Article View: sci.physics
Article #1016What is not being conserved?
From: Kenneth Tolman
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 03:38
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 03:38
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In QM there is a probability that a photon will end up "hitting" a certain spot. If there is only one photon, and it has a nondetermined end point, then some quantity is not being conserved. Consider if I threw a ball, and then it appeared randomly. How can there be equal and opposite reaction unless it is going to a specific place? Obviously I have something wrong. Does a photon have absolutely zero momentum? I thought that the idea behind solar sailing was to take advantage of incredibly small momentums. The other possibility is that it retroactively changes the transmitter. This seems pretty dubious. Any nondeterminisitic phenomena has this property. In radioactive decay, the unknown is time. There never has been postulated a conservation of time, so this violates no laws. Also, the amount of time an electron is coupled is a function of time, but again time is a friendly thing. Comments?
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Newsgroups: sci.physics Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!hellgate.utah.edu!asylum.utah.edu!tolman From: tolman%asylum.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Kenneth Tolman) Subject: What is not being conserved? Date: 9 Apr 92 21:38:32 MDT Message-ID: <1992Apr9.213832.1911@hellgate.utah.edu> Organization: University of Utah CS Dept Lines: 21