tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9124539381685751273.post6672108747394910480..comments2023-06-19T04:35:06.263-07:00Comments on Skeptic's Play: Identical particles in Quantum Mechanicsmillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05990852054891771988noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9124539381685751273.post-26582363524736605182010-03-17T22:31:44.440-07:002010-03-17T22:31:44.440-07:00The news article you linked is talking about the b...The news article you linked is talking about the border between the quantum and classical realms.<br /><br />Physicists talk about the borders between different theories all the time. For example, when do we treat the Earth as flat surface, and when do we treat it as a point? We treat it as a flat surface when we're commuting to work, but we treat it as a point when we calculate its orbit. Somewhere in the middle we treat it as a sphere.<br /><br />When do we treat it a system as a quantum system, and when do we treat it as a classical system? Usually, we draw the line between small systems and big systems. But that's not quite right. The true line is between "coherent" systems and "decoherent" systems. Usually, only small systems can be coherent, but the BBC article is about a group which very carefully constructed a large coherent system.<br /><br />Though to tell you the truth, I couldn't understand any of the details as to how they did it.<br /><br />If your friends believe that humans or brains can exhibit large-scale coherent behavior, manifesting as bilocation or astral projection, I daresay they don't know what they're talking about.millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05990852054891771988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9124539381685751273.post-6109280656863966552010-03-17T19:59:54.221-07:002010-03-17T19:59:54.221-07:00All of this is too much for my feeble brain. But I...All of this is too much for my feeble brain. But I do have a question. Does today's BBC piece below change any part of your explanation and should I now be reconsidering my unbelief in "bilocation" and "astral projection"? :-)<br /><br />"Team's Quantum Object Is Bigger By Factor of Billions":<br />http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8570836.stm<br /><br />Seriously, this stuff is impenetrable to me even with your explanation. It's not you, it's simply a kind of thinking that gives me a literal headache. My "New Age" nutter friends, on the other hand, seem to grasp it thoroughly and with great ease -- like everything else!Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12945352610103167449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9124539381685751273.post-44939533528468784092010-02-10T08:50:36.831-08:002010-02-10T08:50:36.831-08:00Some bosons do have mass, such as the W and Z boso...Some bosons do have mass, such as the W and Z bosons.<br /><br />Sorry, I know hardly anything about the Higgs boson.millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05990852054891771988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9124539381685751273.post-66144461123144629312010-02-10T07:33:51.217-08:002010-02-10T07:33:51.217-08:00including that last statement on fermions vs. boso...including that last statement on fermions vs. bosons. I seem to remember another distinction is fermions have mass, while bosons don't. How does that impact the interference pattern and the Higgs boson theory of mass?Mark Ericksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12604074895219791713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9124539381685751273.post-90082703466173380162010-02-06T10:18:51.091-08:002010-02-06T10:18:51.091-08:00Anyons are some sort of generalization of fermions...Anyons are some sort of generalization of fermions and bosons. If you switch two bosons, you get the same state; if you switch two fermions, you get the same state multiplied by -1. If you switch two anyons, you get the same state multiplied by some complex phase factor. As far as anyone knows, anyons can only exist in 2-dimensional systems.<br /><br />Beyond that, I can't say much.millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05990852054891771988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9124539381685751273.post-25094782165098105162010-02-06T09:24:32.060-08:002010-02-06T09:24:32.060-08:00Hey, got any info on anyons?Hey, got any info on anyons?schrodingasdawghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11146344773214303802noreply@blogger.com