Author: George Musser
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0374298513
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305
Book Description
Long-listed for the 2016 PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award "An important book that provides insight into key new developments in our understanding of the nature of space, time and the universe. It will repay careful study." --John Gribbin, The Wall Street Journal "An endlessly surprising foray into the current mother of physics' many knotty mysteries, the solving of which may unveil the weirdness of quantum particles, black holes, and the essential unity of nature." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) What is space? It isn't a question that most of us normally ask. Space is the venue of physics; it's where things exist, where they move and take shape. Yet over the past few decades, physicists have discovered a phenomenon that operates outside the confines of space and time: nonlocality-the ability of two particles to act in harmony no matter how far apart they may be. It appears to be almost magical. Einstein grappled with this oddity and couldn't come to terms with it, describing it as "spooky action at a distance." More recently, the mystery has deepened as other forms of nonlocality have been uncovered. This strange occurrence, which has direct connections to black holes, particle collisions, and even the workings of gravity, holds the potential to undermine our most basic understandings of physical reality. If space isn't what we thought it was, then what is it? In Spooky Action at a Distance, George Musser sets out to answer that question, offering a provocative exploration of nonlocality and a celebration of the scientists who are trying to explain it. Musser guides us on an epic journey into the lives of experimental physicists observing particles acting in tandem, astronomers finding galaxies that look statistically identical, and cosmologists hoping to unravel the paradoxes surrounding the big bang. He traces the often contentious debates over nonlocality through major discoveries and disruptions of the twentieth century and shows how scientists faced with the same undisputed experimental evidence develop wildly different explanations for that evidence. Their conclusions challenge our understanding of not only space and time but also the origins of the universe-and they suggest a new grand unified theory of physics. Delightfully readable, Spooky Action at a Distance is a mind-bending voyage to the frontiers of modern physics that will change the way we think about reality.
Spooky Action at a Distance
Author: George Musser
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0374298513
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305
Book Description
Long-listed for the 2016 PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award "An important book that provides insight into key new developments in our understanding of the nature of space, time and the universe. It will repay careful study." --John Gribbin, The Wall Street Journal "An endlessly surprising foray into the current mother of physics' many knotty mysteries, the solving of which may unveil the weirdness of quantum particles, black holes, and the essential unity of nature." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) What is space? It isn't a question that most of us normally ask. Space is the venue of physics; it's where things exist, where they move and take shape. Yet over the past few decades, physicists have discovered a phenomenon that operates outside the confines of space and time: nonlocality-the ability of two particles to act in harmony no matter how far apart they may be. It appears to be almost magical. Einstein grappled with this oddity and couldn't come to terms with it, describing it as "spooky action at a distance." More recently, the mystery has deepened as other forms of nonlocality have been uncovered. This strange occurrence, which has direct connections to black holes, particle collisions, and even the workings of gravity, holds the potential to undermine our most basic understandings of physical reality. If space isn't what we thought it was, then what is it? In Spooky Action at a Distance, George Musser sets out to answer that question, offering a provocative exploration of nonlocality and a celebration of the scientists who are trying to explain it. Musser guides us on an epic journey into the lives of experimental physicists observing particles acting in tandem, astronomers finding galaxies that look statistically identical, and cosmologists hoping to unravel the paradoxes surrounding the big bang. He traces the often contentious debates over nonlocality through major discoveries and disruptions of the twentieth century and shows how scientists faced with the same undisputed experimental evidence develop wildly different explanations for that evidence. Their conclusions challenge our understanding of not only space and time but also the origins of the universe-and they suggest a new grand unified theory of physics. Delightfully readable, Spooky Action at a Distance is a mind-bending voyage to the frontiers of modern physics that will change the way we think about reality.
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0374298513
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305
Book Description
Long-listed for the 2016 PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award "An important book that provides insight into key new developments in our understanding of the nature of space, time and the universe. It will repay careful study." --John Gribbin, The Wall Street Journal "An endlessly surprising foray into the current mother of physics' many knotty mysteries, the solving of which may unveil the weirdness of quantum particles, black holes, and the essential unity of nature." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) What is space? It isn't a question that most of us normally ask. Space is the venue of physics; it's where things exist, where they move and take shape. Yet over the past few decades, physicists have discovered a phenomenon that operates outside the confines of space and time: nonlocality-the ability of two particles to act in harmony no matter how far apart they may be. It appears to be almost magical. Einstein grappled with this oddity and couldn't come to terms with it, describing it as "spooky action at a distance." More recently, the mystery has deepened as other forms of nonlocality have been uncovered. This strange occurrence, which has direct connections to black holes, particle collisions, and even the workings of gravity, holds the potential to undermine our most basic understandings of physical reality. If space isn't what we thought it was, then what is it? In Spooky Action at a Distance, George Musser sets out to answer that question, offering a provocative exploration of nonlocality and a celebration of the scientists who are trying to explain it. Musser guides us on an epic journey into the lives of experimental physicists observing particles acting in tandem, astronomers finding galaxies that look statistically identical, and cosmologists hoping to unravel the paradoxes surrounding the big bang. He traces the often contentious debates over nonlocality through major discoveries and disruptions of the twentieth century and shows how scientists faced with the same undisputed experimental evidence develop wildly different explanations for that evidence. Their conclusions challenge our understanding of not only space and time but also the origins of the universe-and they suggest a new grand unified theory of physics. Delightfully readable, Spooky Action at a Distance is a mind-bending voyage to the frontiers of modern physics that will change the way we think about reality.
Action at a Distance
Author: John Durham Peters
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 1452964483
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 99
Book Description
How are human actions shaped by the materiality of media? Contemporary media leads us more than ever to an ‘acting at a distance,’ an acting entangled with the materiality of communication and the mediality of transmission. This book explores this crucial phenomenon thereby introducing urgent questions of human interaction, the binding and breaking of time and space, and the entanglement of the material and the immaterial. Three vivid inquiries deal with histories and theories of mediality and materiality: John Durham Peters looks at episodes of simultaneity and synchronization. Christina Vagt discusses the agency of computer models against the backdrop of aesthetic theories by Henri Bergson and Hans Blumenberg, and Florian Sprenger discusses early electrical transmissions through copper wire and the temporality of instantaneity.
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 1452964483
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 99
Book Description
How are human actions shaped by the materiality of media? Contemporary media leads us more than ever to an ‘acting at a distance,’ an acting entangled with the materiality of communication and the mediality of transmission. This book explores this crucial phenomenon thereby introducing urgent questions of human interaction, the binding and breaking of time and space, and the entanglement of the material and the immaterial. Three vivid inquiries deal with histories and theories of mediality and materiality: John Durham Peters looks at episodes of simultaneity and synchronization. Christina Vagt discusses the agency of computer models against the backdrop of aesthetic theories by Henri Bergson and Hans Blumenberg, and Florian Sprenger discusses early electrical transmissions through copper wire and the temporality of instantaneity.
Forces and Fields
Author: Mary B. Hesse
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486442403
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 338
Book Description
This history of physics focuses on the question, "How do bodies act on one another across space?" The variety of answers illustrates the function of fundamental analogies or models in physics, as well as the role of so-called unobservable entities. Forces and Fields presents an in-depth look at the science of ancient Greece, and it examines the influence of antique philosophy on seventeenth-century thought. Additional topics embrace many elements of modern physics—the empirical basis of quantum mechanics, wave-particle duality and the uncertainty principle, and the action-at-a-distance theory of Wheeler and Feynman. The introductory chapter, in which the philosophical view is developed, can be omitted by readers more interested in history. Author Mary B. Hesse examines the use of analogies in primitive scientific explanation, particularly in the works of Aristotle, and contrasts them with latter-day theories such as those of gravitation and relativity. Hesse incorporates studies of the Pre-Socratics initiated by Francis Cornford and continued by contemporary classical historians. Her perspective sheds considerable light on the scientific thinking of antiquity, and it highlights the debt that the seventeenth-century natural philosophers owed to Greek ideas.
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486442403
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 338
Book Description
This history of physics focuses on the question, "How do bodies act on one another across space?" The variety of answers illustrates the function of fundamental analogies or models in physics, as well as the role of so-called unobservable entities. Forces and Fields presents an in-depth look at the science of ancient Greece, and it examines the influence of antique philosophy on seventeenth-century thought. Additional topics embrace many elements of modern physics—the empirical basis of quantum mechanics, wave-particle duality and the uncertainty principle, and the action-at-a-distance theory of Wheeler and Feynman. The introductory chapter, in which the philosophical view is developed, can be omitted by readers more interested in history. Author Mary B. Hesse examines the use of analogies in primitive scientific explanation, particularly in the works of Aristotle, and contrasts them with latter-day theories such as those of gravitation and relativity. Hesse incorporates studies of the Pre-Socratics initiated by Francis Cornford and continued by contemporary classical historians. Her perspective sheds considerable light on the scientific thinking of antiquity, and it highlights the debt that the seventeenth-century natural philosophers owed to Greek ideas.
Rivers of London Volume 7: Action At A Distance
Author: Ben Aaronovitch
Publisher: Titan Comics
ISBN: 1787730662
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 116
Book Description
An explosive lesson in history! Thomas Nightingale is one of the most highly revered magicians in Europe and a respected Detective Inspector – but he holds a guarded past. His protégé, Detective Constable Peter Grant, is about to discover some of Nightingale’s deepest secrets, hidden within the archives of the London Metropolitan Police’s Special Operations Unit. From Rivers of London author Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel (Doctor Who, The Vinyl Detective), with art by Brian Williamson (Doctor Who, Hook Jaw), the million-selling series continues with this latest instalment. Step back in time with Grant as he learns how Nightingale unravelled a mystery filled with murder, comic books, and atomic secrets that threatened to destroy Britain.
Publisher: Titan Comics
ISBN: 1787730662
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 116
Book Description
An explosive lesson in history! Thomas Nightingale is one of the most highly revered magicians in Europe and a respected Detective Inspector – but he holds a guarded past. His protégé, Detective Constable Peter Grant, is about to discover some of Nightingale’s deepest secrets, hidden within the archives of the London Metropolitan Police’s Special Operations Unit. From Rivers of London author Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel (Doctor Who, The Vinyl Detective), with art by Brian Williamson (Doctor Who, Hook Jaw), the million-selling series continues with this latest instalment. Step back in time with Grant as he learns how Nightingale unravelled a mystery filled with murder, comic books, and atomic secrets that threatened to destroy Britain.
Lectures On Cosmology And Action-at-a-distance Electrodynamics
Author: Fred Hoyle
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9814499358
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 149
Book Description
This book describes the subject of electrodynamics at classical as well as quantum level, developed as an interaction at a distance. Thus it has electric charges interacting with one another directly and not through the medium of a field. In general such an interaction travels forward and backward in time symmetrically, thus apparently violating the principle of causality. It turns out, however, that in such a description the cosmological boundary conditions become very important. The theory therefore works only in a cosmology with the right boundary conditions; but when it does work it is free from the divergences that plague a quantum field theory.
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9814499358
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 149
Book Description
This book describes the subject of electrodynamics at classical as well as quantum level, developed as an interaction at a distance. Thus it has electric charges interacting with one another directly and not through the medium of a field. In general such an interaction travels forward and backward in time symmetrically, thus apparently violating the principle of causality. It turns out, however, that in such a description the cosmological boundary conditions become very important. The theory therefore works only in a cosmology with the right boundary conditions; but when it does work it is free from the divergences that plague a quantum field theory.
Oxford Handbook of Newton
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780199930418
Category : Physics
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
This handbook is currently in development, with individual articles publishing online in advance of print publication. At this time, we cannot add information about unpublished articles in this handbook, however the table of contents will continue to grow as additional articles pass through the review process and are added to the site. Please note that the online publication date for this handbook is the date that the first article in the title was published online. For more information, please read the site FAQs.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780199930418
Category : Physics
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
This handbook is currently in development, with individual articles publishing online in advance of print publication. At this time, we cannot add information about unpublished articles in this handbook, however the table of contents will continue to grow as additional articles pass through the review process and are added to the site. Please note that the online publication date for this handbook is the date that the first article in the title was published online. For more information, please read the site FAQs.
Instantaneous Action at a Distance in Modern Physics
Author: Andrew E. Chubykalo
Publisher: Nova Publishers
ISBN: 9781560726982
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 476
Book Description
The so-far unanswered question of whether the movements of distance-separated objects are correlated in the way quantum physics requires or whether, according to Einstein, they can influence one another only by mechanical agencies travelling between them at speeds limited to that of light. It is to that still unanswered question that this present compilation of papers is addressed. The editorial approach is unusual in that in order to break the current conceptual deadlock and to encourage true innovation they have solicited inputs which are multidisciplinary. This open-ended venture is therefore perhaps more in line with what was once called Natural Philosophy than with what is currently known as 'Physics'. This is something of a departure for those who say that Physics no longer has anything to do with Philosophy. For there are physicists who believe that their predecessors have accomplished all the really important conceptual work on interpreting natural phenomena, so that there is no longer any call for radical revision in that direction. This leads to a constricted form of the discipline in which the purpose of all observation and experimentation is seen as simply to collect more and more information and fit it to conceptions which are traditionally 'cut and dried'. The emphasis is thus on presenting informed and carefully considered descriptions of natural phenomena, economizing as far as possible on interpretations in terms of entities which turn out to be no more than speculative.
Publisher: Nova Publishers
ISBN: 9781560726982
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 476
Book Description
The so-far unanswered question of whether the movements of distance-separated objects are correlated in the way quantum physics requires or whether, according to Einstein, they can influence one another only by mechanical agencies travelling between them at speeds limited to that of light. It is to that still unanswered question that this present compilation of papers is addressed. The editorial approach is unusual in that in order to break the current conceptual deadlock and to encourage true innovation they have solicited inputs which are multidisciplinary. This open-ended venture is therefore perhaps more in line with what was once called Natural Philosophy than with what is currently known as 'Physics'. This is something of a departure for those who say that Physics no longer has anything to do with Philosophy. For there are physicists who believe that their predecessors have accomplished all the really important conceptual work on interpreting natural phenomena, so that there is no longer any call for radical revision in that direction. This leads to a constricted form of the discipline in which the purpose of all observation and experimentation is seen as simply to collect more and more information and fit it to conceptions which are traditionally 'cut and dried'. The emphasis is thus on presenting informed and carefully considered descriptions of natural phenomena, economizing as far as possible on interpretations in terms of entities which turn out to be no more than speculative.
The Lightness of Being
Author: Frank Wilczek
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0786731680
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 287
Book Description
A Nobel-prize winning physicist takes on the essential question: what are we made of? Our understanding of nature's deepest reality has changed radically, but almost without our noticing, over the past twenty-five years. Transcending the clash of older ideas about matter and space, acclaimed physicist Frank Wilczek explains a remarkable new discovery: matter is built from almost weightless units, and pure energy is the ultimate source of mass. He calls it "The Lightness of Being." Space is no mere container, empty and passive. It is a dynamic Grid-a modern ether- and its spontaneous activity creates and destroys particles. This new understanding of mass explains the puzzling feebleness of gravity, and a gorgeous unification of all the forces comes sharply into focus.The Lightness of Being is the first book to explore the implications of these revolutionary ideas about mass, energy, and the nature of "empty space." In it, Wilczek masterfully presents new perspectives on our incredible universe and envisions a new golden age of fundamental physics.
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0786731680
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 287
Book Description
A Nobel-prize winning physicist takes on the essential question: what are we made of? Our understanding of nature's deepest reality has changed radically, but almost without our noticing, over the past twenty-five years. Transcending the clash of older ideas about matter and space, acclaimed physicist Frank Wilczek explains a remarkable new discovery: matter is built from almost weightless units, and pure energy is the ultimate source of mass. He calls it "The Lightness of Being." Space is no mere container, empty and passive. It is a dynamic Grid-a modern ether- and its spontaneous activity creates and destroys particles. This new understanding of mass explains the puzzling feebleness of gravity, and a gorgeous unification of all the forces comes sharply into focus.The Lightness of Being is the first book to explore the implications of these revolutionary ideas about mass, energy, and the nature of "empty space." In it, Wilczek masterfully presents new perspectives on our incredible universe and envisions a new golden age of fundamental physics.
Quantum Entanglement
Author: Jed Brody
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262357623
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 186
Book Description
A concise, non-technical exploration of quantum entanglement—the enigma Albert Einstein called ‘spooky action at a distance’—and how it contradicts our assumptions about the ultimate nature of reality. Quantum physics is notable for its brazen defiance of common sense. (Think of Schrödinger's Cat, famously both dead and alive.) An especially rigorous form of quantum contradiction occurs in experiments with entangled particles. Our common assumption is that objects have properties whether or not anyone is observing them, and the measurement of one can’t affect the other. Quantum entanglement—called by Einstein “spooky action at a distance”—rejects this assumption, offering impeccable reasoning and irrefutable evidence of the opposite. Is quantum entanglement mystical, or just mystifying? In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Jed Brody equips readers to decide for themselves. He explains how our commonsense assumptions impose constraints—from which entangled particles break free. Brody explores such concepts as local realism, Bell’s inequality, polarization, time dilation, and special relativity. He introduces readers to imaginary physicists Alice and Bob and their photon analyses; points out that it's easier to reject falsehood than establish the truth; and reports that some physicists explain entanglement by arguing that we live in a cross-section of a higher-dimensional reality. He examines a variety of viewpoints held by physicists, including quantum decoherence, Niels Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation, genuine fortuitousness, and QBism. This relatively recent interpretation, an abbreviation of “quantum Bayesianism,” holds that there's no such thing as an absolutely accurate, objective probability “out there,” that quantum mechanical probabilities are subjective judgments, and there's no “action at a distance,” spooky or otherwise.
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262357623
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 186
Book Description
A concise, non-technical exploration of quantum entanglement—the enigma Albert Einstein called ‘spooky action at a distance’—and how it contradicts our assumptions about the ultimate nature of reality. Quantum physics is notable for its brazen defiance of common sense. (Think of Schrödinger's Cat, famously both dead and alive.) An especially rigorous form of quantum contradiction occurs in experiments with entangled particles. Our common assumption is that objects have properties whether or not anyone is observing them, and the measurement of one can’t affect the other. Quantum entanglement—called by Einstein “spooky action at a distance”—rejects this assumption, offering impeccable reasoning and irrefutable evidence of the opposite. Is quantum entanglement mystical, or just mystifying? In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Jed Brody equips readers to decide for themselves. He explains how our commonsense assumptions impose constraints—from which entangled particles break free. Brody explores such concepts as local realism, Bell’s inequality, polarization, time dilation, and special relativity. He introduces readers to imaginary physicists Alice and Bob and their photon analyses; points out that it's easier to reject falsehood than establish the truth; and reports that some physicists explain entanglement by arguing that we live in a cross-section of a higher-dimensional reality. He examines a variety of viewpoints held by physicists, including quantum decoherence, Niels Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation, genuine fortuitousness, and QBism. This relatively recent interpretation, an abbreviation of “quantum Bayesianism,” holds that there's no such thing as an absolutely accurate, objective probability “out there,” that quantum mechanical probabilities are subjective judgments, and there's no “action at a distance,” spooky or otherwise.
Dance of the Photons
Author: Anton Zeilinger
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1429963794
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 398
Book Description
The Nobel laureate in physics explains his experiments in quantum entanglement: “An accessible popular account of this fascinating field.” —Science Einstein’s steadfast refusal to accept certain aspects of quantum theory was rooted in his insistence that physics has to be about reality. Accordingly, he once derided as “spooky action at a distance” the notion that two elementary particles far removed from each other could nonetheless influence each other’s properties—a hypothetical phenomenon his fellow theorist Erwin Schrödinger termed “quantum entanglement.” In a series of ingenious experiments conducted in various locations—from a dank sewage tunnel under the Danube River to the balmy air between a pair of mountain peaks in the Canary Islands—the author and his colleagues have demonstrated the reality of such entanglement using photons, or light quanta, created by laser beams. In principle the lessons learned may be applicable in other areas, including the eventual development of quantum computers. In Dance of the Photons, Anton Zeilinger guides us on a “rewarding exploration of the weird world of quantum physics” (Kirkus Reviews). “This delightful little book, by one of the world’s leading practitioners in this area, explains these recent advances in a way that should be accessible even to readers with no physics background.” —Anthony J. Leggett, winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1429963794
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 398
Book Description
The Nobel laureate in physics explains his experiments in quantum entanglement: “An accessible popular account of this fascinating field.” —Science Einstein’s steadfast refusal to accept certain aspects of quantum theory was rooted in his insistence that physics has to be about reality. Accordingly, he once derided as “spooky action at a distance” the notion that two elementary particles far removed from each other could nonetheless influence each other’s properties—a hypothetical phenomenon his fellow theorist Erwin Schrödinger termed “quantum entanglement.” In a series of ingenious experiments conducted in various locations—from a dank sewage tunnel under the Danube River to the balmy air between a pair of mountain peaks in the Canary Islands—the author and his colleagues have demonstrated the reality of such entanglement using photons, or light quanta, created by laser beams. In principle the lessons learned may be applicable in other areas, including the eventual development of quantum computers. In Dance of the Photons, Anton Zeilinger guides us on a “rewarding exploration of the weird world of quantum physics” (Kirkus Reviews). “This delightful little book, by one of the world’s leading practitioners in this area, explains these recent advances in a way that should be accessible even to readers with no physics background.” —Anthony J. Leggett, winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics