this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2024
28 points (91.2% liked)

Ask Science

8692 readers
113 users here now

Ask a science question, get a science answer.


Community Rules


Rule 1: Be respectful and inclusive.Treat others with respect, and maintain a positive atmosphere.


Rule 2: No harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or trolling.Avoid any form of harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or offensive behavior.


Rule 3: Engage in constructive discussions.Contribute to meaningful and constructive discussions that enhance scientific understanding.


Rule 4: No AI-generated answers.Strictly prohibit the use of AI-generated answers. Providing answers generated by AI systems is not allowed and may result in a ban.


Rule 5: Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.Adhere to community guidelines and comply with instructions given by moderators.


Rule 6: Use appropriate language and tone.Communicate using suitable language and maintain a professional and respectful tone.


Rule 7: Report violations.Report any violations of the community rules to the moderators for appropriate action.


Rule 8: Foster a continuous learning environment.Encourage a continuous learning environment where members can share knowledge and engage in scientific discussions.


Rule 9: Source required for answers.Provide credible sources for answers. Failure to include a source may result in the removal of the answer to ensure information reliability.


By adhering to these rules, we create a welcoming and informative environment where science-related questions receive accurate and credible answers. Thank you for your cooperation in making the Ask Science community a valuable resource for scientific knowledge.

We retain the discretion to modify the rules as we deem necessary.


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Say we have all the empirical evidence from 19th-century science prior to the observation of the wavelike diffraction of matter particles, plus 21st-century math and theory to construct an alternative explanation.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Sure, if you're making up all the rules you can make up all the rules. Matter could be composed of the body of a dead god, for example.

[–] AbouBenAdhem 4 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Whatever rules you make up must be consistent with macroscopic observation, though. So if you postulate that matter is formed from the flesh of a dead god, you still need to prove that it doesn’t need to quiver.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 hours ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 hours ago

To contain the arrows of time and entropy, obviously.

[–] AbouBenAdhem 3 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (3 children)

To explain any macroscopic effects that necessarily depend on matter waves. If there are any. Which is my question.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 hours ago

This is a pretty difficult question to answer since all phenomena are quantum. A star is powered by nuclear (quantum) fusion. Permanent magnets depend on the quantized angular momentum of electrons. Could these phenomena be allowed by something other than quantum mechanics? Maybe. But a constant goal of science is to find the simplest explanation for all we observe, meaning that whatever alternative explanations you come up with, should they be correct, then taking them all together will constitute a theory that at least looks an awful lot like matter waves (mathematically, at least).

[–] FlowVoid 4 points 7 hours ago

Superconductors and Bose-Einstein condensates are both macroscopic phenomena that result from coherent matter waves.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 hours ago

Maybe there aren't any in our conceptual universe.