Is it possible that quantum entanglement and action at a distance is evidence of multiple dimensions ?

Question

Current theories suggest that entangled particles can influence each other even if separated by vast distances in three dimensions. Is it possible that, although they are far apart in 3 dimensions, they are actually really close or even at the same point in the 4th and/or higher dimensions and thus can influence each other easily through those extra dimensions ? If you accept time as being the 4th dimension, then no matter how far apart two particles are in the first 3 dimensions, if they exist at the same time they are both at the same point in the 4th dimension.

Answer 1

Action at a distance doesn't exist. Forces are mediated by particles that travel through space at speeds less than (or equal to) the speed of light. Quantum entanglement doesn't require extra dimensions to explain. It isn't really a paradox as some people think.

Answer 2

I honestly can't answer your question properly, as I have no idea at all. But I've been reading a lot recently about the weird, weird quantum realm and all the strange things that happen within it. Like someone famous said "anyone who isn't shocked by quantum mechanics, hasn't understood it".

I do know that they've done experiments with protons which would appear to show that the same particle can be in the two places at once, suggesting the possibility of infinite realities.

A really great book to read on this is The Universe Next Door by Marcus Chown - jaw-dropping stuff.

Answer 3

There is a "Many Worlds Interpretation" that some physicists think gives a more satisfyingly "realistic" explanation for quantum mechanics. However, it's not extra dimensions they talk about, but whole bloody universes - an infinite number of them, in fact. They are not dimensionally parallel in the sense that you're thinking up, but superposed and described by a universal wave function. Particles in universes more closely correlated to ours than most are said to be responsible for entanglement and such.

The vast majority of the universes, however, are "uncorrelated", which means they have, or at least no longer have, any measurable effect on ours (like the one where you died yesterday because you decided to turn right instead of left). Unmeasurable means unobservable, so MWI is called an "interpretation" instead of a "theory" because theories in science, by definition, must be testable.

Answer 4

I have myself wondered whether entangled particles might actually be connected through 'higher' (or lower) dimensions. This might explain so-called action-at-a-distance, where changes in the state of one particle (for example, it's 'spin') are reflected immediately by correlate changes in the other particle.

As a side note: in Quantum Mechanics, the property of particle 'spin' is said to be synonymous with angular momentum in classical mechanical objects (eg wheels), except that the particle is not actually spinning - it just has this property 'inherently'. If there are other dimensions, as posited in string theory, then they must - almost by definition - impinge upon every aspect of reality, especially particles. Particles must therefore have some properties in relation to these dimensions - perhaps spin is one of them?

I'm afraid I don't buy the argument that QM proves that randomness lies at the heart of reality, and neither did David Bohm, an unsung genius of the 20th century (my opinion). He tried to demonstrate that it is theoretically possible that a deeper, causal (non-random) reality underlies QM - a so-called 'hidden variables' theory. Judge for yourself how successful he was (see below).

Answer 5

No.

This sort of action at a distance is down to interpretation of quantum mechanics. For a very good exaplanation see Roger Penrose's Road to Reality - while the book is hard going, the chapter on this is worth reading.

Your point on time is actually fatally flawed. A key outcome from special relativity is the failure of simultaneity. If events (particles at a point in time) are not at both the same place AND the same time then observers will not agree on their simultaneity.

Answer 6

I believe Bell's Theorem shows that there is no possible deterministic mechanism (and this includes mechanisms that extend through other dimensions) that can explain the observed results of quantum mechanics. In other words, there is an irreducible randomness in quantum mechanics that cannot be simulated by mechanistic physics of any sort, even if the two particles are in causal contact.

Answer 7

What you are talking about is explained by quantum mechanics without introducing something like the multi-dimensional link you suggest. Anyway other dimensions other than the four space-time dimensions could exist but would be not "real" for us: we could never locate with our instruments a "point" in a fifth dimension like we do in space-time.

Answer 8

Quick answer is not really. Check out Brian Greene's 'The Elegant Universe'. It delves into multiple dimensions in depth but is an easy read. Also, check out this link
http://www.tenthdimension.com/flash2.php
for a brilliant demonstration of the multiple dimensions.