To our present knowledge (but there is little doubt about) both Gravity and Quantumness are fundamental and general phenomena, meaning that their laws govern anything & everything. (The third such is Relativity, and as far as we know any further is at best such a general philosophy as e.g. Causality.) But Gravity and Quantumness, as well in their old forms as in the present best ones contradict each other.

          But General Laws of Physics must not contradict each other. So if they contradict, they are incorrect. (At least one of them; but most probably both.) Very probably the way out would be Unification. Gravity & Relativity contradicted each other until 1916; then Einstein unified them, and the unified theory, General Relativity, is free of at least self-contradiction. Similarly, Relativity and Quantumness contradicted each other, but then they were unified c. 1947 as Quantum Field Theory. The unification was gradual, with such names as Dirac, Tomonaga &c., and the present status is a matter of argumentation. QFT does give infinities; but in some cases they are renormalisable, i.e. the infinities "can be removed". Also a lot of Field Theories, quite respectable in nonrelativistic limit, are unrenormalisable. Now this may mean that QFT is an erroneous Unification; but also that Relativity rules out the unrenormalisable Field Theories. This latter is the opinion of the overwhelming majority of QFT experts; and it may quite be correct. Anyways, Relativity rules out an acceleration to FTL velocities, and this "prediction" is generally accepted (with some sad feeling) by physicists.

          Quantumness and Gravity are also in contradiction in their original forms (as I told), but up to now the unification is not ready. The need of it and the reasons why it has not been made are the topics of this series (which will be being unfold or in Latin simply evolving gradually in several steps. The main reason to write these sequences is Advertisement; either of my own or of my viewpoint about. My feeling is that we are not far from the unification (see e.g. Refs. [1]-[7]), but surely we are not yet ready.

          I must state that (Unified) Quantum Gravity is/will be not the (Final?) Theory of Everything. The latter (sought by many, claimed by few and made by none so far) would be a Unification of Gravity, Quantumness & Relativity, a theory containing 3 fundamental constants, G, h & c, in a theory free of self-contradiction. I am less ambitious (more realistic?) for looking the third and last dual Unification, a Theory of G & h. You will see that it is a task enough in itself: and it would have quite enough new predictions in itself.

          At References for some articles I give  English translation. This does not happen if I am able to reach the original.

          Now let us proceed. The  second part is from 1906 to the end of World War I, almost in our Universe..

 

 

GRAVITY VERSUS/AND QUANTUMNESS, PART 2

 

FROM 1906 TO 1918, ATL

 

B. Lukács

 

CRIP RMKI, Theory Dept., & President of Matter Evolution Subcommittee of HAS

 

H-1525 Bp. 114. Pf. 49, Budapest Hungary

 

lukacs@rmki.kfki.hu

 

            ATL is the standard abbreviation of Alternative TimeLine, while our one, which certainly exists, is OTL. ATL's are visualized as diverging from ours at different key events; or we branched from another one, the difference is mere philosophy. ATL is a trick in Science Fiction, maybe the seminal novel was [8]; but not only there. The Alternative Quantum Mechanics of Everett [9] tells that at QM Measurements there is no reduction to one eigenfunction, but rather Reality splits, all the possible result of the Measurement realise "somewhere", and the histories continue independently. So all the alternatives are real "in some sense".

            While I do not feel necessary this alternative of the von Neumann (born at Margitta, Bihar County, Hungary, 1903) Axiom of Measurement (after some sequels you will see why not), so far no experimental evidence has been found against the Everett picture (as not either against von Neumann's one). Still any physicist has the right to accept Everett's multiplicity of TimeLines. (By the way note that in Hungarian John von Neumann was Neumann János; in Hungarian registration the "von" is not part of the name. Some historians tell that the family had Austrian nobility, not Hungarian; this is a somewhat obscure point but I know the habits of some Hungarian noblemen abroad indicating their nobility by taking up the particle "de"; and "von" is the same. Some 10 % of Hungarian families were ennobled during History.)

            There may be very many ATL's. The actual one diverged just before 1896, when Albert Einstein did not go to the Technische Hochschule of Zürich (or possibly to any University as student in Physics). If you want, you can think of encefalitis. It was not infrequent in that time, and even if the patient survived, he was not fit for University.

            To clarify my opinion, this would be a catastrophe for Physics. But it might have happened easily.

            References are automatically OTL if not indicated otherwise.

 

ABSTRACT

            An Alternative History of Physics of 1906-18 comes, in which Einstein did not go to Physics, so Relativity was not invented in 1905. Comments from our Universe are in bold italics.

 

1. INTRODUCTION

            In the next 5 years after 1896 the divergence of ATL from OTL is small enough. The class at Technische Hochschule is smaller by 1 person, so maybe Mileva Marity (Titel, Bács-Bodrog County, Hungary, 1875) must catch Marcel Grossmann (Budapest, Hungary, 1878). She can write articles in Thermodynamics, so some version of the 1905 photon paper is made (although I do not think that in Nobel Prize quality; that in OTL was the product of two physicists), and Grossmann is not interested in Thermodynamics, photons, and such particularities. He is interested in Non-Euclidean Geometries. (In OTL he is coauthor of the article using first the term "General Relativity": verallgemeinerte Relativitätstheorie, but not interested in applying it to Physics.) Marity definitely will not write the paper about the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies (so about Special Relativity); she was simply not interested in that topics even in OTL [10].

 

2. GOLDEN YEARS OF ANCIENT REGIMES

            But otherwise as 1906 starts, things are still very similar than in OTL. Because of the somewhat clumsy and not sensational 1905 paper of Marity [11] even fuller with variations of thermodynamical potentials according to their canoncal variables as the Einstein paper in OTL, and Planck's comments [12] people tend to accept that energy quanta are Reality, who knows exactly how. Obviously we still have to understand Quantum Physics.

            Some years later a string of physicists show that the virtual "oscillators" of Planck in his 1900 paper [13] do exist in some sense; in such a way the Dulong-Petit Rule of specific heat of solids is understood. Marity is one of them; see e.g. the Bose-Marity Condensate. (In OTL Einstein & Marity was interested in the problem until Marity became pregnant with the Lost Lieserl; see e.g. Love Letters 20, 24 & 27 in [10] and remember that many letters from M to E Einstein later threw away; and this problem is clearly thermodynamical. In OTL Einstein (and Marity) recognised the problem of specific heat; for lots of solids the specific heat/mole is cca. 6 kcal/mole*grad, but not for all, and with decreasing temperature the specific heat decreases, roughly exponentially. Now, Planck's oscillators do not oscillate if there is not enough energy to reach 2phn, and this happens more and more at low temperatures. OTL History of Science tells that Einstein quantized the oscillators of lattice oscillations, generalised the Planck distribution for nonzero chemical potentials, between 1907 & 1911. Now I cannot believe that Marity, the thermodynamic expert of the couple, did not participate. We call the generalised Planck distribution Bose-Einstein. Bose-Einstein Condensate is an interesting consequence, later explaining Superconduction.) That is ready until World War I; Quantumness is more and more vivid.

            Just before the War some tentative articles appear about problems when the Quantum Rule of Planck is used together with gravitation. (In OTL they are small articles of Einstein; but anybody could get the idea.) They observe the following.

            Take an atom of Sun. It is at the solar surface, in a Newton potential

              V = -GM/R                                                                                                                            (1)

It radiates a photon with energy E₁, and frequency

              n₁=E₁/2ph                                                                                                                              (2)

The photon travels upwards and will be observed at 0 potential. Will its frequency change or not?

            Maxwell's equations do not contain Gravity. Parts of the wave below excite the Ether or Electromagnetic Field above. So if Light is a Wave, then n seems to remain constant.

            On the other hand, Light is also a shower of photons. Let us denote the mass of a photon with m; m is still unknown, but is surely small. Then, via Energy Conservation, its energy between emission and observation changes, because it must lose the original V. Maybe it could be measured: solar Fraunhoffer lines are measured for many digits. Anyways, calculations based on Gravity and on Quantum Rules contradict and both are Fundamental; so a Unification seems the next goal. A self-consistent unified theory would give a unique and definite prediction; but it is impossible by simply putting together the theories. The new theory, whose two limits are just Gravity and Quantumness, is just Unification.

 

3. OUTLOOK

            But obviously Unification is not yet possible. Newton's Gravity is a complete theory, but Quantum Physics is still an incoherent rubble of Rules. First Quantum Physics must be elaborated.

            At the end of 1912 Bohr manufactures an Atom Model. It is surely not yet quite good, its Rules, e.g. contradict to Maxwell's Equations, still it is good enough. Strictly speaking it works only for hydrogen and almost totally ionized atoms (1 electron altogether), but next year Moseley, by intuition, semiempiricism & measurements, starts to generalize it for all the Mendeleev Table [13].

            And then in the summer of 1914 the Black Hand, the secret organisation of the War Ministry of Serbia, assassinates Francis Ferdinand, Heir Apparent of Austria and of Hungary. The Double Monarchy gives an ultimatum, refused in the hope of help. Indeed, Great Britain & France are eager to defend the right of assassinating Central European royality. So war breaks out between the very natural alliances Great Britain, France, Serbia, Montenegro, Greece & Russia vs. Germany, The Double Monarchy, Bulgaria & Turkey. (Central Europeans do not need comments and others would not understood anyways.) Moseley is conscripted by Britain and sent to Gallipolli, to the Dardanelles: the purpose is to wrench away Constantinople from the Turkish tyranny in order to give it to Tsar Nicholas II the bloody tyrant, who then would rename it Tsargrad.

            While fighting for this idealistic purpose, Moseley is shot. Quantum Physics somewhat slows down. (This absurdity is totally OTL!)

            War ends at the autumn of 1918. Central Powers are crushed, but their core terrorities are unhurt, so universities and Science are intact.

 

REFERENCES

 [1]       L. Diósi & B. Lukács: In Favor of a Newtonian Quantum Gravity. Annln. Phys. 44, 488 (1987)

 [2]       L. Diósi & B. Lukács: On the Minimum Uncertainty of Space-Time Geodesics. Phys. Lett. A142, 331 (1989)

 [3]       Ágnes Holba & B. Lukács: Is the Anomalous Brownian Motion Seen in Emulsions? Acta Phys. Hung. 70, 121 (1991)

 [4]       L. Diósi & B. Lukács: Károlyházy's Quantum Space-Time Generates Neutron Star Density in Vacuum. Nuovo Cim. 108B, 1419 (1993)

 [5]       L. Diósi & B. Lukács: Calculations of X-Ray Signals from Károlyházy's Hazy Space-Time. Phys. Lett. A181, 366 (1993)

 [6]       Ágnes Holba & B. Lukács: Is the Spurious Scattering a Quantum Gravity Phenomenon?. in Stochastic Evolution of Quantum States in Open Systems and in Measurement Problems, eds. L. Diósi & B. Lukács. World Scientific, Singapore, 1994, p. 69

 [7]       B. Lukács: Triality in the Depth of Physics? On the Fundamental Unification. in Proc. 6th Symp. on Matter Evolution, eds. B. Lukács & al., KFKI-1995-21, p. 6. Also on Internet: http://www.rmki.kfki.hu/~lukacs/3DEPTH.htm

 [8]       L. Sprague de Camp: Lest Darkness Fall. Ballantine Books, New York, 1974 (but a shorter magazine version appeared back in 1939)

 [9]       H. Everett III: Relative State Formulation of Quantum Mechanics. Rev. Mod. Phys. 29, 454 (1957)

[10]      A. Einstein & Mileva Maric: The Love Letters. Eds. J. Renn & R. Shulmann. Princeton University Press, Princeton,  1992. (The orthography of the lady’s name is erroneous, based on Retroactive existence of Yugoslavian administration.)

[11]      Mileva Grossmann-Marity: Über Professors Planck Energiequanten und der Photoelektrizität. Annln. Phys. 17, 132 (1905) {ATL; the place is just that of the 1905 Einstein paper.}

[12]      M. Planck: Photoelektrizität und Photonen: Eine Bemerkung an der Artikel von Frau Grossmann-Marity. Phys. 18, 639 (1906) {ATL; I inserted it to the empty place of an Einstein paper on Relativity.}

[13]      H. G. J. Moseley: The High Frequency Spectra of the Elements. Parts 1 & 2. Phil. Magazine 26, 1024 (1913); 27, 703 (1914)