Quantum Physics | The Vital Impetus

The Evolution of Quantum Physics

The Basic Elements of Matter and Light

The desire to uncover and understand as much about the most profound levels of the universe and human existence, has always served as the guiding impetus of science. However, it has only been within the last one hundred years that such a potentiality has finally become imaginable, with one small caveat. That is, this can only be assumed true within a context of Western European ideology. More specifically, our thesis is based on the notion that the Sacred Geometry of Kemet, the Asian philosophy of Namaste and the Sacred Heart of the Indigenous Americas, may yet be shown to have uncovered the most essential secrets of our universe and human existence more than 3500 years prior to the quest of contemporary scientific inquiry in the modernist traditions of Western civilization.

To bring forth our thesis from within the iron cage of science itself, let us seek to better understand the reasons leading to the collapse of science and the basis for the current strides being made in the field of Quantum Physics. Thus, we must give due consideration to the evolution of scientific discoveries which have led to the fertile ground of contemporary science and its' current theoretical and methodological foundation. It is within this context that we can fully understand the paradigmatic, epistemological and ontological break experienced from within the hallways and laboratories of academia itself.

To substantiate the death of classical physics and its' scientific paradigm, we must first identify the axiom or first principal upon which it is said to have existed and the subsequent reason that lead to a paradigm shift that would completely undermined its basis for continued and absolute scientific inquiry. In this context, it is most beneficial to begin with a review of the ontological basis for classical science. Specifically, let us consider the Cartesian model of analysis that has

served the field of science as a foundation for scientific inquiry.

The Cartesian model of scientific inquiry rests on an ontological foundation that is understood to exist between the linguistic act, the utterance or words and the object of analysis. This model can be referred to as a representationalist model in that all that we know of the universe and our existence can be reduced to this point of origin in its representation. Stated differently, the knower, the words, and the thing involved:

The problem with this ontological model is not itself an inherent part of the models' structuring so much as it is in the act of adhering to the basic assumptions of this model. That is, the act of adhering to the fundamental assumption of the model has prevented scientists from envisioning beyond its assumed ontology. If I say to you that when I look through these glasses - this is what I see - the glasses are in the same position as the Cartesian model. Thus, the problem is not with the glasses so much as it is in what is causing or preventing one from seeing properly, like colors to a color blind person.

Let us begin our considerations by introducing the Werner Heisenberg Principle of Uncertainty. At the subatomic level, Heisenberg discovered that we cannot state both the velocity and location of a subatomic particle at the same time and that everything in the subatomic world is in a constant state of motion. At this point, science lost the ability to pinpoint the essential existence of matter. Thus, scientific researchers began a more in-depth investigation of the behavior of subatomic particles. Specifically, investigations were then conducted to discover the true nature of light and matter.

Prior to Heisenberg's discovery, science rested on a foundation of absolute certainty that served as an epistemological basis for determining the truth content of all arguments and conclusions following scientific methodology. Furthermore, it was in this context that Logical Atomists, as led by the work of Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell in their text, "Principia Mathematica" (1910), that their linguistic quest was to identify a "picture perfect" language to be used by science. That is, they sought the development of a language that created an identity claim (A=A) between what was said and what actually exists in the world.

It wasn't until 1921, when their prized pupil, Ludwig Wittgenstein, published his text, "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus", that their objective was believed to have been realized. However, Wittgenstein was not oblivious to the works of other scholars and became philosophically perplexed with the work being conducted in the field of physics. On this basis, Wittgenstein took a self-imposed hiatus lasting six years. Upon his return to the ongoing philosophical debates on language, Wittgenstein presented a series of working papers referred to collectively as his unpublished memoirs later to be published and titled as his "Philosophical Investigations" (1953).

The significance of Wittgenstein's return is that he had made a complete 180 degree turn from the philosophy of the Tractatus. Specifically, he no longer believed in the perfect language of the Logical Atomists. Instead, he postulated what is referred to as Ordinary Language philosophy. In this context, the truth content of our utterances must be determined in relation to the context in which they are uttered. Thus, the Heisenberg Principle of Uncertainty ushered in a new way of conducting linguistic philosophy and scientific inquiry.

Following in the tradition of the scientific community, researchers began more extensive inquiries into the nature of light and matter. There were many questions yet to be answered. Is light made up of energy waves or particles? What is the behavior of matter at the subatomic particle level? One of the leading physicists, Niels Bohr, who participated in the famous Copenhagen debates along with Werner Heisenberg, introduced the use of an apparatus known as the two slit experiment model.

The most significant discovery to come from the field of Quantum Mechanics is, in my opinion, revealed in the graphic below relating to the behavior of electrons when they are emitted against a wall with two slits. To be clear, electrons are believed to be the smallest element of matter possible and being so, are real. When a large number of electrons are emitted in a rapid fire sequence towards the wall, we can see in the graphic below that they impact the two slit wall with a dispersal pattern running a partial length of the wall itself. We can also see that the electrons that pass through the slits each create their own wave pattern against the screen. These wave patterns also reveal the impact of diffraction, thereby causing electrons to exhibit wave-liike behavior.

In the graphics below we see a particle ball machine on the left that is emitting particle balls towards a dividing wall with two slits that allow for the passage of the balls to hit and be registered on a screen placed directly after the dividing wall with enough space between the wall and screen to allow for the particle balls to exhibit their behavior. In this experiment we see that the balls pass through the slits and hit the screen directly in front of the slits. Subsequently, in the two-slit wave model pictured below we see essentially the same experiment only this time we use a wave machine. In this second graphic we see energy waves being emitted that pass through the wall with the two slits. This time, however, instead of hitting the screen right in front of the slits like the particles did, this time we see that as the waves pass through the slits, each slit allows their wave to create its' own wave pattern on the other side of the slit. this time we see that, by the time each wave hits the screen, each wave has had the effect of impacting upon the other waves before hitting the screen and this impact is called a diffraction pattern. In this context, the wave diffraction pattern that hits the detection screen can be seen as a wave pattern in and of itself, as shown in the image below.

Subsequently, in the two-slit wave model pictured below we see essentially the same experiment only this time we use a wave machine. In this second graphic we see energy waves being emitted that pass through the wall with the two slits. This time, however, instead of hitting the screen right in front of the slits like the particles did, this time we see that as the waves pass through the slits, each slit allows their wave to create its' own wave pattern on the other side of the slit. this time we see that, by the time each wave hits the screen, each wave has had the effect of impacting upon the other waves before hitting the screen and this impact is called a diffraction pattern. In this context, the wave diffraction pattern that hits the detection screen can be seen as a wave pattern in and of itself, as shown in the image below.

Shifting our focus from matter to light, as depicted in the graphic below, we discover that light exhibits the same diffractive wave patterns as that of matter. Stated differently, matter and light both exhibit the same wave/particle duality. Let us outline the major points of quantum mechanics thus far and the experiments discussed above.

In the 1860's James Clerk Maxwell showed that it's possible to derive the wave like nature of light.
In the first quarter of the 20th century this new series of experiments revealed that light manifests particles under one set of circumstances while manifesting wavelike characteristics under a different set of circumstances.
More importantly for understanding the ultimate nature of our new reality is that matter also exhibits the same wave/particle nature. Thus, we must now accept the notion that our wave/particle duality is a feature of both light and matter.
As far as scientific knowledge is concerned, this wave/particle duality is the reason why our understanding of the nature of our reality changed.
Let us reconsider when Modernist ideas were first being propagated and people went around killing other people (e.g. The Reign of Terror), because they wouldn't adhere to the new worldview. If we fast forward to the present in the twenty-first century, science would never take it all back and offer an apology for the killings of so many "savage" indigenous people for so many years. Now science uses what are called Gedanken (thought) experiments. This, then, has become the new testing ground for experiments in Quantum Mechanics and they are virtually no different than the abstract thinking for which so many lives have been lost throughout the centuries at the hands of scientific certainty.

So, then, what exactly do our discoveries in quantum mechanics mean or at least say to us? The findings of the collective physicists taking place in the research of the past 100 years is so significant as to change the entire basis for understanding the fundamental nature of our existence. This wave/particle duality of our most elemental particles of matter, the electron, indicates that at our base we are both real and unreal. What we are left with as a basis for our existence is a dynamic understanding of the diffraction patterns that impact our everyday lives. By way of summation, we should understand from our previous considerations, that it is on the basis of diffractions from the most elemental to the social entanglements that matter, that we as a species are made real. Thus, what we are left with is what is conveyed in the root word "Maya" or, more specifically, illusion.

What, then, is the significance of what we have considered and how does this impact the thesis of my essay? Specifically, I am referring to the wave/particle duality. Speaking in non-scientific terms, we can say that the most fundamental element of our human existence, in being able to exhibits both a particle behavior and a wave like behavior, clearly leads us to the conclusion that our human existence is that we are both real and unreal at the same time.

This is the most important question we can ask in attempting to understand the true nature of our existence, when considered from within the context of a variety of ethereal elements such as length between the slits or distance between the wall and the back screen, for example, each of the various contexts imaginable will produce different wave/particle diffractive patterns. Our existence then, is created in the diffractive patterns of differing wave/particle combinations acting upon each other. For many, this notion of diffractive patterns must be considered as the basis for postulating that our existence is an illusion. Thus, the bottom line of quantum physics is the discovery of the nature of diffractive patterns that serve to create the illusion of our physical reality.

The most significant discovery to come from the field of Quantum Mechanics is, in my opinion, revealed in the graphic relating to the behavior of electrons when they are emitted against a wall with two slits. To be clear, electrons are believed to be the smallest element of matter possible and being so, are real. When a large number of electrons are emitted in a rapid fire sequence towards the wall, we can see that they impact the two slit wall with a dispersal pattern running a partial length of the wall itself. We can also see that the electrons that pass through the slits each create their own wave pattern against the screen. These wave patterns also reveal the impact of diffraction, thereby causing electrons to exhibit wave-like behavior.

Shifting our focus from matter to light, we discover that light exhibits the same diffractive wave patterns as that of matter. Stated differently, matter and light both exhibit the same wave/particle duality. Let us outline the major points of quantum mechanics thus far and the experiments discussed above. In the 1860's James Clerk Maxwell showed that it's possible to derive the wave like nature of light.

In the first quarter of the 20th century this new series of experiments revealed that light manifests particles under one set of circumstances while manifesting wavelike characteristics under a different set of circumstances. ? More importantly for understanding the ultimate nature of our new reality is that matter also exhibits the same wave/particle nature. Thus, we must now accept the notion that our wave/particle duality is a feature of both light and matter. As far as scientific knowledge is concerned, this wave/particle duality is the reason why our understanding of the nature of our reality changed.

Let us reconsider when Modernist ideas were first being propagated and people went around killing other people (e.g. The Reign of Terror), because they wouldn't adhere to the new worldview. If we fast forward to the present in the twenty-first century, science would never take it all back and offer an apology for the killings of so many "savage" indigenous people for so many years. Now science uses what are called Gedanken (thought) experiments. This, then, has become the new testing ground for experiments in Quantum Mechanics and they are virtually no different than the abstract thinking for which so many lives have been lost throughout the centuries at the hands of scientific certainty.

So, then, what exactly do our discoveries in quantum mechanics mean or at least say to us? The findings of the collective physicists taking place in the research of the past 100 years is so significant as to change the entire basis for understanding the fundamental nature of our existence. This wave/particle duality of our most elemental particles of matter, the electron, indicates that at our base we are both real and unreal. What we are left with as a basis for our existence is a dynamic

understanding of the diffraction patterns that impact our everyday lives. By way of summation, we should understand from our previous considerations, that it is on the basis of diffractions from the most elemental to the social entanglements that matter, that we as a species are made real. Thus, what we are left with is what is conveyed in the root word, Maya or, more specifically, illusion.

What, then, is the significance of what we have considered and how does this impact the thesis of my essay? Specifically, I am referring to the wave/particle duality. Speaking in non-scientific terms, we can say that the most fundamental element of our human existence, in being able to exhibits both a particle behavior and a wave like behavior, clearly leads us to the conclusion that our human existence is that we are both real and unreal at the same time.

This is the most important question we can ask in attempting to understand the true nature of our existence, when considered from within the context of a variety of ethereal elements such as length between the slits or distance between the wall and the back screen, for example, each of the various contexts imaginable will produce different wave/particle diffractive patterns. Our existence then, is created in the diffractive patterns of differing wave/particle combinations acting upon each other. For many, this notion of diffractive patterns must be considered as the basis for postulating that our existence is an illusion. Thus, the bottom line of quantum physics is the discovery of the nature of diffractive patterns that serve to create the illusion of our physical reality.