April 23, 1950 to Schrödinger, Einstein expressed his dissatisfaction with the prevailing interpretation of quantum mechanics and praised Schrödinger for his famous thought experiment involving a cat in a box.

Einstein’s 1950 Letter to Erwin Schrödinger

According to Einstein quantum mechanics was incomplete and inconsistent with the notion of reality.

Einstein praised Schrödinger for this famous thought experiment, which illustrated the paradoxical nature of quantum superposition. He argued that the cat’s existence should not depend on the act of observation and that there must be a more complete description of reality.

The new theory of Substance reinterprets the same data that quantum mechanics is based on. It replaces the discontinuous picture of reality presented by quantum mechanics by a continuous picture. This does not change the positive results of quantum mechanics. However, it may simplify its mathematical model.

The unreality of quantum mechanics comes from its “point particle” assumption. This assumption is a good approximation for atoms and larger particles. But it is no longer appropriate at subatomic levels as explained in the essay The Uncertainty Principle.

The Superposition principle of quantum mechanics tries to explain the continuous nature of substance at subatomic level through a linear combination of many discrete states. This introduces the unreality of discontinuity. This is explained in the essay Quantum Superposition.

The Theory of Substance may initially be validated through very simple math presented in the essay The Rigidity of Mass.

The math of fluid mechanics may be used in a modified form for quantum mechanics.

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