1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 291: Can God Make Mistakes? The Nature of the World is Probabilistic!

The high-end level of today's meeting has exceeded the imagination of most people.

Although the first three questions are very profound, they are still within the acceptable range of everyone.

Even if many undergraduates cannot understand Li Qiwei's derivation process, they can understand his logical reasoning.

It’s like, even though I don’t know how the rice is cooked, I just know how to eat it.

But Rutherford's fourth question confused many people.

Do electrons have free will?

This is almost like science fiction.

At this moment, almost everyone in the audience felt that this problem had no solution.

However, Bruce on the stage once again aroused everyone's curiosity.

He was actually thinking about this problem seriously, and it seemed that he had made a breakthrough.

After staring at Bohr's hydrogen atom spectrum for a full fifteen minutes, Li Qiwei finally turned around.

He saw that everyone in the audience was holding their breath, their eyes eager, as if they wanted to hang them up and beat them, forcing them to give the answer quickly.

Li Qiwei smiled and thought for a while before finally speaking:
"Professor Rutherford's question is very good, very, very good."

"I think no one here can imagine the impact this problem will have on physics."

"Before I give my answer, I want to make something clear in advance."

"Whether you agree with my explanation or not, physics will change dramatically from today on."

Wow!
Li Qiwei's words really whetted everyone's appetite.

These words, which even sounded a bit weird, actually came from Bruce's mouth.

Many people find it incredible.

"Oh my God, what exactly was Professor Bruce's answer? Was it really that scary?"

"I dare not imagine what the so-called earth-shaking change means. Is it more subversive than the special theory of relativity?"

"Until now, quantum concepts have shown that the world is discontinuous, and special relativity has shown that space and time are relative."

"Absoluteness and continuity have been broken one after another. Is there any more terrible correction?"

"Really? I don't believe it."

Everyone in the audience was talking about it.

Rutherford also looked at Li Qiwei excitedly, as the other party finally had an idea.

And the fact that Bruce said it so seriously showed that his answer must be very important.

Even the physics masters in the front row were trembling in their hearts at this moment.

Given their age and state of mind, they were actually affected by Li Qiwei's words.

This shows how much importance everyone attaches to this issue and how much everyone expects Li Qiwei to answer.

At this moment, Bohr's admiration for his mentor had reached an unprecedented level.

"Is this the true strength of Mr. Bruce?"

"It's really so strong that it makes people despair."

"I, Bohr, consider myself a genius, but I can hardly see the shadow of my mentor."

"I'm so glad that Professor Thomson didn't accept me. Otherwise, I would be sitting in the audience and envious now."

"From today on, I will devote myself to physics research and will not embarrass my advisor again."

Of course, Li Qiwei couldn't hear Bohr's mumbling.

At this moment, all his thoughts were focused on how to organize the language to explain Rutherford's question.

His words will surely bring an unforgettable shock to everyone present.

"I have just been looking at the emission spectrum of hydrogen atoms."

"You may be curious, what does this have to do with Professor Rutherford's question?"

“It does matter. It matters a lot.”

Suddenly, Li Qiwei paused and said word by word:
"Because the timing and trajectory of electron transitions are random, they can only be explained by probability."

"We can't know exactly when the electron will jump, we can only give a statistical probability explanation."

"Similarly, we don't know exactly which orbit the electron will jump to."

"We can only say what the probability is for the electron to jump to this orbit."

“And how do you calculate this probability?”

"It is through the emission spectrum of atoms."

"The stronger the light of a spectral line is, the more this electromagnetic wave is emitted, and the greater the probability of the corresponding electron transition is."

"By analyzing the light intensity, we can derive the probability of electrons transitioning between different orbits."

"Then by analyzing and calculating these probabilities, we can reversely predict the transition behavior of electrons."

"That's my explanation to Professor Rutherford's question."

“The nature of the world is probabilistic.”

boom!
When Li Qiwei finished his explanation of probability.

There was no sound at all in the venue.

The world seemed to be paused, and all people and things were frozen.

Everyone in the audience opened their mouths wide and stared blankly.

Li Qiwei's words kept echoing in my mind: The essence of the world is probabilistic.

"Oh my God, is this still the world I live in?"

"The world is probabilistic? Is my appearance due to probability?"

"This is the first time that Professor Bruce has failed to convince me. I absolutely do not agree with this statement. How can the world be probabilistic?"

"Is this the charm of cutting-edge physics? I feel like it's no longer science, but metaphysics."

“Can God make mistakes?”

Li Qiwei's explanation of probability drove everyone completely crazy.

At this moment, even if he is the number one physicist today, he cannot convince everyone.

Even the big guys looked at Li Qiwei in disbelief.

They could never have imagined that Bruce would give such an explanation.

Such an incredible, fanciful and unreasonable explanation.

If it is true as Bruce said, the transition behavior of electrons is probabilistic.

Then it not only denies the causality of the objective world, but also denies certainty.

Everything is uncertain!
Is this...really possible?
If this view was expressed by someone else, he would definitely be treated as a lunatic by everyone.

But this is the opinion of Bruce, the world's top physicist, which makes everyone extremely confused.

Bruce has used countless cases to prove to the world that he is not a person who seeks to attract attention.

Although his views often go against common sense, they are ultimately proven to be correct.

This is true for quantum concepts and also for the special theory of relativity (correct within inertial frames).

And now, an even more outrageous view has emerged.

The world is actually probabilistic?
It's hard to believe that it could be correct.

Everyone thought Bruce was wrong.

Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

Rutherford was the first to express his opposition.

"Bruce, I have to admit that your explanation scares me a little."

"As you said, if the behavior of electrons is probabilistic, then all macroscopic things composed of electrons must have probabilistic properties."

"But why have we never observed their probability?" Li Qiwei ignored everyone's surprise. He had already guessed the shock this view would bring.

Everyone needs time to digest.

"Rutherford, I think it is a process from micro to macro, and there is some kind of law at work."

"Of course, we cannot explain this phenomenon yet, but it must have a physical mechanism."

"Don't worry, I won't push everything onto the world. I think there are deeper principles in quantum theory that have yet to be discovered."

"For now, that's all I can explain."

Rutherford shook his head. He found it hard to accept Li Qiwei's explanation.

When atoms form macroscopic matter, will their properties change?
Impossible, absolutely impossible. (Wave function collapse will be explained in detail later, just know it now)

At this moment, Einstein suddenly stood up and said excitedly:

"Bruce, I don't agree with your explanation of probability."

Wow!
The crowd roared again.

Just now, Einstein helped Bohr's model to prove its correctness.

And he and Bruce are very good friends.

Now, even he is going to oppose Bruce's theory of probability?

As expected, this has already involved the most peak academic dispute.

At this moment, there is only right and wrong, no friends or enemies.

Einstein knew Ridgway very well, so he knew that he would not blame him for asking questions rashly, and would even look forward to others asking questions.

Moreover, Einstein's personality determined that his purity in academic pursuits could not be stopped by anyone.

“Although it is not uncommon to use statistics and probability to explain physical phenomena.”

“Maxwell and Boltzmann, for example, introduced statistics into thermodynamics.”

"They use statistical methods to explain the macroscopic properties of gases, such as pressure, temperature, etc."

"Because there are so many atoms in the gas, it is impossible for us to calculate the motion state of each atom one by one."

"So at the statistical level, it's enough to give an average value."

"But all physicists are convinced that individual atoms still conform to the determinism of Newtonian mechanics."

"If one day we can invent a machine with extremely powerful computing power, it can calculate the movement of each atom in real time."

"Then we wouldn't need statistics at all."

"Bruce, do you see the difference?"

"Because the world is deterministic, probability statistics is just a means of simplification."

"But your view is that every electron's transition behavior is random."

"They're not like atoms that obey Newtonian mechanics, but each electron has its own unique probability."

"This is simply unacceptable."

Wow!
Einstein's explanation made everyone suddenly realize.

At this moment, ordinary students deeply realized the horror of Bruce's views.

It directly denies the foundations of physics.

The world is not certain.

This is true probability, not some special mathematical treatment.

The people present soon thought of a physics legend: Laplace's beast. (Chapter 213)
If we knew the motion state and force conditions of every particle in the universe.

Then, in theory, we can calculate the past and future of the universe.

This is the most mainstream mechanical view of the universe at present.

What Einstein just said is actually a popular explanation of this worldview.

And now, Li Qiwei's point of view is equivalent to denying this certainty.

Even if we knew the movement of all atoms, we still could not calculate their future.

Because in the microscopic world, the activities of particles are probabilistic.

Of course, what Bruce is saying now is just that the transition behavior of electrons is probabilistic.

But with a slight expansion, we can reach this incredible conclusion.

The mechanical view of the universe does not hold true!

Bohr on the stage looked at Li Qiwei at this moment and felt a kind of worship for the gods.

If everyone present was against it, then only Bohr agreed with his mentor.

The moment Ridgway gave the probabilistic explanation, Bohr felt as if thunder was exploding in his mind.

At that moment, Bohr even felt that he had touched the essence of the universe.

So gorgeous, mysterious and unfathomable.

He whispered to himself, "I believe that Professor Bruce's explanation must be correct. The behavior of electrons is probabilistic."

“And it is a probabilistic behavior that is not controlled by anything. It is a real probability.”

Bohr knew that throwing a coin upward and guessing whether it will land on heads or tails is also a matter of probability.

But that is a pseudo-probability.

If we could know the parameters of the coin, the parameters of the air, and the parameters of the ground.

Through countless equations, we can actually accurately calculate how the coin will land.

The reason why it is called probabilistic is that there are too many factors involved and it cannot be calculated.

But in essence, the coin's landing behavior is still a deterministic behavior.

The electron transition behavior that Professor Bruce talked about is a real probability.

It is not influenced by any factors and is completely spontaneous.

Bohr knew that the worst person present was an undergraduate majoring in physics.

I'm sure everyone will think of this question first.

Moreover, Laplacemon is also very well-known in physics.

Therefore, at this moment, the people in the audience must be engaged in a crazy struggle between their conscience and their conscience.

After listening to Einstein's words, Li Qiwei was deeply moved.

In real history, the transition of electrons is a probabilistic behavior, which was actually first proposed by Einstein.

But after he put it forward, he refused to believe in his own theory.

It’s strange that Einstein himself could not accept his own explanation of probability.

It looks like split personality.

It’s a bit like Planck was the first to deny his own quantum concept after he proposed it.

Einstein firmly believed that the world must be deterministic.

He believed that quantum theory was just in its infancy and the theory was still imperfect, so it could not accurately explain the behavior of electrons.

Using probability as a substitute for the moment is like using statistics to explain thermodynamic phenomena.

But once the theory is mature in the future, it will definitely be able to accurately describe the behavior of electrons.

However, all subsequent facts proved that Einstein was wrong and the microscopic world is probabilistic.

This was also the core of the debate between Einstein and Bohr for many years afterwards.

Of course, what they were arguing about was far more complicated than the current concepts.

At present, Li Qiwei has only proposed that the transition behavior of electrons is probabilistic.

There are many more incredible phenomena that have not been mentioned.

(End of this chapter)