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Quantum Particles In Motion Can Still Travel Backwards (phys.org)
Quantum particles have a unique ability to travel in the opposite direction from their momentum. Or, as slew (Slashdot reader #2,918) puts it, "When pushed, quantum particles can fight back." slew writes:
Who knew quantum particles were passive aggressive? It's subtle, but researchers "have shown that 'backflow' can always occur, even if a force is acting on the quantum particle while it travels. The backflow effect is the result of wave-particle duality and the probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics..."
Dr Daniela Cadamuro, Researcher at the Technical University of Munich, said "The backflow effect in quantum mechanics has been known for quite a while, but it has always been discussed in regards to 'free' quantum particles, i.e., no external forces are acting on the particle."
Dr Daniela Cadamuro, Researcher at the Technical University of Munich, said "The backflow effect in quantum mechanics has been known for quite a while, but it has always been discussed in regards to 'free' quantum particles, i.e., no external forces are acting on the particle."
It's been known for quite a while longer than the article suggests for relativistic particles. Zitterbewegung (which is German for trembling motion) was first suggested in 1930 by Schrodinger.
Why is this on slashdot? how did it pass the firehose?
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
There's some serious psychology behind some of the slashdot trolls.
There's the "always make a post and simply contradict" types, there's the "spread fake anecdotes about the poster" types, there's the "talk about the poster behind his back" types(*), and there's the "simply post an insult" types, there's "take the argument to a ridiculous extremes" types, and "associate the argument with racism/homophobia/whatever" types ("that argument is racist!").
Around the time of election there wasn't a lot of thought put into these responses, it was just a lot of "no it isn't" and "you're a jerk" types of responses.
Since that time they've become a lot more strategic and well targeted.
They're using this particular tactic on you because their reading of your personality type indicates that it'll get you angry. They probably tried other types and found them ineffective.
I don't know for certain what their end goal is, but it's probably to chase you away from the site. If every time you post you get angry, you'll soon associate slashdot with anger and eventually say "why bother?".
Posting your views - saying you wish they wouldn't do that - only confirms to them that the tactic is working.
(*) Post as if two other slashdot readers are discussing the poster behind his back, as in "that's just Creimer, no one here likes him". I believe that one is particularly well-crafted, and will cause an emotional response in just about anyone.
When pushed, quantum particles can fight back.
I teach my quantum particles to use their words ...
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Probably!
If you can have reverse flow with forward momentum seems like a way to explain the impossibility of a force being produced without a change in momentum. If you think about it other conservation laws are not violated in an EM drive. Energy is converted from electromagnetic to kinetic energy. When an electron in an atom absorbs a photon its speed and direction is changed however the electron must interact with something else like its atom to keep momentum constant. However if you allow reverse flow when everything else is positive the effect could cancel the momentum change of the atom. This is way to complex for me however seems there may be a loophole in the law of conservation of momentum.
It fascinates me, "quantum weirdness." I think it comes from quantum particles oscillating between a thin space and a thick space form. Thin space being space as we think of it, and thick space being what we call particles. When the thin-space collapses back to particle density it can do so at any point in the thin-space form probabilistically. Does the wave express this oscillation between densities? If the thin space collapses back to particle form on the other side of a barrier we would have "quantum tunneling." It thin space form collapses down to particle form behind where it was before, there would be backward motion.
I'm not qualified to have these thoughts, so be aware of that. Still, it seems simple, and somehow satisfying to contemplate. At least to me. Space as matter, and matter as space. One thing from the big bang. E=Space=MC^2. Energy being a manifestation of a space density change.
E Proelio Veritas.
I'm not disputing the science of this, but articles like this one are really just pushing the cult of the "Quantum Mystery". QM is difficult to understand intuitively, not because it is a deep mystery, but because it involves a lot of very hard mathematics - functional analysis, Hilbert- and Banach spaces, Lie theory and so on, not to mention measure theory and Lebesgue integrals; and that is before you even attempt to involve relativity in any form. Unfortunately this has led to the rise of a sort of Quantum Priethood, that preach a sort of nonsense quasi religion to people who like to think they get it. It is a real shame, because it taints QM with a whiff of sillyness that probably puts a number of intelligent, young students off, who would have loved the challenge of learning the maths, but are too realistic to want to play at mysteries.