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How the physics of resonance shapes reality

quantamagazine.org

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Re: How the physics of resonance shapes reality

#21

Post by wanda »

nyc111 wrote: post #12

"Such a bump is the unmistakable signature of “resonance,” one of the most ubiquitous phenomena in nature." If so then, physicists call "resonance" a "particle". Or what physicists call particles are resonances. But why? If you observe resonance call it resonance. I don't get it.

var particle = new Resonance();

as for why, probably so that literature written now still makes sense following on from older material from the 20th century that isn't wrong but does include some antiquated terminology.

Pedagogically useful to use the word particle.

Re: How the physics of resonance shapes reality

#22

Post by p_noumenon »

dekhn wrote: post #19
p_noumenon wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And thank god for equal temperament, because the last thing you want is perfect intervals that don't leave any space for proper resonance. «In general, the interference equation can be used to measure resonant amplitudes for any musical interval under any temperament or octave division. This equation tells us that minimum resonance occurs at the fourth root of an octave (or square root of twelve) while maximum resona…

ok who fed text to gpt-3 and let it post on hn again?

These are excerpts from Richard Merrick's book called Interference: A Grand Scientific Musical Theory; highly recommended, available for free online.

Re: How the physics of resonance shapes reality

#23

Post by dekhn »

p_noumenon wrote: post #22
dekhn wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ok who fed text to gpt-3 and let it post on hn again?

These are excerpts from Richard Merrick's book called Interference: A Grand Scientific Musical Theory; highly recommended, available for free online.

I skimmed a bit and it's pretty weird. It reads like pseudoscience and mysticism mixed with a fair amount of true (but oddly interpreted) ideas. Kind of reminds me of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemantics

Re: How the physics of resonance shapes reality

#24

Post by bsder »

m-atoms wrote: post #6

If particles can be understood as resonances in a field then it’s hard for me to understand “stable” particles. What keeps them around? My mental model for resonance and waves requires some kind of constant input energy to maintain the oscillations in the field which produce the particles. What am I missing?

> My mental model for resonance and waves requires some kind of constant input energy to maintain the oscillations in the field which produce the particles.

Your intuition is inverted from reality.

Quantum mechanics dictates that a harmonic oscillator in a state will remain oscillating in that state indefinitely unless perturbed.

This has the counterintuitive effect that an atom with an electron in an excited state will remain there indefinitely if you can cut off the atom from external interactions.

This was, in fact, one of the arguments that Bohr used against Einstein. Experimentally--atoms decay--there is no denying that. However, Einstein's formulations said that atoms should not decay without external influence.

It turns out--Einstein was right. However, those kinds experiments require things like laser traps that were far beyond the capabilities of the time.

Re: How the physics of resonance shapes reality

#25

Post by p_noumenon »

dekhn wrote: post #23
p_noumenon wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are excerpts from Richard Merrick's book called Interference: A Grand Scientific Musical Theory; highly recommended, available for free online.

I skimmed a bit and it's pretty weird. It reads like pseudoscience and mysticism mixed with a fair amount of true (but oddly interpreted) ideas. Kind of reminds me of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemantics

It doesn't read like that at all; your unfamiliarity with the subject matter doesn't mean it's "pseudoscience and mysticism", that's a classic argument from incredulity. It's rigorously based in the mathematics of music and physics of sound.

Re: How the physics of resonance shapes reality

#26

Post by dekhn »

p_noumenon wrote: post #25
dekhn wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I skimmed a bit and it's pretty weird. It reads like pseudoscience and mysticism mixed with a fair amount of true (but oddly interpreted) ideas. Kind of reminds me of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemantics

It doesn't read like that at all; your unfamiliarity with the subject matter doesn't mean it's "pseudoscience and mysticism", that's a classic argument from incredulity. It's rigorously based in the mathematics of music and physics of sound.

I'm not unfamiliar with the subject matter.

Re: How the physics of resonance shapes reality

#27

Post by blueprint »

nyc111 wrote: post #12

"Such a bump is the unmistakable signature of “resonance,” one of the most ubiquitous phenomena in nature." If so then, physicists call "resonance" a "particle". Or what physicists call particles are resonances. But why? If you observe resonance call it resonance. I don't get it.

Particles don't really exist - they're merely what it looks like when we make a measurement of a field.

Re: How the physics of resonance shapes reality

#28

Post by programmarchy »

I had a weird idea related to this about 3D “shaping” massive structures in outer space. So, say you go and mine an asteroid, then put a bunch of metal into a giant “box” for lack of a better word. Then say you could tap into a large energy source from a star. Could you emit energy waves into this box that causes the metal to form itself into a certain shape? I’m thinking of those videos where they put grains of sand on a surface and vibrate it at different frequencies to produce varying shapes. With the right interference patterns, could you 3D form a spaceship hull inside the giant box full of metal floating in space?

Re: How the physics of resonance shapes reality

#29

Post by akomtu »

At the root of reality there's some "wavy" equation that propagates changes at a certain speed (of light). The exact form of the equation is of little significance, only its "waviness" matters. This waviness is often called causality. Such equation in a confined area, any area, always and necessarily has many repetitive modes where the original state repeats itself after a certain interval, but all thosr modes exist in abstract, i.e. potentially. An external driving force allows to select one of those modes. This is probably a tautology, but maybe someone will find it interesting.

Re: How the physics of resonance shapes reality

#30

Post by dr_dshiv »

p_noumenon wrote: post #16
_moof wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This gets a little more complicated when you discover that not all fifths are the same interval, as any string player will attest. Violinists playing double stops have to use ever-so-slightly different finger positions than they do when playing single notes. And instruments with fixed tuning like pianos use something called "equal temperament," which isn't quite the 3:2 perfect fifth.

And thank god for equal temperament, because the last thing you want is perfect intervals that don't leave any space for proper resonance. «In general, the interference equation can be used to measure resonant amplitudes for any musical interval under any temperament or octave division. This equation tells us that minimum resonance occurs at the fourth root of an octave (or square root of twelve) while maximum resona…

Amazingly, brainwave bands have octave relationships -- they are doublings of frequency. E.g., alpha at 10hz, beta around 20hz, gamma around 40hz. This allows for neural resonances between bands. Further, the width of brainwave bands have a golden ratio relationship, where a high and low theta can independently operate without interference. The irrationality of the golden mean results in wave peaks that never meet/synchronize. This allows for multiplexing or non-interference between brainwave bands. Described in this paper, cited over 1000 times:

Klimesch, W. (2012). Alpha-band oscillations, attention, and controlled access to stored information. Trends in cognitive sciences, 16(12), 606-617.

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