hi all. I recently posted this to sci.physics.research.
its a intro to the "qm2" group & also a neat link on an
outstanding web page-paper on decoherence by scott c. johnson
with animated simulations... one of the really nice products
from the group discussion so far (also see FAQ link below).
SCJ may turn it into a published paper.
we've also been following the bogdanov commotion recently.
------- Forwarded Message
From: vznuri.domain.name.hidden
To: physics-research.domain.name.hidden
Subject: introducing qm2 & new web paper on decoherence by SCJ
Date: Tue, 05 Nov 2002 19:40:31 -0700
hi all. Im very pleased to have opportunity to do
something a little sneaky, and promote a new paper by Scott C Johnson
behind his back (haha) along with a plug for a group some here
may enjoy.
background: I founded/moderate the mailing list qm2 that seeks to reexamine
quantum mechanics foundations & look into new theories, now around
over a year, about 130 members, and thousands of posts.
and we're especially fond of "overly speculative posts" (haha).
basically, totally unfiltered (although not totally unmoderated!!).
I certainly dont pretend the signal-to-noise ratio
is greater than it is here in this
great newsgroup (sci.physics.research), but
I do promise we're a very fast-paced and almost-no-holds-barred group with
extremely intense, lively and animated dialog (hey, I admit
uncensored==raw at times!!).
SCJ, Phd joined the list recently, within the last few months or
so, coinciding with a massive explosion of thousands of posts on the list,
in which we achieved an amazing critical mass of cross pollination &
exchange of ideas among participants. (at least 3 Phds at this point.)
something unlike anything Ive ever seen in cyberspace (I 1st posted
to usenet in 1989..)
SCJ is, imho, a brilliant up-and-coming physicist. he tells me
that he chose not to go into academia with regret due to the salary levels
making it hard to support a family. a big loss for the academic
establishment I would say!! he's working at intel currently in the quality
control division, making sure those pentiums are up-to-snuff!!
here is a recent outstanding
paper by him in the american journal of physics,
which Ive skimmed & highly recommend. SCJ is interested in building up visual
models of QM, and education of newcomers to the field.
TDG, Phd, his coauthor joined qm2 not long after SCJ
discovered the group & invited him.
Scott C Johnson and Thomas D Guttierrez, "Visualising the phonon
wave function", Am. J. Phys, 70(3) 227-237 (2002)
SCJ is interested in advancing & keeping the flame alive
of his publication background so that someday he might return to
academic research.
below I include the msg to the group from october 11th
where SCJ announces his first "qm2 web paper" (blush). its an
outstanding and nice modelling of decoherence of two particles,
revealing the distinction of pure vs mixed states. a beautiful
tutorial & device for increasing ones intuitive feel for the
concepts. fun animated diagrams!!
this is SCJs homepage where you can read more about him & his
background
http://www.geocities.com/scjphysicist/
we have another Phd member from brookhaven national
laboratories whos published superconductor research in PRL and Nature.
he posts pseudonymously. he's currently attending the
CERN particle accelerator school in long beach, more info here:
http://cas.web.cern.ch/cas/
another illustrious and highly engaged
qm2 member has a remarkable background including
coauthoring a paper with carl sagan in the mid 60s.
this is a list of many juicy links Ive collected on qm2 over the last year
that conveys a little of the flavor of our interests & the group
directions, which I think any serious physicists will find something
very interesting.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/qm2/message/3008
here's our home page. please sign up!! hope to hear from you.
the more the merrier. we're just getting started. the sky's the limit.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/qm2/
From: "Scott Johnson" <scott.c.johnson.domain.name.hidden>
Date: Fri Oct 11, 2002 2:11 am
Subject: Decoherence
- --- In qm2.domain.name.hidden, "Scott Johnson" <scott.c.johnson.domain.name.hidden...> wrote:
Hi all,
I'm back from my move and I'm trying to catch up on the wealth of QM2
messages you all posted while I was gone.
One topic that is particularly interesting to me is decoherence, or
the superposition/mixed state discussion. I have a visual way to try
to understand that, and I've been meaning to solidify it for a
while. So, that's what I did tonight (in addition to reading lots of
posts). I present all of you with my first "QM2 paper", which can be
found here:
<
http://www.geocities.com/scjphysicist/decoh.html>
This paper has no math and lots of ANIMATED pictures, so I'm hoping
it's accessible and moderately enjoyable to everyone in this group.
Whether you agree with my demonstration or not is another matter. I
welcome all your comments on both the substance and the form of my
paper.
- --Scott
- --- End forwarded message ---
Received on Sun Nov 10 2002 - 16:41:02 PST