9. Would you join Bohr’s or Einstein’s reality camp?

[Dr Alain L Fymat]

Quantum theory is a conceptual recipe which predicts for any quantum entity (or quon) which values of its physical attributes will be observed in a particular measurement situation. Quantum entities include: electrons, photons, hadrons, quarks (which come in six flavors: up, down, strange, charm, top, bottom), gluons, leptons, etc. There are six quantum attributes: three static (e.g., for the electron, mass, charge, spin magnitude) and three dynamic (position, momentum, and spin orientation). By design, quantum theory only predicts the results of measurements with unsurpassed accuracy. It does not tell us what goes on in between measurements.

We can get a sense of how quantum theory operates by answering three questions:

1. How does quantum theory describe “quantum entities”? It does not “describe” them; it represents them instead by a “proxy” wave Ψ (a mere calculational device, not a real wave), whose square at any location gives the probability that the quon’s particle aspect will manifest there (position attribute) and whose shape gives information about all attributes other than position.

2. How does quantum theory describe a “physical attribute”? It does not “describe” attributes; it represents them. It replaces each attribute with a particular waveform drawn from a universal quantum-waveform dictionary:

--- Extract from the Universal Quantum-Waveform Dictionary---

(from Nick Herbert, 1985)

Waveform Waveform Dynamic Attribute

Family Name Personal Name Attribute Size

- Impulse x Position X = x

- Spatial sine k Momentum P = hk

(spatial frequency) (De Broglie’s relation)

- Temporal sine f Energy E = hf

(spectral frequency) (Planck-Einstein)

- Spherical harmonic n Spin magnitude S = hn

(# of nodal circles)

- Spherical harmonic n, m Spin orientation S_z=m²/n(n+1)

(m = # nodal circles

passing through the poles)

3. How does quantum theory describe a “measurement situation”? It does not describe single measurement events but only patterns of events, for which it gives merely statistical predictions.

The quantum wave is not a classical wave. Not all properties of these two types of wave are alike. Some properties of quantum waves (also called: “possibility” waves, “empty” waves”, “ghost” waves, “presence density” waves) are:

· They possess amplitude and phase;

· They carry no energy so they are not directly detectable; their amplitude square is a measure of probability;

· They obey the superposition principle without restriction;

· They combine according to the rules of wave addition rather than the rules of ordinary arithmetic;

· When they superpose with definite phases, probabilities do not add everywhere;

· They display phase-dependent constructive and destructive interference;

· When they add with random phases, probabilities add everywhere.

So, do you agree with Bohr that despite its manifest statistical character, quantum theory is a “complete“ theory of nature? As he said: “if it’s not in quantum theory, it’s not in this world”? Or would you agree with Einstein’s statement: “I still believe in the possibility of a model of reality, that is to say, of a theory, which represents things of themselves and not merely the probability of their occurrence”?