Slaying the sacred cows

R. Colella, A. W. Overhauser

Jim Baggott, John L. Heilbron

Abstract The Bohr atom proved to be unworkable for atoms with more than one electron, even when extended with the inclusion of additional quantum numbers. The correspondence principle offered little help. Progress demanded a spinning electron, and Wolfgang Pauli’s ‘exclusion principle’, which Werner Heisenberg welcomed as a record-breaking swindle. Seeking escape from the thicket of atomic contradictions, Bohr sought to slay the ultimate sacred cow. He had resisted the embrace of Einstein’s light quantum, and in a theory devised with Hendrik Kramers and John Slater, he abandoned the conservation of energy in individual atomic events, leaving it to statistics. The question could be settled experimentally, and Bohr was soon obliged to accept the results. He offered to give Bohr–Kramers–Slater (BKS) theory an honourable funeral, and acknowledged the light quantum. Einstein was more convinced than ever that physics must respect causality and allow descriptions of events taking place in space and time.

Oleg G. Verin

The quantum mechanics, as is known, was the theorists «powerful answer» to sensational results of experiments which have shown up the wave properties of smallest particles of substance. Disputes on the nature of such a strange microparticles behavior had not yet time to calm down, but the theory of phenomena in the form of «wave mechanics» was already complete. According to this theory a freely moving particle is described by «probability» wave function in the form of a monochromatic wave. Besides many other open-ended questions stipulated by so-called postulates, founders of the quantum theory have left without answer and the most crucial issue: why elementary particles of substance (as oscillatory systems) should be indispensable linear – monofrequent? Later there appeared experimental data «provoking» an idea of basic nonlinearity of oscillating microcosm, but the quantum mechanics has already turned into «a sacred cow» and any doubt about its validity actually meant «excommunication» from science.

Bernard d’Espagnat

Bernard d’Espagnat

F. Rezazadeh, A. Mani, M. Khodabandeh +2 more

We present a rigorous mathematical framework for verifying effective entanglement in a Coherent One-Way (COW) quantum key distribution setup. In particular, we introduce a two-parameter family of entanglement witnesses, identify the parameter ranges where they constitute valid witnesses, and demonstrate their ability to reveal effective entanglement in the COW protocol. Additionally, we analyze previously obtained experimental data from a COW implementation and report clear signatures of effective entanglement.