Einstein, De Broglie and others hoped that the schism between classical and quantum physics might one day be overcome by a theory taking into account the essential nonlinearity of elementary physical processes. However, neither their attempts, nor subsequent ones were able to supply a unifying principle that could serve as a starting-point for a coherent understanding of both microphysical and macroscopic phenomena. In the late 1960s the phenomenon of amplitude quantization, or Macroscopic Quantum Effect (MQE), was discovered in a class of nonlinear oscillating systems in which two or more subsystems are coupled to each other by interactions having a specific phase-dependent character -- so-called argumental interactions. Experimental and theoretical studies of the MQE, carried out up to the present time, suggest the possibility of a new conceptual framework for physics, which would provide a bridge between classical and quantum physics, replacing the Newtonian notion of "force" by a new conception of physical interaction. The present paper presents a brief introduction to the MQE and some ideas about its possible significance in the search for new approaches to the understanding of quantum phenomena.
Einstein, De Broglie and others hoped that the schism between classical and quantum physics might one day be overcome by a theory taking into account the essential nonlinearity of elementary physical processes. However, neither their attempts, nor subsequent ones were able to supply a unifying principle that could serve as a starting-point for a coherent understanding of both microphysical and macroscopic phenomena. In the late 1960s the phenomenon of amplitude quantization, or Macroscopic Quantum Effect (MQE), was discovered in a class of nonlinear oscillating systems in which two or more subsystems are coupled to each other by interactions having a specific phase-dependent character -- so-called argumental interactions. Experimental and theoretical studies of the MQE, carried out up to the present time, suggest the possibility of a new conceptual framework for physics, which would provide a bridge between classical and quantum physics, replacing the Newtonian notion of "force" by a new conception of physical interaction. The present paper presents a brief introduction to the MQE and some ideas about its possible significance in the search for new approaches to the understanding of quantum phenomena.
The work reported here originates in the discovery, four decades ago, of a previously unknown type of self-organizing interaction among oscillating systems -- so-called argumental interactions -- and of "quantized" modes of behavior in macroscopic argumentally-coupled oscillators, having no equivalent in the classical theory of oscillations. Recently the present authors have been jointly pursuing new lines of investigation into argumental interactions and their possible significance for the foundations of physics. Among other things, the study of argumentally-coupled oscillators suggested to the authors a new general way of looking at physical objects, their interactions and their aggregative,"social" behavior as manifested on all scales of observation. We believe this new viewpoint, which differs significantly both from that of classical physics and from quantum theory as presently understood, might lead to a more coherent understanding of many natural phenomena which until now have been studied only in a piecemeal fashion. To make the authors' train of thought intelligible to the reader not familiar with the field of argumental interactions, we have combined the presentation of our ideas with an extended review of experimental and theoretical results on argumentally-coupled oscillators and the associated "Macroscopic Quantization Effect". Our review serves the additional purpose of introducing this little-known, but most interesting field of research to a broader scientific audience.
This chapter is a brief overview of the physics governing processes at the nanoscale. We are used to the macroscopic world and have developed an understanding, based on what is usually called “classical physics” of the behavior of the objects that we see with our eyes. However, classical physics is not able to explain certain phenomena occurring at the atomic or molecular level or below. Compared to macroscopic systems, quantum effects can become important and certain classical physical effects, which are negligible for macroscopic objects, can become prominent. We present here some new aspects showing how nano-objects behave compared to what is expected by extrapolating our knowledge on macroscopic systems. Further items will be introduced in the subsequent chapters when needed. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
We briefly review the difficulties of the standard version of quantum mechanics in accounting for all kinds of physical processes (in particular both the micro and the macroscopic ones) and we argue that to overcome such difficulties one has to give up the superposition principle, i.e., to break the linear nature of the theory. We then show that the simple introduction of terms violating the linearity of the deterministic evolution of the standard theory has physically unacceptable consequences. Taking this into account we are led to modify the quantum dynamics by adding to Schrödinger’s equation, besides nonlinear terms, a coupling with an appropriate noise. We show that, with such a move, one can work out a theory which is internally consistent and it allows to account, in a quite simple and physically appealing way, for natural processes including the measurements and the classical behavior of macroscopic bodies. On the basis of our analysis, we are led to conclude that the consideration of the noise represents a crucial element for understanding the laws of nature.
Glorious victories have been achieved when quantum theory (QT) is applied to microscopic systems. However, although there might be good reasons for us to believe that QT applies at the macroscopic level as well, to give a definite answer ”yes” there is still a long journey. If it does apply, a direct result is that it predicts highly counter-intuitive macroscopic quantum superpositions and entanglements, which we never experience in our daily lives. In this thesis we assume that QT applies to the macroscopic level, and try to find out why we never really observe macroscopic quantum effects. The thesis contains two projects, aiming at two reasons for the above problem. In the first project (Chapter 3 and 4), we show that the required resolution to observe macroscopic quantum effects increases with the size of the system, when both outcome precision and control precision are taken into account. This means that for really large quantum effects we need a very good measuring resolution to observe them, while what we usually do are coarse-grained measurements, whose resolutions are much lower. In the second project (Chapter 5), we try to deal with decoherence, another obstacle preventing us from observing macroscopic quantum effects. We propose to create and detect strong entanglement of micro-macro and macro-macro beams of photons with very weak cross Kerr nonlinearities that are obtainable by current technology. We analyze the entanglement under environmental decoherence with various methods, and show that strong entanglement can still be created and detected under decoherence. We hope that the above results will help to push the boundary of the realm of QT towards the macroscopic level.
Chapter 3 provides a brief review of a few concepts from classical Newtonian physics, and how this fails to explain phenomena at the nanoscopic scale. As is detailed within, the classical mechanical model is able to describe all observed physical phenomena; however, when it comes to the nanoscale this model breaks down, because the properties of the materials change dramatically. At this scale, the surface-to-volume ratio increases, gravitational forces become negligible and random molecular motion becomes more important. This changes the properties of the material and affects the devices that are fabricated at this scale. It is hence necessary to develop a new model that can explain such physical phenomena. This has led to a new branch of physics, i.e. quantum physics (QP) or quantum mechanics, which is able to explain the behavior observed at nanoscale. QP enables us to explain phenomena such as the photoelectric effect, Compton effect. etc. In this chapter, we introduce quantum mechanics and how it evolved in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Further, light’s behaviour as a particle as well as a wave is described by the photoelectric effect and Young’s double-slit experiment, respectively. Further, the dual nature of the particle is explained using the de Broglie principle. Schrodinger’s equation is then explained, which gives the probability of finding a subatomic-scale particle at a certain position in a quantum well. In addition to the formulation of Schrodinger’s equation, its solution, the concept of a potential well, the characteristics of the wave function and its interpretation and significance, and, finally, the application of Schrodinger’s equation in the structure of an atom form subsequent parts of this chapter. The equation serves as a basis with which to understand band theory. Band theory explains the difference between conductors, insulators and semiconductors. Materials are distinguished according to the differences in their band gaps. Adding impurities or varying temperature changes the band gap in semiconductors, which consequently changes the properties of the semiconductor and its electrical conduction. One more important measure to understand and exploit the properties and behaviour of materials is Fermi–Dirac statistics. It is useful to acquire the probability of electrons at a given energy level at a specific temperature. These concepts can be utilised by physicists and chip makers to make more energy-efficient devices. Hence, this chapter details the fundamentals of quantum physics and how they relate to the electrical properties of nanodevices.
Quantum mechanics describes physical systems through probabilistic wave functions, accounting for phenomena such as wave–particle duality and the uncertainty principle. Although the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics is well established, conceptual understanding of how quantum entities transition between wave-like and particle-like behavior remains an active area of research. In this work, quantum mechanical principles are re-examined from an interaction-based perspective, emphasizing the roles of environmental coupling, measurement geometry, and energy exchange. Using the photoelectric effect, de Broglie relations, and Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle as foundational elements, a conceptual framework is proposed in which particle identity emerges dynamically from wave interaction with matter and measurement constraints. This interpretation provides an intuitive bridge between classical reasoning and quantum behavior while fully preserving the standard mathematical structure of quantum mechanics...........Please check the attachment for details