Quantum Nonlocality

 

Quantum Nonlocality:

§  While classical physics assumes locality, the principle of nonlocality is a feature of many interpretations of quantum mechanics.

§  Nonlocality describes the apparent ability of objects to instantaneously know about each other’s state, even when separated by large distances (potentially even billions of light years), almost as if the universe at large instantaneously arranges its particles in anticipation of future events.

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This is in direct contravention of the "principle of locality" (or what Einstein called the "principle of local action"), the idea that distant objects cannot have direct influence on one another, and that an object is directly influenced only by its immediate surroundings, an idea on which almost all of physics is predicated.

§  Non locality occurs due to the phenomenon of entanglement, whereby particles that interact with each other become permanently correlated, or dependent on each other’s states and properties, to the extent that they effectively lose their individuality and, in many ways, behave as a single entity.

§  Nonlocality suggests that the "separate" parts of the universe are actually potentially connected in an intimate and immediate way.

Principle of local action:

§  Einstein referred to locality, or the principle of local action, when he discussed separability and local causality. The principle of locality states that an effect at one point can only be caused by something at another point if something in between mediates the action. This means that something, like a wave or particle, must travel through space to carry the influence.