Discover Top Posts Tagged with #fields of color

Autumn Colors

Lavender Field

Lavender Field 20″ x 24″ Oil on canvas – Originally $1200 Now $750 “Lavender Field” was painted en plein air at the Carousel Farm in Pennsylvania. This place was once alive with rows of fragrant lavender. The farm is no longer active. Its beauty, however, remains in memory. The calming scent of lavender filled the air while I worked. The barn’s simplicity stood out against the lavender fields…

#art for sale #carousel farm #contemporary art #fields of color #landscape painting #lavender field #oil paintings #pennsylvania landscape #purple and green #white barn

Out In Nature

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“French Countryside”

#french fields #gorgeous country #fields of color

"SPOOKY ACTION AT A DISTANCE" IS NOT SO SPOOKY

"Spooky action at a distance", as Einstein called it, refers to the experimental fact that particles can have an effect on each other instantly, even when separated by substantial ranges. For example, if two photons are produced together in what is referred to as an entangled state and the angular momentum of one of these is changed, then the angular momentum of the other one will adjust in a corresponding fashion at the same time, no matter how far apart the particles are. This "spooky" behavior has been known for almost a hundred years and still is a source of confusion.

Yet there is an idea in which the result is not spooky, but rather a natural consequence. I'm referring to Quantum Field Theory, which identifies a world made only of fields, with no particles. What we consider a particle is really a part, or quantum, of a field. Quanta are not localized like particles, but are spread out through space. For example, photons are parts of the electromagnetic field and protons are parts of the matter field. These quanta evolve in a deterministic way as per the fundamental field equations and there is a term in these equations that restricts the speed of propagation to the velocity of light.

However the QFT equations don't tell the whole story. There are events that are not described by the field equations-- for example, when a field quantum transitions energy or momentum to another object. This event is non-local in the sense that the change in, or even disappearance of, the quantum occurs instantly, no matter how spread-out the field may be. It can also happen with two entangled quanta-- no matter how much they are separated. In QFT, this is essential if each quanta is to act as a unit, as per the fundamental basis of QFT.

There is a major distinction between quantum collapse in QFT and wave-function collapse in QM. The previous is an actual physical change in the fields while the following is a change in our knowledge. Despite the fact that we don't have a theory to describe quantum collapse, there is nothing irregular about it. To quote from Fields of Color: The theory that escaped Einstein:

In QFT the photon is a spread-out field, and the particle-like behavior occurs because each photon, or quantum of field, is absorbed as a unit ... It is a spread-out field quantum, but when it is taken in by an atom, the entire field vanishes, no matter how spread-out it is, and all its energy is deposited into the atom. There is a big "whoosh" and the quantum is gone, like an elephant vanishing from a magician's theater.

Quantum collapse is not an easy concept to accept-- perhaps more difficult than the concept of a field. Here I have been working hard, trying to persuade you that fields are a real property of space-- indeed, the only truth-- and now I am requesting you to accept that a quantum of field, spread out as it may be, instantly vanishes into a tiny absorbing atom. Yet it is a process that can be envisioned without inconsistency. In fact, if a quantum is an entity that lives and dies as a unit, which is the very meaning of quantized fields, then quantum collapse must occur. A quantum can not divide and put half its energy in one place and half in another; that would violate the basic quantum principle. While QFT does not provide a breakdown for when or why collapse occurs, some day we may have a theory that does. In any case, quantum collapse is necessary and has been confirmed experimentally.

Some physicists, including Einstein, have been troubled by the non-locality of quantum collapse, declaring that it goes against a fundamental postulate of Relativity: that nothing can be sent out faster than the speed of light. Now Einstein's postulate (which we must remember was only a guess) is indeed valid in relation to the evolution and propagation of fields as described by the field equations. However quantum collapse is not described by the field equations, so there is no reason to expect or to insist that it falls in the domain of Einstein's postulate.

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#qft #gravitational waves #black holes #Quantum field theory #fields of color

GRAVITATIONAL WAVES REVEALED

By Rodney A. Brooks author of "Fields of Color: The Theory That Escaped Einstein".

The current discovery of gravitational waves at LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) has captured the imagination of the public. It will stand as one of the great feats of experimental physics, alongside the famous Michelson-Morley experiment of 1887 which it resembles. In fact by comparing these two experiments, you will discover that comprehending gravitational waves is not as challenging as you think.

Contraction. Michaelson and Morley measured the speed of light at different times as the earth moved around its orbit. To their - and everyone's - surprise, the speed turned out to be continuous, separate of the earth's motion. This breakthrough caused great consternation until George FitzGerald and Hendrick Lorentz came up with the only possible explanation: objects in motion contract. Einstein then showed that this reduction is a consequence of his Principles of Relativity, but without saying why they contract (other than a desire to conform to his Principles). In fact Lorentz had previously provided a partial explanation by showing that motion affects the way the electromagnetic field interacts with charges, causing objects to contract. However it wasn't until Quantum Field Theory came along that a full explanation was found. In QFT, at least in Julian Schwinger's model, everything is made of fields, even space itself, and motion affects the way all fields interact.

Waves. Electromagnetic waves, e.g., radio waves, have long been understood and accepted as a natural phenomenon of fields. Now in QFT gravity is a field and, just as an oscillating electron in an antenna sends out radio waves, so a large mass moving back and forth will send out gravitational waves. But it didn't take QFT to show this. Einstein also believed that gravity is a field that obeys his equations, just as the EM field obeys the equations of James Maxwell. In fact gravitational waves have been recognized by many physicists, from Einstein on down, who regard gravity as a field.

Curvature. But what about "curvature of space-time", which many people nowadays say is what causes gravity? You may be surprised to learn that's not how Einstein saw it. He thought that the gravitational field causes things, even space itself, to contract, analogous to the way motion causes contraction. In fact Einstein used this analogy to show the correlation between motion-induced and gravity-induced contraction: they both affect the way fields interact. It is this gravity-induced contraction that is sometimes knowned as "curvature".

Evidence. The first uncovering of gravitational waves was done at LIGO, using an apparatus similar to Michelson's and Morley's. In both experiments the time for light to travel along two perpendicular paths was examined, but because the gravitational field is much weaker than the EM field, the distances in the LIGO apparatus are much greater (miles instead of inches). Another difference is that while Michelson, not knowing about motion-induced contraction, expected to see a shift (and found none), the LIGO staff used the known gravity-induced contraction to observe a change when a gravitational wave passed through.

Fields of Color: The theory that escaped Einstein explains Quantum Field Theory to a lay audience, without any math. If you want to learn more about gravitational waves or about how Quantum Field Theory resolves the paradoxes of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics, read Chapters 1 and 2, which can be seen free at http://www.quantum-field-theory.net/.

#Quantum field theory #fields of color #gravitational waves #phsyics #understand physics

The Uncertainty Principle

The probabilistic comprehension of Schrödinger's equation ultimately resulted in the uncertainty principle of Quantum Mechanics, produced in 1926 by Werner Heisenberg. This principle states that an electron, or any other particle, can not have its particular position known, or even specified. More precisely, Heisenberg formulated an equation that relates the uncertainty in position of a particle to the uncertainty of its momentum. So not only do we have wave-particle duality to manage, we need to manage particles that might be here or might be there, but we can't say where. If the electron is actually a particle, then it only stands to reason that it must be someplace.

Resolution. In Quantum Field Theory there are no particles (stop me if you have indeed heard this before) and therefore no location-- certain or uncertain. Rather there are blobs of field that are spread out over space. Rather than a particle that is either here or here or potentially there, we have a field that is here and here and there. Extending out is a thing that only a field can do; a particle can't do it. Actually Heinsenberg's Uncertainty Principle is not much different from Fourier's Theorem (uncovered in 1807) that associates the spatial spread of any wave to the spread of its wave length.

This doesn't mean that there is no uncertainty in Quantum Field Theory. There is uncertainty in regard to field collapse, but field collapse is not identified by the equations of QFT; Quantum Field Theory can only forecast probabilities of when it occurs. Having said that there is a significant difference involving field collapse in QFT and the corresponding wave-function collapse in QM. The former is an actual physical change in the fields; the latter is only a change in our understanding of where the particle is....

For the full article visit the Fields of Color Blog.

#quantum physics #Quantum field theory #fields of color #Uncertainty Principle #Dr. Rodney A. Brooks