From Chapter 8 – Understanding Science. © 2020 by Emory Lynn.
According to classical (Newtonian) physics, particles are point-like objects that behave like tiny billiard balls. Given initial conditions of mass, position and motion, how a particle reacts after interacting with other particles is completely deterministic. But matter the size of atoms, subatomic particles and some small molecules behave in ways no self-respecting object of any significant size would be caught behaving, such as having no particular motion, being in no particular place at a given time, at times behaving like a particle while at other times behaving like a wave, at times displaying effects without a cause, and under certain conditions becoming entangled with other quantum entities so that a change in one instantly affects the other no matter how far they are separated. Classical physics can’t handle these types of behavior. It can describe particles and waves, but not both at the same time. A very different type of physics—quantum physics (aka quantum mechanics)—is required to describe the very counterintuitive behavior that occurs in the quantum realm.
The science of quantum physics got its start at the beginning of the 20th century with the discovery by German particle physicist Max Planck that energy is grainy; it exists in tiny packets that Planck called quanta. A particle of light, called a photon, possesses a specific number of quanta of energy, depending on its frequency. Several other physical entities are discrete or quantized, rather than continuous.
Wave-particle duality was a landmark discovery in quantum physics. Quantum particles exhibit properties that are both particle-like (e.g., location and velocity) and wave-like (e.g., wavelength and frequency). Photons are good examples. Although photons are particles, they behave like a wave with a wavelength and frequency. When observed, photons lose their wave-like behavior and exhibit point-like mass behavior. Before detection, the most that can be said about a single photon’s location is that it is “smeared out” among all possible locations based on the wave action of the photon. In reality a quantum particle of any type has no particular location until it is observed. Why does observing the particle have such an effect? Any act of observing a quantum particle involves a change in its momentum which affects its behavior; for example, by registering it in a detector or by bouncing light off the particle in order to “see” it. When interacting with a particle by observing it, the observer disrupts its smeared out wave behavior and forces the particle into exposing a particular location.
Because of this dual nature, the location of a quantum particle is probabilistic rather than deterministic. Prior to its detection, there is a probability of a particle being at any particular location within a range of possible locations. Properties other than location also have probability distributions. Physicists developed a concept called the quantum wave function that yields probabilities for the measurable properties of a quantum particle. When a particle is observed its wave function is said to collapse, and the possible values for the properties of the particle, including possible locations, are reduced to those that are observed.
Another foundational discovery of quantum physics is that physical uncertainties are inherent at the quantum level. Formulated in 1927 by German physicist Werner Heisenberg, the uncertainty principle states that certain pairs of physical properties cannot be measured simultaneously to arbitrarily high precision. One such pair of properties is location and “velocity.”7 At the quantum level, the more accurately you measure a particle’s location the less accurately you can measure its velocity, and vice versa. The sum of the uncertainties for location and velocity cannot be less than a minimum called Planck’s constant, a part of quantum theory discovered by, once again, Max Planck. Uncertainty is not due to a lack of understanding or inaccuracy in measuring instruments or techniques. Quantum level uncertainty is an intrinsic part of the nature of the universe.
The uncertainty principle is fundamental to a phenomenon called quantum fluctuation. Virtual particles and virtual antiparticles spontaneously pop into existence in the vacuum of space from nothing, annihilate each other and disappear. This is allowed by nature as long as the uncertainty in the energy of the particles multiplied by the uncertainty in the time they exist doesn’t exceed a tiny value that is a function of Planck’s constant. In other words, the uncertainty principle allows for a “borrowing” of energy (particle–antiparticle pair creation) without violating the conservation of energy, if the debt is repaid immediately (their annihilation). The existence of these particles has been thoroughly verified by the physical effects they produce. Quantum fluctuations occur everywhere a vacuum exists, even inside atoms. This phenomenon may have major relevance to the big bang and the expansion and future of the universe.
Matter and antimatter are all the time, throughout the Universe, being created from nothing. … If you insist it’s ridiculous, you’ll be forever closed to some of the major findings on the rules that govern the Universe.
— Carl Sagan (The Demon-Haunted World)
The uncertainty principle is also related to the fact that time and space are grainy at the smallest scale. The shortest time that makes any physical sense is called the Planck time, which is an unimaginably tiny 5.4 x10-44 second. The shortest length is the Planck length, the distance light can travel in one Planck time or 1.6 x10-35 meter. Even compared to the radius of an atom the Planck length is unimaginably small.
Although words such as weird, strange and bizarre are regularly used to describe quantum physics, and as the renowned physicist Richard Feynman reportedly said, “If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don’t understand quantum mechanics,” quantum theory is nevertheless the most successful scientific quantitative theory ever. An experiment has never disagreed with quantum theory. Calculations are accurate with extraordinary precision. Quantum theory explains how the chemical elements were created, how stars burn, how radiation is produced and how atoms bond together to form molecules. Great advances in electronics, computing, information processing and imaging are based on the application of quantum theory.
Scientists have a good handle on the what of quantum theory but are still puzzled by the how. There is no substantial consensus among physicists about the correct interpretation of much of quantum theory. However, that doesn’t deter “quantum spiritualists” and God-of-the-gaps theologians from liberally interpreting quantum behavior to their own ends.
Wave-particle duality and the uncertainty principle are the two most fertile areas of quantum theory for theological speculation. Regarding the dual nature of particles, when we observe a particle we collapse its wave function and, in a sense, determine its reality—we change potentiality to actuality! All objects are made of particles. Some believe the behavior of observed particles is controlled by our observation and therefore by our consciousness. Quantum spiritualists get carried away and claim that we can consciously control our own reality, and even claim that the reality of the universe is dependent on conscious thought! I wish I were kidding.
There are three problems with this consciousness-affects-reality interpretation. First, the word observation does not mean conscious awareness. It means detection, and detection in the quantum realm is done with sophisticated, material equipment, not the human mind. As mentioned above, the very act of detecting a quantum particle changes its momentum which collapses its wave function. It’s the detection equipment that does this. Second, when humans are consciously observing something, they are observing enormous ensembles of particles that appear as objects in the classical sense to such a high probability that any deviation from classical behavior is so improbable as to be inconsequential. Third, even if humans could affect physical reality by conscious observation, we could not exercise any deliberate control over the process.
The uncertainty principle shows that there is a realm of physical reality that is indeterminate. This implies gaps in knowledge that can be filled with the workings of God. But, how could a supernatural tweak applied to something so small and seemingly insignificant affect anything on a scale large enough to be meaningful to humans? The quantum spiritualists’ answer is that God can work in ways analogous to the butterfly effect. The butterfly effect is the phenomenon by which a butterfly could, in theory, by flapping its wings, create a tornado far away and days later. The “in theory” part comes from the nonlinear nature of the chaos theory of physics—a tiny, localized change in a complex system can have major, delayed effects elsewhere.
Quantum physics has become one of the last hopes for God-of-the-gaps theology. A few theistic scientists have even been trying to identify ways that God, through quantum physics, could be actively involved in the physical world while remaining hidden and without violating the laws of physics.8 If such a physical possibility can be discovered, it would not imply a reasonable probability, however.
Considering the strangeness and interpretive difficulty of quantum activity, I think the best way to evaluate possible connections between the natural and supernatural via the quantum world is from a philosophical perspective. Here are some good philosophical observations I’ve run across regarding the supernatural intervention of physical reality through quantum physics:9
If science does find ways that God could influence the physical world without violating the laws of physics, “it would become even harder to defend why God doesn’t use this power to alleviate suffering.”
“Suppose God steps in every so often to fix the outcome of a quantum event in the brain—manipulating the motion of electrons to cause a neuron to fire, perhaps, influencing your decision on whether to become a priest or a scientist. In what sense would your career choice then really be your own?”
Human existence was contingent on the impact of an asteroid that finished off the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. “A midsize asteroid contains about 1040 atoms. An unthinkable large number of quantum events would need to be fixed to steer all of those atoms toward Earth in a way that would have led, say, to the extinction of the dinosaurs.”
“From a scientist’s perspective, the difficulty is that this model of divine action is by definition hidden from view, making an experiment to detect it almost impossible to devise. It would be like proving the reality of an invisible, tasteless, odorless, silent, intangible tiger lurking in your garden.”
Notes:
7. Momentum (mass times velocity) is actually the proper variable, but for general audiences it’s more intuitive if it’s thought of as just velocity. Energy and time are also conjugate variables.
8. Zeeya Merali, Physics of the Divine, (Discover magazine, March 2011)
9. The four quotations that follow are from Zeeya Merali, ibid.
