Matti Pitkanen (matpitka@pcu.helsinki.fi)
Wed, 16 Jun 1999 13:04:27 +0300 (EET DST)
Dissipation as direct evidence for quantum jumps
between histories concept
The phenomenon of dissipation is paradoxal from the point of view of
standard physics. It is generally accepted that fundamental laws of
physics are reversible but everyday reality is manifestly
irreversible. Thus the situation is rather scitzophrenic. Two worlds,
the reversible and extremely beautiful world of fundamental physics
and the irreversible and mathematically rather ugly 'real' world,
seem to exist simultaneously. The description of dissipation is
highly phenomenological: one introduces mathematical monsters like
non-Hermitian Hamiltonians; in particle physics particle decay widths
are introduced by making energies complex; in macroscopic length
scales one introduces parameters like friction coefficients,
viscosity, diffusion constants, etc.. The mathematical beauty of the
reversible world is lost and dissipation becomes an unavoidable
nuisance of physics, which perhaps explains why so little conscious
thought is devoted in the attempts to understand why these two worlds
seem to co-exist.
1. Replacing sequence of quantum histories with single
dissipative quantum history
This scitzophrenic world picture is of course logically
inconsistent. Something in the implicit assumptions underlying this
paradoxal world view must be wrong. Quantum jump between quantum
histories concept indeed resolves the paradox and explains the
apparent existence of two worlds as resulting from a wrong view about
psychological time. Without quantum jumps there would be single
reversible reality behaving determistically and there would be neither
dissipation nor consciousness. Quantum jumps between the reversible
realities however cause dissipation, which can be more correctly
seen as a self organization via quantum jumps and as a necessary
prequisite for evolution and consciousness. The source of all the
ugly mathematics related to the description of dissipation is the
failure to realize that there are two time developments: subjective
time development proceeding via quantum jumps and geometric time
development described by the dynamical equations without dissipation.
The ugly dissipative terms in dynamical equations result, when the
sequence of quantum jumps between time developments is replaced with
single dissipative time development.
2. Disspation as approach to fixed points, limit cycles, ..
in the space of quantum histories
Dissipation can be seen as a phenomenological description for the
tendency of the self-organizing development by quantum jumps to lead
to fixed points, limit cycles, limiting tori, strange attractors,
etc.. in the space of quantum histories. Hence the study of chaotic
dissipative systems could be also seen as a study of the
phenonelogical descriptions for the asymptotic behaviours yielded by
the time development by quantum jumps. It is not of course clear
whether this kind of effective description really works always or
whether one should replace it by a genuine quantum description
under some circumstances.
Consider as an example the description of a self organizing system
using Haken's theory of self-organization relying on the hypothesis
that system's states correspond to the minima of free energy
function. Free energy depends on external parameters. When the
value of some external parameter becomes critical, large fluctuations
in long length scales occur and new level of self-organization with
new length scale emerges or disappears in a phase transition like
manner. For instance, potential well can split into two potential
wells and system selects either well. This suggests that near the
critical values of the external parameters quantum statistical
determinism and hence also effective description fails at macroscopic
length scales. The catastrophic changes in system's behaviour could
correspond macroscopic quantum jumps. Biosystems obviously provide
excellent candidates for critical systems. Since TGD:eish Universe
is quantum critical, any subsystem is basically critical system: only
the time scale of the critical fluctuations determines whether given
system looks critical from human point of view.
Dissipation can be seen as an extremely concrete proof for the
hypothesis that quantum jumps between quantum histories occur all the
time. However, to possibly convince colleagues about this, very
delicate experiments must be invented (say tribar effect testing the
new concept of psychological time described in the chapter 'Matter,
Mind, Quantum' of 'TGD inspired theory of consciousness..' at
http://www.physics.helsinki.fi/~matpitka/cbook.html)! The crucial
demonstration is however at the level of mere logic: 0 and 1 are the
numbers needed, no experiments testing 10:th decimal for some
quantitative prediction are needed.
3. Dissipation as a direct signature of consciousness
Dissipation can be seen also as direct signature of consciousness.
Any system, which has ability to dissipate, to grow older,
must have moments of consciousness in some length scales.
Living systems are not the only systems growing old.
Buildings and cars and computers grow old.
Hydrodynamic flow without external energy fieed
gets older by gradually losing its velocity- (and Z^0 magnetic-)
vortices. The rate of the energy loss by dissipation could be even
seen as a rough measure for the level of consciousness.
The crucial question is however in which length scales
quantum jumps occur: does all the dissipation occur in
atomic length scales as standard physics strongly suggests or are all
length scales involved as quantum criticality of TGD and new TGD based
spacetime concept suggest.
Hydrodynamic flow is especially interesting example in this respect.
The TGD based model for turbulent flow [see the chapter
'Hydrodynamics and CP_2 geometry' of 'Topological Geometrodynamics' at
http://www.physics.helsinki.fi/~matpitka/tgd.html]
with external energy feed assumes that dissipation
occurs in all length scales: the decay of vortices of given
radius to smaller vortices should therefore involve primitive
consciousness in the length scale of the vortices.
In turbulent flow with external energy feed there is
stationary energy flow between spacetime sheets of various
sizes and this means that the level of consciousness, if indeed
measured by energy dissipation, is same at various
p-adic length scales involved.
The crucial role of the classical Z^0 field and low energy neutrinos
in TGD based description of condensed matter and biosystems suggest
that neutrinos and Z^0 fields might provide hydrodynamical
flows with rudimentary cognitive consciousness. In this
picture life as we know it, is a result of continual quantum
self-organization of the sea water: indeed, we
are 70 per cent of sea water.
With Best,
Matti Pitkanen
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