Zero background in physics here. But these essays (or what little I understand of them) are blowing my mind. Here I'm going to ramble and ask questions. I would be so happy if somebody could enlighten me in some way.
I believe I understand the concept of configuration space (the pyramid diagram). But what does it means for an unchanging "quantum mist" to be distributed across this space? Is the mist denser in some areas than in others? Are the denser areas more probable configurations of matter? Are there some points within the space that the mist does not touch, and if so, are those configurations of matter impossible? Why is the mist distributed as such? (I realize that last question has no answer.)
It seems like there are two extreme configurations: the first one has all particles in the universe occupying the same space (the Big Bang; complete order), and the second has all particles in the universe equally spaced from one another, like in a crystal lattice or something (full entropy/disorder). Could this be where the universe appears (to human brains) to be headed?
Side note: when I think about Einstein, this configuration space stuff makes sense. All particles in the universe must advance from one configuration to another at the same "global rate of motion." That explains why time, as we know it, slows down for particles that move through space (or pass from one configuration to another) more quickly than other particles. Those fast-moving particles must "wait", in a sense, for the slower-moving ones to catch up, so that all particles may retain the "global rate of motion". Does that make sense? I might have just reiterated what was already said above...
Back to this mist. So do all configurations of matter (that the mist touches) exist at once? Do more probable configurations (dark mist) exist to a larger degree than less probable configurations (light mist)? Is that one of the ideas behind quantum mechanics? That configurations of matter can exist to different degrees?
What if we consider a photon instead of a particle? Photons move at the speed of light, where time stops. So do photons "see" all configurations of matter at once?
Not sure if these questions even make sense. Help!
Zero background in physics here. But these essays (or what little I understand of them) are blowing my mind. Here I'm going to ramble and ask questions. I would be so happy if somebody could enlighten me in some way.
I believe I understand the concept of configuration space (the pyramid diagram). But what does it means for an unchanging "quantum mist" to be distributed across this space? Is the mist denser in some areas than in others? Are the denser areas more probable configurations of matter? Are there some points within the space that the mist does not touch, and if so, are those configurations of matter impossible? Why is the mist distributed as such? (I realize that last question has no answer.)
It seems like there are two extreme configurations: the first one has all particles in the universe occupying the same space (the Big Bang; complete order), and the second has all particles in the universe equally spaced from one another, like in a crystal lattice or something (full entropy/disorder). Could this be where the universe appears (to human brains) to be headed?
Side note: when I think about Einstein, this configuration space stuff makes sense. All particles in the universe must advance from one configuration to another at the same "global rate of motion." That explains why time, as we know it, slows down for particles that move through space (or pass from one configuration to another) more quickly than other particles. Those fast-moving particles must "wait", in a sense, for the slower-moving ones to catch up, so that all particles may retain the "global rate of motion". Does that make sense? I might have just reiterated what was already said above...
Back to this mist. So do all configurations of matter (that the mist touches) exist at once? Do more probable configurations (dark mist) exist to a larger degree than less probable configurations (light mist)? Is that one of the ideas behind quantum mechanics? That configurations of matter can exist to different degrees?
What if we consider a photon instead of a particle? Photons move at the speed of light, where time stops. So do photons "see" all configurations of matter at once?
Not sure if these questions even make sense. Help!