Vardogr revisited

In a previous post the concept of Vardogr (Altered State of  Consciousness) has been explained. This post presents the scientific explanation behind the effect.

Physicists began questioning non-locality as early as in 1935. Einstein, Podolsky and Rosin had published a paper (EPR paper) postulating that under certain circumstances quantum mechanics predicts break down of locality.


One of the basic premises of Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity is that nothing travels faster than the speed of light. However, there is a possibility of communication faster than the speed of light at quantm level. Under certain conditions, two particles can achieve instant communication, defying the laws of physics.

It got termed as quantum entanglement. Quanta, the smallest indivisible discrete units of energy like photons or electrons, can be linked in such a way that they become parts of a single entity. Resultantly, a change in one of them causes an instant change in another, distance not withstanding. Entanglement, therefore, is  peculiar  to quantum physics. An example is often quoted to explain the phenomena. Information about a star which explodes somewhere in the universe can only reach a particular point  if a beam of light travels from the star to that point. But, quantum mechanics predicts instant communication about the  explosion. 


Meaning, the precondition of locality breaks down. Time and distance somehow lose meaning. Einstein  called it “spooky action at a distance”.  It took another thirty years for  J.S Bell to prove that phenomenon of entanglement can only be explained if locality breaks.

Bell published a paper titled “Bertlmann’s Socks and the Nature of Reality”. Bertlmann was Bell’s colleague . He had a peculiar habit of wearing different socks on his feet. It was certain that if his right toe had a pink sock on it, the left one would have another colour. It was like the different colouring was programmed in his system. But, the quanta do not have such programming.  There is a spectrum of possibilities to which the properties of quanta, for instance, the direction of spin of electrons, answer.  It is only at the time of measurement of one particle that the other  particle takes on  distinct values for its properties. These quantum socks can be of any colour till one is observed for its colour. Upon observation, one is seen as pink & the other instantly takes on a different colour.

           

Quanta behave both like particles and waves; the movement of these particles is random; it is physically impossible to know both the position and momentum of these particles. What is disturbing in the findings of Bell’s theorem is that the Quanta actually acquired fixed values for their properties once they were measured. The same underlying principle was noticed in Thomas Young’s Double Slit experiment for studying the wave-particle duality of Quanta. When no one is watching the electron acts randomly as a particle or a wave. But, once it is observed, it is forced to choose one path.

“God does not play dice” were Einstein’s famous words. He did not like the notion that electrons  exposed to radiation are able to exercise its own will in choosing the exact moment to jump off as also its direction. Neil Bohr presented an interpretation  of quantum theory in Copenhagen. He theorised that sometimes a particle acts like a particle and other times it acts like a wave. The conclusion was that when it looks like a particle it is a particle and when it looks like a wave it is a wave. The very act of measurement or observation renders it a property. In other words, nothing is real unless it is observed.


It seems that the universe which is home to us is quite different from what it appears to be. Minds of varying capacities have been bestowed on creatures who observe it according to the synaptic pathways working in the nervous system. Interpretations of the grand scheme of things in the universe depend upon electrochemical connections of evolutions most precious gift called brain. What but the brain is the best detector available to the species for creating the reality which we live in.

Consciousness perse is similarly both wave and particle depending upon the frame of mind of the observer. It is a particle when working through the mechanics of the anatomy of its host and a wave when freed from the morphology.


Is Schrodinger’s cat dead or alive?

Post Script:  Schrodinger’s  thought experiment has a box containing a radioactive source, a Geiger counter for recording the presence of radioactive particles, a bottle of cyanide and a cat.  The detector is put on for long enough so that there is 50% chance that radioactive material will decay. If the material decays, the Geiger counter detects the particle and crushes the bottle of cyanide killing the cat. On the other hand, if it does not decay, the cat lives. For people observing the box, the time of detection is that when the box is opened. This is so because, the wave function collapses and the cat is either dead or alive. However, until the box is opened, the cat is both dead and alive. But the possibility of taking the cat itself to be an observer cannot be ruled out. This being so, its mere presence would collapse the wave function. However, for the observers outside the box, the wave function collapses only when the box is opened. So, is the cat dead or alive?