Time Dilation

[Anteros]

Merlin

At the risk of opening myself up to concepts I admittedly do not know enough about, I was wondering if you could give me your views and/or opinions on Quantum non-locality.

As I understand it this does have some kind of bearing on superluminal travel but my head spins when I try to grasp the implications.

[19Merlin69]

Oi veh...  Of all of the topics you could have chosen - you went BIG, right out of the gate.

Alright then, Quantum non-locality - or as most scientists of the 30s and 40s understood it, "Einstein's Spooky action at a distance".  This concept was the basis for the EPR (Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen) paradox.  What it essentially states is that:  In the quantum world, information is passed at speeds beyond the speed of light.  Here is a link that will help you understand that:  http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qt-epr/

Now, I have gone on about the fact that all paradoxes are bunk - ad nauseum, so I won't go about it in here.  You'll have to take my work for it at this point given that I have supplied endless amounts of proof for my position.  In fact, in this case, the EPR paradox has been explained by a whole host of experiments.  The fact is, quantum non-locality exists.  The only question now is, "Does non-linearity in non-locality exist?"  If it does, as Steven Weinberg predicts, then the opportunity for superluminal communication exists.  Here is a link to explain what non-linearity means (go to the end of the paper): http://www.npl.washington.edu/npl/int_rep/qm_nl.html

What does Non-Locality mean?

It means that, no matter how much you alter the state of an entangled system of quantum objects, those objects "communicate" their state to one another instantaneously and all objects assume the same state.  Only one explanation of the process was ever offered and truly tested to refute this...  Bell's Theory.  An analogy:  Imagine that a chicken is a quantum creature and it is bound by the laws of Quantum Mechanics (QM).  For argument's sake, let's state that quantum chickens may only lay eggs in a precise ratio given to their color.  Brown and white chickens can only lay brown and white eggs, and that the differentiation is given by the 1:1 ration (5 brown - 5 white / 3 white - 3 brown) and there are never any odd numbers of eggs layed.  Got it?

So, since we cannot see the Quantum chicken lay it's eggs because it does so in a machine (quantum uncertainty), we have detectors along the path of the machine to track what's happening.  In order to save money, we only put detectors in that detect white eggs (if they aren't white - they must be brown).  Now, because the chicken is a quantum chicken, it lays a hell of a lot of eggs so we split the machine into multiple paths to handle the flow.  Outwardly this would appear to unnecessarily complicate the detection process - but it doesn't due to non-locality.  If an egg moving through path A is brown, then the ones moving through all other paths (at the same time) are also brown.  So, all we have to do is make sure that one of the eggs does not trigger the "white sensor", then we can open the "brown gates" for that time cycle.  Once a white one is detected, we can close the brown gates and open the white ones.  That's Bell's theory of hidden variables in a nutshell.  He surmised that there was some sort of "order" to the system that ensured everything was always equal and that we just did not understand it.  In that, he assumed that the system was local, but acting with a hidden order that made it look non-local.

Now, to continue the analogy with actual non-locality:  Assume the same system we have already discussed, but let's add the feature of "sex of the chicken within the egg".  The sex is solely dependent upon the temperature of the egg at a precise point in the machine.  Because we wish to maintain an equal number of roosters and hens - we manipulate that as we see fit, based upon the totals coming from all of the other egg laying quantum chickens.  Luckily for us - our Quantum chickens are laying quantum chickens as well, so they adhere to the principles of non-locality.  When we adjust the sex of one, we adjust the sex of the other entangled eggs simultaneously.  Having done this, we now need to separate the eggs based upon their sex & color...  QM makes this easy, and with only two sensors, we can effect an infinite stream of eggs! 

In reality, we have tested this theory with polarization of light, and in all cases - no matter which way we polarize the light, its entangled partner changes instantaneously - no matter how far apart they are.  So, if we take a pair of entangled particles that are one light year apart, we can flip their polarization by simply adjusting one of them and it happens immediately (faster than the SOL).

We can discuss this further if you think you have a grasp on the concept.  Otherwise, I will draw up some diagrams to make the point more clearly.  Let me know where we stand.

[19Merlin69]

As far as non-locality goes, what has to be considered is "why & how" such actions occur.  I do not want those of you who are reading this to think that I am trying to advertise a theory of mine, however, I have proffered one that does provide answers to the two questions.  At my website I discussed this and at several other forums across the WWW I have been assailed by some of the best...  For the time being, my theory - though well assaulted, goes unmoved from its position as one of [only] two posited mechanisms for non-locality that have not been vetted into the trash.

One of the most frequently offered theories for non-locality is quantum tunnelling.  This, in the most basic of terms, means that the fundamental exchange of data between entangled items occurs on a highway within subspace - not spacetime.  The theory is given credence by the advent of M-Theory and the rumored existence of n-Dimensions totalling 11.  At this point, any one of the other 7 dimensions may serve as a means for transmitting information from local events non-locally.  What this means is...  Well hell, look at the picture below:

To get from point Z to point X, given that we live in a speroidal buble of space-time, we travel along geodesics in straight lines, even though we think we are travelling in a perfectly straight line.  In quantum tunnelling, the shortest path is literally a straight line, straight through the spherical nature of S-T.  This theory has limitations though, and it is hardly intimating that superluminal velocities are achieved - it is merely cheating special relativity by travelling a shorter distance through subspace than normal energy could travel through real space.  It's a parlor trick.

Our theory, on the other hand, holds that truly fundamental objects do not adhere to special or general relativity.  In every way this explains why QM and GR (& SR) are not reconcileable and why the four forces or nature will never unite at energies below that of the creation of our universe.  This is an extension of the reality that the gravitational inverse square law (Newton) does not extend beyond the local neighborhood in the solar system (or any local system for that matter).  As scales grow, the laws that guide them must change.  This is also why theories such as M-Theory and Super Strings are so incredibly complex; we are trying to define them with the math of locality...  Side-effects of this malfunction occur and are seen in the creation of virtual particles and imaginary numbers and they are most obviously incorrect due to our inability to see the activities occur.  What I am trying to say is, "We create coefficients and constants to make our solutions make sense and it is the very creation of the numbers and principles that proves that our proofs are incorrect."

If multiple dimensions or alternate branes are correct, then the entirety of our mathematics needs to change in order to accomodate them.  2 + 2 will still equal four, but our understanding of the activities of the very - very small will alter drastically.  Extrapolated to the size of the universe, our understanding of the very massive (or energetic) will also be beset upon its heiney.  Items like dark matter and dark energy will give way to field theories that emanate from other branes (dimensions) and quarks, gluons and Higg's particles will no longer be but names given to forces unseen.  Since the speed of light is based upon momentum for massless particles and momentum is based upon energy, if we extrapolate the formula into a field theory where the EM force is indeterminable, speed becomes infinite (instantaneous).  Distance is of no consequence.

[Anteros]

Merlin said:

Our theory, on the other hand, holds that truly fundamental objects do not adhere to special or general relativity.

What are truly fundamental objects?

Do you truly then believe that there is no Unifying Field Force?

What about David Bohm and his Implicate Order?

Also, if Quantum Non-locality is true, does this not mean that superluminal velocity is unnecessary? 

[19Merlin69]

What are truly fundamental objects?

Is this a game of Jeapordy?  If so - you are answering the question, "What makes up all that we perceive in 3-dimensions of a universe consisting of N-dimensions where 'N' is greater than 10 and < infinity?"  Sorry - I was just having a little fun with you.  Seriously now, "Truly Fundamental objects" are inexplicable with a 3-D perception.  At the very best, we can describe the shadows that would be cast by such objects, but without a holistic view of their entire domain, it is impossible to describe them.  Mathematically, however, we can do just that - and leave the *shadows* in the to themselves.  Let's get to more about it a little later.

Do you truly then believe that there is no Unifying Field Force?

I think it's (grand unification) a paper tiger.  I think there is an explanation for why the forces arise, but I don't see "it" as a grand unifying force - more like a "Grand Unification" or "Origin" for what we perceive.  But only for what we perceive.

What about David Bohm and his Implicate Order?

Hmmm....   Bohm was fascinating, and had a tremendous mind.  Moreover, he had a mind that required too much input in order to keep it lucid.  As his theoretically active years began to wane, the conceptual mind began to take over.  Now, believe it or not, I do not disagree with his thinking.  In fact - I had the pleasure of meeting him (with my mentor who was an old friend of his) in 1987, where we talked about his hidden variables theory and again in 1989 where we spent time discussing the very same topic in light of his theory of emerging consciousness.  He was fabulously insightful, but by 1989 I could sense a serious decrease in capacity from 1987.  All-in-all, I think he was grasping at a way to describe why we are unable grasp the nature of the universe.  In a sense, he was trying to deify the nature of things.  Sadly, I think he was caught up in "names" as are so many scientists today.  It's a curse to witness the shadows cast by mysteries while having an inquisitive & theoretical mind that insists on being able to describe what you've almost seen - even if only the tip of a scale poised on the end of a snake's tail was the culprit casting the offending shadow.  So many are too quick to proclaim, "Thar be a dragon's den nearby".

Also, if Quantum Non-locality is true, does this not mean that superluminal velocity is unnecessary? 

I don't know that I would say "unnecessary", but it does lend itself to certain implications.  One of the most obvious ones is that light speed is not as much a "limit" as it is a "ceiling" for the EM spectrum.  What we cannot say for certain is that the other three forces obey the speed limit in any fundamental way.  Quantum tunnelling is another way around Einstein's self-imposed chastity.

Another implication is that we still do not understand the basic concept of what a wave really is, or what occurs at a truly relativistic level.  It kind of hearkens me back to the discussion I had the other day with my physics teaching assistant.  She was teaching a 212 class that I am responsible for, and she was at a loss to explain the implications of time dilation when calculating the effect of relativistic particles during non-accelerating collision upon the age of the universe and the creation of exotic matter.  The question is loaded (significantly) right from the beginning, and I recognized it when she relayed it to me as a theoretical question I had posed at LHC conferences 2 years earlier.   There are only three possible answers to the question, two violate established physical principles and the third is to ignore it or invalidate it by claiming that it is an invalid question.  Any answer you choose will make 2/3 of the scientific world angry.