Science a GoGo's Home Page Forums General Discussion Physics Forum Uncaused Effects

The Quantum Zeno Effect is that physical phenomenon which causes the truth in the old adage, "A watched pot never boils."

(Sorry, couldn't resist. Quantum Physics humor - I have sunk to a new low.)

So two atoms bump into each other, and one begins to panic "I think I lost an electron!" The other asks, "Are you sure?" "Yes! I'm positive!"

Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your waitresses. Oh, and try the roast beef...


Okay, now that THAT'S out of my system...

I wonder if the Quantum Zeno Effect would be ameliorated by Planck Time? I'm not sure I'm using that term correctly, but it is basically the smallest possible measurement of time. This could ameliorate QZE two different ways: If we can't measure times shorter than Planck Time, then we can't have truly constant measurement. Or, and this is a bit more science fictiony but bear with me, if times shorter than Planck Time do not exist then the system being measured could change "between the frames" as it were.

That second possibility implies a universe that ages in frames like a projected movie. Is the universe digital or analog? If it's digital, then we are skipping to the next frame with each Planck instant and the second suggestion above is possible. If it's analog, then it's smooth but we can't measure it so the first suggestion is possible.

Just a few thoughts.

w

Indications are that it is digital, well we'd say quantized.

That there is a minimum quanta of time and that what we observe depends upon many factors.

That said I think there is ample evidence that there may be dimensions, or other factors, in which we have evidence of things happening that are not subject to time. Not that things travel faster than the speed of time but rather than things can happen that are time irrelevant.

One example is the movement of electrons around the nucleus of an atom. They do not smoothly orbit like little planets. They appear at one location and then, in the next instant, appear at a different location. What we draw as orbits is actually just a mapping of statistical probability as to where we are likely to find them.

Wayne. I liked the one about the atoms. Do I have your permission to use it?

While I'm kinda proud of coming up with the thought of QZE keeping a watched pot from boiling, I'll have to admit that the atoms joke isn't mine. It's an old chestnut. Use it to your heart's content.

w