A rebel physicist & a quantum mystery

[Eldorado]

If you’re looking at how a massive star’s gravity bends light, you whip out your general relativity textbook. And if you want to understand how electrons move through a computer chip, you’ll need your trusty quantum physics hardback by your side. But there are times when a bit of both is called for. Trying to understand what happened in the very first moments of the Big Bang or what goes on in the heart of black holes, for instance.

In these situations, a glaring problem comes into focus: general relativity and quantum mechanics appear to be completely incompatible. The smooth, continuous universe general relativity describes conflicts with the discrete, chunky one of quantum physics. When you bring their equations together you get nonsense.

Full story at Wired UK: Link

[Duke Wellington]

1 minute ago, Eldorado said:

If you’re looking at how a massive star’s gravity bends light, you whip out your general relativity textbook. And if you want to understand how electrons move through a computer chip, you’ll need your trusty quantum physics hardback by your side. But there are times when a bit of both is called for. Trying to understand what happened in the very first moments of the Big Bang or what goes on in the heart of black holes, for instance.

In these situations, a glaring problem comes into focus: general relativity and quantum mechanics appear to be completely incompatible. The smooth, continuous universe general relativity describes conflicts with the discrete, chunky one of quantum physics. When you bring their equations together you get nonsense.

Full story at Wired UK: Link

Can you calculate the exact area of a circle? No, your answer has infinite decimal places.

Does area come in discrete quantities that cannot be divided any further? According to QM yes.

Irrational numbers dont describe a collection of discrete quantities assembled into an object. This is the same problem that makes GR incompatible with QM. GR was developed before we got down to the atom. It deals with the large world where due to the vast amount of discrete quantities involved the answers appear correct.

Only when we get down to those discrete quantities does the problem become obvious.

[zep73]

Very interesting article.

To sum it up:
Normally we have to 'stretch' special relativity (SR) to fit quantum theory (QT), resulting in string theory. But this Polish dude, Dragan, found out that we can make it fit without the stretch, simply by using the relativity math of faster than light (FTL) "matter". At that questionable state, matter is no longer matter, and it is considered impossible for it to reach that state, which is why the scientific community is very skeptical of it, but the math works!

And as long as the math works, the approach cannot simply be dismissed.

For laymen the most interesting aspect of it is: Time travel is not only possible, but natural!