On Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:41:22 +1300, cliff wright
wrote:

Now consider this! When a quantum of energy, of any wavelength is
emitted from an atom or a nucleus then time and space ceases to exist
for that "wave packet" until it is absorbed again, or passes through a
medium where the velocity of light is less than c (glass for example, or
coaxial cable!!!). Since it is always travelling at c in "space" then
time ceases to pass for the quantum and/or the universe appears to be a
single point from the quantum's point of view.
A possible corrollary of this might perhaps be that there is only one
"real" quantum of a particular energy in the universe at a time!!!

Hi Cliff,

You have contradicted yourself. Your second sentence above has the
premise there is no time. Your last sentence ends with time
explicitly allowed.

This is pretty well where Relativity leaves Quantum Mechanics I reckon.

How so?

Now this may be philosophy but what is the answer that both quantum
mechanics and relativity have for this apparent absurdity?

The contradiction offered.

If it perhaps not so absurd, perhaps this explains some of the results
of the famous single quantum slit experiment?

Dismissing absurdities, the single slit experiment has its own
explanation.

BTW surely FTL communication only destroys causality if the speed of
information is infinite.

As the lawyers would say "FTL communication" is a fact not shown in
the evidence offered here; so the rest of the statement does not
logically follow.

Just faster than light by say 1,000 times would
simply mean that it got there faster not before it was transmitted?

It would be more meaningful to demonstrate it got there 1.00000000001
times faster. If you cannot establish this mark, 1000 time faster
isn't on the horizon.

As one other poster was abashed to discover, you probably could
witness that first demonstration if you were a fish. A fish swimming
in the cooling pond of a nuclear reactor would be hit by a neutron
(one bit of information) before the radiation (light, the other same
bit of information) that catapulted it from the pile. Now, getting
that neutron up to 1000 times faster (in terms of information flow) is
unlikely; but if you were to choose to inhabit a pool of somewhat
greater density (1000 times more so?) - then perhaps arguably so. I
don't think we need hold our breaths and wait for AT&T stock to mature
into Billion$ on that idea.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC