[HN Gopher] The Theory That There Is Only One Electron in the Un...
___________________________________________________________________
The Theory That There Is Only One Electron in the Universe
Author : danboarder
Score : 39 points
Date : 2024-04-18 20:17 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.iflscience.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.iflscience.com)
| p1mrx wrote:
| If there were really only one electron, somebody in the universe
| would have broken it by now. Or maybe there is a great filter
| prohibiting any intelligence capable of poking too hard.
| dhosek wrote:
| Ah, but because it moves backwards and forwards in time, (the
| positrons are that same electron going backwards in time), even
| if it does get broken, you wouldn't know.
| pixl97 wrote:
| Quantum immortality. In the universe branches we've screwed
| with that electron we exploded and disappeared.
| bee_rider wrote:
| That would also explain why there don't seem to be many
| advanced species out there; maybe we can only be observing
| universes in which we're among the first, because it is less
| likely that we'll not-die in a universe where everybody is
| poking the electron and exploding everything.
| FrankWilhoit wrote:
| ...and Wheeler stole it from Stueckelberg.
| temporarely wrote:
| Looked him up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Stueckelberg
|
| So update meme: "publish in a major journal or languish"
| airstrike wrote:
| [delayed]
| openrisk wrote:
| Its more a reinterpretation than a different theory because all
| computations are still the same. There are no alternative
| predictions for any measurable quantities.
| webwielder2 wrote:
| Are there really electrons? Or does observable phenomena simply
| fit with the theory of electrons?
| adolph wrote:
| If theory bounding the observer's sense-making apparatus does
| not refute the electron, then make of it what you will.
| JadeNB wrote:
| > Are there really electrons? Or does observable phenomena
| simply fit with the theory of electrons?
|
| Practically speaking, what is the difference?
| Wowfunhappy wrote:
| There isn't a difference, but you could say the same about
| this one electron idea.
| javajosh wrote:
| I propose a new flat electron theory. They do in fact orbit the
| nuclei in a simple orbit. It's just that Maxwell's equations
| don't apply at those length scales. Electron tunneling is a
| conspiracy designed to hide the truth.
|
| This is of course a sarcastic aside, but I have to admit even
| toying with the idea of throwing out observations you don't
| like feels really good. I see why for some unbinding their
| beliefs from the constraints of reality is so appealing.
| guerrilla wrote:
| I don't think you understood the question. It was about the
| status of theories, not the status of reality.
| stcredzero wrote:
| _It was about the status of theories, not the status of
| reality._
|
| What is the difference?
| randallsquared wrote:
| "In theory, practice and theory are the same. In
| _practice_..."
| throwawayk7h wrote:
| If you can explain the difference, maybe you can help me make
| sense of postmodern philosophy.
| wwweston wrote:
| It's the usual map / territory or model / reality difference.
| If you've ever heard or said the Box-ism "All models are
| wrong, but some are useful" you've been introduced.
|
| Some practice with it may even be a good intro to some veins
| of actual postmodernism (as opposed to pinata postmodernism
| which is mostly stuffed with straw by people who like hitting
| it).
| Vt71fcAqt7 wrote:
| I think GP's qiestion dates back to earlier than postmodern
| philosophy.
| api wrote:
| Another fun electron hypothesis, also unlikely:
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hole_electron
| nilkn wrote:
| The conventional answer is that all electrons are the same
| because they are all local excited states of a single quantized
| field (the electron field). So we just have to shift perspective
| from "there's only one electron" to "there's only one electron
| field".
| lupire wrote:
| Wikipedia has the same info but better
|
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-electron_universe
| npace12 wrote:
| Mom said it's my turn on the electron
| airstrike wrote:
| [delayed]
| buescher wrote:
| This is the basis of one of my favorite jokes about interview
| questions: "How many electrons are there?" (No, I do not use this
| question)
| tasty_freeze wrote:
| Obviously, Wheeler was much more knowledgeable about physics than
| the likes of me, so my obvious objection must have occurred to
| him, but here it is.
|
| Electrons have mass, so the total mass of a multiple electrons
| must be more than the mass of a single electron. Or is there some
| other mind-bender that would explain why "the" single electron
| appears to have a trillion times it real mass when that
| electron's timeline happens to be considered at a particular
| slice of space and time?
|
| Also, why wouldn't this logic also apply to every other primitive
| particle: there is only one muon, one tau, one up quark, one down
| quark, etc?
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2024-04-18 23:00 UTC)