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Quantum Physics: Niels Bohr
The Wave Structure of Matter (WSM) and Standing Wave Interactions explains Discrete Energy States of Niels Bohr's Atomic Orbits / Model of the Atom.
Replacing the 'Probability Waves' Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Physics with Real Waves in Space. Biography, Quotes & Pictures.


The more success the quantum physics has, the sillier it looks. ... I think that a 'particle' must have a separate reality independent of the measurements. That is an electron has spin, location and so forth even when it is not being measured. I like to think that the moon is there even if I am not looking at it. ... God does not play dice with the cosmos. (Albert Einstein, On Quantum Physics)

Einstein, don't tell God what to do. (Niels Bohr in response to Einstein)
Those who are not shocked when they first come across quantum physics cannot possibly have understood it. .... When it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry. The poet, too, is not nearly so concerned with describing facts as with creating images.
It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how Nature is. Physics concerns what we say about Nature.
(Niels Bohr, On Quantum Physics, 1885-1962)

Niels Bohr brainwashed a whole generation of physicists into believing that the problem (of the interpretation of quantum mechanics) had been solved fifty years ago. ( Murray Gell-Mann, Noble Prize acceptance speech, 1976)


Introduction Niels Bohr - de Broglie Quantum Theory - Einstein Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Biography - Max Born Quantum Theory - Paul Dirac Quantum Theory - Werner Heisenberg Quantum Theory - Erwin Schrodinger Quantum Theory - Richard Feynman Quantum Theory - Top of Page

Niels Bohr, Physics: Wave Structure of Matter Explains Discrete Energy States of Bohr's Atomic Orbits. Quotations Niels Bohr. Introduction to Niels Bohr

Niels Bohr profoundly influenced the evolution of Modern Physics (Quantum Theory), and I think history will show that his influence was very detrimental.

The assumption that the waves of Quantum Theory were in no way real waves (as Schrodinger believed) has led to a terrible confusion in the sciences. By following Born's discovery that the square of Schrodinger's wave equations could be used to determine the probability of where the 'particle' would be found, Bohr (and Heisenberg, Born, and now many others) have maintained the confusion of the particle wave duality of matter. (But in a more subtle form where the waves represent probabilities of where the particle will be found. i.e. Bohr's Copenhagen Doctrine - that Particles and Waves are both Incomplete descriptions of the world (which cannot be described) and Complement one another.

However Einstein, Schrodinger, de Broglie, and many others believed that reality was not driven by chance, but was logically connected and that the laws of Nature could be sensibly understood.

The following quotes from Schrodinger can be clearly understood by the Wave Structure of Matter, which confirms that there are no separate and discrete particles, no subject and object that are not also part of one interconnected thing (Space and its Wave Motions).
As Schrodinger writes;

What we observe as material bodies and forces are nothing but shapes and variations in the structure of space. Particles are just schaumkommen (appearances).The world is given to me only once, not one existing and one perceived. Subject and object are only one. The barrier between them cannot be said to have broken down as a result of recent experience in the physical sciences, for this barrier does not exist.
(Erwin Schrodinger)

Because Schrodinger believed in real waves, he was never happy with Max Born's statistical / probability interpretation of the waves that became commonly accepted (and was actively promoted by Heisenberg and Bohr).

Let me say at the outset, that in this discourse, I am opposing not a few special statements of quantum mechanics held today (1950s), I am opposing as it were the whole of it, I am opposing its basic views that have been shaped 25 years ago, when Max Born put forward his probability interpretation, which was accepted by almost everybody.(Schrödinger E, The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. Ox Bow Press, Woodbridge, CN, 1995).I don't like it, and I'm sorry I ever had anything to do with it. (Erwin Schrodinger talking about quantum mechanics)

The solution to their problems has unfortunately taken another 60 years to be realised (Wolff, 1986, Haselhurst, 1997). It is founded on the Wave Structure of Matter, and is quite simple once known.
Below you will find a discussion of quotes on Quantum Theory from some of the most famous physicists of the time, who together created this wonderful and weird subject of Quantum Theory.

Geoff Haselhurst


Introduction Niels Bohr - de Broglie Quantum Theory - Einstein Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Biography - Max Born Quantum Theory - Paul Dirac Quantum Theory - Werner Heisenberg Quantum Theory - Erwin Schrodinger Quantum Theory - Richard Feynman Quantum Theory - Top of Page

Physics: Louis de BroglieLouis De Broglie on Quantum Physics

Determination of the stable motion of electrons in the atom introduces integers, and up to this point the only phenomena involving integers in physics were those of interference and of normal modes of vibration. This fact suggested to me the idea that electrons too could not be considered simply as particles, but that frequency (wave properties) must be assigned to them also. (Louis de Broglie, 1929, Nobel Prize Speech)

Thus I arrived at the following general idea which has guided my researches: for matter, just as much as for radiation, in particular light, we must introduce at one and the same time the corpuscle concept and the wave concept. In other words, in both cases we must assume the existence of corpuscles accompanied by waves. But corpuscles and waves cannot be independent, since, according to Bohr, they are complementary to each other; consequently it must be possible to establish a certain parallelism between the motion of a corpuscle and the propagation of the wave which is associated with it. (Louis de Broglie)

If that turns out to be true, I'll quit physics. (Max Von Laue, Nobel Laureate Physics 1914, of de Broglie's thesis on electrons having wave properties)

De Broglie described himself as;

... having much more the state of mind of a pure theoretician than that of an experimenter or engineer, loving especially the general and philosophical view ... .

The central question in de Broglie's life was whether the statistical nature of atomic physics reflects an ignorance of the underlying theory or whether statistics is all that can be known. For most of his life he believed the former although as a young researcher he had at first believed that the statistics hide our ignorance. Perhaps surprisingly, he returned to this view late in his life stating that;

... the statistical theories hide a completely determined and ascertainable reality behind variables which elude our experimental techniques.

This last statement is very important. It is the same position that Einstein supported. The Wave Structure of Matter confirms this view. Reality is necessarily connected (by Space and Spherical In & Out Waves that form matter) but we lack knowledge of all its interconnections, which gives rise to the statistical / probability aspects of reality as determined by Quantum Theory.

See also;
Physics: de Broglie, Louis - Wolff's Deduction of the de Broglie Wavelength as a Doppler Shift due to Relative Motion of two Spherical Standing Waves.


Introduction Niels Bohr - de Broglie Quantum Theory - Einstein Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Biography - Max Born Quantum Theory - Paul Dirac Quantum Theory - Werner Heisenberg Quantum Theory - Erwin Schrodinger Quantum Theory - Richard Feynman Quantum Theory - Top of Page

Phyiscs Albert Einstein Albert Einstein on Quantum Physics

According to the Wave Structure of Matter in Space, it is the conception of matter as discrete particles generating continuous forces in Space and Time that causes physics such problems. For Quantum Theory this error of too many existents (Space AND Time, Particles, Forces) without any clear connection, causes their problems with the statistical interpretations of reality. As Einstein writes;

The next step was taken by de Broglie. He asked himself how the discrete states could be understood by the aid of current concepts, and hit on a parallel with stationary (standing) waves, as for instance in the case of proper frequencies of organ pipes and strings in acoustics. (Albert Einstein, 1954)

Experiments on interference made with particle rays have given brilliant proof that the wave character of the phenomena of motion as assumed by the theory does, really, correspond to the facts. (Albert Einstein, 1954)

On the basis of quantum theory there was obtained a surprisingly good representation of an immense variety of facts which otherwise appeared entirely incomprehensible. But on one point, curiously enough, there was failure: it proved impossible to associate with these Schrodinger waves definite motions of the mass points - and that, after all, had been the original purpose of the whole construction. The difficulty appeared insurmountable until it was overcome by Born in a way as simple as it was unexpected. The de Broglie-Schrodinger wave fields were not to be interpreted as a mathematical description of how an event actually takes place in time and space, though, of course, they have reference to such an event. Rather they are a mathematical description of what we can actually know about the system. They serve only to make statistical statements and predictions of the results of all measurements which we can carry out upon the system. (Albert Einstein, 1940)

It seems to be clear, therefore, that Born's statistical interpretation of quantum theory is the only possible one. The wave function does not in any way describe a state which could be that of a single system; it relates rather to many systems, to an 'ensemble of systems' in the sense of statistical mechanics. (Albert Einstein, 1936)

All attempts to represent the particle and wave features displayed in the phenomena of light and matter, by direct recourse to a space time model, have so far ended in failure. And Heisenberg has convincingly shown, from an empirical point of view, that any decision as to a rigorously deterministic structure of nature is definitely ruled out, because of the atomistic structure of our experimental apparatus. (Albert Einstein, 1954)

For the time being we have to admit that we do not possess any general theoretical basis for physics which can be regarded as its logical foundation. The field theory, so far, has failed in the molecular sphere. It is agreed on all hands that the only principle which could serve as a basis of quantum theory would be one that constituted a translation of the field theory into the scheme of quantum statistics. Whether this will actually come about in a satisfactory manner, nobody can venture to say.
Some physicists, among them myself, cannot believe that we must abandon, actually and forever, the idea of direct representation of physical reality in space and time; or that we must accept the view that events in nature are analogous to a game of chance . Probably never before has a theory been evolved which has given a key to the interpretation and calculation of such a heterogeneous group of phenomena of experience as has quantum theory. In spite of this, however, I believe that the theory is apt to beguile us into error in our search for a uniform basis for physics, because, in my belief, it is an incomplete representation of real things, although it is the only one which can be built out of the fundamental concepts of force and material points (quantum corrections to classical mechanics). The incompleteness of the representation leads necessarily to the statistical nature (incompleteness) of the laws. (Albert Einstein, 1954)

As I have written before - it now seems obvious to me that Einstein's solution is found by rejecting particles AND continuous spherical forces AND Time - to describe reality from one thing, Space and the spherical wave motions that form matter. This solves so many of their problems that I will always find it strange that they never considered it! I also emphasise that there is a big difference between a necessarily connected universe (WSM), and a deterministic universe. It is necessary that One Thing existing, Space, must be Infinite, thus the system as a whole can never be determined (but it is necessarily connected). I see this as the reason for our limited free will.
The Wave Structure of Matter agrees with Einstein,

The more success the quantum theory has, the sillier it looks. (Albert Einstein to Heinrich Zangger, May 20, 1912)

God does not play dice with the cosmos. (Albert Einstein)

I think that matter must have a separate reality independent of the measurements. That is an electron has spin, location and so forth even when it is not being measured. I like to think that the moon is there even if I am not looking at it. (Albert Einstein)


Introduction Niels Bohr - de Broglie Quantum Theory - Einstein Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Biography - Max Born Quantum Theory - Paul Dirac Quantum Theory - Werner Heisenberg Quantum Theory - Erwin Schrodinger Quantum Theory - Richard Feynman Quantum Theory - Top of Page

Niels Bohr, Physics: Wave Structure of Matter Explains Discrete Energy States of Bohr's Atomic Orbits. Quotations Niels Bohr. Niels Bohr on Quantum Physics

For a parallel to the lesson of atomic theory regarding the limited applicability of such customary idealisations, we must in fact turn to quite other branches of science, such as psychology, or even to that kind of epistemological problems with which already thinkers like BUDDHA and LAO TSE have been confronted, when trying to harmonize our position as spectators and actors in the great drama of existence. (Niels Bohr, Speech: Celebrazione del Secondo Centenario della Nascita di Luigi Galvani - Bologna - 18-21 Ottobre 1937)

It is true that Eastern Philosophy (and Mysticism) correctly realised the Dynamic Unity of Reality. The Wave Structure of Matter explains this interconnected activity of matter very simply.

Niels Bohr Quotes on Quantum Physics

The great extension of our experience in recent years has brought brought light to the insufficiency of our simple mechanical conceptions and, as a consequence, has shaken the foundation on which the customary interpretation of observation was based. (Niels Bohr, Atomic Physics and the Description of Nature, 1934)

I remember discussions with Bohr which went through many hours till very late at night an ended almost in despair; and when at the end of the discussion I went alone for a walk in the neighbouring park I repeated to myself again and again the question: Can nature possibly be so absurd as it seemed to us in these atomic experiments? (Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy, 1963)

Isolated material particles are abstractions, their properties being definable and observable only through their interaction with other systems. (Niels Bohr, Atomic Physics and the Description of Nature, 1934)

The Wave Structure of Matter does not agree with Niels Bohr;

Einstein, don't tell God what to do. (Niels Bohr in response to Einstein)

Those who are not shocked when they first come across quantum mechanics cannot possibly have understood it. (Niels Bohr on Physics)

When it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry. The poet, too, is not nearly so concerned with describing facts as with creating images.
It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how Nature is. Physics concerns what we say about Nature. (Niels Bohr, 1885-1962)

Niels Bohr brainwashed a whole generation of physicists into believing that the problem (of the interpretation of quantum mechanics) had been solved fifty years ago. (Murray Gell-Mann, Noble Prize acceptance speech, 1976)


Introduction Niels Bohr - de Broglie Quantum Theory - Einstein Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Biography - Max Born Quantum Theory - Paul Dirac Quantum Theory - Werner Heisenberg Quantum Theory - Erwin Schrodinger Quantum Theory - Richard Feynman Quantum Theory - Top of Page

Niels Bohr, Physics: Wave Structure of Matter Explains Discrete Energy States of Bohr's Atomic Orbits. Quotations Niels Bohr. Niels Bohr Biography: Life & Ideas
(1885 - 1962)

Niels Henrik David Bohr (October 7, 1885 – November 18, 1962) was a Danish physicist who made essential contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics.

Niels Bohr's contributions to physics

Bohr's model of atomic structure.
The electron's orbital angular momentum is quantized; L=nh.
The theory that electrons travel in discrete orbits around the atom's nucleus, with the chemical properties of the element being largely determined by the number of electrons in the outer orbits.
The idea that an electron could drop from a higher-energy orbit to a lower one, emitting a photon (light quantum) of discrete energy (this became the basis for quantum theory).
The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics.
The principle of complementarity: that items could be separately analyzed as having several contradictory properties.

Relationship with Werner Heisenberg

Quantum Physics: Werner HeisenbergWerner Heisenberg claimed in an interview after the war, when the author Robert Jungk was working on the book Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, that he had tried to establish a pact with Bohr such that scientists on neither side should help develop the atomic bomb. He also said that the German attempts were entirely focused on energy production, and that his circle of colleagues tried to keep it that way. Heisenberg nuanced his claims, though, and avoided implication that he and his colleagues had purposely sabotaged the bomb effort. However, this nuance was lost in Jungk's original publication of the book, which strongly implied that the German atomic bomb project was rendered purposely stillborn by Heisenberg.

When Bohr saw this depiction in the Danish translation of Jungk's book, he disagreed wholeheartedly. He said that Heisenberg had indeed let him know in Copenhagen that he was working on an atomic bomb project, and that he thought that Germany would win the war. He dismissed the idea of any pact as an after-the-fact construction. He drafted several letters to inform Heisenberg about this but never sent any of them. (https://www.nbi.dk/NBA/release.html)

Michael Frayn's play Copenhagen, which ran on Broadway for a time, explores what might have happened at the 1941 meeting between Heisenberg and Bohr. The truth of the historical event is still a matter of scholarly debate.

Niels Bohr Biography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niels_Bohr


Introduction Niels Bohr - de Broglie Quantum Theory - Einstein Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Biography - Max Born Quantum Theory - Paul Dirac Quantum Theory - Werner Heisenberg Quantum Theory - Erwin Schrodinger Quantum Theory - Richard Feynman Quantum Theory - Top of Page

Max Born - One obvious objection to the hypothesis of an elastic Aether (Space) arises from the necessity of ascribing to it the great rigidity it must have to account for the high velocity of Waves. Such a substance would necessarily offer resistance to the motion of heavenly bodies, particularly to that of planets. Max Born on Quantum Physics

No concealed parameters can be introduced with the help of which the indeterministic description could be transformed into a deterministic one. Hence if a future theory should be deterministic, it cannot be a modification of the present one but must be essentially different. (M. Born, 1949)

This is correct, by moving from the Metaphysics of Space and Time (which also requires matter 'particles and forces', thus four separate existents) to the Metaphysics of Space and Motion and the Spherical Wave Structure of Matter, founded on One thing Space and its Properties as a Wave Medium.
If they had realised this Wave Structure of Matter at the turn of last century, then we would not have had the problems of Quantum Theory that have clearly manifested over the past 80 years. And so the Wave Structure of Matter in Space obviously does not agree with the following comments from Born;

If God has made the world a perfect mechanism, He has at least conceded so much to our imperfect intellects that in order to predict little parts of it, we need not solve innumerable differential equations, but can use dice with fair success. (Max Born)

One obvious objection to the hypothesis of an elastic Aether (Space) arises from the necessity of ascribing to it the great rigidity it must have to account for the high velocity of Waves. Such a substance would necessarily offer resistance to the motion of heavenly bodies, particularly to that of planets. Astronomy has never detected departures from Newton's Laws of Motion that would point to such a resistance. (Max Born, 1924)

Born's 'Probability Waves' Interpretation of Quantum Physics (1928)

(On Chance and Probability in a Necessarily Interconnected finite spherical Universe within a Non-Determined Infinite Space)

At the same time that the wave properties of matter were discovered, two further discoveries were made that also profoundly influenced (and confused) the future evolution of modern physics.

Firstly, Werner Heisenberg developed the uncertainty principle which tells us that we (the observer) can never exactly know both the position and momentum of a particle. As every observation requires an energy exchange (photon) to create the observed 'data', some energy (wave) state of the observed object has to be altered. Thus the observation has a discrete effect on what we measure. i.e. We change the experiment by observing it! (A large part of their problem though was to continue to assume the existence of discrete particles and thus to try to exactly locate both their position and motion, which is impossible as there is no discrete particle!)
Further, because both the observed position and momentum of the particle can never be exactly known, theorists were left trying to determine the probability of where, for example, the 'particle' would be observed.

Born (1928) was the first to discover (by chance and with no theoretical foundation) that the square of the quantum wave equations (which is actually the mass-energy density of space) could be used to predict the probability of where the particle would be found. Since it was impossible for both the waves and the particles to be real entities, it became customary to regard the waves as unreal probability waves and to maintain the belief in the 'real' particle. Unfortunately (profoundly) this maintained the belief in the particle/wave duality, in a new form where the 'quantum' scalar standing waves had become 'probability waves' for the 'real' particle.

Albert Einstein unfortunately agreed with this probability wave interpretation, as he believed in continuous force fields (not in waves or particles) thus to him it was sensible that the waves were not real, and were mere descriptions of probabilities. He writes;

On the basis of quantum theory there was obtained a surprisingly good representation of an immense variety of facts which otherwise appeared entirely incomprehensible. But on one point, curiously enough, there was failure: it proved impossible to associate with these Schrodinger waves definite motions of the mass points - and that, after all, had been the original purpose of the whole construction. The difficulty appeared insurmountable until it was overcome by Born in a way as simple as it was unexpected. The de Broglie-Schrodinger wave fields were not to be interpreted as a mathematical description of how an event actually takes place in time and space, though, of course, they have reference to such an event. Rather they are a mathematical description of what we can actually know about the system. They serve only to make statistical statements and predictions of the results of all measurements which we can carry out upon the system. (Albert Einstein, 1940)

It seems to be clear, therefore, that Born's statistical interpretation of quantum theory is the only possible one. The wave function does not in any way describe a state which could be that of a single system; it relates rather to many systems, to an 'ensemble of systems' in the sense of statistical mechanics. (Albert Einstein, 1936)

Albert Einstein is correct in one sense, mistaken in another. It is true that matter is intimately interconnected to all the other matter in the universe by the Spherical In and Out-Waves, something quantum theory discovered but never correctly understood.
This has become known as quantum entanglement and relates to the famous experiment posed by Albert Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen (EPR) and when later technology allowed its experimental testing, it confirmed quantum theory's entanglement. Albert Einstein assumed this interconnectedness was due to the spherical spatially extended field structure of matter, instead, it is due to the interaction of the spherical spatially extended Standing Waves of matter with other matter's Wave-Centers distant in Space. Explaining this Standing Wave interaction of matter with other matter in the Space around it (action-at-a-distance) is largely the purpose of this Article and is one of the great powers of the Metaphysics of Space and Motion and the Spherical Wave Structure of Matter.

Nonetheless, Albert Einstein was very close to the truth. He realised that because matter is spherically spatially extended we must give up the idea of complete localization and knowledge of the 'particle' in a theoretical model. For the particle is nothing but the Wave-Center of a Spherical Standing Wave, and thus can never be isolated as an entity in itself, but is dependent on its interactions with all the other Matter in the Universe. And it is this lack of knowledge of the system as a whole that is the ultimate cause of the uncertainty and resultant probability inherent in Quantum Theory.

Thus the last and most successful creation of theoretical physics, namely quantum mechanics (QM), differs fundamentally from both Newton's mechanics, and Maxwell's e-m field. For the quantities which figure in QM's laws make no claim to describe physical reality itself, but only probabilities of the occurrence of a physical reality that we have in view. (Albert Einstein, 1931)
I cannot but confess that I attach only a transitory importance to this interpretation. I still believe in the possibility of a model of reality - that is to say, of a theory which represents things themselves and not merely the probability of their occurrence. On the other hand, it seems to me certain that we must give up the idea of complete localization of the particle in a theoretical model. This seems to me the permanent upshot of Heisenberg's principle of uncertainty. (Albert Einstein, 1934)

Albert Einstein believed that Reality could be represented by spherical force fields, that reality was not founded on chance (as Bohr and Heisenberg argued) but on necessary connections between things (thus his comment 'God does not play dice'!). He was largely correct, Matter is necessarily connected due to the Spherical Standing Wave Structure of Matter, but due to lack of knowledge of the system as a whole (the Universe), and the fact that it is impossible to determine an Infinite system (of which our finite spherical universe is a part - see Article on Cosmology), then this gives rise to the chance and uncertainty found in Quantum Theory.


Introduction Niels Bohr - de Broglie Quantum Theory - Einstein Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Biography - Max Born Quantum Theory - Paul Dirac Quantum Theory - Werner Heisenberg Quantum Theory - Erwin Schrodinger Quantum Theory - Richard Feynman Quantum Theory - Top of Page

Physics Quantum Theory Paul A. M. Dirac Paul Dirac on Quantum Physics

Paul Dirac was a very smart sensible Physicist.

This statistical interpretation is now universally accepted as the best possible interpretation for quantum mechanics, even though many people are unhappy with it. People had got used to the determinism of the last century, where the present determines the future completely, and they now have to get used to a different situation in which the present only gives one information of a statistical nature about the future. A good many people find this unpleasant; Einstein has always objected to it. The way he expressed it was: "The good God does not play with dice". Schroedinger also did not like the statistical interpretation and tried for many years to find an interpretation involving determinism for his waves. But it was not successful as a general method. I must say that I also do not like indeterminism. I have to accept it because it is certainly the best that we can do with our present knowledge. One can always hope that there will be future developments which will lead to a drastically different theory from the present quantum mechanics and for which there may be a partial return of determinism. However, so long as one keeps to the present formalism, one has to have this indeterminism.
(P.A.M. Dirac, "The Development Of Quantum Mechanics" Conferenza Tenuta il 14 Aprile 1972, in Roma, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, 1974)


Introduction Niels Bohr - de Broglie Quantum Theory - Einstein Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Biography - Max Born Quantum Theory - Paul Dirac Quantum Theory - Werner Heisenberg Quantum Theory - Erwin Schrodinger Quantum Theory - Richard Feynman Quantum Theory - Top of Page

Werner Heisenberg -  Light and matter are both single entities, and the apparent duality arises in the limitations of our language. Werner Heisenberg on Quantum Physics

The problems of the particle and thus the resulting paradox of the particle/wave duality, have caused great confusion within modern physics over the past seventy years, as Werner Heisenberg writes;

Light and matter are both single entities, and the apparent duality arises in the limitations of our language. (Heisenberg)

Both matter and radiation possess a remarkable duality of character, as they sometimes exhibit the properties of waves, at other times those of particles. Now it is obvious that a thing cannot be a form of wave motion and composed of particles at the same time - the two concepts are too different. (Heisenberg, 1930)

The solution of the difficulty is that the two mental pictures which experiment lead us to form - the one of the particles, the other of the waves - are both incomplete and have only the validity of analogies which are accurate only in limiting cases. (Heisenberg, 1930)

Light and matter are both single entities, and the apparent duality arises in the limitations of our language.
It is not surprising that our language should be incapable of describing the processes occurring within the atoms, for, as has been remarked, it was invented to describe the experiences of daily life, and these consist only of processes involving exceedingly large numbers of atoms. Furthermore, it is very difficult to modify our language so that it will be able to describe these atomic processes, for words can only describe things of which we can form mental pictures, and this ability, too, is a result of daily experience. Fortunately, mathematics is not subject to this limitation, and it has been possible to invent a mathematical scheme - the quantum theory - which seems entirely adequate for the treatment of atomic processes; for visualisation, however, we must content ourselves with two incomplete analogies - the wave picture and the corpuscular picture. (Heisenberg, 1930)

The solution to this apparent paradox is to simply explain how the discrete particle properties of matter and light (quanta) are in fact caused by the Spherical Standing Wave Structure of Matter.

See also;

Quantum Theory: Particle Wave Duality
Quantum Theory: Light Quanta (Photons)


Introduction Niels Bohr - de Broglie Quantum Theory - Einstein Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Biography - Max Born Quantum Theory - Paul Dirac Quantum Theory - Werner Heisenberg Quantum Theory - Erwin Schrodinger Quantum Theory - Richard Feynman Quantum Theory - Top of Page

Erwin Schrodinger  - The scientist only imposes two things, namely truth and sincerity, imposes them upon himself and upon other scientists. Erwin Schrodinger on Quantum Physics

These quotes from Schrodinger can be clearly understood by the Wave Structure of Matter, which confirms that there are no separate and discrete particles, no subject and object that are not also part of one interconnected thing (Space and its Wave Motions).
As Schrodinger writes;

What we observe as material bodies and forces are nothing but shapes and variations in the structure of space. Particles are just schaumkommen (appearances).The world is given to me only once, not one existing and one perceived. Subject and object are only one. The barrier between them cannot be said to have broken down as a result of recent experience in the physical sciences, for this barrier does not exist.
(Erwin Schrodinger)

Because Schrodinger believed in real waves, he was never happy with Max Born's statistical / probability interpretation of the waves that became commonly accepted (and was actively promoted by Heisenberg and Bohr).

Let me say at the outset, that in this discourse, I am opposing not a few special statements of quantum mechanics held today (1950s), I am opposing as it were the whole of it, I am opposing its basic views that have been shaped 25 years ago, when Max Born put forward his probability interpretation, which was accepted by almost everybody.(Schrödinger E, The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. Ox Bow Press, Woodbridge, CN, 1995).I don't like it, and I'm sorry I ever had anything to do with it. (Erwin Schrodinger talking about quantum mechanics)

And I very strongly agree with Schrodinger (and greatly respect him) when he writes;

The scientist only imposes two things, namely truth and sincerity, imposes them upon himself and upon other scientists. (Schrodinger)


Introduction Niels Bohr - de Broglie Quantum Theory - Einstein Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Quantum Theory - Niels Bohr Biography - Max Born Quantum Theory - Paul Dirac Quantum Theory - Werner Heisenberg Quantum Theory - Erwin Schrodinger Quantum Theory - Richard Feynman Quantum Theory - Top of Page

Physics: Richard  Feynman - The more you see how strangely Nature behaves, the harder it is to make a model that explains how even the simplest phenomena actually work. So theoretical physics has given up on that. Richard Feynman on Quantum Physics

Unfortunately, due to this confusion of the particle wave duality of light and matter, and Born's statistical interpretation of Schrodinger's Wave Equations, Physics itself became uncertain and confused, as Feynman famously wrote;

I think it is safe to say that no one understands quantum mechanics. (Richard Feynman on Physics)The next question was - what makes planets go around the sun? At the time of Kepler some people answered this problem by saying that there were angels behind them beating their wings and pushing the planets around an orbit. As you will see, the answer is not very far from the truth. The only difference is that the angels sit in a different direction and their wings push inward. (Richard Feynman, Character Of Physical Law)

One does not, by knowing all the physical laws as we know them today, immediately obtain an understanding of anything much. (Richard Feynman, 1918-1988)
I love only nature, and I hate mathematicians. (Richard Feynman 1918-1988)

... the more you see how strangely Nature behaves, the harder it is to make a model that explains how even the simplest phenomena actually work. So theoretical physics has given up on that. (Richard Feynman 1918-1988)

What I am going to tell you about is what we teach our physics students in the third or fourth year of graduate school... It is my task to convince you not to turn away because you don't understand it. You see my physics students don't understand it. ... That is because I don't understand it. Nobody does.
(Feynman, Richard P. Nobel Lecture, 1966, 1918-1988, QED, The Strange Theory of Light and Matter)

See also;

Richard Feynman Quantum Theory / Quantum Electrodynamics


Concluding Remarks on Quantum Physics

Fritjof Capra got a lot right in his Tao of Physics due to his knowledge of Eastern Philosophy and Western Physics, thus his realisation of the Dynamic Unity of the Universe is important.

A careful analysis of the process of observation in atomic physics has shown that the subatomic particles have no meaning as isolated entities, but can only be understood as interconnections between the preparation of an experiment and the subsequent measurement. Quantum theory thus reveals a basic oneness of the universe. The mathematical framework of quantum theory has passed countless successful tests and is now universally accepted as a consistent and accurate description of all atomic phenomena. The verbal interpretation, on the other hand, i.e. the metaphysics of quantum theory, is on far less solid ground. In fact, in more than forty years physicists have not been able to provide a clear metaphysical model. (Fritjof Capra, 1975)

Quantum Theory is founded on Wave Equations. Thus it is a strange thing, that for thousands of years we have imagined matter as discrete and separate particles and yet when the wave properties of matter where discovered they never thought to try a pure Spherical Standing Wave Structure of Matter. (i.e. Real waves in a Real Space). Instead Quantum Theory evolved along the path of the particle / wave duality of light and matter, and Born's statistical interpretations of the waves (which in hindsight was obviously going to lead to the end of a meaningful physics).

While Einstein tried to solve these problems by correctly rejected the concept of the discrete and separate 'particle' (which required fields to connect them) his error was to try and create a pure unified field theory of matter as continuous spherical fields. Again, in hindsight he should have realised that the 'field' evolved from the 'particle' and by rejecting particles he should have also rejected the force fields (which were assumed to be generated by particles and act on other particles). Then he would have likely realised that the only other sensible solution was to see if the waves of Quantum Theory could explain the particle and the field. As Stephen Hawking writes (correctly);

But maybe that is our mistake: maybe there are no particle positions and velocities, but only waves. It is just that we try to fit the waves to our preconceived ideas of positions and velocities. The resulting mismatch is the cause of the apparent unpredictability. (Hawking, 1988)

And once we understand the Wave Structure of Matter, we find that we can quite easily understand how a Spherical Standing wave must form a pointlike 'particle' effect at its Wave-Center, while also existing across the universe due to its Spherical In and Out Waves, thus explaining Paul Davies comments;

The idea that something can be both a wave and a particle defies imagination, but the existence of this wave-particle duality is not in doubt. .. It is impossible to visualize a wave-particle, so don't try. ... The notion of a particle being everywhere at once is impossible to imagine. (Davies, 1985)
The rules of clockwork might apply to familiar objects such as snooker balls, but when it comes to atoms, the rules are those of roulette. (Paul Davies, God and the New Physics)

The Spherical Standing Wave Structure of Matter in Space does solve many of the problems of Physics very simply and sensibly by providing the Metaphysical foundations for the fundamental laws of Nature (which found our knowledge of the real world).

Help Humanity

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
(Mohandas Gandhi)

Albert Einstein"When forced to summarize the general theory of relativity in one sentence: Time and space and gravitation have no separate existence from matter. ... Physical objects are not in space, but these objects are spatially extended. In this way the concept 'empty space' loses its meaning. ... The particle can only appear as a limited region in space in which the field strength or the energy density are particularly high. ...
The free, unhampered exchange of ideas and scientific conclusions is necessary for the sound development of science, as it is in all spheres of cultural life. ... We must not conceal from ourselves that no improvement in the present depressing situation is possible without a severe struggle; for the handful of those who are really determined to do something is minute in comparison with the mass of the lukewarm and the misguided. ...
Humanity is going to need a substantially new way of thinking if it is to survive!" (Albert Einstein)


Biography: Geoffrey Haselhurst, Philosopher of Science, Theoretical Physics, Metaphysics, Evolution. Our world is in great trouble due to human behaviour founded on myths and customs that are causing the destruction of Nature and climate change. We can now deduce the most simple science theory of reality - the wave structure of matter in space. By understanding how we and everything around us are interconnected in Space we can then deduce solutions to the fundamental problems of human knowledge in physics, philosophy, metaphysics, theology, education, health, evolution and ecology, politics and society.

This is the profound new way of thinking that Einstein realised, that we exist as spatially extended structures of the universe - the discrete and separate body an illusion. This simply confirms the intuitions of the ancient philosophers and mystics.

Given the current censorship in physics / philosophy of science journals (based on the standard model of particle physics / big bang cosmology) the internet is the best hope for getting new knowledge known to the world. But that depends on you, the people who care about science and society, realise the importance of truth and reality.

It is Easy to Help!

Just click on the Social Network links below, or copy a nice image or quote you like and share it. We have a wonderful collection of knowledge from the greatest minds in human history, so people will appreciate your contributions. In doing this you will help a new generation of scientists see that there is a simple sensible explanation of physical reality - the source of truth and wisdom, the only cure for the madness of man! Thanks! Geoff Haselhurst (Updated September, 2018)

A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it. (Max Planck, 1920)

  
  
    
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