11. God, Humanity and the Cosmos Topic: Schrödingers Cat and the Mean...
The dominant view in quantum mechanics is that quantum
probabilities become determinate on measurement - that the wave function (see
The Schrödinger Wave Equation) is collapsed by the intervention of classical
measuring apparatus. This means
- 6.2kb
12. Physics Topic: Physics and Cosmology in the 20th Century
paradigms emerged out of classical mechanics during
the first decades of the twentieth century: special relativity
(1905) and quantum mechanics (1900 - 1930). When applied to the
physics of gravity, special relativity led to general
- 3.4kb
13. Divine Action Topic: Clayton, Philip. Tracing the Lines: Constraint an...
both classical theism and panentheism . Theism asserts that the
world as it appears to us is real and that it has its origin in an ultimate
principle called spirit. The divine spirit is an active principle in this world
and
- 7.4kb
14. God, Humanity and the Cosmos Topic: The EPR Paradox
early
development of quantum mechanics (see the photo-electric effect ), he was very
uneasy about its implications and, in later years, organised a rearguard action
against it. His aphorism God does not play dice highlights the depths
- 5.4kb
15. Physics Topic: Quantum Physics
fundamental break with classical physics after general
relativity came gradually over a thirty year period (1900-1930)
with the development of quantum mechanics by dozens of physicists
including Planck , Einstein , Bohr , Schrödinger,
- 6.0kb
16. Divine Action Topic: Ellis, George F.R. Quantum Theory and the Macrosc...
hierarchy. He begins
with classical physics, chemistry, and biology, where reductionism is framed in
terms of micro-to-macro relations of bottom-up deterministic causality. But
Ellis notes that quantum processes give rise to the regularities of
- 7.3kb
17. God, Humanity and the Cosmos Topic: The Hidden-Variable Theory of David Bohm
nature of quantum mechanics implies that it is only really
applicable to ensembles of particles (just as an opinion poll is only
meaningful if a reasonable sample of the population has been polled). In other
words, quantum mechanics is
- 4.5kb
18. God, Humanity and the Cosmos Topic: The Many-Worlds Interpretation
interpretation of quantum mechanics starts from the
assumption that scientific theories ought to be self-interpreting. The
Schrödinger wave equation in quantum mechanics is smooth, continuous and
deterministic . There is nothing in it that
- 3.7kb
19. General Term: Chaos Theory
systems are classical in scale and thus subsumable in principle
under classical mechanics with its deterministic laws of motion. Still even for
the simplest systems, minute uncertainties in the initial conditions and
- 4.4kb
20. God, Humanity and the Cosmos Topic: The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
implies that
quantum mechanics is inherently statistical - it deals with probabilities
rather than well-defined classical trajectories. Such a view is clearly
inimical to classical determinism . See Shaking the Foundations: the
- 3.8kb