SUMMARY. “We show that the origin of bianisotropy is fully defined by the symmetry of the meta-atom rather than its size.” A strange and mystical paper. https://lnkd.in/e5fJZNfb View in LinkedIn
THE GENERAL ASSUMPTION. “Quantum Fundamentalism? Everything in the universe (if not the universe as a whole) is fundamentally of a quantum nature and ultimately describable in quantum-mechanical terms.” https://lnkd.in/eauD5rnp View in LinkedIn
CONCEPT. “General idea of multipolar bianisotropy. Vector spherical harmonics can be divided into even and odd under inversion operation. Inversion symmetry — No bianisotropy. No inversion symmetry — Bianisotropy.” https://lnkd.in/e5fJZNfb View in LinkedIn
DOGMA. “Against this background, it is hardly surprising that many are attracted to the idea that quantum mechanics, or some of its successors like quantum field theory or string theory, is a universal and fundamental theory of the world.” https://lnkd.in/eauD5rnp View in LinkedIn
VAST INFLUENCE. “Quantum mechanics is an immensely successful theory. Not only have all its predictions been experimentally confirmed to an unprecedented level of accuracy, allowing for a detailed understanding of the atomic and subatomic aspects of matter; the theory also lies at the heart of many of the technological advances shaping modern society – not least the transistor and therefore all of the electronic equipment that surrounds us.” https://lnkd.in/eauD5rnp View in LinkedIn
THE TATTERED HUMAN PSYCHE. “Darwin seems to me to be the Copernicus of the organic world. In the sixteenth century Copernicus put an end to the anthropocentric theory by doing away with the Ptolemaic spheres and bringing our earth down to the rank of an insignificant planet.” (du Bois-Reymond, 1882). https://lnkd.in/e2_HpJsY View in LinkedIn
PARADIGM CHANGE. “Niels Bohr’s 1913 atomic model was a revolutionary step in a development which culminated in the mid-1920s with the theory of quantum mechanics. Ever since then, physicists and philosophers have been discussing what the theory means for our understanding of the world.” https://lnkd.in/eauD5rnp View in LinkedIn
SO ENDS this first of two weekends on a consideration of some of Bohr’s ideas about quantum reality. It has been over 100 years since these ideas were introduced, and humanity is still struggling over them. “Opposites are not contradictory but complementary.” (Bohr) sums up how we humans have such deeply embedded and inflexible frames of reference that make understanding the quantum world so difficult. https://lnkd.in/eauD5rnp View in LinkedIn
MEASUREMENT. “Bohr’s view of quantum mechanics has traditionally been seen as opposed to quantum fundamentalism, not least because he insisted on a classical (not quantum) description of the measurement apparatus. This amounts to dissolving the measurement problem from the outset, since the apparatus and its pointer should not be thought of as being in quantum superpositions.” https://lnkd.in/eauD5rnp View in LinkedIn