Three Physics Paradigms Newtonian, Relativistic, Quantum

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Newtonian Paradigm (NP) NPistheoldestparadigminphysicsthatworksandiswhatwemeanbyClassicalphysics.Appendix1providesdetailsonitsconceptualfoundation.Theconceptsrelatetothingsthathumanscanobserve,fromobjectsthesizeofsandgrainstothesolarsystemmotionofplanets,asteroids,comets,andhumanspaceexploration.

Fig 1A,thecityscenefromAustralia'sSydneyHarbor.ThemanmadeitemsyouuseareduetothesuccessfulaccuracyofNPcalculations.

Bridges,complexbuildings,vehicles,lighting,tallbuildings,etc.allaretributestothisbrilliantworkthatbeganabout2decadesaftertheJesuitInquisitionthreatenedGalileotoafierydeath.

NPallowsustoincludenearlyeveryeffectthatwehaveobserved,frommechanicalfrictionandfluidviscositytostressesinmaterials,thestructureofplanets,andultimatelytoelectricmotorsandcombustiondrivenengines.

Fig 1Bisthelaunchforalunarlanding,partofourhumanefforttounderstandthesolarsystemandbeyond.TheimageconnectsthebeginningofNP(accuratedescriptionsofplanetaryorbits)toourmodernexplorationsofthis,ourlocalpatchoftheUniverse.

Thesuccessofmodernastrophysicshasbeenaidedbyusinghighlyaccuratetelescopes,andothersophisticatedopticalapplications.OpticsisoneofthefoundationconceptstheNewtonincludedinhisinitial

Inadditiontomakingdailylifemorecomfortableandinteresting,NPistheunderlyingtechniqueusedtooptimizeourweaponsofwar.Kineticweaponswereused,andimprovedbytrialanderrorforuncountedtensofthousandsofyears.Knives,spears,arrows,boomerangs,armor,catapults,andthehostofexplosivepoweredprojectileswereoperationallongbeforeIsaacNewton.Buteveryoneofthesehasbeenoptimizedbymodernanalysis.ModernkinetickillweaponsarevastlysuperiortopriortoNewton'swork.

IthasbeensaidthattheNewtonianparadigmwillneverbeprovenwrong.Itisextraordinarilyaccurateforhumansizedconditionsofourworld.Certainly,notheoryhaseverprovenitwrongnorcouldanydothat.Ithasbeenshowntobeonlyinadequatebyexperimentaltestsasweprobenewsizes,speeds,masses,timedurations,etc.RelativisticandQuantumconceptsextendunderstandingoutsidetheclassicalregime,andhaveprovenapplicabilitytopreviouslyunexploredconditions.ButthesedonotinvalidateNPinitsregionofapplicability.Inthissamesense,relativityandquantummechanicswillneverbewrong,either.Itisstronglyhoped,though,thatthey,too,willbeextendedbynewwaysofviewingtheworldaboutus,aswecontinuetoexplorenewwaysatlookingatthings.

Fig1A Citieshave complexstructuresindailyuse.

Fig1B SaturnVlaunch

Thisdiscussionismeantforanonphysicsgeneralaudience,hashasalmostnoequations

Overview NewtonianParadigm

Three Physics Paradigms Newtonian, Relativistic, Quantum

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Relativity Paradigm (RP) Initsgeneralform,theTheoryofRelativitydescribestheuniversebycombiningthespeedoflight,simultaneity,geometryandgravitatingclumpsofmass.ItsconceptualbackgroundismorefullydiscussedinAppendix2.Special(SR)AlbertEinsteinreleasedtheinitialSpecialformin1905,andextendedNPtohighvelocities.SRappeareduponfirstreadingtobeaphilosophicaldiscussionofwhat"simultaneous"meanstovariousobservers;itdidnot"feellike"physicstoNPphysicists.Itmetwithlittleunderstandingasveryfewphysicistseventriedtofollowit.ButSRworksitcontinuallypassesallexperimentaltesting,andisnowuniversallyaccepted.WhenquantumtheoryreplaceditsNPbackbonewithSP,thenewmergedtheoryyieldedstartlingpredictionswithnewandunexpectedpropertiesforthequantumworldview.General (GR)EinsteinreleasedGeneralRelativity,hisexpansionofSR,in1915.GRaddedgravitationalmasstoSRbasics,predictedthewarpingofspacebylocalmassconcentrationsandusedthetheorytoexplaintheastronomicaluniverse.Atalmostthesametime,heusedGRtoexplainavexinganomalyinthemeasuredorbitoftheplanetMercury.GRhasneverceasedtobetestedforaccuracy;itspredictionshavepassedeverytestconducted.

Fig 2AillustratesthatGRprovidesourfoundationthatallowsustounderstandthestructureofGalaxiesandoftheUniverseasawhole.

Fig 2Bisaspacediagramshowingthebendingofspaceduetothemassofastar.

Concentriccircularpatternsshowthegravitationalenergywellofthemassiveobject.Thefurtherawayfromthestar,thecloserthewelllevelistothebackgroundgravitationaleffectsfromalltheothermassintheuniverse.

Yellowcurvesarethepathslightraytakewhenmovingdirectlytowardorawayfromthestar.Thepathlightbetweenanytwopointsgivestheshortesttimetotravelthatdistance;Lightpathsdefinethegeometryofspacetime.Anylightraythatpassesnearthemassfollowsthegravitationalpotentialandisdeflectedbythewellshape.

RPisinconstantappliedusewithoutit,ourGPSlocationsystemscouldnotwork,norcouldwecommunicatewithhighvelocityspacecraftfarfromEarth.Withoutitwecouldnotbesuccessfulinmodelingmuchthathappensintheuniverse,orinthemicroversedomainofquantumtheory.

GRsuccessfullyexpandedSRtoincludegravitationaleffects,butisincompatiblewithquantumphysics,eventhoughSRiskeytoquantumsuccess.Thegoalistofindanewparadigmthatwillsuccessfullymergethetwo,butnoneoftheproposedchangeshaveprovensuccessfulyet.

Fig2A M31Andromeda,ournearestgalaxyneighbor.RPguides

Fig2B Relativitytheoryprovidesthetoolstounderstandstellardynamics

Overview Relativity Paradigm

Three Physics Paradigms Newtonian, Relativistic, Quantum

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Fig3AThecalculatedprobabilitydistributionofaspecificatomicstate

Quantum Paradigm (QP) DetailsontheconceptualbackgroundofQParefoundinAppendix3.

Modernquantummechanics(QM)describesanatomasatinypositivecentralnucleussurroundedbyadiffusebutdefinitelyshapedcloudofnegativeelectrons.Itdoesnotdescribetheexactcurrentpropertiesofanygivenelectronbecauseallelectronshaveexactlythesame,completelyindistinguishableexceptforphysicspropertiessuchasenergyandcomponentsoflinearandangularmomentum.

ThismeanstheQPisnotacausal,deterministicallypredictivetheorythewayNPandRPare.The"diffusebutdefinite"cloudiscalledtheprobabilitydensitytheprobabilityofanystateistreatedaanalmostgaseousthingwithvaryingdensity.Buttheprobabilitygasrequiresaspecialkindofstatisticsthattookdecadestounderstand(ifweactuallydo).Thisistheverybesttechniquetodescribeandpredictpropertiesofmaterials,molecularinteractionsofchemistryandbiology.

Fig 3Aisanartistsvisualizationofdetailedcomputationsoftheprobabilitywavefunctionforaparticularorbitalelectrondistributioninanatom.Itisablurredsolidinthemurkyprobabilitybackgroundofallthegeneralpossibilitiesofitsenvironment.Suchcalculationsaretoolsthatexplainwhatwemeasureanddeepenourunderstandingofhowthingsworkatthemolecular,atomic,andsmallerlevelsofreality.

Fig 3Bpictureswhatmustbehappening,werewelivinginadeterministicatomicworld.Sizesanddistancesarenotshowntoscale.The2electronsareincoulomborbitsduetotheirattractiontowardthenucleus,similartoplanetsmovingingravitationalorbitsaboutthesun.Twomajordifferencesbetweengravitationalandelectrostaticorbits1. Electronsrepeleachother,planetsattracteachother.2. Coulomborbitsmustradiateduetocentripetalaccelerationsand

cannotbestable.Theclassicalmodelwascorrectedbyaddingwavesandrequiringwavestability;thisaccuratelyproducedthebasicquantumparametersforhydrogen.SRdynamicsforellipticalorbitswereaddedandthelistofcorrectquantumparametersgrew.

ThisdeterministicorbitalmodeliscalledOldQMandgetsmanythingsright,butalsomissesmanythings.Atleastonewebsitecallstheorbitpicture"Wrong,Wrong,Wrong!"Instead,theyshouldsaythatsuchimagesmisstheprobabilisticnaturethatisfundamentaltoourreality.Fig3Bisnotexactlywrong,itisjustnotright.ThecomplexprobabilitywavedistributionsofmodernQMarerequiredforgoodpredictions.Evensoorbitsareourbestmentalvisualizationofwhatishappening.ThisisdiscussedmorefullyinourAppendix3.Probabilitydistributionsforanelectronwouldlooknothingliketheloopsshownhere.

QM,withitsintrinsicprobabilisticwavenatureofmatter,hasbeentestedatleastasfullyasGRandhaspassedthemall.PaulDiracextendedQMtoelectricfieldsusingSRandformedthespectacularlyaccuratequantumelectrodynamics(QED).QEDwaslaterextendedtodescribemanydifferentparticles,buttheextensionneededlogicallyquestionablesteps.Theextensiontoallfundamentalparticles,calledtheStandardModel(SM),isactuallyaccurateandnecessarytoourworldview.Nevertheless,mostthinkitisneithercompletenorsufficient.

Forseveralreasons,theQPandRParenotconsistentwitheachother.Fornearlyacentury,manyteamshaveworkedondifferentpathstowardaselfconsistent"theoryofeverything"thatagreeswithobservations.Theseconflictinghopedforcompletionsgenerategroupsoftruebelievers,ourphysicsdenominations.

Overview QuantumParadigm

Fig3BnegativeelectronsorbitthepositivenucleusinOldQMpicture

Three Physics Paradigms Newtonian, Relativistic, Quantum

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m=onaccelerati

Force

Appendix 1 Newtonian Paradigm Theconceptualbasisfor"Classical"NewtonianPhysics,whosesuccessisdiscussedinourmainsectionIsaacNewton(16431727)formulatedhisthreeLawswhen,atage22(1665),hewasisolatedfromtheBlackDeathwhichwasintheprocessofkilling1/3ofEurope.Newtonsolvedthencurrentfundamentalissueswithplanetaryobservations,anddevelopedhisphysics(includingoptics)overthefollowingtwodecadesupwhenhepublishedhismagnumopus,Principia.Hewaitedanother20yearstopublishthecalculusideasheneededtodevisehisphysics(andheonlypublishedafterLeibnizinFranceindependentlydevelopedthesameideasandpublished).Deepdown,Isaacwasapiousmedievalmanwhospentmuchofhistimeinvestigatingastrologyaswellasalchemy.ButNewton'sphysicsistheoldestparadigminphysicsthatworks;itiswhatiswhatwemeanwhenwespeakofclassical physics.

Forceisoneoftheconceptsthatmustbedefinedbyexperience.Pushorpullonaspringandyoufeelsomethingstressingyourhand.This"stress"fromthespringisourstartingpointforthedefinitionofforce.Compressaspringalittlebitandyoumustexertalittlebitofeffort.Pushthespringtotwicethecompressionandyoufeelyourselfpushingtwiceashard.Moderndefinitionsaremuchmoresophisticatedinevaluatingthat"effor