Escape from Shadow Physics: The Quest to End the Dark Ages of Quantum Theory

MIT researcher Kay debuts with a rigorous investigation of whether quantum mechanics constitutes the most fundamental means of understanding physics or if there’s “more detail hiding at a deeper level.” The implications are huge, Kay contends, explaining that if the former is true, then the “moon is not there when nobody looks at it” and “an entirely new universe is created each time something happens.” Kay describes Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein’s debates on the subject, with the latter playing skeptic to the former’s arguments in favor of the physics community’s consensus that quantum mechanics is fundamental and objects don’t exist “separately of any observation.” This dogma is incorrect, Kay argues, suggesting that because quantum mechanics is statistical by nature, it cannot be complete because there has to be a deeper explanation underlying the statistical patterns that the theory describes. The author also traces how scientific resistance to the theory of plate tectonics and the idea that heat is “an emergent property” rather than a discrete “thing” gave way to mounting contrary evidence, suggesting Bohr’s adherents will face a similar reckoning in light of future discoveries. The focus on theory ensures this doesn’t get bogged down in abstruse equations, and the generous historical context offers a point of entry for those with only passing knowledge of quantum theory. Readers will be enlightened. (June)