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Reference: Essays on Substance

Locality and Non-locality

The following definitions provided by AI are influenced by Quantum Mechanics, which believes that SPACE is a void. According to the Theory of Substance, there is no such thing as a void. Space is always denotes dimensions of some substance. If there is space, there must be substance filling it. If there is no substance, there is no space either.

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In physics, locality and non-locality refer to fundamental principles that describe how objects or particles interact with each other and their surroundings.

Locality
The principle of locality states that an object is influenced directly only by its immediate surroundings. This means that for one object to affect another, there must be some mediating force or particle that travels through the space between them. In the context of special relativity, locality implies that no influence can propagate faster than the speed of light.

Key aspects of locality include:

• Causes and effects are limited by the speed of light
• Interactions occur through fields or particles in the intervening space
• It aligns with our intuitive understanding of classical physics

Non-locality
Non-locality, particularly in quantum mechanics, refers to phenomena that appear to violate the principle of locality. The most notable example is quantum entanglement, where measuring the properties of one particle can instantaneously affect the properties of another particle, regardless of the distance between them.

Characteristics of non-locality in quantum physics:

• Entangled particles can exhibit correlations that seem to defy classical locality
• These correlations appear to occur instantaneously, regardless of spatial separation
• Non-local effects do not allow for faster-than-light communication of information

Implications
The tension between locality and non-locality has profound implications for our understanding of reality:

• It challenges our classical intuitions about cause and effect
• It has led to debates about the completeness of quantum mechanics, as highlighted by the EPR paradox
• Non-locality is crucial for quantum technologies like quantum computing and quantum cryptography

While non-locality in quantum mechanics seems to violate the principle of locality, it’s important to note that it does not actually allow for faster-than-light communication or violate the principles of special relativity. The apparent contradiction between these concepts continues to be a subject of research and philosophical debate in modern physics.

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Reference: Essays on Substance

Misconceptions about Quanta

Misconceptions about quanta arise from its mathematical origins. A quantum could not be perceived directly, so it had to be visualized. Only thing known was that a quantum was a discrete entity. It could be counted. These were also the properties associated with material particle. So, an association was made between a quantum and a material particle.

However, matter, ultimately, breaks down into atoms that do not coalesce with each other. They form bonds and remain discrete. With energy it is different. Energy of the same frequency may thin out and reduce to individual quantum; but, when many quanta come together, they coalesce back into the continuum of energy.

Planck assumed that energy comes in distinct particles or packets, rather than being continuous; and that has been the fundamental error. Energy may only be emitted in integral multiples of hν, but nothing prevents it from coalescing back and forming a continuous media.

Planck found that the energy radiated from a heated body is exactly proportional to the frequency of its radiation. This doesn’t require radiation of the same frequency to be discontinuous within itself. It is true that radiation of different frequencies shall maintain that difference down to the level of individual quantum. That is how radiation maintains its spectrum.

So, energy can only be absorbed or emitted in discrete amounts, not continuously as previously thought. But, in space, energy of a particular frequency or wavelength forms a continuous medium, until it thins out into quanta.

In 1905, Einstein proposed that light behaves as if it is composed of discrete particles, which we now call photons. This revolutionary idea explained the photoelectric effect and earned him the Nobel Prize in 1921. In 1909, Einstein introduced the concept of wave-particle duality, suggesting that light exhibits both wave-like and particle-like properties. This dual nature of light became a fundamental principle in quantum mechanics.

Einstein carried forward the misconception of the equivalency of a photon with a material particle, which could not split and coalesce back like a fluid particle. Einstein explored the quantum structure of mechanical energies of particles embedded in matter. This work contributed to the view of how energy is quantized at the atomic level.

Later when Einstein believed quantum mechanics should provide a deterministic description of nature, rather than relying on probabilities, he was arguing against himself. Niels Bohr used Albert Einstein’s own theories to defend quantum mechanics during their debates. Einstein accepted the mathematical framework of quantum mechanics, and its explanatory power but questioned whether it provided a complete description of reality.

What was missed by both Einstein and Bohr was that energy of the same frequency formed a continuous medium. A boundary existed only between energy quanta of different frequencies, but not between energy quanta of the same frequency. Energy is quantized at atomic levels because of phenomena such as resonance, etc., but that does not refute the continuity of energy of same frequency and wavelength.

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Reference: Essays on Substance

The Quantum Particle

This is a video of the first lecture of an introductory course on QM at Yale university. Here are the lecture notes from this video.

This lecture discusses the wave-particle duality. The results of the famous double slit experiment cannot be explained with either the wave or the classical particle model of light. The math shows a photon to be massless.

The photon does not follow the classical wave model because it has its own substance, and it does not require a medium. The photon does not follow the classical particle model either because it can split between the slits, and it does not always leave a point impression. Yet it does appear to have a discrete existence.

The Theory of Substance sees light to be a fluid substance that flows. It has a continuous medium, that can be reduced to discrete “drops” similar to water. These “drops” or “fluid-particles” have dimensions and they have the ability to split and coalesce back. The classical point-particles do not have such properties.

The analogy of light and water ends when we notice that, when divided, water ends up with hard core molecules that cannot coalesce with each other. However, light has no such limitations.

The photon being, a fluid-particle, can appear as a point on the photographic plate in the experiment. But it extends in spacetime, such that it can coalesce with the next photon when it comes along. So there is a fluid-like aspect to light that seems to make all the difference. This has not been examined in physics so far.

A quantum particle is, therefore, a fluid-particle that can split and coalesce and remain a continuous fluid medium.

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