^TagQuantum Mechanics

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
April 20, 2021

Categorized
Mathematics, Philosophy, Science

Tagged
Bruce Gordon, Featured, Measurement (in quantum physics), Michael Egnor, Particle (in quantum physics), Quantum eraser experiment, Quantum eraser experiment (delayed choice), Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Physics, Schrödinger wave equation, Wave function (in quantum physics)}

In Quantum Physics, “Reality” Really Is What We Choose To Observe

_{Physicist Bruce Gordon argues that idealist philosophy is the best way to make sense of the puzzling world of quantum physics} _{News

April 20, 2021

7

Mathematics, Philosophy, Science}

In last week’s podcast,,” our guest host, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor, interviewed idealist philosopher of science and physicist Bruce Gordon on how the quantum physics that underlies our universe makes much more sense if we have a non-materialist view of reality. Even then, it challenges our conventional view of how nature “must” work: https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-130-Bruce-Gordon.mp3 A partial transcript, Show Notes, and Additional Resources follow. Michael Egnor: When I was in college, I was a biochemistry major and I took some courses in quantum mechanics. It was noted in the course that when you look at the most fundamental properties of subatomic particles, matter seems to disappear. That the reality of the subatomic particles is that they’re mathematical concepts. It utterly fascinated me Read More ›

Dark energy with quantum waves, scientific concept

^{Type
podcast

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
April 15, 2021

Tagged
Aristotle, Idealism, Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Physics, Thomas Aquinas}

Bruce Gordon on Idealism and Quantum Physics (Part II)

_{Michael Egnor

April 15, 2021

1}

Continuing their discussion on idealism and the nature of reality, Michael Egnor and Bruce Gordon delve into the mystifying realm of quantum physics. What does quantum physics say about the nature of our reality? And how does this relate to philosophical theories about the world around us? Show Notes Additional Resources

Chess Pieces on Board for Game and Strategy

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
December 14, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Science

Tagged
Aleksander Kubica, chess, Entanglement, Interference, Quantum chess, Quantum Mechanics, Superposition}

The World’s First Quantum Chess Tournament Announces a Winner

_{Quantum chess allows for superposition, entanglement, and interference} _{News

December 14, 2020

2

Artificial Intelligence, Science}

Perimeter Institute’s Aleksander Kubica won: So what’s quantum chess? It’s a complicated version of regular chess that incorporates the quantum concepts of superposition, entanglement, and interference. “It’s like you’re playing in a multiverse but the different boards [in different universes] are connected to each other,” said Caltech physicist Spiros Michalakis during a livestream of the tournament. “It makes 3D chess from Star Trek look silly.” Jennifer Ouellette, “We have a winner in the world’s first quantum chess tournament” at Ars Technica Okay: Superposition: Elementary particles of our universe are not in one single specific place, they are only in a probable one. Entanglement: What happens to one elementary particle affects any other particle entangled with it, no matter how far Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
December 10, 2020

Categorized
Programming, Science

Tagged
Adiabatic Quantum Computing, energy, Energy efficiency, Enrique Blair, Featured, Quantum communication, Quantum Entanglement, Quantum Mechanics, Robert J. Marks}

Could Slowing Quantum Processes Lead To More Useful Computing?

_{“Adiabatic” quantum computing slows down the process, in the hope of achieving more reliable quantum positions} _{News

December 10, 2020

6

Programming, Science}

In a recent podcast, “Enrique Blair on quantum computing,” Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks talks with fellow computer engineer Enrique Blair about why quantum mechanics is so strange but important to our future. They discussed the prospects of slowing down quantum computing to make it more useful (adiabatic computing). https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-110-Enrique-Blair.mp3 The discussion of quantum communication begins at approximately 58:47. The Show Notes and transcript follow. Enrique Blair (pictured): I guess the challenge with entangling massive numbers of quantum systems is that entanglement becomes much more fragile. In quantum communication, you just need pairs of photons to be entangled. One with another, that’s it. Whereas with quantum computing, you need many, many systems to be entangled, and that’s just Read More ›

Blue glowing quantum laser in space with rippled beam

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
November 30, 2020

Categorized
Science

Tagged
Enrique Blair, Erwin Schrödinger, Featured, Macroscopic vs. microscopic, quantum decoherence, Quantum Mechanics, quantum superposition, Robert J. Marks, Schrödinger’s cat, Superposition}

The Final Ambiguous Truth About Schrödinger’s Cat

_{Schrödinger came up with the cat illustration to explain quantum mechanics to interested people who were not physicists} _{News

November 30, 2020

7

Science}

In last week’s podcast, “Enrique Blair on quantum computing,” Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks talks with fellow computer engineer Enrique Blair about why quantum mechanics is so strange. Inevitably, the discussion turned to what really happened with Schrödinger’s cat, the one who is either dead or alive only if we actually look at it. https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-110-Enrique-Blair.mp3 [Schrödinger’s cat starts approximately at 21:50.] The Show Notes and transcript follow. Excerpts from the transcript: Robert J. Marks (pictured): We hear a lot in popular culture about Schrödinger’s cat. Now, Erwin Schrödinger (1887–1961) was one of the guys who formulated quantum mechanics. He won a Nobel Prize for it. He was trying to explain quantum mechanics to a layperson and he used Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
November 29, 2020

Categorized
Science

Tagged
Craig Lent, Enrique Blair, Featured, Invisible Boy (film character), Probability, Quantum Mechanics, quantum superposition, Random number generator (RNG), Robert J. Marks, wave function}

How Scientists Have Learned To Work With the Quantum World

_{It’s still pretty weird, though} _{News

November 29, 2020

7

Science}

In last week’s podcast, “Enrique Blair on quantum computing,” Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks talks with fellow computer engineer Enrique Blair about why quantum mechanics is so strange. But scientists have learned to work with QM, despite many questions, like how to work with particles that can be in two different places (quantum superposition): https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-110-Enrique-Blair.mp3 [Starts at approximately 13:16.] The Show Notes and transcript follow. Excerpts from the transcript: Robert J. Marks: What’s superposition? What’s going on there? Enrique Blair: Quantum superposition is really a mathematical description. We use wave functions to describe these particles. There’s a wave function for the photon going through Slit One and a wave function for the photon going through Slit Two. To Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
November 26, 2020

Categorized
Science

Tagged
Copenhagen interpretation (QM), double-slit experiment, Enrique Blair, Featured, Mystery Men (film), Niels Bohr, photons, Quantum Mechanics, Robert J. Marks, Thomas Young}

Here’s Why the Quantum World Is Just So Strange

_{It underlies our universe but it follows its own “rules,” which don’t make sense to the rest of us} _{News

November 26, 2020

7

Science}

In this week’s podcast, “Enrique Blair on quantum computing,” Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks talks with fellow computer engineer Enrique Blair about why Quantum mechanics pioneer Niels Bohr said, “If quantum mechanics hasn’t profoundly shocked you, you haven’t understood it yet.” Let’s look at some of the reasons he said that: https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-110-Enrique-Blair.mp3 The Show Notes and transcript follow. Enrique Blair: It’s really quite different from our daily experience. Quantum mechanics really is a description of the world at the microscopic scale. And it’s really weird, because there are things that initially we thought maybe were particles but then we learned that they have wave-like behaviors. And there are other things that we thought were waves and then we Read More ›

^{Type
podcast

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
November 26, 2020

Tagged
Adiabatic Quantum Computing, double-slit experiment, Encryption, Enrique Blair, Erwin Schrödinger, Google, IBM, John Polkinghorne, Moore's Law, Nobel Prize in Physics, nonlocality, optimization, photoelectric effect, photons, Physics, Planck, Quantum bits, Quantum Collapse, Quantum Computing, quantum decoherence, Quantum Dots, Quantum Entanglement, Quantum Indeterminacy, Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Physics, quantum superposition, Quantum Supremacy, qubits, Randomness, Ray Kurzweil, Reclaiming Conversation (book), Schrödinger, superluminal, wave function, wave-particle duality, Werner Heisenberg}

Bingecast: Enrique Blair on Quantum Computing

_{Robert J. Marks

November 26, 2020

2}

What is quantum mechanics? What can quantum computers do that classical computers can’t? Has Google achieved quantum supremacy? Robert J. Marks discusses the weird world of quantum mechanics with Dr. Enrique Blair. Show Notes Additional Resources

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
November 16, 2020

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Brain states, Determinism, Featured, free will, Freedom, Jerry Coyne, John Bell, Predictability, Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Physics}

A Materialist Gives Up on Determinism

_{Evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne undercuts his own argument against free will by admitting that quantum phenomena are real} _{Michael Egnor

November 16, 2020

5

Philosophy of Mind, Science}

Evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne has denied free will for years. But most recently, he has said something that puts the whole matter in doubt. A bit of background: Free will simply cannot be real if determinism is true, that is, if everything in nature falls like dominoes after the first one is pushed: If nature is truly like that, our acts, like those of the dominoes, are wholly determined by natural history and physical laws that we do not control. Nearly all arguments against free will depend critically on determinism. But there is a central problem with determinism: It is clear from physics that determinism in nature is not true. In 1964, theoretical physicist John Bell (1928–1990) proposed relatively simple Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
October 30, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Consciousness, Gaming AI (book), George Gilder, Philip Ball, Quantum computers, Quantum Mechanics, Qubit}

Will Quantum Mechanics Produce the True Thinking Computer?

_{Quantum computers come with real world problems of their own} _{News

October 30, 2020

3

Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

Some hope that quantum mechanics can explain human consciousness. Maybe we are all quantum computers but don’t know it? Maybe quantum computers could think like people? There is an odd relationship between the human mind and quantum mechanics, the science of entities like electrons that are too small to be governed by ordinary physics. Some aspects of consciousness appear to be mediated by such elementary particles. Science writer Philip Ball explains, Nobody understands what consciousness is or how it works. Nobody understands quantum mechanics either. Could that be more than coincidence? Quantum mechanics is the best theory we have for describing the world at the nuts-and-bolts level of atoms and subatomic particles. Perhaps the most renowned of its mysteries is Read More ›

Black silhouettes of people looking through telescope on big red moon in dark twilight on shore.

^{Type
podcast

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
August 13, 2020

Tagged
Arthur Schopenhauer, Bernardo Kastrup, Five Ways, free will, immateriality, Many Worlds interpretation, Materialism, Michael Egnor, Moral Responsibility, Philosophy of Mind, Physics, Quantum Entanglement, Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Physics, subjective idealism, Thomas Aquinas}

Does the Moon Exist if No One is Looking at It?

_{Michael Egnor

August 13, 2020

1}

Is our physical reality purely subjective or is it objective? Why has materialim been around for so long? Do we have free will? Dr. Michael Egnor and Dr. Bernardo Kastrup discuss physics, idealism, materialism, and free will. Show Notes Additional Resources

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
January 31, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Cause, Efficient Causes, Final Causes, Purpose, Quantum Mechanics}

Quantum Mechanics Shows That Our Universe Has Purpose

_{Not only can two physically separated particles influence each other, they can influence each other through time} _{Eric Holloway

January 31, 2020

4

Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

Recent experiments in entanglement of particles in time as well as space show that our entire universe is imbued with final causality within its very fabric. This final causality must come from some source beyond the universe.

Quantum Dots, Bits, and Computing: Oh My!

_{Robert J. Marks

January 23, 2020

1}

On the road to quantum computing, you’ll become entangled with the wildest entities. Will we ever make it to a land where quantum computing is available for everyone? Robert J. Marks continues his odyssey through the quantum world with electrical and computer engineer Dr. Enrique Blair. Show Notes 00:33 | Introducing Dr. Enrique Blair, a professor of electrical and computer Read More ›

^{Type
podcast

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
January 16, 2020

Tagged
double-slit experiment, Enrique Blair, John Polkinghorne, Nobel Prize in Physics, photoelectric effect, photons, Physics, Planck, Quantum Computing, quantum decoherence, Quantum Mechanics, quantum superposition, Schrödinger, submarine, wave function, wave-particle duality, Werner Heisenberg}

Shocked by Schrödinger’s Cat

_{Robert J. Marks

January 16, 2020

2}

What is quantum mechanics? Well, weird. Very weird. The great quantum mechanics pioneer Niels Bohr said: “If quantum mechanics hasn’t profoundly shocked you, you haven’t understood it yet.” How did the study of quantum mechanics come to be? Robert J. Marks discusses quantum mechanics with Dr. Enrique Blair. Show Notes 00:41 | Introducing Dr. Enrique Blair, a professor of electrical Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
October 29, 2019

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Adam Frank, Featured, Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Physics}

Astrophysicist: Materialism Is on Shaky Ground

_{Adam Frank ponders the fact that materialism entirely fails to explain consciousness} _{News

October 29, 2019

4

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Frank’s computational research group has developed advanced supercomputer tools to study how stars form and die. So he would incline to a materialist view, surely? But no, he says, quantum physics blew all that away. And some neuroscientists just haven’t caught up.

Why Do Atheists Still Claim Free Will Can’t Exist?

_{Sam Harris reduces everything to physics but then ignores quantum non-determinism} _{Eric Holloway

August 12, 2019

5

Philosophy of Mind}

A reader, listening to his podcast with computer scientist Judea Pearl, asks how he can be so sure everything is determined by physical forces. How indeed?