from Hacker News

There are no particles, there are only fields (2012)

by primroot on 6/20/24, 10:42 PM with 35 comments

• by jacknews on 6/21/24, 3:10 AM

  This opinion piece argues that fields are merely probability distributions, strongly implying that particles are, actually, particles: https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/a-common-misunderstan...

  There's certainly plenty of common misunderstanding in this, uh, field!

• by GlibMonkeyDeath on 6/21/24, 2:18 AM

  From the paper: "Phenomena such as 'particle' tracks in bubble chambers, and the small spot appearing on a viewing screen when a single quantum interacts with the screen, are often cited as evidence that quanta are particles, but these are insufficient evidence of particles."

  Really? Wave packets that are indivisible energy blobs, and that make individual "clicks" on my detector sure seem to act like particles to me.

  I get that the math implies these bundles are waves - that's the duality part. I don't think any physicist thinks that there is a "particle" embedded in the wave packet, though, like this guy is arguing - the quantized wave packet is the particle!

• by mensetmanusman on 6/21/24, 12:43 AM

  Are fields real though? If so, they point to a mathematical reality that is non physical.

• by breck on 6/21/24, 2:07 AM

  Are there fields plural or is there one field singular?

  My latest check of QFT is that there are 37 fields.

  This leads me to believe:

  - There is only 1 undiscovered fundamental field

  - There are multiple gods and each complains about there being too many fields and how much simpler universe management would be if there was just 1 field and then https://xkcd.com/927

• by tejohnso on 6/21/24, 1:37 AM

  > It's important to clarify this issue because textbooks still teach a particles- and measurement-oriented interpretation that contributes to bewilderment among students and pseudoscience among the public

  Is this mostly settled then? And if so why do we continue to teach a bewildering model?