THE ACTION IN HEΑRT OF PHYSICS

in matter, radiation, and space time

..... these pages are anthologized excerpts from my book

‘the action in heart of physics’

ISBN9786204954271 publisher LAP LAMBERT AcademicPublishing

PROLOGUE

...the gap between the continuous and the discrete is "that permanent barrier" that plays an important role in

mathematics, philosophy and even physics (A Fraenkel (Vilenkin 1997)

Matter and light are a single entity and the apparent dualism is due to the limitations of our language

(Heisenberg)

In this book we followed in physics, the long course of the concept of action which contributed to the

dissolution of prejudices about the world of phenomena, based on the power of mathematical technique and the

human power of creation.

The origin of the IDEA is related to Fermat's Principle for the shortest path of light and its conception took place

through searches in questions such as "among the various paths for the movement of a body, which one does the

body choose in a certain environment?"

"Is there some deeper secret that includes the mathematical propositions of Newton's laws? »

Action appears first in the world of discrete matter, where combined with Euler's mathematics, it gave us an

amazing principle, the principle of least action, and transformed Newtonian physics into the analytical mechanics

of Lagrange and finally Hamilton. It was a work of mathematics"

Later in the book, the action moved into the world of the continuum, of thermodynamics, where the surprise of

nature was the emergence of the discrete from the continuum, when the prophet Planck gave us the atom of action

in the nature of the continuum, analogous to the atom of of matter in the discrete.. This Planck atom led us to

quantum physics, which we will eventually apply to a new idea, that of the discontinuity of space and time, -which

is our final goal,-where the last refuge is of the continuum. Interpretations of the basic "paradoxes" of quantum

mechanics, from the principle of uncertainty relations to the waves of matter and the interpretation of the Bohr

atom, will thus emerge, simply by removing the continuity of space and time from the principles of physics.

Serres January 30, 2022 George Mpantes

continuous and discrete

the action in matter, radiation and space time

 We are all familiar with the ideas of continuity and discreteness. Continuous means an unbroken or unbroken

whole, such as the ocean or the sky. A continuous entity - a continuum - has no "gaps". The opposite of continuity

is interactivity: discrete means to separate, like scattered pebbles on a beach or leaves on a tree. Continuity means

unity, discreteness, multiplicity.

The contrast between continuity and discreteness played an important role in ancient Greek philosophy,

Anaxagoras argued that "there is no minimal part, of the small, there is always a smaller one, because the being

cannot cease to exist" and this view was adopted by Aristotle . For the discrete, Democritus believed that atoms

were uniform, solid, hard, incompressible and indestructible and that they moved in infinite numbers through

empty space until they stopped. The differences in atomic shape and size determined the various properties of

matter.

but modern science has opposed the strong Aristotelian denial of the individual school. Modern physical and

chemical theories have provided us with a wealth of verifications of a distinct world of physical phenomena:

atomism has won the race in electricity, thermal radiation in light, and modern physics has concentrated on the

study of elementary particles.

and math? In the era of the great mathematicians Cauchy, Wierstrass, Dedekind, Cantor, the

physics of matter and radiation was the physics of the continuum, space and time, but always mathematics is the

language of physics. So the numbers had to become a continuous set and thus the "numerical continuum" was

established, but later... the radiation became discontinuous.¨ the numerical analysis proved futile. and this is

because:

the continuum is reduced to numbers, which are neither material nor have any substratum according to matter,

but exist independently ....(Pythagoreans)

this Pythagorean proposition defines the problem of the continuum transferred from philosophy to

the continuum of real numbers R, which approaches the study of nature, through a philosophical doctrine.

But the final decision lies in experimental physics. We say that time is continuous, just as we used to think that

time was absolute or that blackbody radiation was a continuous distribution. They were really hypothetical, but

fruitful for the experiments of the time.

Bertrand Russel writes in his book "Analysis of Matter": we must assume, as Henry Poincaré

pointed out, as Pythagoras clearly believed, that space and time are granular and not continuous, that is, the

distance between two bodies must is always an integer multiple of unity and the same for the time between two

events.. Continuity is in perception there is no indication of continuity in physical process.

< Thus the continuum of numbers, that is, the conceptual world of mathematics, is so foreign to

what the intuitive continuum presents us that the demand for coincidence between the two must be rejected as

absurd. However, these abstract figures which mathematics provides us must also form the basis of the exact

science of the domain of objects in which continua play a role... (Wey l Das Continuum 1918>

.. It is indeed true that this system of numerical continuity is logically secure. But did this turn out to correspond to

nature? … (Einstein's Skeptic)

the action in matter, radiation and space time

The dynamic intuition of motion is confused with the static concept of continuity. Mathematics cannot define

whether motion is continuous because that leads to hypothetical relationships and can define its variable

continuous or discontinuous as preference (Boyer) Thus calculus remains a philosophical and not a physical

theory, because mathematics is philosophy and mathematicians are philosophers of abstract relations (D'Abro).

Lagrange, Euler and action

In the history of science, there have been three views on the philosophical reasoning of the minimum of action:

the perfection of God (the theological view), the economy of nature (the teleological view), and the economy of

the human mind.

human eyes and ears are bad witnesses...Heraclitus

In the 18th century, two major developments took place at the heart of natural philosophy: Lagrange's

mechanics and Euler's calculus of variations. The two courses met in the 1850s, with the aim of showing that

Newton's laws can be replaced by a new principle beyond forces and accelerations, which is more suitable for use:

it is the principle of least action.

1. Lagrange (1788 will present the leading work of the time, – Analytical Mechanics) reformulated the

Newtonian edifice through D'Alembert's ideas and principles, giving an alternative prescription to Newton's laws

for rewriting the equations of motion. It is analytical mechanics that bases its study on two monometric (scalar)

quantities

the Kinetic Energy and

Dynamic Energy

When the forces produced in the system are potential only, Lagrange's equations of motion take the form, in

generalized coordinates
𝒅 𝝏𝑳 𝝏𝑳
…𝒅𝒕 (𝝏𝒒 )=
𝒒𝒊
… … … … … (𝟏) …………(1) the symbol L = T - V is the Lagrangian function,
𝒊

with T the kinetic energy, and V the potential energy of the system. The relationship between them in a

conservative system is the famous equation Euler–Lagrange. These equations are also used in other branches of

physics, qi being generalized coordinates and dqi/dt generalized velocities. The generalized coordinates. are

appropriately chosen variables to describe movements subject to bonds. For example, the position of a particle

which is constrained to move on a circle of given radius ℓ (eg, the simple pendulum) is described by a single

variable, which is an angle θ.

For a large class of mechanical systems, the Lagrange equations provide a unique and sufficiently simple method

of constructing equations of motion that are independent of the form (complexity) of the actual system. the main

advantage is their number is equal to the degrees of freedom of the system and is independent of the number of

points and bodies of the system.

Finally the Lagrangian method has the advantage that once we record L=T-V we don't have to think anymore.

We derivate appropriately and have the equations of motion (1) in this sense in Lagrangian mechanics we do not

the action in matter, radiation and space time

have shapes, vectors, etc. but only analytical relations (analytical mechanics). thus we can consider Lagrange as

the Weierstras of mechanics.

To set up equations (1), it is necessary to find the expression for L and then the equations will contain the

coordinates qi , and their first and second derivatives with respect to time, i.e. they will be second order differential

equations with respect to qi. The functions qi(t), i.e. the law of motion of the system in generalized coordinates,

can be found by integrating these equations and determining the constants of integration from the initial

conditions.

Example of Lagrangian application

We will consider in Cartesian coordinates the more general problem of a particle moving in an arbitrary way in a
2
potential V(x) (for this reason we will keep one dimension). The Lagrangian is then L=(m(x ) /2 – V(x) and the
𝑑𝑉
Euler-Lagrange equation, gives 𝑚𝑥 = − 𝑑𝑥 But -dV/dx is the force on the particle. So we have the same

conclusion that F = ma states when we use a Cartesian coordinate in one dimension, but this result is actually quite

general, an equivalence arises between the two methods that Newton and Lagrangian:

d/dt (∂L/(∂x ̇ )=∂L/∂x ↔ F=ma which will has long story later.

2. Euler and action

In 1755 the Euler – Lagrange equation will make its appearance. Euler began the study of the subject in 1834 he

discovered the calculus of VARIATIONS a branch of mathematics, a kind of generalization of the calculus that

measures extremes that are subject to restrictions, - the functionals - e.g. the shape of a line of a certain length to

enclose the maximum area: answer, circle

"…..The principles of change proposed in physics are surrounded by a philosophical mysticism which delayed the

assessment of their value..." J.W.Leech

In physics, action is a numerical value that describes how a physical system has changed over time. Action is

important because the equations of motion of a system can be derived through the principle of least (stationary)

action. What is action as an image of intuition? it is something like fatigue something like effort, like nature's

effort, or our own let's imagine that we are pushing a cart, our effort lies in its weight and the speed of transport

(momentum) and the length of the path or even in our energy and time of the effort.

Teleology in physics comes back through the principle of least action, PLA, a principle of change with a long

history, with mathematical foundations and continuous verification by experimental physics. It is the principle that

denies the omnipotence of the deterministic mechanism.

We will look at the history of action from Maupertius to Hamilton

Maupertius was the pioneer of this idea, around 1744 he formulated this principle in its first form (Jerom Fee) with

the intuition that the perfection of the universe requires an economy in changes and an opposition of nature itself to

an unnecessary expenditure of energy. The natural motions must be such as to render some quantity minimal

the action in matter, radiation and space time

 "..Having established that the laws of motion deduced (from the principle of least action) are exactly those

observed in nature, we may admire its application to all phenomena, to the motion of animals to the growth of

plants to the rotation of heavenly bodies: and the impressive spectacle of the universe becomes the greater, the

more beautiful the more worthy of its Creator...these laws, so beautiful and so simple are perhaps the only ones

that the Creator and Organizer of things has installed in matter, with the purpose of it affects all the phenomena of

the visible world....”Maupertius

Fifty years after Newton, the principle of least action (AED) was formulated, first by the Frenchman

Maupertius and finally by the Irishman William Hamilton. The first was incomplete and descriptive, the second is

based on the mathematical theory of changes.

the successive definitions of the action in its evolution are

the action of Maupertius

𝑡2
𝛪= 𝑡1
2𝑘𝑑𝑡 integral of twice the kinetic energy of the system during the time interval of the movement,

applied only to the light not the matter. This alternative way of describing the world, met with reactions, even

sarcasm as a theological teleology. In the writings of Maupertius we read: “ACTION is analogous to the product

"mass, velocity, position". And now here is this Principle, so wise, so worthy of the supreme Being: As certain

changes take place in the temple, the amount of ACTION required for these changes is always less, the least

possible.”

In the same year, Leonhard Euler also presents it through an excellent mathematical treatment in Methodus

Inveniendi Lineas Curvas Maximi Minive Proprietate Gaudentes. The one who will attach special importance to it

is the Italian-French Joseph Luis Lagrange.

𝑏
the action of Euler, (1744) a few months after Maupertius Euler defines the action 𝛪 = 𝑎
𝑚𝜐 𝑑𝑠 the integral of

the momentum over the path S is applied to the motion of matter and not of light, it has dimensions of momentum

along length and will argue that "the trajectory which a body will follow, will be the one for which the integral

ACTION will have the minimum value"

the Lagrange action

𝑡2
𝛪= 𝑡1
𝐿𝑞 𝑡 𝑞′ 𝑡 𝑑𝑡 where is the action of a particle moving with changing speed and associated with some

potential energy. The number I does not depend on t but on the function q(t). So we want to find the appropriate

q(t) (the exact path) to make the value of I extreme (stationary value) δ I=0

In the calculus of Euler transformations it is proved that: if the function q(x) (functional) yields a finite value in

the integral I, (action) then the Euler-Lagrange equations hold (necessary conditions). conditions whose endpoints

are fixed.

It can also be proved conversely that the Euler-Lagrange equations (connection of the Lagrange action and the

Euler extrema) are sufficient conditions for the change of the integral to be zero.

the action in matter, radiation and space time

 FINALLY WE HAVE

𝒕𝟐
𝒅 𝝏𝑳 𝝏𝑳
𝜹 𝑳 𝒒 𝒕 . 𝒒′ (𝒕) 𝒅𝒕 = 𝟎 ↔ ( − = 𝟎)
𝒕𝟏 𝒅𝒕 𝝏𝒒 𝝏𝒒

this is the principle of least action, and Hamilton gives its meaning.

HAMILTON'S PRINCIPLE

A particle that starts from point A at time t1 and reaches point B at time t2 follows in the intermediate time the
𝒕𝟐
path for which the quantity Ι = 𝒕𝟏
𝑳 𝒒 𝒕 . 𝒒′ (𝒕) 𝒅𝒕 is stationary, (maximum or minimum).

So we have two versions of the interpretation, either the motion is "accomplished" from moment to moment by

causes acting simultaneously, it is the deterministic interpretation, or the Hamiltonian motion minimizes the

integral of the action, the entire path is involved in the interpretation, it is a holistic law .

A missile fired into the air performs a parabolic trajectory until it stops on the ground. Why is its orbit

parabolic? Is this parable the cause or effect of the move? It is the result, says the Newtonian view. The result of

the synthesis of two forces, inertial and gravitational, which push the projectile into the parabolic orbit.

In Hamilton's formulation, a real orbit is imagined by all the possible orbits

that the system could conceivably follow, calculating the action of each orbit

between the two moments t1 and t2, and choosing the one that makes the action

minimal, so the cause is parable says the principle of Hamilton.

Hamilton's principle minimizes the totality of the action, that is, the action in

the whole path, the whole path is involved in the interpretation, it is a holistic law. The Newtonian interpretation

of differential equations is descriptions of quantitative relations that are located at a particular point in space, at a

particular point in time. The movement is 'realized' from time to time by causes acting at the same time. It is the

deterministic interpretation.

The holistic interpretation is easy to describe but difficult to understand, the deterministic the opposite.

So how should we understand the phenomenon? Depending on which principle is fundamental in physics,

deterministic or holistic, which within the framework of classical engineering we have seen to be equivalent.

Modern science does not have a dogma, but it has a common core of methods, all of which are based on

empirical observations and their articulation with the help of mathematical tools.

But how should we understand the phenomenon? It depends on which principle is fundamental in physics,

deterministic or holistic, and in the context of classical mechanics we have seen that they are equivalent.

So we have two versions of the interpretation, either the motion is "accomplished" from moment to moment by

causes acting simultaneously, it is the deterministic interpretation, or the Hamiltonian motion minimizes the

integral of the action, the entire path is involved in the interpretation, it is a holistic law .

the action in matter, radiation and space time

 But how should we understand the phenomenon? It depends on which principle is fundamental in physics,

deterministic or holistic, and in the context of classical mechanics we have seen that they are equivalent.

But it seems that nature prefers the action version. PLA has invaded physics so that all physics can be

rewritten in easier or minimal terms. Light finds the shortest path in an optical system, the trajectory of a body in

the gravitational field is a geodesic, that is, a path with the shortest "space-time" length. Thomson's theorem states

that electrically charged particles move towards each other as if they had the least energy, however, we can use

AED in relativity if we find the right form for the action, such an easy and successful variational principle has been

applied to general relativity of Taylor and Wheeler on the exploration of black holes.... ( M.Hancova ). Larmor

applied the calculus of variations to electromagnetic phenomena and showed that Maxwell's laws can be derived

from a suitable mathematical expression L of the electromagnetic action function, from PLA.

Here we finish the physics of the continuum with the familiar steps of infinite calculus, which described the

changes in the known environment of space and time, and our known dimensions of the involved bodies of our

known world.

Sources

Classical mechanics J.W.LEECH Methuen&Co.LTD and science Paperbacks1965

A.d'ABRO The rise of new physics Dover publications New York1952

XATZIDIMITRIOU Theoretical mechanics University of Thessaloniki1971

BRIZART An introduction to Lagrangian mechanics ALAIN J. World scientific 2015

ALBERTO ROJO, ANTHONY BLOCH The principle of least action Cambridge University Press

CHAPTER TWO: THERMODYNAMICS

black body and thermal radiation

Thermodynamics is the study of the relationships between heat and other forms of energy. Heat and light, in their

career, started as brothers, but in their evolution they took other paths of kinship, it was the path of the continuous

and the path of the discrete. Thermal radiation is characterized by the emission of electromagnetic waves from

materials (change in their internal energy). Depending on the temperature of the material, it emits radiation ranging

from ultraviolet to infrared.

As physicists extend the 19th-century laws of thermodynamics into the quantum realm, they are rewriting the

way they interpret electromagnetic waves. Thus it is a common view in the philosophy of physics that

thermodynamics is a non-fundamental theory. This is particularly because thermodynamics is considered an

the action in matter, radiation and space time

example of a theory that can be reduced to another, namely statistical mechanics. For example, the statement

"temperature is average molecular kinetic energy" has become a textbook example of a successful reduction,

despite the fact that this statement is not correct for a wide variety of systems.

in this article I will omit the book's references to thermodynamics due to the limited space of an article.

The experimental observation is described by the black body, although the application of thermodynamics is

mainly limited to gases, it seems that the method is very general and its applications would be possible to all

natural phenomena. So we will illustrate the application with a brief description of blackbody thermal radiation.

(Robert Lindsay}The classical physics view holds that blackbody atoms are oscillators that radiate electromagnetic

waves of all wavelengths.

Here, we describe it with a picture, there is a heated casing of any material. We open a pin-sized opening in its

wall and examine the color and intensity of the light rays emitted when the temperature is raised. The experimenter

notes that as the temperature increases, the color of the light rays gradually changes from red to white. He then

studies the density of the emitted radiation and finds it to be proportional to the fourth power of the absolute

temperature of the envelope.

as a result of these calculations it was found to be quite impossible to reconcile the existence of the facts revealed

by the black body experiments, with any theory of continuous emission of light, where we suppose that the atoms

in the heated envelope emitted its radiations continuously.. the experimental methods are

Stefan-Boltzmann found that the emissivity A, which is the quotient of the total radiated power of a black body to

its surface area S, is proportional to the fourth power of the body's absolute temperature: A = σ T4 , where σ is a

fundamental physical constant known as the Stefan-Boltzmann constant.

Wien's displacement law (see figure below), relates the temperature of the body (in Kelvin) to the wavelength

λmax, at which the blackbody emits the largest percentage of radiated power. In fact, these two quantities are

inversely proportional or that their product is a constant equal to 2.90.10-3 m K.

Wien's law therefore becomes λmax• T = 2.90.10-3.

With the statistical method we approximate another law for blackbody radiation, the law of
8𝜋𝑣 2
Rayleigh-Jeans 𝑅 𝜈, 𝑡 = 𝑐3
𝑘𝑇 … … … (6) the Rayleigh-Jeans law (ultraviolet destruction) forced Plank

in an "act of desperation" to abandon the wave (i.e. continuum) model and replace it with another statistical one

that sees light as a stream of particles or photons ( quantum statistics)

the quantum statistics of radiation Planck's law

APPENDIX 3
8𝜋𝜈 3
Planck's law as shown in the appendix is 𝑅 𝜈𝛵 = ℎ𝜈 ……..(11)
𝑐 3 (𝑒 𝜅𝛵 −1)

a relationship that verifies the experimental data, as shown in the next figure
x
For hν<<κΤ from the relation e ≈1+x (11) gives the Rayleigh-Jeans formula. Even if we complete (11) we will

find the total energy density of the black body U=At4 (Stefan – Boltzmann). In order for Planck's theoretical

curves to agree with those observed in experiments, we must assign to h the known value found the known value

the action in matter, radiation and space time

found to be 6.77x10-27 erg sec. The numerical smallness of this value makes quantum theory irrelevant to the

large-scale phenomena we encounter in our daily lives, and emerge only in processes that occur on an atomic

scale.

The description of h as the atom of action

We have now reached a turning point. From the expression for the energy atom or quantum hν, where h is a

constant and ν the frequency of the radiation, it is evident that there are as many different types of energy quanta as

there are different frequencies of the radiation. There is no single kind of energy quantum in nature. What is

universal is not the quantum hν, but the constant h. It can be shown that Planck's constant h is not a simple

number. It represents a finite abstract mathematical entity, which is action. Generally in physics, the term quantum

or quantum refers to a dimensionless unit of quantity, an "amount of something, Wikipedia". That is, it is the

smallest possible unit of the concept to which it refers, and all quantities of this concept are always integer

multiples of this unit. There can be no decimal quantities. For example, a light quantum is a unit of light (or

photon) and references to light quanta are always whole numbers. An entirely new conceptual framework

developed around the concept of "quanta" during the first half of the 20th century. This is the conceptual

framework of Quantum Mechanics. Quantum mechanics is considered more fundamental than classical mechanics,

as it explains phenomena that classical mechanics and classical electrodynamics fail to describe.

WE SHOULD THEREFORE ACCEPT THAT AS THERE ARE ATOMS OF ACTION IN NATURE SO IT IS

SYMMETRICAL THERE ARE ATOMS OF MATTER,

here we establish the relationship of matter and radiation. But what is the deeper meaning of the person of action?

Does it have some deeper meaning, or is its discovery the equivalent of discovering a new variety of flower or a

new mineral?

The verdict of the scientists is that the individuality of action entails a gigantic revolution in the understanding of

nature, and it would seem that the progress of our insight into the laws of nature even with the assistance of

relativity, was still very crude. The deeper laws that describe the microscopic world will seem to have completely

escaped us. No rigid deterministic pattern is evident in nature, and when we want to study how these jumps follow

one another we cannot establish precise laws and are forced to adopt statistical considerations and probabilities, or,

in Weyl's words: no causality of natural significance based on rigorously exact laws... Above all, the ominous

clouds of those phenomena which we seek to explain through the quantum of action, cast their shadows over the

sphere of natural knowledge threatening no one knows any more a new revolution .

the action in matter, radiation and space time

It is evident that the more we study nature the more the common sense of our time will be subjected to unpleasant

vibrations. and this is natural, since the more refined our inquiries, the farther we shall wander from the familiar

world of common experience.

We must mention here the relationship of AED in matter with quantum h in radiation.

CHAPTER THREE: INTRODUCTION TO QUANTUM THEORY

Quantum mechanics

is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at

the scale of atoms and subatomic particles

the famous principles of quantum theory are

de Broglie's material waves

the uncertainty principle of Heisenberg

At the end of the 19th century, scientists were confronted with some observations that did not fit in

with Newton's laws, and this led to subsequent revolutions in physics, the theory of relativity, and quantum

mechanics. While the methods of quantum mechanics have proven their usefulness, there is still no consensus

today on what quantum mechanics really "means". Some say that the question itself does not make sense, that

mathematics speaks for itself.

in the early days of quantum mechanics, there was a great hope, not realized by future developments,

that quantum theory was leading physics to the picture of the world in which there is actually discreteness at

the tiniest levels. In the successful theories of our present day, as things have turned out , we take spacetine as a

continuum even when quantum concepts are involved , and ideas that involve small-scale spacetime discreteness

must be regarded as unconventional….. (Penrose 2005,363)

Is space time really a continuum with points being described at-least-locally – by lists of real

numbers?

But the atomicity of action that is behind theses views suggests that change is always discontinuous;

that a system passes from on state to another not in a continuous way but by a series of jerks or jumps. When we

wish to decide how the jumps follow one another , no exact laws can be formulated; and we are compelled to

appeal to statistical considerations and probabilities, no rigid deterministic scheme is apparent in nature. „’…in

the realm of the microscopic, we appear to be confronted with total chaos and anarchy. the past does not entail

the present, as it would in a purely deterministic scheme. Free will appears to be rampant and our sole means of

prevision is to establish averages just as a life –insurance company does when it fixes its premiums. Statistic

and probability blind chance and uncertainty, replace determinism. ….A.D’Abro;

Above all, the ominous clouds of those phenomena that we are with varying success seeking to explain

by means of the quantum of action, are throwing their shadows over the sphere of physical knowledge

threatening no one knows what new revolution…Weyl

the action in matter, radiation and space time

 De Broglie and Schrodinger initiated a new mathematical method for investigating quantum

phenomena and were thus led to predict wave properties for matter. Heisenberg and Dirac, by following a

different method, arrived at similar conclusions. Either method can be used to obtain Heisenberg‟s famous

„uncertainty relations‟ which symbolize the breakdown of strict causality and the absence of rigid natural laws,

such a meaning has a philosophical background based in a philosophical doctrine as old as Aristotle:this of

continuity of space and time.

Descriptions of quantum mechanics are conventionally cast in terms of the Copenhagen interpretation. This

interpretation was primarily the offspring of Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg and today an evolved Copenhagen

remains the consensus view among most physicists.

"Or will we ever be able to acquire some kind of intuitive understanding beyond mathematics?" Science
opens wide the narrow window through which we are accustomed to see the range of possibilities. In the limited
world where our brains evolved we only have medium bodies and low speeds. The assumptions that quantum
theory must make in order to achieve its predictions are so mysterious that Feynman put it this way: "no one
understands quantum mechanics." None interpretation of quantum mechanics satisfies our common human logic
or intuition. The toughest physicists do not care. It's important that the math works' and the predictions are
confirmed experimentally. But it seems that we need some kind of visualization for what is really happening…
Dawkins ".
this visualization of Dawkins is the quantization of space and time we will see later in the book.
The two principles that express in qualitative terms the axiomatic basis of quantum mechanics are

1. the uncertainty principle of Heisenberg and

2. Principle of complementarity-material waves 1929

But the atomicity of action that is behind theses views, suggests that change is always

discontinuous; that a system passes from on state to another not in a continuous way but by a series of jerks or

jumps. When we wish to decide how the jumps follow one another , no exact laws can be formulated; and we

are compelled to appeal to statistical considerations and probabilities, no rigid deterministic scheme is apparent

in nature. „’…in the realm of the microscopic, we appear to be confronted with total chaos and anarchy. the past

does not entail the present, as it would in a purely deterministic scheme. Free will appears to be rampant and

our sole means of prevision is to establish averages just as a life –insurance company does when it fixes its

premiums. Statistic and probability blind chance and uncertainty, replace determinism. ….A.D’Abro;

Above all, the ominous clouds of those phenomena that we are with varying success seeking to explain

by means of the quantum of action, are throwing their shadows over the sphere of physical knowledge

threatening no one knows what new revolution…Weyl

De Broglie and Schrodinger initiated a new mathematical method for investigating quantum

phenomena and were thus led to predict wave properties for matter. Heisenberg and Dirac, by following a

the action in matter, radiation and space time

 different method, arrived at similar conclusions. Either method can be used to obtain Heisenberg‟s famous

„uncertainty relations‟ which symbolize the breakdown of strict causality and the absence of rigid natural laws.

Descriptions of quantum mechanics are conventionally cast in terms of the Copenhagen interpretation. This

interpretation was primarily the offspring of Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg and today an evolved Copenhagen

remains the consensus view among most physicists.

Descriptions of quantum mechanics are conventionally cast in terms of the Copenhagen

interpretation. This interpretation was primarily the offspring of Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg and today an

evolved Copenhagen remains the consensus view among most physicists.

Heinsemberg's uncertainty principles,

He is known for the uncertainty principle, which he published in 1927. Heisenberg was awarded the 1932 Nobel

Prize in Physics "for the creation of quantum mechanics”

Basic ideas about space, time, and motion were grounded in "common sense" until science progressed beyond

the boundaries that limited scientists in the past. Common sense earlier used to lead us to believe that the earth was

flat, the basic physical concepts of space, time and motion were established, valid and subject to common sense.

Then a contradiction arose mainly from Michelson's experiments which referred to the speed of light, which led

Einstein to omit the old common concepts of time calculation, distance measurements and mechanics, which led to

the foundation of the theory of relativity. It turned out that for high speeds and long distances and time periods

things were not as they seemed to be, and he began to criticize basic concepts such as the simultaneity of two

events at a distance.

Heisenberg realized that a revolutionary similar situation would exists in the field of quantum theory and

proceeded to what happens in the classical mechanics of material bodies when we intervene in the field of atomic

phenomena. He attacked the basic concept of classical mechanics, the concept of the trajectory of a moving

material body, which had long been defined as a path along which the body moves in space. In the limiting case

where the mathematical calculation was used the "body" was a mathematical point (without dimensions) as

defined by Euclid while the path a mathematical line without thickness as again with the Euclidean source. No one

doubted that this limit picture was the best possible description, and that by minimizing the experimental errors of

the body's coordinates and velocity we would get closer and closer to the exact description of motion.

the action in matter, radiation and space time

 Βut Heisenberg doubted. While this picture would be true if the world were governed by the laws of classical

physics, it showed that the existence of quantum phenomena could reverse the situation.

In his thought experiment of the figure he attempted to measure the position of an electron with a gamma-ray

microscope, and argued that the experiment approach was impossible because of the dual nature of light, the waves

and quanta of light, photons, the which are emitted to illuminate the path of the electron and determine its position.

The smallest amount of energy emitted by a flash of light is equal to hν, which corresponds to mechanical

momentum hν/c (momentum of the photon). On reflection of the photon to the telescope of the figure, some of

it‟s momentum will communicate with the electron changing the momentum of the electron to

Γp=hν/c=h/λ............(1)

which is interpreted as the uncertainty of the electron's momentum from the effect of the photon.

still the uncertainty of the Γq position of the electron, is also due to the wavelength of the photon that illuminates

it, which is Γq=λ= c/ν... (2)

and from 1 and 2 we have that their product is

Γp. Γq = h......(3).

this is Heinsenberg's famous uncertainty principle, (1927) it is impossible to know precisely the position and

velocity of a particle either practically or theoretically.

Now since in the theory of relativity, time serves as a fourth coordinate and energy as a fourth coordinate of
1
mechanical momentum we would expect that there is a fourth uncertainty relation: ΔE.Δt~h. (Gamow)

CHAPTER FOUR: THE ACTION IN SPACE-TIME

quantum conditions of space time

1
from the book “thirty years that shook physics”, George Gamow

the action in matter, radiation and space time

We will assign a physical meaning to the concept of the "event" of flat space-time: in the history of physics, space

and time take meaning from bodies and their movements (relativity), so how is their behavior designed in terms of

their continuum or not , by the numbers, without the bodies? in this chapter we will create a physical sense: of the

point in space and the moment in time. We will see even deeper versions of the action as a continuation of this

magical concept: now the atom of action will penetrate in quantum mechanics.

IF WE THINK THE PHYSICAL EXISTENCE OF THE ATOM OF ACTION h, WE MUST ALSO

CONSIDER THE EXISTENCE OF THE ATOM OF SPACE WHERE THE ATOM OF THE ACTION

ΑCTIVATES, AS WELL AS THE ATOM OF TIME.

the point in space of the trajectory of a body is denoted Sq

is now given by

Sq=h/p (4) h is Plank's constant and p is its momentum.

the atom of time in a body‟s motion

tq=h/E ....5)
from 4 and 5 the quantification of action is direct and natural

Action=(energy)x (time)=E.t=h

and, since

Action=(momentum) x (distance)=p.Sq=h

the quantities tq and Sq are the atoms of time and space in changes, as h is the atom of action in nature.

the new interpretation of uncertainty principles from quantization of space and time

The physical "existence" of the space-time point will give a new interpretation to the uncertainty principles,

beyond the Heisenberg interpretation we have seen.

It is known that every measurement of a physical quantity causes a change in the state of the system in which

the measurement takes place. In particular, the ordering of the micro-particle is not negligible.

This disturbance is caused by the application of a force F to it, which will act for a spatial interval Γx and a

temporal also Γt of the history of the particle we are measuring. The application is not instantaneous so the action

of F will cause a change in the measured quantity. This is the uncertainty in the measurement values of momentum

and energy These intervals cannot be as small as we wish: Γx=Sq and Γt=tq however precise the experimental

conditions.

Then the force F, acting on the body, for a finite space and time interval will change the momentum and energy of

the body according to the formulas of the continuous picture

This disturbance is caused by the application of a force F to it, which will act for a spatial interval Γx and a

temporal also Γt of the history of the particle we are measuring. The application is not instantaneous so the action

of F will cause a change in the measured quantity. This is the uncertainty in the measurement values of momentum

the action in matter, radiation and space time

and energy These intervals cannot be as small as we wish: Γx=S.q and Γt=t.q however precise the experimental

conditions are.

Then the force F, acting on the body, for a finite space and time interval will change the momentum and energy of

the body according to the formulas of the continuous picture.

Γp=FΓ t…..(6)

ΓE=FΓx………….(7)

Eliminating F from (6) and (7) we have

Γp.Γx=ΓE.Γt = h ……(8) which is the principles of uncertainty that Heisenberg realised.

the new meaning of this relation 8 is that as the point in space and the instant in time have finite dimensions that

express the discontinuity which space time attributes to the history of bodies.

The quantities tq and Sq are the atoms of time and time as h is the atom of action in nature. and since each

member of the relationship has dimensions of action we finally have in the quantum image of the very small, the

principles of uncertainty.

The new interpretation is that since the point in space and the moment in time have acquired quantum

dimensions, the equations of (8) express the discontinuity that space-time attributes to the history of material

bodies. These in the continuous description of space-time are metaphysical principles without a physical basis just

to maintain the continuum in space and time as some "holy principle", attribute the quantum principles of

uncertainty which arise in Fourier analysis from the contribution of the many waves in de Broglie wavelet, and

their verification is done with a series of ideal experiments.

(8) is still interpreted: the change of energy by δ=ΓE cannot occur instantaneously, but within some finite time

interval h/ΓE. The "momentum" for the change in energy ΓE is Γt=h/ΓE. For the interval Γt, the principle of

conservation of energy is violated which is restored at the end of the interval. Similarly the change in momentum

by Γp requires some space interval to occur. The shortest interval is h/Γp. This is the point of change of

momentum just as h/ΓE is the "moment" of change of energy by ΓE.

the photon

Here we will interpret the particle nature of light, attributing it to quantized spacetime. The wave nature of light is

interrupted at the time quantum tq where there is no time and therefore no continuity. At point A of the

propagation of the electromagnetic theory we have the appearance of energy E=ΓE in time T=Γt. As follows from

(8)

E=h/T=hν……………(9)

Its action acts discontinuously although the nature of its change is continuous, since in some shorter time the

principle of conservation of energy is violated: the moment of change is the period T. Thus at the end of each

period, the amount of energy hν appears in the interactions . This image exists at every point of the light's path.

Therefore, the "phenomenon" propagates with speed c, that is, we have the appearance of energy hν per period

giving substance to the discontinuity of the light ray, the particle behavior of light (photoelectric effect).

the action in matter, radiation and space time

This image tells us that the photon is not of the same status as the material body in terms of its existence and

motion. The photon here and there is not the same. That is, it is not the same photon that moves like the particle,

but different slices hν of the electromagnetic radiation, which is existed by the quantized dynamic existence of

space-time. The propagation of the phenomenon that creates this fragmentation is equivalent in description to the

displacement of the amount of energy hν, thus also to a transfer of momentum p=h/λ. Now the particle description,

and therefore reality, is complete. The photon expresses the effect of space-time quantization in Maxwell's

radiation.

the quantization of spacetime also interprets the wave nature of matter with Broglie's mathematics. This

doctrine is famous for its vagueness and ambiguity and became a cornerstone of the interpretation of quantum

mechanics by the Copenhagen school and the Bohr atom and was then extended as a general concept – the wave

nature of matter-.

END

the action in matter, radiation and space time