Quantum Theory, Calculus, Philosophy
I get why so many physicists are also philosophers
“The lessons on subatomic physics at St. Joseph’s by my physics teachers, Prof. Chinna Dural and Prof. Krishnamurthy, introduced me to the concept of the half-life period and matters related to the radioactive decay of substances. Sivasubramania Iyer, my science teacher at Rameswaram, had never taught me that most subatomic particles are unstable and that they disintegrate after a certain time into other particles. All this I was learning for the first time. But when he taught me to strive with diligence because decay is inherent in all compounded things, was he not talking of the same thing? I wonder why some people tend to see science as something which takes man away from God. As I look at it, the path of science can always wind through the heart. For me, science has always been the path to spiritual enlightenment and self-realisation.”
APJ Abdul Kalam, Wings of Fire
The following are some thoughts I had on encountering nuclear physics in recent reading. Only some percentage of them are accurate. I’m uncertain how much.
A light wave is an integral function applied to photons
Max Planck, famous for h (also called Planck’s constant), theorised that electrons absorb and emit energy in defined packets - each of equal size. These quanta are the basis of quantum theory - the proposition that electromagnetic waves, such as light, are composed not of continuous waves but streams of particles. The excitation of electrons which causes them to move from one orbital to another in the atom is caused by absorption or emission of energy quanta. And the jumps are thus from one pre-defined orbital to another - the electron will not be excited to a state intermediate between 2 electrons. The nature of matter and radiation is thus to be composed of extremely small, but definite, units making up a much larger whole. This is the principle on which integral calculus is based - a large area or other mathematical quantity can be determined by summing up small, but defined individual quantities in a large number. Is this why calculus lends itself readily to study of natural phenomena, because it approximates the fundamental nature of matter and energy as closely as possible?
Ideas crystallize when they can be observed
An electron behaves like a particle when observed, but like a wave when not under observation. In Creative Selection, Ken Kocienda describes the approach to building software at Apple. The primary aim when building a new application or feature, would be to get to a ‘workable demo’ - not just a video, but an interactive demo that could be wired up on the device and used by different team members to give real-time feedback on. A lot of work would not make it to the final version, ending up on the ‘cutting room floor’ and the team was never deterred by this. Perhaps, we need more idea MVPs to get published so the most interesting ones can be nurtured faster.
Stability comes from constant movement
From Sean Carroll’s video - the reason the electron does not collapse on itself is that it’s lowest energy state is not a point but a wave. Does that mean the ‘location’ of the lowest energy state is not fixed? Also, does it mean stability is in constant movement?
Voids are a feature, not a bug
Voids are a feature of matter, why are we uncomfortable with them?
Where ever you go on this planet, there is movement and life. Even apparently inanimate things like rocks, metal, timber, clay are full of intrinsic movement - with electrons dancing around each nucleus. This motion originates in their response to the confinement imposed on them by the nucleus, by means of electric forces which try to hold them as close as possible. Electrons, just like any individual with a certain amount of energy, detest confinement. The tighter the electrons are held by the nucleus, the higher their orbital velocity will be: in fact, the confinement of electrons in an atom results in enormous velocities of about 1000 km per second! These high velocities make the atom appear a rigid sphere, just as a fast-moving fan appears like a disc. It is very difficult to compress atoms more strongly - thus giving matter its familiar solid aspect. Everything solid, thus, contains much empty space within and everything stationary contains great movement within.
Wings of Fire, APJ Abdul Kalam
Edit on September 3, 2024:
Michael Faraday chose to think of himself as a ‘philosopher’ and disliked the term ‘physicist’. From a letter he wrote soon after being appointed as an apprentice at the Royal Institution at the age of twenty-two:
As for myself, I am absent (from home) nearly day and night, except occasional calls, and it is likely shall shortly be absent entirely, but this (having nothing more to say, and at the request of my mother) I will explain to you. I was formerly a bookseller and binder, but am now turned philosopher, (2) which happened thus:—Whilst an apprentice, I, for amusement, learnt a little chemistry and other parts of philosophy, and felt an eager desire to proceed in that way further. After being a journeyman for six months, under a disagreeable master, I gave up my business, and through the interest of a Sir H. Davy, filled the situation of chemical assistant to the Royal Institution of Great Britain, in which office I now remain; and where I am constantly employed in observing the works of nature, and tracing the manner in which she directs the order and arrangement of the world.
From John Tyndall’s marvellous Faraday as a Discoverer.
Inspiration:
The Making of the Atomic Bomb, Richard Rhodes
In Search of Schrödinger’s Cat, John Griffin
Wings of Fire, APJ Abdul Kalam
Creative Selection, Ken Kocienda
Faraday as a Discoverer, John Tyndall