Question

In: Physics

I'm interested in the extent to which quantum physical effects are seen at a macroscopic level....

I'm interested in the extent to which quantum physical effects are seen at a macroscopic level. I might get some of the physics wrong, but I think I'll get it close enough that I can ask the question:

Let's sat that we create a bonfire and let it burn until it burns out. As the smoke rises from the fire, turbulence takes over and the smoke particles and steam and hot air all mixed together. By the end of the night when the fire has burned out, the collection of molecules in the system are in some position/velocity X.

My question: Let's assume the multiverse interpretation of quantum physics. How many possible end state superpositions can there be in this situation? Ok, that's imprecise and incorrect because it would actually be an uncountable infinitude of possible end states. How about this: Given the end state that we observed, what percentage of the end state superposition would be "visually" indiscernable from the end state that we observed so that each molecule would be in nearly the same end state across that portion of the multiverse?

Or put another way: Do quantum effects sneak into everyday life fast enough that we can observe them? If we are effected by quantum physics at all, I imagine this is roughly a function of the timescale of the chaos effects.

Solutions

Expert Solution

Deterministic chaos is a special branch of physics that allows estimating the collective behavior of complex systems which are governed by deterministic differential equations. Your example with the bonfire and the state of the molecules does not fall into chaotic theory, whether classical or quantum. It falls to the chapter of thermodynamics, an axiomatic system of physics that describes the collective behavior of matter generally without entering on the substrate of the underlying equations, whether classical or quantum.

I am less familiar with Quantum Chaos Quote: Quantum Chaos is a branch of physics which studies how chaotic classical dynamical systems can be described in terms of quantum theory. The primary question that quantum chaos seeks to answer is, "What is the relationship between quantum mechanics and classical chaos? Since your example is not classically chaotic, again it is not in the regime covered by quantum chaos.

Maybe you should rethink what you mean by chaos, since it is not the physics definition?

If one wades into the many probable outcomes quantum mechanical description, that does not mean that one is dealing with a system that is chaotic, in the definition of chaos in physics.

As for our second formulation: We are absolutely affected by quantum mechanics, see the answers to the question you raised on the subject.


Related Solutions

By what mechanism do quantum effects become observable in normal life at the macroscopic level? For...
By what mechanism do quantum effects become observable in normal life at the macroscopic level? For instance, when two molecules "collide" is the momentum a probabilistic event wherein the end state is not unique? Another example, during a chemical reaction, it is a probabilistic event at the quantum level whether or not any particular molecule within the solution interacts with another molecule?
Question set #1: You are interested in the extent to which clients’ rights to privacy are...
Question set #1: You are interested in the extent to which clients’ rights to privacy are respected and protected in a community health care agency and the extent to which the agency complies with the requirements of HIPAA. What questions should you ask? What makes those questions essential in your practice? Example (question): To what extent are the written and electronic communications of the agency protected from people who have no authority to access that information?
1. Choose the scenario under which each of the following Doppler shift effects will be seen:...
1. Choose the scenario under which each of the following Doppler shift effects will be seen: choices are: The source and observer are approaching one another The source and observer are moving away from one another The source and observer are stationary relative to one another 1.1 Light is shifted towards the blue end of the spectrum (blue-shifted). 1.2 The apparent pitch of the source is lower than the actual pitch of the source. 1.3 There is no apparent change...
(Essay question) Evaluate the extent to which empirical evidence supports the idea that price level changes...
(Essay question) Evaluate the extent to which empirical evidence supports the idea that price level changes imply off-setting exchange rate changes. (plz don't not give me a hand writing answer, I cant read)
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT