Reality As Waves

This Text Is Mostly Philosophical. The Sister Text To This Might Be "Matter As Photon Holes" Located At: http://www.johnkharms.com/matter.htm . This Text Was Completed In Mid August, 2001.

The Things-In-Themselves i.e., Physical Reality, Are Waves!

Immanuel Kant's World View, Particles, Waves And Reality

Planck's And de Broglie's Ideas Unified

A New Interpretation Of Planck's E = hf Equation

By: John K. Harms

Email: physics5@earthlink.net

And: jkharms@earthlink.net

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Abstract:

In this text, the author concludes that all of what we call reality in essence are waves. This is analogous to Immanuel Kant's noumenal world. We make sense out of the world by actualizing these waves into particles. This can be accomplished more effectively in the case of matter than by ordinary radiation. One can picture this in terms of waves as being Kant's "noumenal" world and the particles are the world we experience as sensations via the senses--the particle "phenomenal" world. The author proposes that these inputs (radiation and matter) do exist on a sensory spectrum shown in image # 1 within the text. The author suggests that mass is related to particle or wavelike characteristics. Planck's equation E = hf gives the connected relationship between particles and waves. This equation is extended to include matter and antimatter wave systems; not only radiation. The author's ideas concerning time are also incorporated into this scheme. This model might be thought of as a philosophical explanation of quantum mechanics, the relationship of particles with waves. The probable consequences of this picture of reality are provided.

Key Words: Mach, Perception, Immanuel Kant, Phenomena, Noumena, Particle, Wave, Reality, Edges, Mass, Planck, de Broglie, E = hf, Time

Introduction

Ernst Mach postulated that all knowledge is mediated by perception, and believed that the greatest scientific advances would only arise through a deeper understanding of this process (Jenkins - Jones, 1996). A deeper philosophical understanding, grounded in perception, therefore, is the primary goal of this text.

Essentially, the approach of this model is to combine two fundamental ideas; the particle-wave duality description of quantum mechanics and Immanuel Kant's noumenal and phenomenal world views. This text, thus, can be seen to follow philosophically from the author's previous works.

Hence, after combining these two different conceptions into a somewhat unified framework, perceptual insights into both quantum mechanics and Kant's system may be realized. In this text, the discussion of these issues will center around the philosophical insights gained through the unification of these two previously separated concepts. A new world view emerges.

Immanuel Kant's World View

Immanuel Kant was perhaps the most influential philosopher of science in history. In Kant's view of the Universe, he divided the world into two domains: the domain of the phenomena and the domain of the noumena. Phenomena are events as perceived by the human mind such as sensations. Noumena are the causes of the phenomena--they are the so-called things-in-themselves; the objects that really exist. Human beings can never know the noumena directly; noumena are the sources of the signals that act on our senses, we can perceive only the signals and not the sources (Williams, 1989).

Kant's world view, when combined with the particle -- wave approach given to us from quantum mechanics yields (from the author's vantage point) the following picture of reality given in the sections to follow. This viewpoint follows from (and is consistent with) the author's picture of matter and its interaction with radiation, as well as the author's other views concerning perception and what is possible for human beings to understand about reality. The author has been deeply inspired by Kant's visions.

Reality And Quantum Mechanical Particle-Wave Duality

The author has adopted Neils Bohr's quantum mechanical picture that what we understand to be reality is both particle and wave. The difference here is that when one simply overlays Kant's world view over the top of this quantum mechanical picture, one arrives at a somewhat different formulation of both of these viewpoints--both conceptions, thus, become somewhat transformed.

That is, the noumenal world of the things-in-themselves become the wave description of reality and the actualized world that we experience is the phenomenal world of particles. So, all of reality consists of waves in space that become particle-like after an observation takes place.

To make sense out of this world, our brains have evolved to see edges and actualize these waves into particles. It may not be a surprise, therefore, that experiments in quantum mechanics yield different results when humans are there to actualize events (and observe) verses when they are not. So, the signals sent by the waves are the quanta of the waves themselves i.e., wavelet particles.

The reason that experimental results are affected by observers is that there is a difference in the end result of an experiment between the noumenal-wave level by itself and the phenomenal-particle level of reality i.e., when a physical observer actualizes particles in an experiment.

Hence, an observer physically changes the Universe simply by being there! Humans are in the middle of things and, therefore, must affect the noumenal waves and corresponding phenomenal particles. Hence, without humans present to perceive reality at a particular instant in time and space, one has only noumenal waves passing through space. So, there must be a difference in the end result taking place between the noumenal and phenomenal reality, a difference that extends directly to the observer's reality i.e., what the observer experiences.

Since a greater number of experiments show that radiation is more akin to a wavelike phenomena than is ordinary matter (although both matter and radiation have particle/wave duality), radiation may be inherently closer to the noumenal level than is matter! Note image # 1 below:

Thus, in the above image ( # 1 ), with regard to radiation, the higher frequency photons (on the left-hand side of the image--such as gamma rays) are the more particle-like and less wavelike. The longer the wavelength of the radiation (and the lower the frequency--such as radio waves), the more the particle "acts" like a wave and the closer to the noumenal level it resides on the spectrum. The effect of this noumenal-wave reality is, therefore, very gradual and incremental. In the case of both radiation and matter, this depends upon the wavelength or frequency of the entity in question.

In the case of mass (on the right hand side of the image), the lower frequency mass i.e., usually the somewhat larger objects, equates (relatively speaking) to a more wavelike body. The Earth is just such an object. The smaller higher frequency matter is the more particle-like and, thus, behaves less like a wave. This distinction is not recognized at present, so this conception becomes a prediction of this model.

So, we can understand that radiation has an inherently less "actualized reality" than matter does! Radiation is the more noumenal-wavelike, although this also does depends upon in an essential way upon the frequency. Low frequency radiation is less actualized and more wavelike and noumenal than is high frequency radiation (which is more particle-like and phenomenal). This may be the reason why radiation generally is less-well understood by physicists than matter is--radiation is simply more noumenal-like!

Therefore, as the image suggests, there are "degrees" and increments of actualization. When an observation takes place, matter is inherently closer to being actualized than radiation is. Radiation by its nature is more "smeared out" in a wavelike fashion, whereas matter is more well defined and particle-like. Again, all this depends upon frequency.

In addition, more experiments show that light is a wave rather than a particle. The demonstration experimentally of the particle nature of light is a quite recent discovery (1905--the photoelectric effect--by Einstein). But, in the case of ordinary matter, that matter has any wavelike qualities at all; this is a recent discovery. Louis de Broglie proposed in the last century that particles of matter were "waves" and then the experimental evidence proving this assertion with electrons followed somewhat later. In careful experiments, electrons were then understood to behave like waves.

It can be understood, therefore, that light generally has more tendencies to be wavelike, while matter in general has more tendencies to be particle-like. This is one of the interpretations of the image above.

Does Wave Actualization Create Mass?

Another interpretation of the image above is that the closer to the noumenal (left) side of the spectrum, the more massless is the entity. Hence, when a noumenal radiation wave can be actualized by an observation, there is no measurable rest mass. However, when a wave of matter is actualized by an observation, a particle may emerge with a mass. So, the spectrum in the image above might be also thought of as a way to assign mass to a particle.

Does this mean that an actualization by the senses is how humans add mass to their reality? Since we as humans are essentially phenomenal creatures (and mass is a particle-phenomenal characteristic), does the fact that the property called mass existing in the Universe have anything to do with our own physical and perceptual reality i.e., the fact that we are ourselves phenomenal beings? These are interesting and compelling questions indeed that are suggested by, but unfortunately are not answered within the context of this model. A more advanced model may yield answers to these questions.

Presently, the mass mechanism is more conventionally explained by the so-called "Higgs mechanism". But, another interpretation of image # 1 above, may be that the more wavelike the entity is, the greater is its compatibility with the Higgs mechanism. So, pure waves can have no mass! But, pure particle do! This, however, is the author's working hypothesis.

Thus, radiation is overall the more wavelike and less actualized (or "real") than matter, so radiation doesn't have rest mass and inertia. Matter when actualized is more particle-like, so matter is more consistent with the Higgs mechanism and, therefore, has a mass (and inertia) associated with it.

Planck's And de Broglie's Ideas Unified

So, one might ask the question; if all of reality is in essence (as is proposed by this text) a noumenal "wave" system, what is the relationship of particle and wave in this kind of a system?

Let us take the simple Planck-Einstein equation: E = hf (Energy = Planck's Constant (h) x frequency) and apply it to a matter wave system (instead of radiation exclusively). This unification of matter with radiation can be accomplished in the following way:

Given: E = hf, where E is the (particle) energy of the piece of matter, f is its frequency of its matter wave and h may be the angular momentum or spin of the photon hole components that compose the piece of matter. In the case of antimatter, ordinary photons are the constituents.

So, for ordinary matter, Planck's equation can be written as - E = - hf (which is equivalent to E = hf). Matter, therefore, has in essence a negative energy and Planck's constant has a negative value, an opposite spin from a photon. Matter waves, thus, have negative radiation pressure--and, therefore, automatic gravity. See the author's other works concerning gravity for details at the links below.

The value h is a constant because the spin of the photon holes or photons are a constant. Again, photon holes are a negative angular momentum value, whilst ordinary photons are positive. Indeed, the Planck h value is also very minute because the holes may be very small and all of the same negative energy value.

Since angular momentum must be conserved, the equation: Photons + Photon Holes = 0, indicates that the spin of a photon hole must be equal and opposite to that of an ordinary photon. So, right handed spin photons + left handed spin photons = 0. Hence, photons and antimatter have a positive value for Planck's constant.

As in the description for blackbody radiation, Planck's E = hf demonstrates the relationship between particle and wave systems. Thus, the energy of the wave system rises with its frequency in quantized steps related to the spin of the photon hole (or photon) constituents--and this must always be a constant.

The actualized photon hole particle picture may look similar to the following image; Image # 2:

Note in the image above that photon holes (after actualization) may compose each quark or lepton of ordinary matter. Indeed, these particles when observed may be the "real" building blocks of our particle-based reality. However, these particles also have a frequency and must also essentially be wave systems. Planck's formula demonstrates the mathematical relationship here. So, all this is actually a wave system with very "wavy" and not well defined edges.

The amplitude of bodies composed of these basic building blocks may increase as the numbers of constituent particles grow. Thus, the Earth itself, because it has a large number of constituent particles, may have (relatively speaking) a quite large wave amplitude, but a rather low overall frequency. A low frequency may become important for the electrical grounding of the Earth. See the "Electricity" text at the link below for further details.

It is noteworthy (as mentioned earlier) that in the case of antimatter that h is the angular momentum of ordinary photons. Hence, photons are the constituents of antimatter. It must be true that there should be an equal number of photons with angular momentum h as there are photon holes. This is because in the Universe: Photons + Photon Holes must equal 0.

Therefore, when a photon hole constituent with angular momentum h is fabricated, so is an ordinary photon with an identical (but opposite) angular momentum. In either case, the equations E = hf and - E = - hf show the relationship of photons to antimatter and photon holes with matter respectively. See the "Antimatter" or "Matter As Photon Hole" texts at the links below for further details.

Thus, either waves of matter or that of antimatter, similar to light waves, come in constituent lumps. One can see, therefore, that matter at below the atomic scale must be inherently grainy.

While Planck's formula is not usually (if ever) applied to matter or antimatter wave systems, this explanation demonstrates that it can indeed be accomplished. It is surprising that de Broglie was able to use Planck's formula as a jumping off point for his insights into matter waves, but why (one might ask) didn't de Broglie use Planck's formula in directly describing the matter waves themselves? Perhaps, de Broglie had no idea what a very minute angular momentum value h (a particle quality), had to do with a piece of matter or antimatter! So, this notion was unfortunately only applied to radiation. Is matter nothing more than stored energy i.e., radiation?

That angular momentum h is essentially the spin of a constituent comprising of all matter and antimatter, provides the best evidence yet that the "Matter As Photon Hole" and the "Antimatter" models may be viable. See either of these texts at the links below for further information.

The Survival Advantages To Edges And Particles

This text proposes that what is the most "real" are waves--the noumena. All of reality are waves at its most fundamental level. Through the process of our evolutionary development, our visual systems have adapted themselves to actualize particles--we see and emphasize edges! Indeed, our visual systems do add edges to objects where they aren't even present! Ernst Mach was the first to notice this phenomenon; now called "Mach bands". The phenomenon of simultaneous contrast is very similar. Our visual systems have evolved to add necessary information to the world to better make sense out of it.

It is noteworthy that our visual systems gradually lose the ability to actualize particles as we age. For most people, vision becomes fuzzy and must be corrected with lenses when our visual apparatus (our eyes) grow older. Our vision must be corrected to transform wave perception back into particle and edge perception.

So, the noumenal-wave level sends messages to our visual sense. We actualize particles when we observe events taking place in the surrounding environment. The act of observation changes also the environmental conditions. Thus, the results of experiments are essentially changed by our observations of them.

There are, however, different degrees of this reality. Waves are the noumenal reality; the least actualized bits of reality. Radiation can be understood to be generally closer to this noumenal reality. Particles, such as bits of matter, may be actualized by us to a greater extent than radiation can be. Matter is, therefore, more phenomenal by its nature.

The illusion of solidity of physical objects given to us by our sense of touch is an electrical repulsion between our bodies with the wavelike objects in question. This tends to confirm what our eyes already believe; that reality is composed of physical particles. See the "Senses" text at the link below for further details on the interaction of wave systems with each other.

Indeed, it was Ernest Rutherford who showed that atoms are mostly empty space. If, however, atoms are waves that can occasionally actualize particles toward their centers, one can understand why Rutherford's alpha particles did indeed bounce back during his experiments. When a particle in the gold metal foil became (somewhat rarely) actualized, it could then repel the incoming alpha particle.

It is suggested to study the images (particularly image # 1) provided above for the deepest understanding of all these concepts.

The Noumena And Time

In the author's text on "Time" (available at the link below), all time happens at once at the noumenal level. These noumenal signals are sent as visible light waves to our senses and then become actualized by our retinas. Our visual areas then sort out these signals giving them one at a time to our consciousness in the form of instants. The rate that these instants are given to us determines the rate at which time passes.

So, time is related to the signals sent as visible radiation to us. Since radiation is more noumenal-wavelike than is matter (see image # 1 above), it is not surprising that time is related to radiation. For example, according to special relativity time stops at the speed of light. If light travels at a faster-than-light velocity, the order of our visual sense of this perceived reality is then reversed.

Hence, all events may happen at once, but the time direction that we experience is in a real sense governed by the visual speed of the light illuminating that reality for us. Therefore, special relativity is essentially correct in its prediction that time will become reversed above the speed of light c.

So, there is no time at the level of Kant's noumena. Reality at the noumenal level, therefore, happens all at once. However, the noumena grants us that reality (in the form of visible light signals) in small separate quantum-sized chunks; a quantum reality that our brain and visual system can tolerate (and filter) at each moment. The physical separation of these signals by our consciousness playback is the phenomenon of time. If the signal is given to us faster-than-light, we view it in reverse order (as mentioned above). See the "Time" text at the link below for further details.

Conclusion

This model leads to the following probable consequences:

1) Reality at its most fundamental level is composed of waves. Observers actualize-out particles to make sense out of our world.

2) Radiation is less noumenal and more wavelike than matter.

3) Matter is more phenomenal and more particle-like than radiation.

4) There are different degrees or increments of reality. These degrees can be thought to exist on a spectrum. See image # 1 above.

5) Lower frequency / longer wavelength matter is more wavelike than higher frequency matter. To the author's knowledge, this prediction has not been suggested by other work.

6) The Higgs mechanism (to assign mass to a particle) may be associated with particle or wave characteristics. If an entity is more wavelike and noumenal, there can be no mass associated with it.

7) In the equation E = hf (or - E = - hf) , for ordinary matter, the quantity h (or Planck's constant) may be the (negative) angular momentum of a photon hole, the constituent of all matter particles. In antimatter, h is the (positive) angular momentum of the ordinary photons that compose antimatter. Since h is always a constant, there may exist only one energy slot for these particle-like constituents.

8) Time happens all at once at the noumenal level. Our visual systems acts as a filtering mechanism to give us our reality in quantum bits called instants. The speed of instants given to our consciousness determines the rate of the flow of time. See above (or the "Time" text at the link below) for further details.

Relevant Links

Matter As Photon Holes: http://www.johnkharms.com/matter.htm

Antimatter: http://www.johnkharms.com/antimatter.htm

Electricity: http://www.johnkharms.com/electricity.htm

Gravitation: http://www.johnkharms.com/gravitation.htm

The Push-Pull Gravity Model: http://www.johnkharms.com/gravityholes.htm

Senses: http://www.johnkharms.com/senses.htm

Time: http://www.johnkharms.com/time.htm

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References

Jenkins - Jones, S. (managing editor), 1996, The Hutchinson Dictionary Of Scientists, Helicon Publishing Ltd., Oxford, Great Britain, P. 315

Williams, L. P., January 1989, Scientific American, 260, P. 90-97

Reader's Note: Proper References And/Or Acknowledgments To This Text Are Appreciated.