Modern physics and Vedanta.

Ok, I agree the topic seems to be a turn-off but the ensuing article might just not be one. Actually I read a book of the same name by swami jitatmananda (a gem by all accounts –google him if u like). That along with a few observations of mine constitutes this post. So, back to the topic .Vedanta defines maya as sthana-kala-nimitta (ie space time causation). Without either one of these the other one has no meaning – nor does maya. Rings a bell –einstein’s space time continuum et all?-it should.
There is also the question of consciousness. It has already been mentioned in the Upanishads (or vedantas for that matter they are the same), that consciousness/awareness/opinion, whatever one may call it, affects the surroundings. And it has only recently been proved that the outcome of an elementary experiment (which can have only 2 outcomes) can be affected if the scientist conducting it has a biased opinion –all this is actually much more complicated than it sounds- but that’s that. There are similar mergers in oriental philosophy and occidental science that are increasingly evident even as we speak. Scientists like john a. wheeler have coined mouthful names for the phenomenon but I left the book at my hostel so I cannot quote. But this still might open avenues of thought open to many of u. and if u ask me, gita seems lifeless to me- Vedanta packs in much more excitement & cloudy aura. Issue a translation from ur library and go through it. Gita, on the hand was a part of Mahabharata which was purely a literary creation. Gita, once translated seems bland but yeah it uses devices and metaphors well. I don’t know that much Sanskrit but ppl seem to go gaga over gita – its just common sense! Or thus I think,well then each to his own.
How do u ppl like resonance though? For me some articles drive well, while most yield a tangent (vidyapith colliloquy for did-not-quite-get-that).
Now look here I am absolutely greedy on feedback so do comment.

latest intro

My pic!

The first hi-mates. I know I am the last un, but cant help with being in skool can I?So here is my intro.
Name: debanjan basu
Nick: my classmates call me basu (with that inimitable undertone of contempt-u know the sort)- n I am fine with that.
Identification: Kept me thinking actually coz I did not do anything special(read stupid) over there but the pic may help. Oh yes......I am from Ramakrishna mission vidyapith, deoghar .that'll do, wont it?
So that's all , as twish correctly pointed out, we shall all get together nxt summer.

BEFORE THE BEGINNING AND BEYOND THE END

Part 1

There was nothing at all, no space no time (not even me), then all of a sudden it all happened - The Big Bang. A theory we all have believed so blindfolded. A Theory that created a bigger bang in the world of science than the Big Bang itself. A theory that certainly could explain cosmic background wave and the red shift of the expanding universe, and even satisfies religious claims of things like God making everything. Everything is completely all right until we step beyond the beginning. People have asked numerous questions, “What was there before Big Bang?” The scientific community with a Godly authority turned all of these questions down. I will not repeat them.

But this was not all. This theory at last seems to be breathing it’s last (and thank God). The theory, which was once rejected, is now betting a rebirth – The Oscillating Universe theory. The General Theory of relativity, which so well explains everything regarding gravity, fails miserably in what we call Singularity – space and time condensing to one point – densities touching incredible values and distances reducing to about 10^-39 - the plank scale. And the reason? The same thing, which my dear blogmate Arun and I have been arguing upon – Calculus. We all know that charge is quantized, so is angular momentum of electrons, even mass. Let us take a step forward and extend quantization to time and space. Space is nothing but a fabric woven out of individual fibres. Calculus cannot be directly applied over discontinuous space. However applying it with a little modification allows us to end all problems. This theory is popularly known as the Loop Gravity Theory and interestingly but as expected originated in India.

The Theory was aimed at explaining the physics at plank scale which it did successfully. However, it led to another implication and directly counters the concept of the Big bang.. When all matter in the universe approach singularity, the theory says, there comes into play a force – one of tremendous magnitude, manifold greater than gravity itself and repulsive in nature. The situation is similar to a ball hitting a spring and bouncing back.

Certainly with this knowledge we can answer the most controversial question, “What was there before the big bang?” The answer is there was the countdown to a big crunch. We now have a universe that does not begin at the big bang, but only is symmetric about it.

What I want to say is here – Wasn’t it Obvious? We should have guessed it earlier. Let me explain why and how.

I would like to repeat the philosophy of a 2^nd century Chinese philosopher. Every event is preceded by another event. (The former is the cause of the later) Hence, the implication follows that there has to be some thing before the Big bang the cause of the Big bang, more specifically. (Speaking further, we can say that there should be no beginning to the universe, but we will see to that later) To further justify the statement, and denounce the creation of space-time at t=zero (and with it the Big bang theory), I will give the following argument.

Let us say there was a primeval atom, which exploded to create the universe, space and time. The question is why at all did it explode? This can be answered in two ways. Firstly there was some thing (or someone …say God) outside it who/which caused the Big bang to happen. That means, there was something – matter, energy or say a consciousness excluded from the Primeval atom. But this is against our Big bang theory. The second way is to use probabilistic mechanics. The primeval atom just like a radioactive atom had a probability of disintegration at any given time. (I am sorry, but using probability without the concept of time is just impossible.) So there has to be Time before Big Bang. This again violates the Big Bang theory.

I would love to write more but its not possible in a single blog. I will put it all in the second part very soon. So stay tuned, the sting is in the end, I assure you.

Saurya "Time" Mishra

The Great Relativity bomb plot

Hi !!!
This is a comic strip based on the theory of relativity. Click on the links to see the pics.

When Albert Einstein advanced his special theory of relativity in 1905, he turned upside down everything that common sense and science had established about time. He said that time is not absolute, but is a relative quantity that could show one value to one observer while seeming different to a second viewer. The whole thing seemed preposterous.

Though most scientists came to accept the Einstein theory, its principles have continued to elude many of the less informed - including, to his lasting regret, the villainous felow at right. He is the sly and ruthless Agent X, an international comic - strip spy who is plotting a daring act of sabotage aboard the most fantastic train in the universe-the Relativity Express. The Express travels at a speed approaching that of light. At this velocity the extraordinary effects of relativity are apparent. Objects shrink in length. Past, present and future become wildly mixed. Moving clocks do not remain synchronized with those standing still; even man himself ages less rapidly. Such astonishing events will cause the downfall of Agent X. Shrewd and cunning he may be, but like all criminals he has committed a fatal error: he has failed to keep himself informed about the odd effects of relativity.

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1. The notorious Agent X, beady eyes hidden behind dark glasses, gestures toward the sleek Relativity Express, the train that is to carry forward his fiendish plot to blow up the world's greatest nuclear power plant. Hidden aboard the express is a bomb, carefully timed to go off as the train passes the plant. At that moment the express will be traveling at its top speed of 140,000 miles per second, three quarters the speed of light. X is confident. He has calculated well and is certain his plot will succeed. But he is in for surprises!

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2. "Everything depends on time," muses X as he sneakily watches the loading of an extremely accurate clock on the Relativity Express. The clock is the key to his dastardly scheme. Inside the clock Agent X has planted his bomb, set to explode when the hands point to 1:30, the very moment the train is scheduled to pass the nuclear power plant. Only this precise clock and this dependable train can achieve X's evil purpose-if either the clock or the train runs just one second slow, the bomb will go off 140,000 miles past target!

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3. Agent X has prepared a map of the bomb plot. He knows that the train clock is due to be set in accordance with the giant master clock near the track; this, he assumes, will insure his bomb of split - second accuracy. Just to be sure, however, he plans to check the train clock once again as it passes the steeple clock near the power plant. Meanwhile, his lookout will be watching for the train; once it passes he will proceed in his jet powered getaway car to a meeting with X at the overpass-as the Express roars toward its rendezvous with doom.

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4. "On time!" gloats the cunning agent as the Relativity Express passes by the master clock, at the very moment it sends a noontime signal to synchronize the train clock. Now the bomb must be correctly timed, thinks X smugly, proud of his wicked plot. But little does he reckon with the effect of relativity on time at the train's great speed. The strange shape of the clock tower offers a clue, but in his exultation Agent X fails to notice. The wily spy will suffer severly for his ignorance; he is about to learn about relativity the hard way.

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5. But suddenly X sees that something strange is happening! The lookout is a broad-shouldered, heavyset man - but this fellow standing at trackside is incredibly skinny. What's more, the bench and even the trees are peculiar, pressed into narrow shapes. Only the recognition of a hand radio like the one that controls the getaway car indicates to X that this might be his accomplice. He waves frantically at the man as prearranged but he is not sure this is the right chap. His first encounter with relativity has shaken him badly.

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6. The lookout, who is really as squat and sinister as Agent X remembers him, is equally stunned by what he sees. He was told the train would be streamlined - but instead it is like a string of squashed - up streetcars. And look-oval wheels! He, too, does not know that relativity makes an object shorter when observed in motion. At last the lookout spots a distorted man waving madly from the rear car. Shaking his head, he prepares to follow in the getaway car. He is not sure who the fellow is, but he proceeds on the hunch that it is his leader, Agent X.

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7. Beset by doubts, Agent X turns again to his map for reassurance. The next landmark is the town with the steeple clock. "I'll check the clock on the train one last time when we pass that accurate steeple clock," he mutters. "If the two clocks agree-and why shouldn't they?-the bomb will be perfectly timed and the plan will succeed. Then I'll drop off the train." But now the once-cocky undercover man is gripped by fear. What could have made the lookout seem so unfamiliar? Something outlandish is interfering with the plot!

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8. The first real evidence that something has indeed gone wrong is spotted by an innocent bystander, a little old lady passing near the steeple clock as the Relativity Express speeds by. The train is actually moving so fast that only in a comic book would it be visible, but the sharp- eyed little old lady can read the clock; it says 12:40. "How odd!" she remarks. "The steeple clock says 1:00 and it's been right ever since I was a little girl. The funny clock on the train must be slow!"

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9. At the same moment Agent X spots the steeple clock, leaps from his seat in disbelief and rushes to the car door to check the clock on the flatcar. Sure enough, it says 12:40, although the steeple clock reads 1:00. "Ye gods!" he shouts. " That steeple clock must be wrong! It must be fast- or else it was set wrong! I know the train clock was correct back at the master time station." The whole plan is in danger! In near- panic, X looks for the conductor to tell him that the world has gone mad; the clocks are all wrong.

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10. "Both clocks are right," smiles the knowledgeable conductor. "But each clock is running slow relative to the other. As you can see, the steeple clock, which is moving relative to us, has a second hand that ticks more slowly than the second hand of our train clock. But it depends on where you stand: the people on the ground see our second hand as ticking slowly. Furthermore, the steeple clock and the master clock were never really synchronized from our point of view- although they were from the viewpoint of someone on the ground."

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11. There is only one hope for the desperate Agent X now: he must reset the terrible bomb to take into account the time change caused by relativity. He has tricked the conductor into telling him that they will pass the power plant when the train clock says 1:00. Now Agent X must change the bomb mechanism to explode then. He slips from the coach onto the flatcar bearing the clock. If he can only reach the clock without rousing the drowsy guard, he may win his battle with relativity after all.

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12. Agent X creeps up to the clock stand, against which the guard is resting, slowly opens the door and reaches inside for the bomb. The seconds tick by as Agent X tries to adjust the bomb mechanism. But the noise of Agent X at work nearby awakens the guard, who leeps to his feet. Agent X hastily abandons his work and jumps to the top of the coach to try to make his escape. "Rats!" spits out the evil villian. "The plot is a failure; I must flee before all is lost." But the guard hangs onto his coattails.

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13. As Agent X doffs his coat he shows he is well prepared: strapped to his back are rockets capable of propelling him at half the speed of light. Away he zooms! "Success!" he exults. "Since the train is traveling at three quarters the velocity of light, I must be going at one and one quarter times the speed of light- enough to escape any gunfire!" But if X really understood relativity he would know that no object can attain the speed of light, much less surpass it. X is going at ten elevenths the speed of light- and that will make a difference!

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14. A railway guard with the eyes of an eagle notices the commotion on top of the crack Relativity Express. Since anything can happen in a comic strip, he is able to race up the overpass before the train, which is zipping along at 140,000 miles per second, passes by. His laser pistol is in his hand. With this weapon he will be ready to fire rays that travel at the speed of light when the train and its would-be saboteur pass beneath him. The relativity-crossed Agent X does not know it yet, but he is about to pay dearly for his wicked ways.

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15. As Agent X rockets over the roofs of the Relativity Express, he is the target of both guards. At the instant the two guards come abrest they fire their laser pistols. The gun on the train is moving, the other is stationary on the overpass, but- because the speed of light is always the same regardless of the motion of its source- both laser beams reach their quarry simultaneously. The hapless X, receiving his harshest lesson in relativity, is struck not once but twice.

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16. The great nuclear power plant is saved as the Relativity Express grinds to an unscheduled stop. After frantically searching the clock, a guard finds the bomb, disarms it, and holds it aloft jubilantly. "The bomb," he exults, "was set for 1:30 but it is only 1:00 on the Relativity Express now, for the train clock has been running slow relative to the ground. Thank Heavens for relativity; it has bested the evil Agent X." Meanwhile the benighted agent is stretched out on the ground behind him.

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17. Foiled by relativity, the once-smug Agent X is hauled away. The train, stopped, measures exactly the distance between two telephone poles; at full speed it was compressed to a fraction of that space (8); its wheels are round once more. A guard says pityingly, "Don't take it so hard, X. There's solace for you. Since everything on the train happened slowly relative to the ground, you're actually half an hour younger than you would have been if you hadn't ridden the Express." And so, younger but wiser, X is dragged off to jail.

Want to know more about relativity?
Click Here.

ENTROPY has INCREASED AGAIN

HEY BLOGMATES !!!

& Heyy Arun...
Your previous comment appeals to me big time for I'll share something with ya pal ! Even as I write this, therez a thought in my brain telling me to do it with adibatic & reversible processes as far as possible so that there is least increase in the entropy of the universe. When I walk, I think of taking the shortest route possible only because I don't want entropy to increase. Only that I realized it sometime last year that thinking to conserve entropy, I was infact increasing it ! The entropy I saved walking a hypotenuse-cut through a park was little compared to the effort I spent thinking about it. The heat released in my brain, the possible disorders etc etc.
Today it occurs it me, whether it was of any use ? Is entropy actually that bad ? Infact is a broken glass any worse than a not-so-broken one ? Well, science discusses the objectivity of a problem but what decides its subjectivity ?
Infact whats the definition of wrong & right ?
NOW ... thats too many questions at once ! That too very much varied.

Well. Okay. what about "" DISORDER "". Thats what ENTROPY if a degree of. But if ""DISORDER"" really that objective ? Or mayb we can define DISORDER in terms of entropy. Well, then is an act of murder a disorder or order ?
Im sure this is not a question answerable by science. Nor does science intend to adress such queries. But wat about them ?
I have a little piece of writing on entropy that I'll shortly post, something that I wrote an year back.

As for H U P , hmm... even I went through the same thoughts once! Though its intriguing to know that waves of particlas are considered to be waves only because there is to means to look into the wave !
Infact the de-Broglie thingy is pretty much the same thing as the HUP... just 2 ways to say the same thing. The same thing being that weather we say that there exists a particle which is smeared across a region in space, or there's a wave not a particle which is present, its the same thing !

Indeed theres a lot of similarity in our thinking Arun ... hmmm

Newayz.

Will try & be regular with some posts !




TWISH
PS: Sry Gawd for all this increase in entropy...