New Mathematical Methods to Bring Classical Physics Closer to Quantum Physics

Changes in mathematical
language used in classical physics to allow randomness and indeterminism will help
bring classical physics closer to
quantum physics, according to a physicist at University of Geneva, Switzerland.
The observations made in the
journal Nature Physics pointed out that classical Physics or Newton's physics
was deterministic. It was believed that everything about the universe was determined since the Big
Bang. The evolution of the world is explained by mathematical equations that
describe the world as unfolding from these initial conditions in the most
precise way. For this, physicists employ the language of classical mathematics
and represent these initial conditions by real numbers. “These numbers are
characterised by an infinite number of decimals that follow the dot”, says
Nicolas Gisin, professor emeritus at the Department of Applied Physics, UNIGE’s
Faculty of Science and the author of the observation. |“This implies that they
contain an infinite amount of information.” Such typical real numbers are far
more numerous than numbers that have a name, such as Pi, and consist of a
series of decimals that are completely random.
To circumvent the impossibility
that the finite contains the infinite, the professor has suggested the
mathematical language used in classical physics so that it is no longer
required to use real numbers. Instead, physicists can use intuitionistic, which
doesn't believe in the existence of the infinite. Intuionistic mathematics
represents numbers as a random process that takes place over time, one decimal
after the other so that at each given moment there is only a finite number of
decimals and therefore a finite amount of information. “ This solves the
contradiction of classical physics, which uses infinity to explain the finite”,
adds Prof Gisin.
In classical maths, a
proposition is either true or false according to the law of excluded middle but
in intuitionistic maths, there is a third possibility of indeterminate which is
much closer to our every day experience than the most absolute determinism
advocated by classical physics.
“Some people
endeavour to avoid it at all costs by involving other variables based on real
numbers. But in my opinion, we shouldn’t try to bring quantum physics closer to
classical physics by attempting to eliminate randomness. Quite the opposite: we
must bring classical physics closer to quantum physics by finally incorporating
indeterminacy”, says the Geneva-based physicist.
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