Quantum Structures: An Attempt to Explain the Origin of their Appearance in Nature

We explain the quantum structure as due to the presence of two effects, (a) a real change of state of the entity under influence of the measurement and, (b) a lack of knowledge about a deeper deterministic reality of the measurement process. We present a quantum machine, where we can illustrate in a simple way how the quantum structure arises as a consequence of the two mentioned effects. We introduce a parameter epsilon that measures the size of the lack of knowledge on the measurement process, and by varying this parameter, we describe a continuous evolution from a quantum structure (maximal lack of knowledge) to a classical structure (zero lack of knowledge). We show that for intermediate values of epsilon we find a new type of structure, that is neither quantum nor classical. We apply the model that we have introduced to situations of lack of knowledge about the measurement process appearing in other regions of reality. More specifically we investigate the quantum-like structures that appear in the situation of psychological decision processes, where the subject is influenced during the testing, and forms some of his opinions during the testing process. Our conclusion is that in the light of this explanation, the quantum probabilities are epistemic and not ontological, which means that quantum mechanics is compatible with a determinism of the whole.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figure

Quantum Structure in Cognition: Why and How Concepts are Entangled

One of us has recently elaborated a theory for modelling concepts that uses the state context property (SCoP) formalism, i.e. a generalization of the quantum formalism. This formalism incorporates context into the mathematical structure used to represent a concept, and thereby models how context influences the typicality of a single exemplar and the applicability of a single property of a concept, which provides a solution of the 'Pet-Fish problem' and other difficulties occurring in concept theory. Then, a quantum model has been worked out which reproduces the membership weights of several exemplars of concepts and their combinations. We show in this paper that a further relevant effect appears in a natural way whenever two or more concepts combine, namely, 'entanglement'. The presence of entanglement is explicitly revealed by considering a specific example with two concepts, constructing some Bell's inequalities for this example, testing them in a real experiment with test subjects, and finally proving that Bell's inequalities are violated in this case. We show that the intrinsic and unavoidable character of entanglement can be explained in terms of the weights of the exemplars of the combined concept with respect to the weights of the exemplars of the component concepts.Comment: 10 page

Using simple elastic bands to explain quantum mechanics: a conceptual review of two of Aert's machine-models

From the beginning of his research, the Belgian physicist Diederik Aerts has shown great creativity in inventing a number of concrete machine-models that have played an important role in the development of general mathematical and conceptual formalisms for the description of the physical reality. These models can also be used to demystify much of the strangeness in the behavior of quantum entities, by allowing to have a peek at what's going on - in structural terms - behind the "quantum scenes," during a measurement. In this author's view, the importance of these machine-models, and of the approaches they have originated, have been so far seriously underappreciated by the physics community, despite their success in clarifying many challenges of quantum physics. To fill this gap, and encourage a greater number of researchers to take cognizance of the important work of so-called Geneva-Brussels school, we describe and analyze in this paper two of Aerts' historical machine-models, whose operations are based on simple breakable elastic bands. The first one, called the spin quantum-machine, is able to replicate the quantum probabilities associated with the spin measurement of a spin-1/2 entity. The second one, called the \emph{connected vessels of water model} (of which we shall present here an alternative version based on elastics) is able to violate Bell's inequality, as coincidence measurements on entangled states can do.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure

Interpreting Quantum Particles as Conceptual Entities

We elaborate an interpretation of quantum physics founded on the hypothesis that quantum particles are conceptual entities playing the role of communication vehicles between material entities composed of ordinary matter which function as memory structures for these quantum particles. We show in which way this new interpretation gives rise to a natural explanation for the quantum effects of interference and entanglement by analyzing how interference and entanglement emerge for the case of human concepts. We put forward a scheme to derive a metric based on similarity as a predecessor for the structure of 'space, time, momentum, energy' and 'quantum particles interacting with ordinary matter' underlying standard quantum physics, within the new interpretation, and making use of aspects of traditional quantum axiomatics. More specifically, we analyze how the effect of non-locality arises as a consequence of the confrontation of such an emerging metric type of structure and the remaining presence of the basic conceptual structure on the fundamental level, with the potential of being revealed in specific situations.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figur

Recent MOST space photometry

The Microvariability and Oscillations of STars (MOST) photometric satellite has already undertaken more than 64 primary campaigns which include some clusters and has obtained observations of >850 secondary stars of which ~180 are variable. More than half of the variables pulsate, with the majority being of B-type. Since 2006 January, MOST has operated with only a single CCD for both guiding and science. The resulting increase in read-out cadence has improved precision for the brightest stars. The 2007 light curve for Procyon confirms the lack of predicted p-modes with photometric amplitudes exceeding 8 ppm as we found in 2004 and 2005. p-modes have been detected in other solar-type stars as well as pre-main sequence objects, roAp and delta Scuti variables. g-modes have been detected in a range of slowly pulsating B stars, Be stars and beta Cephei variables. Differential rotation has been defined for several spotted solar-type stars and limits set to the albedo of certain transiting planets and the presence of other perturbing planets. The mission is expected to continue as long as the experiment operates.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, from HELAS-II meetin

Ephemeral properties and the illusion of microscopic particles

Founding our analysis on the Geneva-Brussels approach to quantum mechanics, we use conventional macroscopic objects as guiding examples to clarify the content of two important results of the beginning of twentieth century: Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen's reality criterion and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. We then use them in combination to show that our widespread belief in the existence of microscopic particles is only the result of a cognitive illusion, as microscopic particles are not particles, but are instead the ephemeral spatial and local manifestations of non-spatial and non-local entities

What is Quantum? Unifying Its Micro-Physical and Structural Appearance

We can recognize two modes in which 'quantum appears' in macro domains: (i) a 'micro-physical appearance', where quantum laws are assumed to be universal and they are transferred from the micro to the macro level if suitable 'quantum coherence' conditions (e.g., very low temperatures) are realized, (ii) a 'structural appearance', where no hypothesis is made on the validity of quantum laws at a micro level, while genuine quantum aspects are detected at a structural-modeling level. In this paper, we inquire into the connections between the two appearances. We put forward the explanatory hypothesis that, 'the appearance of quantum in both cases' is due to 'the existence of a specific form of organisation, which has the capacity to cope with random perturbations that would destroy this organisation when not coped with'. We analyse how 'organisation of matter', 'organisation of life', and 'organisation of culture', play this role each in their specific domain of application, point out the importance of evolution in this respect, and put forward how our analysis sheds new light on 'what quantum is'.Comment: 10 page

On the use of the Fourier Transform to determine the projected rotational velocity of line-profile variable B stars

The Fourier Transform method is a popular tool to derive the rotational velocities of stars from their spectral line profiles. However, its domain of validity does not include line-profile variables with time-dependent profiles. We investigate the performance of the method for such cases, by interpreting the line-profile variations of spotted B stars, and of pulsating B tars, as if their spectral lines were caused by uniform surface rotation along with macroturbulence. We perform time-series analysis and harmonic least-squares fitting of various line diagnostics and of the outcome of several implementations of the Fourier Transform method. We find that the projected rotational velocities derived from the Fourier Transform vary appreciably during the pulsation cycle whenever the pulsational and rotational velocity fields are of similar magnitude. The macroturbulent velocities derived while ignoring the pulsations can vary with tens of km/s during the pulsation cycle. The temporal behaviour of the deduced rotational and macroturbulent velocities are in antiphase with each other. The rotational velocity is in phase with the second moment of the line profiles. The application of the Fourier method to stars with considerable pulsational line broadening may lead to an appreciable spread in the values of the rotation velocity, and, by implication, of the deduced value of the macroturbulence. These two quantities should therefore not be derived from single snapshot spectra if the aim is to use them as a solid diagnostic for the evaluation of stellar evolution models of slow to moderate rotators.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Critical role and screening practices of European business incubators.

Business incubators guide starting enterprises through their growth process and as such constitute a strong instrument to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. In this article we sketch the European business incubator landscape. Then we describe screening practices by European business incubators in 2003 and compare these results with the American incubators in the eighties. In the last phase a cautious link between screening practices and performance, measured in terms of tenant failure, is established. Most incubators do not screen potential tenants on a balanced set of factors, but concentrate either on the characteristics of the tenant's market or on the characteristics of the tenant's management team. However, we found that the tenant survival rate is positively related to a more balanced screening profile. Based on our study results, we propose some recommendations for the main stakeholders in the field: authorities, incubators and innovative entrepreneurs.Characteristics; Entrepreneurs; Factors; Field; Growth; Innovation; Management; Market; Performance; Processes; Recommendations; Research; Stakeholders; Studies;