This short communication reviews the author’s research studies in the past few years and presents the unified law for particles and waves in nature with a concise description.
Abstract We present a unified field theory of wave and particle in quantum mechanics. This emerges from an investigation of three weaknesses in the de Broglie–Bohm theory: its reliance on the quantum probability formula to justify the particle-guidance equation; its insouciance regarding the absence of reciprocal action of the particle on the guiding wavefunction; and its lack of a unified model to represent its inseparable components. Following the author’s previous work, these problems are examined within an analytical framework by requiring that the wave–particle composite exhibits no observable differences with a quantum system. This scheme is implemented by appealing to symmetries (global gauge and spacetime translations) and imposing equality of the corresponding conserved Noether densities (matter, energy, and momentum) with their Schrödinger counterparts. In conjunction with the condition of time-reversal covariance, this implies the de Broglie–Bohm law for the particle where the quantum potential mediates the wave–particle interaction (we also show how the time-reversal assumption may be replaced by a statistical condition). The method clarifies the nature of the composite’s mass, and its energy and momentum conservation laws. Our principal result is the unification of the Schrödinger equation and the de Broglie–Bohm law in a single inhomogeneous equation whose solution amalgamates the wavefunction and a singular soliton model of the particle in a unified spacetime field. The wavefunction suffers no reaction from the particle since it is the homogeneous part of the unified field to whose source the particle contributes via the quantum potential. The theory is extended to many-body systems. We review de Broglie’s objections to the pilot-wave theory and suggest that our field-theoretic description provides a realization of his hitherto unfulfilled ‘double solution’ programme. A revised set of postulates for the de Broglie–Bohm theory is proposed in which the unified field is taken as the basic descriptive element of a physical system.
Dramatic paradigm shifts over the past few centuries have led to a rich landscape of options in human and machine communication. Communication today is deeply intertwined with our personal and social lives in addition to being a vital part of businesses and government operations---both overt and covert. This talk will address the evolving role that the fundamental laws of quantum physics are likely to play in giving communication yet another dimension in its richness. Quantum communication will bring about not only communication in the form as we know it, but also ensure that it is unconditionally secure as it transits through any medium. Given that information is the currency of a modern society, its security is paramount for the wellbeing of an individual, a society, a nation, or the globe as a whole. The talk will discuss the short history of quantum communication and draw upon the theoretical and experimental work that the author and his colleagues have conducted over the past few years in order to chart out the likely course of future events in the emerging age of secure communication.