53,532 research outputs found
Science and Paranormal Phenomena
In order to ground my approach to the study of paranormal phenomena, I first
explain my operational approach to physics, and to the ``historical'' sciences
of cosmic, biological, human, social and political evolution. I then indicate
why I believe that ``paranormal phenomena'' might --- but need not --- fit into
this framework. I endorse the need for a new theoretical framework for the
investigation of this field presented by Etter and Shoup at this meeting. I
close with a short discussion of Ted Bastin's contention that paranormal
phenomena should be {\it defined} as contradicting physics.Comment: LaTex, 10 page
Steps towards "Quantum Gravity" and the practice of science: will the merger of mathematics and physics work?
The author recalls general tendencies of the "mathematization" of the
sciences and derives challenges and tentative obstructions for a successful
merger of mathematics and physics on fancied steps towards "Quantum Gravity".
This is an edited version of the author's opening words to an international
workshop "Quantum Gravity: An Assessment", Denmark, May 17-18, 2008. It
followed immediately after the Quantum Gravity Summer School 2008, see
http://QuantumGravity.ruc.dk/Comment: To appear as part of a Springer Lecture Notes in Physics publication:
"Quantum Gravity - New Paths towards Unification" (B. Booss-Bavnbek, G.
Esposito, M. Lesch, Eds.
On the logical structure of Bell theorems without inequalities
Bell theorems show how to experimentally falsify local realism. Conclusive
falsification is highly desirable as it would provide support for the most
profoundly counterintuitive feature of quantum theory - nonlocality. Despite
the preponderance of evidence for quantum mechanics, practical limits on
detector efficiency and the difficulty of coordinating space-like separated
measurements have provided loopholes for a classical worldview; these loopholes
have never been simultaneously closed. A number of new experiments have
recently been proposed to close both loopholes at once. We show some of these
novel designs fail in the most basic way, by not ruling out local hidden
variable models, and we provide an explicit classical model to demonstrate
this. They share a common flaw, which reveals a basic misunderstanding of how
nonlocality proofs work. Given the time and resources now being devoted to such
experiments, theoretical clarity is essential. Our explanation is presented in
terms of simple logic and should serve to correct misconceptions and avoid
future mistakes. We also show a nonlocality proof involving four participants
which has interesting theoretical properties.Comment: 8 pages, text clarified, explicit LHV model provided for flawed
nonlocality tes
Environmental Decoherence versus Intrinsic Decoherence
We review the difference between standard environmental decoherence and
'intrinsic decoherence', which is taken to be an ineluctable process of Nature.
Environmental decoherence is typically modeled by spin bath or oscillator modes
- we review some of the unanswered questions not captured by these models, and
also the application of them to experiments. Finally, a sketch is given of a
new theoretical approach to intrinsic decoherence, and this scheme is applied
to the discussion of gravitational decoherence.Comment: to be published in Phil Trans Roy Soc
Review of the Book “Quantum Enigma - Physics Encounters Consciousness”
By explicitly discussing the connections between quantum mechanics and consciousness and bravely using the book containing these discussions as course material for students, the authors show the readers and teach the students that such connections are real and tangible not just pseudoscience or New Age mumbo-jumbo. In doing so, Rosenblum and Kuttner lead by example. Hopefully, other physicists and scientists in the academics would follow suit by breaking away from the invisible “prison” of conformity and orthodoxy, opening widely physicists’ closet containing their skeleton and turning the same into golden opportunities for solving the mystery of consciousness. I highly recommend this book
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