Quantum Entanglement, Spacetime, and Why Sport Needs You
I am in the middle of reading this book, and all of a sudden the author takes a huge left turn and introduces the concept of nondualism, or interconnectedness, supported by Quantum Theory. I’m intrigued so I read on. But before I discuss how this relates to sport, allow me to give a brief and very simplistic synopsis of Quantum Theory and Quantum Entanglement.
We all know that everything is made of atoms. We learned this in grade school science class. Atoms are extremely small, and are often defined as the building blocks of matter. Everything we can see, feel, touch, all solids, liquids, and gases are made up of atoms. Now, what makes up atoms has changed a lot since I was in grade school. Or rather, the theories that were being proposed and pondered by Einstein and others, are now able to be observed in the laboratory. The theory I am referring to is Quantum Mechanics. It turns out that atoms are made of subatomic particles. But wait, we’ve known this, electrons, neutrons, and protons, right? Yes, but there are more, a lot more, and how they behave is quite shocking.
Some of you may be familiar with the concept of how light behaves like a particle, and also behaves like a wave, but if not let me give you a brief history. Newton first described light as a particle. And then Christiaan Huygens theorized that light was actually a wave, and the wave property of light was demonstrated by Thomas Young’s famous double-slit experiment. And the debate on whether light was a particle or a wave seemed to come to rest when James Clerk Maxwell described light as waves with his electromagnetic wave equations. But then Einstein came around and theorized about a photoelectric effect that was ultimately proven to be true by American physicist Robert Millikan, which gave way to the concept of photons, tiny packages of energy, that have particle behavior. Thus the true advent of the Wave-Particle Duality of Light, which paved the way for the theory of wave-particle duality of all matter, and has led us to Quantum Theory, where we now understand particles to sometimes have wave like behavior and at other times particles behave like particles, as described in classical physics.
Ok, that’s neat, you might be thinking. But, what does all of this have to do with why sport needs me? Hold on, I will get to that, but in order to understand the connection we must go deeper into the Quantum realm into Quantum Entanglement. So, we’ve established that all things in the known universe are made up of atoms, and subatomic particles make up atoms. And these subatomic particles have this wave-particle duality to them, where sometimes they behave like waves and sometimes they behave like particles. It turns out an observer plays a huge role in this behavior, and that the very act of observing causes subatomic particles to behave like a particle rather than a wave. That’s weird, but wait, it gets even weirder.
Scientists, especially ones at Caltech, which is where I turned to read more up on Quantum Mechanics, wanted to understand how all of these subatomic particles relate to one another and further explored the phenomenon of Quantum Entanglement! This is a state in which these particles become connected in such a way that they behave in exactly the same way, even regardless of how much distance there is between the particles. When observing entangled particles, let’s call them particles A and B, from a certain orientation, would result in both particles leaving the wave-like state of what is called Superposition, and would display identical characteristics. One such characteristic is the polarization, or the direction of vibration. So, if Particle A is observed from a specific orientation and is observed to be displaying up-spin polarization, when a second observer observes Particle B from the same orientation, Particle B will have the exact same polarization. Now, if the observer of Particle A changes the angle of observation, Particle A will go back to Superposition, and then there will be a 50/50 chance of which direction Particle A will be spinning upon observation, either up or down. If Particle A is now in down-spin polarization, when the observer of Particle B changes its observation to the same orientation as the observer of Particle A, Particle B will have exactly the same polarization of down-spin. This mirrored behavior happens every time, without fail, seemingly instantaneous, i.e. faster than speed of light. This is because the two particles are not communicating with one another, they are thought to be as one object, inexorably connected. And this phenomenon, where we are observing true connectedness of particles across vast distances, known as Quantum Entanglement, could be the very link that is needed to unify the theory of General Relativity and Quantum Physics, and is now thought to be the glue that holds space and time together!
So, at an extreme fundamental level there are these energetic relationships and connections. And these connected and entangled particles are believed to be the glue of spacetime, the individual threads that weave together the fabric of our very existence. Take a minute and really let that soak in. We are, at the subatomic level, connected. We really are in this together. And I don’t mean like those lame patronizing advertisements, I mean in our existence, in our experience, there is a web of subatomic entanglement that we are all part of. And whether or not we decide to jump on the turbo and exhibit discipline, accept the inner call that beckons us to be challenged, provide the kind, supportive, and encouraging words to a teammate or fellow athlete matters. We are part of a lineage, a long line contenders and challengers, competitors and champions. And our connection and contribution to sport is both important and extremely valuable. What we do, the choices we make, matter. Our choice to participate and to continue to effort and strive towards our goals not only makes a difference in our lives, making us healthy and happier, and helping us to grow and transform in ways we might not even dreamed of, but it also makes a huge difference in the lives around us, of those that we are quantumly entangled with. Our actions can inspire others, and set in motion the actualization of positive potentials. We can never know to what extent, to what magnitude, the impact of our behavior will be. But what we are beginning to understand at a subatomic level is that we are entangled, and that the ripples of our actions will be felt. What you do matters.
Do you feel connected to your experience? Do you feel the deeply woven, subatomic entanglement to spacetime? Let’s connect over some positive experiences. Can you think of a time where you really felt connected? What was it like and what effect did it have on you and others?
