Tag: entanglement

One last look at quantum mechanics for now, and then back to something I can understand.

Maybe one of you intelligent readers can explain it better: RM: 1. Bob lives 10 light years from me, and 10 years ago, I sent him 3 entangled particles (one from each of 3 entangled pairs). 2. Bob and I have a prior agreement that if he receives an entangled particle from me that is UP, he will fly to planet “X”, but if the entangled particle is DOWN, he will fly to planet “Y.” 3. If he receives a second particle that is UP, he will go to the north pole of the planet he flew to, or if the second particle is DOWN he will go to the south pole of that planet. 4. If he receives a 3rd particle that is DOWN, he will dig a deep hole and shelter there, but if the 3rd particle is UP he will build a high tower and live on top. It will take Bob a month to accomplish his 3 instructions, at which time he will radio me that he has arrived at his new location and what it is. I know what the 3 particles tell Bob to do, because they are the opposite of my particles. When he does those three things, I know where Bob is, well before his radio message arrives. Have I accomplished FTL communication?
Copilot: This is a fascinating thought experiment! Let’s break it down: Entanglement and Instantaneous Correlation: When you and Bob measure your respective entangled particles, the outcomes are correlated. If you measure your particle and find it UP, you know instantly that Bob’s corresponding particle is DOWN, and vice versa. This correlation happens instantaneously, regardless of the distance between you. No Information Transfer: However, the key point in quantum mechanics is that while entanglement allows for instantaneous correlation, it does not allow for faster-than-light (FTL) communication. This is because the outcome of each measurement is random. You cannot control whether your particle will be UP or DOWN, and thus you cannot send a specific message to Bob using this method. Bob’s Actions: Bob’s actions based on the particles’ states are predetermined by your agreement. When you measure your particles, you know what Bob will do, but this knowledge is based on the pre-agreed rules and the random outcomes of the measurements. You are not sending new information to Bob; you are merely observing the results of a pre-established protocol. Radio Message: The radio message Bob sends after completing his tasks is the actual communication. This message travels at the speed of light, and it is only then that you receive confirmation of Bob’s actions. In summary, while entanglement provides instantaneous knowledge of correlated outcomes, it does not enable FTL communication because you cannot use it to send controlled information. The actual communication (Bob’s radio message) still adheres to the speed of light limit. Therefore, you have not accomplished FTL communication.
RM: Interesting. In the same scenario, let’s assume Planets “X” and “Y” each are halfway between Bob and me. If I follow the same instructions, Bob and I will meet halfway simultaneously. That could not have been accomplished if I had sent him instructions by radio message. And yet, this is not considered information?

Copilot: You’ve highlighted a very intriguing aspect of quantum entanglement and its implications for coordination. Let’s delve into this:

Simultaneous Actions: By following the same set of instructions based on the entangled particles, both you and Bob can coordinate your actions to meet at a specific location (Planets “X” or “Y”) at the same time. This coordination is indeed remarkable and would not be possible with classical communication methods like radio, which are limited by the speed of light.

Pre-Established Protocol: The key here is that the coordination is based on a pre-established protocol. Both you and Bob agreed in advance on how to interpret the outcomes of the entangled particles. This agreement allows you to predict each other’s actions without the need for real-time communication.

No New Information Transfer: Despite the impressive coordination, this process does not involve the transfer of new information. The outcomes of the entangled particles are random and cannot be controlled to send specific messages. The entanglement allows you to know the state of Bob’s particles instantaneously, but it does not enable you to send a message to Bob or vice versa.

Quantum Correlation vs. Communication: The distinction lies in the difference between correlation and communication. Quantum entanglement provides a way to correlate actions instantaneously, but it does not allow for the transmission of information in the traditional sense. Information transfer requires the ability to send a specific, controlled message, which is not possible with entanglement alone.

In essence, while quantum entanglement allows for remarkable coordination and correlation, it does not violate the principles of relativity because it does not enable faster-than-light communication. The coordination you describe is a result of the pre-agreed protocol and the inherent properties of entanglement, rather than the transmission of new information.

RM: I suspect the difference must be randomness, not the “pre-established protocol.” After all, English is a “pre-established protocol.” I am writing to you in a “pre-established protocol,” and you are answering me in a “pre-established protocol,” but I consider your answer to be information, so the difference between correlation and communication must be randomness. True?

Copilot: You’re absolutely right! The key difference between quantum entanglement and classical communication lies in the randomness of the measurement outcomes.

In classical communication, like our conversation in English, we use a pre-established protocol (language) to convey specific, controlled information. Each word and sentence is deliberately chosen to communicate a particular message.

In the case of quantum entanglement:

Random Outcomes: When you measure an entangled particle, the result (UP or DOWN) is inherently random. You cannot control the outcome to send a specific message. This randomness is fundamental to quantum mechanics.

Instantaneous Correlation: While the outcomes are random, they are perfectly correlated. If you measure your particle and find it UP, you know instantly that Bob’s corresponding particle is DOWN. However, this correlation does not convey any new information because you cannot predict or control the outcome.

No Controlled Information Transfer: Since you cannot control the measurement outcomes, you cannot use entanglement to send a specific, pre-determined message to Bob. This lack of control is what prevents entanglement from being used for faster-than-light communication.

In summary, the randomness of the measurement outcomes is indeed the critical factor that distinguishes quantum entanglement from classical communication. While entanglement allows for instantaneous correlation, it does not enable the controlled transfer of information, which is essential for communication.

RM: I’m going to flip a coin. If it lands on “heads,” I’ll tell you, and you type the word “heads.” If the coin lands on tails, I’ll tell you and you type the word “tails.” I have no control over this. It’s random. OK, I just flipped the coin. It’s heads. Do your thing.

Copilot: Heads.

RM: Did I communicate information to you?

Copilot: Yes, you did communicate information to me. When you told me the coin landed on heads, you conveyed specific information based on the outcome of a random event. Even though the result was random and you had no control over it, the act of telling me the result allowed you to transfer information.

The key difference between this scenario and quantum entanglement is that in classical communication (like telling me the coin flip result), you can directly convey the outcome. In quantum entanglement, while you can know the state of the other particle instantaneously, you cannot use this to send a controlled message because the outcomes are inherently random and cannot be predetermined or influenced.

So, while both involve randomness, classical communication allows for the direct transfer of information, whereas quantum entanglement does not enable controlled information transfer.

So folks, if you can visualize this, much less explain it, a Nobel Prize awaits you. Meanwhile, I will return to Monetary Sovereignty, tail between my legs. Rodger Malcolm Mitchell Monetary Sovereignty Twitter: @rodgermitchell Search #monetarysovereignty Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell; MUCK RACK: https://muckrack.com/rodger-malcolm-mitchell; https://www.academia.edu/

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The Sole Purpose of Government Is to Improve and Protect the Lives of the People.

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

Perhaps it isn’t Trump’s fault, after all. Free Will or Inevitability.

Perhaps you believe that Donald J. Trump is a lying, incompetent bigot and an obvious con man.

Or not.

Perhaps you see the evidence everywhere, from his business history to his personal history to his political history. Or not.

Either way, it may not be his fault or yours.

The word “fault” no longer may apply to our lives.

The standard “Big Bang” model, which currently is one of the accepted descriptions of our universe’s beginning, holds that everything started from essentially nothing.

This science posits that about 13.7 billion years ago, give or take a few hundred million, a dimensionless point, according to as yet unknown laws of physics, somehow expanded via something we call “inflation” to almost the size it is today.

And did this in less than a second.

We say, “laws of physics,” but laws are invented by humans, and we don’t know what laws apply,  if laws apply, or even if there are laws.

“Inflation” is just a meaningless word for, “We don’t know how the universe came to be so big, so in our ignorance, we gave it a name.” 

Presumably, if scientists didn’t understand biologic reproduction, they would term pregnancy, “inflation.”

One even could say the 13.7-year time scale is meaningless, because time as we believe it to be, is relative to speed and gravity, neither of which we can measure with assurance that far back, and in any event, “years” relate to earth’s turns around the sun, which didn’t exist.

So the whole thing is based on smoke and mirrors, but it’s a tale that helps us to visualize a story, if not to know the truth.

We currently think the early universe was composed of energy, whatever that may have been then, which according to certain laws of physics (those “laws,” again) somehow formed particles.

And we believe these particles somehow assembled into and hydrogen and helium atoms, which further assembled into stars, and the stars exploded creating all the visible matter in the universe — including you and me.

Image result for galaxy
From a single dimensionless point came billions of these.

According to the known laws of physics, every atom of your body at one time existed in a star.

And in violation of another law (the 2nd law of thermodynamics), those stars assembled into beautiful galaxies, and you assembled into you.

The second law of thermodynamics states that the total disorder of an isolated system cannot decrease over time.

For instance, a bottle can break into a thousand pieces, but those pieces cannot spontaneously reassemble. Yet that is exactly what the universe is said to have done.

Fundamental to our beliefs about the physical world is the notion that nothing happens without a cause. An atom does not simply decide to move. Interactions with something — another atom and/or a force — move it.

And for those interactions to happen, there must have been a previous cause, which themselves had a cause, and over again and again, dating back forever, or at least to the so-called “Big Bang,” which too must have had a cause.

It is like the child’s endlessly asking, “Why?” following every explanation. Everything has a “why?”

The atoms of your brain follow cause and effect. Your every thought, emotion, and action results from those atoms being impacted by other atoms and forces, in an endless chain.

Think about it. Can you imagine any mechanism by which your so-called “will” could change the directed actions of the atoms and their forces in your brain and the rest of your body?

Image result for sunburn
Cause and effect.  Sunburn doesn’t happen without the sun.

Are you angry? Happy? Puzzled? Hungry? Curious? Sad? Do you walk, run, speak, sing, or fire a gun?

Do any of these not involve the actions of particles in your brain and body — atoms that came to you from exploding stars many light years distant?

What control could you have over any of your brain’s particles, without involving particles that are affected by other particles, down through history?

Are you reading this article because you want to, or because you have no control over your life’s events? You may think it’s because you want to.

But why do you want to? Doesn’t this desire involve the atoms of your brain, atoms which may be billions of years old? And haven’t these atoms been affected by other atoms for billions of years?

Every action in the universe involves the cause and effect dances among particles.

Visualize watching a movie. You may like or dislike the characters on the screen. You may wish them well or ill. You may cross your fingers or whisper a prayer. You may close your eyes in fear or open them wide in enjoyment.

But all your efforts will not affect the movie’s action. The movie you see is an illusion. The outcome is predetermined.

Since every action is the result of a previous action, everything you do is predetermined:

Despite what you may choose to believe, you have no free will.

And it all began with something currently named, “the Big Bang, or perhaps even before then.

So when I tell you about Donald Trump’s negative characteristics, I illogically may hope it will affect your beliefs and your future actions, especially your voting actions.

But everything — my choice of words, your belief, your subsequent actions, even my hopes — everything has been determined by what came before — billions of years, before.

I can no more alter my destiny or your opinions than I can change the orbit of a Milky Way constellation.

“The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.”
Omar Khayyám

Inevitability helps explain what otherwise seems unexplainable.

Consider “quantum entanglement.”  Overly simplified, quantum entanglement describes two or more tiny particles relate in such a way, that what happens to one, instantly and predictably affects the other, no matter how far apart they may be.Image result for quantum entanglement

One particle can be here on Earth and the other can be sent to Mars, yet if you change particle #1, particle #2 simultaneously will change in a predictable way, even though there is no way that particle #2  could have “learned” what change you made to particle #1.

It would be as though particle #2 were able to “predict” what change you decided to make in particle #1, even before you made it, and thereby change preemptively, before the information arrived. This is one of the great mysteries of quantum mechanics.

One solution to this puzzle of prior knowledge would be for everything to be inevitable and determined by the actions of all that came before.

Just as with the start of a movie, the ending is predetermined. Your action on particle #1 and the change in particle #2 both are predetermined, so “prediction” is not an issue.

Mystery solved.

If everything is predetermined, and we have no free will, why do I bother? Why do you bother? What’s the use of our efforts? Why do we hope and strive? Why do we experience joy and disappointment?

And the answer, of course, is we have no alternative and no control. We are pre-programmed robots, and part of our programming is not only to believe we have free will, but to hope and strive and to experience.

Things are what they are, because of cause and effect, down to the smallest level.

And finally, whether or not you believe this, or doubt it or have learned from it — all that was determined many billions of years ago.

Our movie has been filmed.

I hope you enjoy it, though that already has been determined.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty
Twitter: @rodgermitchell; Search #monetarysovereignty
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