B.. Quantum Mechanics vs The Theory Of Relativitie.?

Question

I'm doing a highschool project about the Quantum Mechanics vs The Theory Of Relativitie. But I still have some problems comprehending certain items. The three mayor ones are: the spin(and the string), the forth dimention and the scales that electrons are in. Im reading Flatland right now to help me catch the idea of the forth dimension, but so far Im very sceptical about the book. I dont know how far these items are related to astronomy (I was hoping at least the forth dimension was). So any kind of help would be great.

I am using this ..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_%28physics%29


and this ..


n l=0,1,..,n-1 (nummer subschil) 2 * l + 1 = aantal 'magnetische' schillen aantal elektronen in baan = 2 per baan nr elektronen /

subscale

1 K 0 1 2 2
2 L 0,1 1,3 2,6 8
3 M 0,1,2 1,3,5 2,6,10 18
4 N 0,1,2,3 1,3,5,7 2,6,10,14 32

5 N 0,1,2,3,4 1,3,5,7,9 2,6,10,14,18 50
6 P 0,1,2,3,4,5 1,3,5,7,9,11 2,6,10,14,18,22 72
7 Q 0,1,2,3,4,5,6 1,3,5,7,9,11,13 2,6,10,14,18,22,26 98
8 R Enzovoorts

Answer 1

OK, well your first problem seems to be that your sources are in german. Do you speak german? Cause I don't.

String theory and quantum theory are not the same thing. Quantum theory is well-established and tested, whereas string theory is still theoretical - grounded mathematically but still untested. Probably just want to ignore string theory for this paper.

The fourth dimension is usually thought of as time. Flatland is just a made-up story to try to illustrate dimensional differences. Think of time as a straight line we travel along - we can look back, but not forward, and we can't move along the line in any other way than we are currently doing.

Scale of electrons? Very very small. Or do you mean electron configuration? Again, doesn't have much to do with relativity. Maybe you want to start with the basic premise of your paper. What are you investigating? What are you trying to show?

Answer 2

flatland is one of the best books ever - I've read it at the age of 14 since a teacher of mine told me about it!
simply see it like this: space as we see it has 3 dimensions and then there is the fourth dimension - it's only going in one direction - we always grow older instead of younger.

1. then there is the thing with light flying at the highest speed possible, that means it travels a certain amount of space in the shortest time possible. now imagine you being on a spaceship which flies faster than the speed of light: look back at a tower which dispays a clock... the light rays aren't as fast as you are, which means time goes backwards (you catch up with lightrays which were send out earlier than the ones you saw when you entered the spaceship on earth.

2. at highter velocities you need much more energy to accelerate than at lower ones E^2=m0^2*c^4+p^2*c^2, which also includes electrons meaning electrons which are near the core of the atom spin faster than the ones outside, but the energy necessary to merge protons and electrons is so high that it can only happen in stars with a gravity ≥ gravtitation of a neutron star.

3. at the point where gravitation becomes so strong that even light cannot escape, what do you think happens with the time? it stands still, goes backwards and forward at the same "time" - time does no longer exist and space neiter! you've got a singularity!

4. what happens with short lived mesons? they come from space and got a lifetime of much less than a second, how is it possible for them to arrive here on earth? well they travel at near light speed you can say their time goes slower but you could also say that the space seems to be shorter for them - that is relativistic thinking!

5. about the spin of an electron for example: read about the stern-gerlach experiment afterwards you'll understand

and yes both has a lot to do with astronomy/astrophysics
but don't be put off if you don't understand from the beginning, I got fascinated with the topic at the age of 13 and I still haven't understood everything.
just for quantum mechanics really important is Heisenbergs uncertainity principle!


good luck
for books I really don't know any good flamish books (you're from the nethelands right, or belgium, certainly not germany, austria or switzerland...)
but for questions email me, I can tell you a lot!
but don't confuse stuff string-theory and quantum mechanics isn't the same

Answer 3

RE: Quantum Mechanics vs. Relativity? I have recently reread "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking and in the book, he states that quantum mechanics and relativity are contradictory to each other and therefore cannot both be correct. I realize that at present physics lacks a unified theory that incorporates both but in...

Answer 4

You're skeptical of Flatland? It was written in the 1800's as a metaphor, not necessarily as pure science. It doesn't explain the mechanics of dimensions really, it's speculation. Don't forget string theory is not necessarily quantum mechanics. Don't get confused.

Answer 5

Wow, if you're going to do a project on this stuff, you'd best learn how to spell the things you're going to talk about...:)

I'm not sure what it is you're looking for, other than perhaps books that outline how quantum mechanics is currently used in astronomy or cosmology? If you could be a little more specific I could maybe give you some good reference books to read...

Answer 6

fourth dimension is that of time. So you have 3 space dimensions and one of time. i.e past present and futire.

plot space and time in two axes and u will get the idea. treat space as one dimension for discussion pursposes.

The you will get it

Good luck

Answer 7

string theory failed !!