Actually, this idea is not as wacky as you're suggesting. Laurent Nottale suggested something like this with his Fractal Spacetime theory, essentially explaining standard QM geometrically as a projection from a higher dimension Hausdorf space (fractal dimension).
His ideas haven't gained traction, alas - not because they've been proven wrong, as I understand - he just seems to have been ignored by the mainstream. Cheers On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 04:04:14AM +0000, Colin Geoffrey Hales wrote: > Colin's Wackier Version: > > Because the space they operate in, at the scale in which the decay operates, > there are far more dimensions than 3. They decay deterministically in >>3D > and it appears, to us, to be random because of the collapse of the spatial > dimensions to 3, where we humble observers gain access to it. Same reason > atoms jiggle in space. Same reason an electron is fuzzy. Smoothness in >>3D > looks fuzzy to us. > > Quantum mechanics is a statistical description that is predictive in 3D. It > explains nothing. > > I offer explanation, not description. > > :) > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Craig Weinberg > Sent: Wednesday, 10 April 2013 1:19 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Why do particles decay randomly? > > > > On Tuesday, April 9, 2013 7:54:27 PM UTC-4, Russell Standish wrote: > It is hard to answer this question precisely, because the large, > radioactive nuclei are very complex structures, for which exact solutions of > Schroedinger's equation cannot be obtained. Rather these things are > usually studied via Hartree-Fock approximations. > > However, in loose visual terms, you can think of a neutron as being in > a superposition of states, some of which are an electron-proton pair > separated by a substantial distance. If the electron finds itself too > far from its partner proton, the weak force is too weak, and the > electric force is shielded by the orbital electrons, so the electron > escapes, becoming the beta ray. This explanation has left out an > obvious factor - an anti-neutrino must also be created as part of the > process. This is often explained as being required to preserve lepton > number - but conservation of lepton number is a somewhat ad hoc law - I > don't know the real physical reason why lepton number is conserved. > > Anyway, the point of randomness is that this is a quintessential > quantum process, very closely related to the phenomenon of quantum > tunneling. Unless there exists a hidden variable-type theory > underlying QM (which basically appears to be ruled out by > Bell+Aspect), the process must be completely random. > > I wonder if we looked at the behavior of cars driving on the highway, would > we conclude that the variation in how long they travel before exiting the > highway must be completely random? Maybe the hidden variable is that matter > knows what it is doing? > > Craig > > > Cheers > > On Tue, Apr 09, 2013 at 05:57:11AM -0700, Craig Weinberg wrote: > > If any particle were truly identical to another, then they could not decay > > at different rates. While we see this as "random" (aka spontaneous to our > > eyes), there is nothing to say that the duration of the life of the > > particle is not influenced by intentional dispositions. Particles may > > represent different intensities of 'will to continue' or expectation of > > persistence. In this sense, organic molecules could represent a Goldilocks > > range of time-entangled panpsychism which is particularly flexible and > > dynamic. Think of the lifetime of a molecular ensemble as the length of a > > word in a sentence as it relates to the possibilities of meaning. Too long > > and it becomes unwieldy, too brief and it becomes generic. > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "Everything List" group. > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > > email to [email protected]<javascript:>. > > To post to this group, send email to > > [email protected]<javascript:>. > > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en. > > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > > > > -- > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prof Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile) > Principal, High Performance Coders > Visiting Professor of Mathematics [email protected]<javascript:> > University of New South Wales http://www.hpcoders.com.au > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to > [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. > To post to this group, send email to > [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prof Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile) Principal, High Performance Coders Visiting Professor of Mathematics [email protected] University of New South Wales http://www.hpcoders.com.au ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. 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