Quantum Theory

Quantum Trickery: Testing Einstein's Strangest Theory from NYTimes

I just can't sum up this article. Full article is must read.

Nary a week goes by that does not bring news of another feat of quantum trickery once only dreamed of in thought experiments: particles (or at least all their properties) being teleported across the room in a microscopic version of Star Trek beaming; electrical "cat" currents that circle a loop in opposite directions at the same time; more and more particles farther and farther apart bound together in Einstein's spooky embrace now known as "entanglement." At the University of California, Santa Barbara, researchers are planning an experiment in which a small mirror will be in two places at once.

Niels Bohr, the Danish philosopher king of quantum theory, dismissed any attempts to lift the quantum veil as meaningless, saying that science was about the results of
experiments, not ultimate reality. But now that quantum weirdness is not confined to thought experiments, physicists have begun arguing again about what this weirdness means, whether the theory needs changing, and whether in fact there is any problem.

...

The Silly Theory

From the day 100 years ago that he breathed life into quantum theory by deducing that light behaved like a particle as well as like a wave, Einstein never stopped warning that it was dangerous to the age-old dream of an orderly universe.

If light was a particle, how did it know which way to go when it was issued from an atom?

"The more success the quantum theory has, the sillier it seems," Einstein once wrote to friend.

The full extent of its silliness came in the 1920's when quantum theory became quantum mechanics.

In this new view of the world, as encapsulated in a famous equation by the Austrian Erwin Schrödinger, objects are represented by waves that extend throughout space, containing all the possible outcomes of an observation - here,
there, up or down, dead or alive. The amplitude of this wave is a measure of the
probability that the object will actually be found to be in one state or another, a suggestion that led Einstein to grumble famously that God doesn't throw dice.

Worst of all from Einstein's point of view was the uncertainty principle, enunciated by Werner Heisenberg in 1927.

Certain types of knowledge, of a particle's position and velocity, for example, are
incompatible: the more precisely you measure one property, the blurrier and more
uncertain the other becomes.

In the 1935 paper, Einstein and his colleagues, usually referred to as E.P.R., argued that the uncertainty principle could not be the final word about nature. There must be a deeper theory that looked behind the quantum veil.

Imagine that a pair of electrons are shot out from the disintegration of some other particle, like fragments from an explosion. By law certain properties of these two fragments should be correlated. If one goes left, the other goes right; if one spins clockwise, the other spins counterclockwise.

That means, Einstein said, that by measuring the velocity of, say, the left hand electron, we would know the velocity of the right hand electron without ever touching it.

Conversely, by measuring the position of the left electron, we would know the position of the right hand one.

Since neither of these operations would have involved touching or disturbing the right hand electron in any way, Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen argued that the right hand electron must have had those properties of both velocity and position all along. That left only two possibilities, they concluded. Either quantum mechanics was "incomplete," or measuring the left hand particle somehow disturbed the right
hand one.

But the latter alternative violated common sense. Such an influence, or disturbance, would have to travel faster than the speed of light. "My physical instincts bristle at that suggestion," Einstein later wrote.

Bohr responded with a six-page essay in Physical Review that contained but one simple equation, Heisenberg's uncertainty relation. In essence, he said, it all depends on what you mean by "reality."

Harivansh Rai Bachchan - Jo Beet Gayi

Jeevan Main Ek Sitara Tha
Maana Vah Behad Pyara Tha
Vah Doob Gaya To Doob Gaya
Ambar Kay Aanan Ko Dekho
Kitne Iskay Taare Toote
Kitne Iskay Pyare Chhoote
Jo Chhoot Gaye Fir Kahan Mile
Par Bolo Toote Taaron Par
Kab Ambar Shok Manata Hai
Jo Beet Gayi So Baat Gayi

Jeevan Main Vah Tha Ek Kusum
They Us Par Nitya Nichavar Tum
Vah Sookh Gaya TO Sookh Gaya
Madhuvan Ki Chaati Ko Dekho
Sookhi Kitni Iski Kaliyan
Murjhaayi Kitni ballriyan
Jo Murjhayi Woh Fir Kahan Khili
Par Bolo Sookhe Phoolon Par
Kab Madhuban Shor Machata hai
Jo Beet Gayi So Bat Gayi

jeevan Main Madhu Ka Pyala Tha
Tumnay Tan Man De Daala Tha
Wah Toot Gaya To Toot Gaya
Madiralya Kay Aangan Ko Dekho
Kitne Pyale Hil Jaate Hain
Gir Mitti Main Mil Jaate Hain
Jo Girte Hain Kab Uthte Hain
Par Bolo Toote Pyalo Par
Kab Madiralaya Pachtata Hai
Jo Beet Gayi So Baat Gayi

Mridu Mitti Kay Hain Bane Hue
Madhu Ghoot Phoota Hi Kartay Hain
Laghu Jeevan Lekar Aaye Hain
Pyale Toota Hi Karte Hain
Fir Bhi Madiralaya Kay Andar
Madhu Kay Ghat Hai Madhu Pyale Hain
Jo Madakta Kay Maare Hain
Vey Madhu Loota Hi Kartay Hain
Va Kachcha Peene Wala Hai
Jiski Mamta Ghat Pyalon Par
Jo Sachchey Madhu Sey Jala Hua
Kab Rota Hai Chillata Hai
Jo Beet Gayi So Baat Gayi

[via neeraj]

quote

apane hi pani main pighal jana baraf ka mukaddar hota hai.
--Swadesh

anonymuncule (incomplete)

kuch mausam bahar le ke aate hai aur kuch yaadien.
kuch yaadien muskan le ke aati hai aur kuch eahasas.
kuch eahasas vishwas jagate hai aur kuch ...
--शोभना

quote

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
-Marie Curie

thought

The journey begins to the end which was the beginning...

Some songs take you back to a different time and place

and once again I am stuck on

Man ke Darpan Main

Euthanasia -- during Katrina

Katrina investigation focuses on more than one person from CNN

When I heard this new I felt something twist inside. I was wondering what effect crisis can take on human nature that within days life savers become life takers(if that is the case). Then something else struck me... weren't there more than one natural disaster in India(being an Indian that is the first comparision that I draw). Did the same things happen there? If yes were they reported/investigated(since I did not read abt it I do not know)? If not... then why not? We need to know what drives people to change so suddenly? Is it that the more you are use to tolerating the more you can?

More than one medical professional is under scrutiny as a possible person of interest as Louisiana's attorney general investigates whether hospital workers resorted to euthanasia in the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina shattered New Orleans, a source familiar with the investigation has told CNN.

Didnot realize that the year was actually coming to an end...

Rediff Year End Special [via neeraj]

I espically like the "Ten Things That Made Us Feel Good in 2005"

Here you go... Pennsylvania decision on ID

Case Seen as Setback to Intelligent Design [via neeraj]
and another one
Judge Rejects Teaching Intelligent Design from NYTimes

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Explore real history of the nation: Kalam from The Hindu

Sometimes I wonder why the other leaders of our country do not think like this. Then there is another thought we don't have leaders we only have politicians.

There was a common thread to his utterances at these programmes: The real
strength of the nation lay in the values its people had nurtured down the history and these should form the basis for the country's march towards the future, exploiting the exciting possibilities that new developments in science and technology presented.

Inaugurating the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Kerala History Association in Kochi, he said that dogmas, rituals, systems and norms of the historical past, imposed by the last millennium of invasion and conquest, continued to condition the minds of the people of India even after 58 years of independence. "Now time has come, in the 21st century, [when] we need a new breed of historians who can make the past meet the present and create the future," he said.

...

The document dealt at length on how the State's farm sector could "graduate from grain production to food processing and marketing," bringing its full benefits to the toiling farmers. He said Information Technology could be used for maintaining an updated and enriched database of region specific agriculture information and also timely dissemination of information on seed selection, arrival of monsoon and demand for specialised crops. At Parumala in Pathanamthitta district, he inaugurated an International Paediatric Cardiac Services and Rural Telemedicine Connectivity at the St. Gregorios Cardio Vascular Centre there.

anonymuncule

kyo hota hai zindagi main kabhi aisa ke
her muskan - ek dhokha,
her asha - sirf sapna,
her kushi - ek saya,
her manzil - nayi raha,
her asoo - bikhre vishwas.

ya phir zindagi hai --
yu he bavajah muskarana,
bikhri ashao per naye sapne sajana,
saye ke piche chipi kirne talashna,
nayi raho per kisi nayi manzil ke oor chahle jana,
her vishwas ki boodh sajoker karna jivan sakar.
--शोभना

Published paper a Hoax??? Stem Cell Research

A Cloning Scandal Rocks a Pillar of Science Publishing from NYTImes

Summary of the events that followed the publishing of the paper in stem cell reearch.

thought

So many people cross our paths... not everyone leaves a mark! We give right to people to enter our lives, our emotional relm. But it is not us who deciede when they leave, how they leave. Sometimes only there departure lets us know that they were a part of our lives. Strange as this maybe sometimes you have to hold on to some people to prevent them from leaving and sometimes you have to push people out. Neither of the transitions being right.

Google Music????!!!

Google whistles a new tune [from CNET]

Google Music will allow a person to type in the name of a band, artist, album or song in the main Google search bar special, and results will appear at the top, accompanied by icons of music notes, said Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products and user experience at Google.