HOW THE HIPPIES SAVED PHYSICS

"How the Hippies Saved Physics" took me back to my undergraduate quantum mechanics courses and my frustrations with my teachers. I wanted to understand quantum mechanics. What did the Schrödinger wave function really mean? Why couldn't electrons decide if they were waves or particles? Did probability actually move from A to B? But the professor cut me off quickly with, "Shut up and calculate!" The maths works, the theory works. Why are you wasting your time in trying to figure it all out? He implied that the problem was with ME instead of with the physics that he didn't understand. And so I switched majors and took up astronomy. At least astronomers struck me as honest about what they didn't understand.

And so I was excited to read Kaiser's book about a rag tag group of Berkeley physicists who were also not content to "shut up and calculate." Dissatisfied with the current climate in physics, they set out to delve into forbidden territory. Expand accepted boundaries of quantum mechanics. Their searches took them into the heart of "non-local" effects, a study of consciousness and even paranormal phenomena. Kaiser, a professor at MIT has written a well-researched and engaging account of this colourful group's work. The book is a page-turner.

Because of an economic downturn in the early 1970s, many physicists found themselves unemployed, or underemployed. It was a time for experimentation with drugs, the human potential movement, Werner Erhard's EST, seminars and hot tubs at Esalen. Everyone was exploring the further reaches of consciousness. Fitting right into this culture were serious physicists with part-time jobs, who were questioning established truths. Free from the publish-or-perish culture they met in diverse venues, calling themselves the Fundamental Fysiks Group (FFG). Among them were Elisabeth Rauscher, George Weissman, Jack Scarfatti and Fred Alan Wolf. Other physicists in close contact with the group were John Wheeler, Fritjof Capra, David Bohm and Richard Feynman. Werner Erhard sponsored the group for over a decade.

The group rescued the now famous Bell's theorem from obscurity and explored its implications. Bell first introduced the idea of quantum entanglement in 1962, that two quantum particles separated in space could be in instantaneous communication. The idea was experimentally demonstrated first by John Clauser in 1972 at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, then by Alain Aspect in 1982. If quantum entanglement (aka Spooky Actions at a Distance) is real, could it not also explain paranormal communication, or the nature of consciousness? For a while Scarfatti endorsed Uri Geller, but then distanced himself when he suspected that Geller was a fraud. But he continued to study the paranormal. Elisabeth Rauscher (who has published over 200 papers in peer reviewed journals) worked in the early 1970s with Targ and Puthoff at the Stanford Research Institute and convinced herself of the reality of paranormal remote viewing, She subsequently developed a model to explain it that involved higher dimensions.

In 1973 Fritjof Capra met members of FFG and organized a series of seminars to discuss his new book, "The Tao of Physics". He also participated with many of their discussions at Esalen and became a core member of the FFG. His book turned into an unexpected best seller that rocked even the stable boat of physics. Physics suddenly became of interest to the non-physicist. The American Journal of Physics carried articles on how to use Capra's book to teach physics. Universities designed courses around it. While it also resulted in pushback from many conservative scientists, others were excited to see a renewed public interest in physics.

Inevitably discussion of Bell's theorem led group members to propose faster than light communication techniques. They were convinced that such devices could be built, despite Einstein's Special Relativity. The first was Jack Scarfatti's device that employed Young's Interference fringes through which "coded" photons could be sent. Unfortunately another FFG member, Philippe Eherhard pointed out a basic flaw that made the scheme unworkable. Next, Nick Herbert proposed the FLASH design that utilized the polarisation of entangled photons to communicate faster than light. This time, most referees could not find a flaw in his argument. Faster than light communication was about to be a reality. But it was not to be. The obstacle lay in subtle features of the quantum theory itself. Two of John Wheeler's students, Wooters and Zurek, saw the problem, and published a famous paper in which they asserted that due to the linear nature of quantum mechanics, "a single quantum cannot be cloned". Single quantum states, perhaps, but not the entire quantum. Though entangled photons separated by large distances flip instantaneously, they cannot convey useful information at faster than light speed. One consolation prize as a result of all the efforts was the possibility of quantum encryption.

Where does that leave explorations on the nature of consciousness or paranormal phenomena? Kaiser appears open minded on whether paranormal effects are real. Unfortunately he does not include recent research by Dean Radin on using the mind to influence quantum effects. But whatever the underlying mechanisms of paranormal phenomena, entangled photons are probably not a likely explanation. The Hippies may not have saved physics, but they certainly energised the study of non-local effects and discovered what they can and can't do.

In 2000 Elisabeth Rauscher declared her manifesto to her former colleagues: "I believe in non-locality. I believe non-locality is real. Quantum mechanics is probably very fuzzy stuff. Reality is better described by more than four dimensions. Most of everything, I think, is spirit, and a little is condensed out as matter."