“For us it seems like kind of a win-win,” Friedman said. “Either we close the loophole more and more, and we’re more confident in quantum theory, or we see something that could point toward new physics.”
There’s a final possibility that many physicists abhor. It could be that the universe restricted freedom of choice from the very beginning — that every measurement was predetermined by correlations established at the Big Bang. “Superdeterminism,” as this is called, is “unknowable,” said Jan-Åke Larsson, a physicist at Linköping University in Sweden; the cosmic Bell test crew will never be able to rule out correlations that existed before there were stars, quasars or any other light in the sky. That means the freedom-of-choice loophole can never be completely shut.
But given the choice between quantum entanglement and superdeterminism, most scientists favor entanglement — and with it, freedom. “If the correlations are indeed set [at the Big Bang], everything is preordained,” Larsson said. “I find it a boring worldview. I cannot believe this would be true.”More fun with physics.
Quanta Magazine
Experiment Reaffirms Quantum Weirdness
Natalie Wolchover
My calculations point toward an infinite number of unverifiable theories.
ReplyDeleteExedrin headache #10001....
ReplyDelete«freedom» ... anthopogenic projection onto theory. Again.
ReplyDeleteDegrees of freedom (mechanics)
ReplyDeleteHi Tom,
ReplyDelete2 fantastic sources on Bell and non-locality are:
1) "What Bell Did" - paper by Tim Maudlin. He has lectures on youtube as well. (no maths needed!)
2) "Making Sense of Quantum Mechanics" by Bricmont.(Bricmont is a Belgian physicist; he has also interviewed Chomsky.) This book describes quantum mechanics, what Bell did, and the De Broglie-Bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics, In this interpretation, the electron is a little particle, guided by a wave. It is not in two places at once! There is no need to invoke consciousness! The measurement problem disappears! However, the mystery that remains is everything is instantaneously connected. It also shows the incredible group-think among top physicists in protecting the Copenhagen orthodoxy against attacks from Schrodinger, Einstein, Bohm and Bell. You can get a lot of understanding without reading any of the maths, thankfully.
But don't get too involved in this stuff; we need you on this site.
(another) Paul
Actually, one of the links at the bottom of the above quanta magazine article is on the De Broglie/Bohm view. It is a nice little article.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.quantamagazine.org/20160517-pilot-wave-theory-gains-experimental-support/
It could be that the universe restricted freedom of choice from the very beginning — that every measurement was predetermined by correlations established at the Big Bang.
ReplyDeleteSubjective preference of scientists for an idea or metaphysical concept projecting onto theory.
It has nothing to do with degrees of freedom of a mechanical system.