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+--- Thread: Article Are the mysteries of quantum mechanics beginning to dissolve? (/thread-19793.html)
Are the mysteries of quantum mechanics beginning to dissolve? - C C - Feb 15, 2026
https://www.quantamagazine.org/are-the-mysteries-of-quantum-mechanics-beginning-to-dissolve-20260213/
INTRO: None of the leading interpretations of quantum theory are very convincing. They ask us to believe, for example, that the world we experience is fundamentally divided from the subatomic realm it’s built from. Or that there is a wild proliferation of parallel universes, or that a mysterious process causes quantumness to spontaneously collapse. This unsatisfying state was a key element of Beyond Weird, my 2018 book on the meaning of quantum mechanics. It’s no wonder experts are as divided as ever about what quantum theory says about reality, a century after the theory was developed.
But after reading Decoherence and Quantum Darwinism, a book published in March 2025 by the physicist Wojciech Zurek, I’m excited by the possibility of an answer that does away with all those fanciful notions. Zurek, of Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, has been working for decades to resolve the question of how the quantum rules that govern the behavior of atoms and subatomic particles switch to those of classical physics — Newton’s laws of motion and so on — that operate at the scales of everyday life.
Zurek’s key idea about how this transition occurs, called decoherence, is fairly well established. But his book brings together for the first time all the elements he has been developing into a grand synthesis. He argues that the old mysteries of quantum theory are starting to dissolve. To my eye, Zurek has almost tied up the loose ends that have been confounding physics for 100 years, without invoking any substantially new or speculative assumptions. In doing so, he claims to unite the previously irreconcilable. Let’s see how far his approach takes us, and where the remaining mystery lies... (MORE - details)
RE: Are the mysteries of quantum mechanics beginning to dissolve? - Magical Realist - Feb 17, 2026
I don't think the prime mystery of quantum physics--entanglement--is dissolving at all. In fact more and more it seems to be getting incorporated into the very fabric of spacetime itself opening the way to whole new kinds of higher level understanding. It seems to call into question some of our basic assumptions about causality and locality. Maybe the collapse of the wavefunction CAN be reduced to nothing more than decoherence, but this core conundrum is not going away any time soon imo..
RE: Are the mysteries of quantum mechanics beginning to dissolve? - C C - Feb 17, 2026
(Feb 17, 2026 06:53 PM)Magical Realist Wrote: I don't think the prime mystery of quantum physics--entanglement--is dissolving at all. In fact more and more it seems to be getting incorporated into the very fabric of spacetime itself opening the way to whole new kinds of higher level understanding. It seems to call into question some of our basic assumptions about causality and locality. Maybe the collapse of the wavefunction CAN be reduced to nothing more than decoherence, but this core conundrum is not going away any time soon imo..
Metaphysical possibilities rarely get culled or issues resolved, apart from converting one school of thought into a pragmatic "methodological approach" for a disciplinary enterprise (science), that ultimately boils down to members just agreeing or being won over propaganda-wise to that (naturalism, materialism) rather than proof.
RE: Are the mysteries of quantum mechanics beginning to dissolve? - confused2 - Feb 17, 2026
From the linked article ( https://www.quantamagazine.org/are-the-mysteries-of-quantum-mechanics-beginning-to-dissolve-20260213/ )
Quote:When particles interact, entanglement is inevitable. This means something for the measurement process: The quantum objects under observation become entangled with the atoms of the measuring instrument.
An atom on (say) Alpha Centauri 'creates' a photon .. and is entangled with that photon. 4.37 years later the photon is 'detected' on Earth .. the 'detector' is entangled with the emitter on AC .. so the folks on AC had to wait 4.37 years before the outcome of the photon emission could be 'known'. ??
RE: Are the mysteries of quantum mechanics beginning to dissolve? - Syne - Feb 17, 2026
(Feb 17, 2026 08:17 PM)confused2 Wrote: From the linked article ( https://www.quantamagazine.org/are-the-mysteries-of-quantum-mechanics-beginning-to-dissolve-20260213/ )
Quote:When particles interact, entanglement is inevitable. This means something for the measurement process: The quantum objects under observation become entangled with the atoms of the measuring instrument.
An atom on (say) Alpha Centauri 'creates' a photon .. and is entangled with that photon. 4.37 years later the photon is 'detected' on Earth .. the 'detector' is entangled with the emitter on AC .. so the folks on AC had to wait 4.37 years before the outcome of the photon emission could be 'known'. ??
No, the first one to detect its state determined the state of the entangled photon measured later. So AC could measure it, and that would effect what we measure when it reaches us.
RE: Are the mysteries of quantum mechanics beginning to dissolve? - confused2 - Feb 17, 2026
AC could choose not to measure it .. by accident or design..
RE: Are the mysteries of quantum mechanics beginning to dissolve? - C C - Feb 17, 2026
(Feb 17, 2026 08:17 PM)confused2 Wrote: From the linked article ( https://www.quantamagazine.org/are-the-mysteries-of-quantum-mechanics-beginning-to-dissolve-20260213/ )
Quote:When particles interact, entanglement is inevitable. This means something for the measurement process: The quantum objects under observation become entangled with the atoms of the measuring instrument.
An atom on (say) Alpha Centauri 'creates' a photon .. and is entangled with that photon. 4.37 years later the photon is 'detected' on Earth .. the 'detector' is entangled with the emitter on AC .. so the folks on AC had to wait 4.37 years before the outcome of the photon emission could be 'known'. ??
If AC wanted the entanglement relationship to be officially confirmed, they would have to wait, rather than just take it for granted. (I.e., to fully dismiss the possibility that the experiment might have gone haywire or not been conducted properly. Though they might re-examine everything on their end and still determine a high probability that it was a success or failure.)
RE: Are the mysteries of quantum mechanics beginning to dissolve? - Syne - Feb 17, 2026
(Feb 17, 2026 08:55 PM)confused2 Wrote: AC could choose not to measure it .. by accident or design..
Yes, and then our measurement would determine the corresponding state of the entangled photon.