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How Could You Not Mention... |
7 September 2000 |
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Christopher Clark
Houston, TX
Respond to this E-Letter:
Re: How Could You Not Mention...
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Kleppner and Jackiw managed to review the major
developments in quantum physics, including quantum chromodynamics, without mention of
Gell-Mann, a Nobel Prize winner and one of the greatest minds of the 20th Century.
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Quantum detector efficiency |
1 September 2000 |
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Douglas G. Danforth,
Research Scientist
QuikCat.com
Respond to this E-Letter:
Re: Quantum detector efficiency
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Daniel Kleppner and Roman Jackiw's article is masterfully
presented and provides several new insights into the
historical development of quantum mechanics.
There is, however, a point that is glossed over which
can affect new readers to this area. In 1969 John F. Clauser
showed that detector efficiency must exceed a bound to truly
rule out alternative (local objective theories) of quantum
mechanics. Bell's inequalities apply to the case of perfect
detection.
It is possible to construct local models that reproduce
exactly the quantum mechanical two particle correlations
(predicted and measured) based on detector efficiency.
Entanglment arises as an artifact conditionalizing
on the joint detection of all particles within a system
coupled with the conservation of a hidden variable.
Since no experiment to date has had a probability of
detecting two particles given one particle in excess of the
0.828 Clauser bound local theories are still viable.
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Oh, really? |
1 September 2000 |
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John Michael Williams,
Consultant
n/a
Respond to this E-Letter:
Re: Oh, really?
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The article asserts: "Among [our] greatest achievements ... We now
understand essentially every detail of atomic structure..."(1)
Oh, really? Isn't this akin to the turn of the last century's hubris
that asserted we could close the Patent Office, since everything of
importance had been invented?
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