superposition

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Sarah in a State of Superposition

And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife: “Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon. And it will come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they will say: This is his wife; and they will kill me, but thee they will keep alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister; that it may be well with me for thy sake, and that my soul may live because of thee.” (Genesis 12:11-13) This passage presents a perplexing scenario. Abraham (then Abram) asks his wife Sarah (then Sarai) to present herself as his sister upon entering Egypt. Classical commentators and the Zohar grapple with Abraham's motives, questioning why he would place Sarah in such a [...]

By |2024-11-10T12:34:00-05:00November 10th, 2024|Bereshit, Collapse of the wavefunction, Fractals, Genesis, Husband and wife, Kabbalah, Lech-Lecha, Pentateuch (Chumash), Physics, Quantum Theory, Sefirot, Song of Songs, Superposition, Superposition, Tanakh, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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And there was Evening and there was Morning: Quantum Mechanics in Genesis

This essay explores a novel parallel between quantum mechanical principles and the biblical creation narrative through etymological analysis of the Hebrew terms “erev” (evening) and “boker” (morning). The study reveals that these terms, which punctuate each day of creation in Genesis, carry meanings that remarkably align with fundamental quantum concepts. "Erev," rooted in the concept of "mixture," parallels quantum superposition, while "boker," stemming from differentiation and discernment, mirrors quantum measurement and wave function collapse.

By |2024-10-31T23:40:03-04:00October 30th, 2024|Bereishit, Bereshit, Collapse of the wavefunction, Creation, Entanglement, Genesis, G‑d, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Quantum Theory, Science, Superposition, Uncategorized, Wavefunction|1 Comment
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Gazing at the Shekhinah

In his commentary on this week’s Torah Portion, Yitro, Rabbi Chayim Vital, writing in the name of his teacher, the Ari-zal, states that Abel was punished for gazing at the Shekhinah—the divine presence.[1] But what relevance does this have to the Torah portion retelling the greatest event in Jewish history (and, indeed, the history of human civilization)—the Sinaitic epiphany—the giving of the Torah? This is the Torah portion, where we read the Ten Commandments. What is the relevance of the sin of Abel to the Ten Commandments? More generally, what is Abel’s connection to this Torah portion? That is easy to understand. The Torah portion Yitro starts with the story of Jethro (Yitro), Moses’s father-in-law, coming to Moses in the Sinai desert with his daughter—the wife of Moses—and her two children. Rabbi Chayim [...]

By |2024-02-05T15:05:18-05:00February 4th, 2024|Bayesian probability, Collapse of the wavefunction, Exodus (Shemot), G‑d, Kabbalah, Neuroscience, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Reincarnation, Superposition, Superposition, Uncategorized, Wavefunction, Wavefunction of G‑d, Yitro|2 Comments
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Collapse and Revelation

The collapse of the wave function is the process of revealing hidden possibilities. Reducing uncertainty reveals information. Until the wave function collapse, the system is in an uncertain state—the state of superposition. The measurement that causes the collapse of the wave function eliminates this uncertainty revealing the state of the system. The collapse occurs as the result of an experiment or observation. It is the discovery of the state of the system. The process of discovery—revelation—in the terminology of Kabbalah—is the process of revealing Alma d’Isgalya (Revealed World) from Alma d’Iskasya (Hidden World). This is why the splitting of the sea can be seen as an allegory of the collapse of the wave function.

By |2024-01-25T22:44:15-05:00January 29th, 2021|Beshalach, Collapse of the wavefunction, Exodus (Shemot), Kabbalah, Passover (Pesach), Pentateuch (Chumash), Quantum Theory, Sefirot, Superposition, Uncategorized, Wavefunction, Zohar|4 Comments
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Joseph’s Birth—A View From Quantum Mechanics and Biology

And afterwards she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah. (Genesis 30:21) In my previous essay, “The Conflict Between Joseph And His Brothers—A Gender Theory,” I suggested that Joseph exhibited some proclivity to feminine behavior in his youth. This impression can be naturally inferred from the verses and supported by traditions in Kabbalah related to Isaac, Joseph, and Benjamin, as we discussed in that essay. To be sure, Joseph outgrew his feminine tendencies (perhaps assisted by the tough love shown to him by his brothers). He matured into a man who was not only a husband, a father, and the de facto ruler of Egypt, but an archetype of masculinity and a paradigm of piety, for which he earned the designation of Joseph, the Righteous (Yosef HaTzadik). Moreover, spiritually, Joseph personified Yesod [...]

By |2020-12-24T20:42:06-05:00December 23rd, 2020|Bereshit, Biology, Collapse of the wavefunction, Entanglement, Genesis, Miketz, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Physics, Quantum Theory, Science, Superposition, Uncategorized, Vayeshev, Vayigash|0 Comments
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The Tree of Knowledge as a Metaphor for Superposition of States and Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle

And out of the ground made the Lord G‑d to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; and the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:9) And the Lord G‑d commanded the man, saying: “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:16–17) Upon creating Adam and Eve, G‑d permitted them to eat any fruit from the Garden of Eden, except for the forbidden fruit—the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Disregarding this injunction, Adam and Eve ate the forbidden [...]

By |2019-12-26T22:01:50-05:00December 19th, 2019|Bereishit, Bereshit, Creation, Genesis, Mashiach (Messiah), Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Physics, Quantum Theory, Spirituality, Superposition, Uncategorized, Uncertainty Principle|2 Comments
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Chol Hamo’ed — Days in Superposition

Today is Chol Hamo’ed Sukkot – the intermediate days between the first and the last days of the holiday of Sukkot. These days are not quite holidays, but they are not ordinary days either. They are a strange hybrid or a mixture of a holiday and mundane days. In physics, we have a word for that – the state of superposition. I’ve written about it in my article Pesach Sheini – in a State of Superposition. Not to repeat myself, I refer the reader to that article for background information. In short, in physics, we speak of states of the system. Say, one state of a dreidel may be spinning clockwise. Another state would be spinning counterclockwise. These are pure states. In quantum mechanics, a system could be in a mixed state. Say, [...]

By |2019-10-17T17:10:06-04:00October 17th, 2019|Collapse of the wavefunction, Holidays (Yomim Tovim), Quantum Theory, Sukkot, Sukkot, Superposition, Uncategorized|3 Comments
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Futurist Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

(A popular summary of the paper “Towards Futuristic Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics” by Alexander Poltorak being currently prepared for publication) Quantum mechanics (QM) is one of the most successful theories of physics that withstood the test of time. Indeed, it is one of the best-tested theories known to science. Yet, we hardly advanced in our understanding of the meaning of QM since its inception almost a century ago. The indeterministic nature of the theory puts it at odds with both classical physics and our intuition, and continues to perplex physicists and philosophers of science today as it perplexed Einstein, who famously said, “G‑d does not play dice with the universe!” Superposition and entanglement seem to defy common sense and, yet, they have been confirmed experimentally time and again. The phenomenon known as the [...]

By |2019-06-21T07:41:52-04:00June 19th, 2019|Collapse of the wavefunction, Physics, Quantum Theory, Randomness, Relativity, Science, Superposition, Time, Uncategorized, Wavefunction|5 Comments
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The Entangled Tenth

And all the tithe of the herd or the flock, whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord.” (Leviticus 27:32) This Shabbat, I was called up to the Torah for the last aliyah (lit. “ascent”, meaning the reading from the Scroll) of the book of Leviticus. This portion talks about tithing animals, giving the precise procedure for doing so – every animal is released from a pen one by one while being counted – one, two, three, … , ten. The tenth animal is touch by the rode and consecrated as the ma’aser – tithe. The Torah states that every tenth animal is holy unto G‑d. What is the state of the animals before counting? They have two possible states: (1) chulin, i.e., “not sacred” and (2) ma’aser, [...]

By |2019-06-02T11:37:10-04:00June 2nd, 2019|Bechukotai, Collapse of the wavefunction, Entanglement, Leviticus, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Physics, Quantum Theory, Sefirot, Superposition, Uncategorized, Wavefunction|0 Comments
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Wigner’s Friend Paradox

Amicus est Socrates, magister meus, sed magis est amica veritas. “Socrates is my friend but a greater friend is truth” – Plato c. 428-348 BCE. Amicus Plato, sed magis amica veritas. “Plato is my friend, but a greater friend is truth" – Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, 350 BCE. Amicus Plato amicus Aristoteles magis amica veritas. “Plato is my friend, Aristotle is my friend, but a greater friend is truth.” – Isaac Newton, Cambridge Student Notebook, 1661 You are my friend, but what is truth? – Eugene Wigner, 1961 If Isaac Newton summed up the aphorisms of Plato and Aristotle in his student notebook, exactly 300 years later, Eugene Wigner put this notion on its head. Although taking a poetic license, I put Wigner's words above in quotation marks, I do not know if he [...]

By |2023-03-23T18:18:41-04:00March 17th, 2019|Uncategorized|4 Comments
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Day Six – the State of Superposition

And G‑d saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good, and it was evening and it was morning, the sixth day. (Gen. 1:31)   The Biblical narrative of creation concludes with the above verse. Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (a.k.a. Rashi) comments on this verse: the sixth day: Scripture added a “hey” on the sixth [day], at the completion of the Creation, to tell us that He stipulated with them, [“you were created] on the condition that Israel accept the Five Books of the Torah.” [The numerical value of the “hey” is five.] (Tanchuma Bereishith 1). Another explanation for “the sixth day”: They [the works of creation] were all suspended until the “sixth day,” referring to the sixth day of Sivan, which was prepared for the giving of the Torah (Shab. 88a). [...]

By |2018-10-10T14:40:55-04:00October 10th, 2018|Bereishit, Bereshit, Collapse of the wavefunction, Deuteronomy, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Quantum Theory, Superposition, Uncategorized, Wavefunction|1 Comment
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Sabbatical Year – when the Wavefunctions are Collapsed

The Torah portion, Re’eh, talks about the Sabbatical Year—in Hebrew, Shemitah—the Seventh year. When the Sabbatical year comes, all loans are forgiven, and Jewish servants go free. This is difficult to understand. Why would a lender forgive a loan just because it’s the seventh year in the Shemitah cycle? Why would slaves be set free just because it’s the Sabbatical year? Another question is why do we translate Shemitah as the “Sabbatical year”? Besides the fact that it is the seventh year, and Shabbat is the seventh day, what connects the word “shemitah” with Shabbat? As Rabbi Yehoshua Steinberg writes in Biblical Hebrew Etymology, (see Re’eh: The Slippery Year? – The Wonders of the Holy Tongue), the three-letter root of the word “shemitah” – Shin-Mem-Tet – connote falling, collapsing, slipping, weakening, or disintegration. The two-letter [...]

By |2018-08-17T12:28:16-04:00August 17th, 2018|Collapse of the wavefunction, Deuteronomy, Devarim, Parshah, Passover (Pesach), Pentateuch (Chumash), Re'eh, Superposition, Uncategorized, Wavefunction|0 Comments
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Half-Shekel – Metaphor for Entanglement

This they shall give, everyone who goes through the counting: half a shekel according to the holy shekel. Twenty gerahs equal one shekel; half of a shekel shall be an offering to the Lord Ex. 30:13 In this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tisa (Ex. 30), Jewish people are given the commandment of donating a coin as atonement, not just a coin – half a coin. But why half? If G‑d thought, twenty gerahs would be too much, He could have commanded Moses to mint another coin worth ten gerahs. But no, the coin was to remain what it was—worth twenty gerahs—and Jews were to give half a coin. Don’t you find it peculiar? I don’t, because half-coins are the favorite metaphor for explaining quantum entanglement. What is entanglement? When obtaining information about one [...]

By |2019-02-20T15:23:07-05:00March 16th, 2017|Collapse of the wavefunction, Entanglement, Exodus (Shemot), Ki Tisa, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Physics, Quantum Theory, Shemot, Superposition, Uncategorized|2 Comments
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Miracle of Chanukah—Seeing and not Collapsing

As I wrote in my post, Schrödinger  Menorah:  Burning  And  Not  Burning, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, explains the miracle of Chanukah as a paradox of the menorah (chanukiah or hanukkiah) burning and not burning, thereby embodying the absolute nature of G‑d, who is not limited by His infinity and combines all possibilities including the infinitude (ko’ach bli gvul) and the finitude (ko’ach hagvul). The notion of the menorah burning and not burning easily lends itself to be cast in terms of the quantum superposition of states of burning and not burning. I couldn’t help myself to call it the Schrödinger Menorah. There a couple of problems, however, with this idea. Firstly, as the Rebbe wrote in 1971 in a letter to the editor of the Journal of the Association of [...]

By |2020-12-15T19:59:10-05:00December 26th, 2016|Chanukah, Collapse of the wavefunction, G‑d, Holidays (Yomim Tovim), Quantum Theory, Superposition, Uncategorized|5 Comments
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Standing and Moving

According to the Saadia Gaon, these two Torah portions – Nitzavim and Vayelech – are really one portion, which sometimes is split into two.  In the language of Quantum Mechanics (QM), the two portions are entangled, in a manner of speech, and are described by the single "wavefunction."  Needless to say, this is not meant in a literal sense, as QM describes physical objects, whereas these biblical chapters are certainly not.  Nevertheless, taking poetic license, we can loosely say that these portions are entangled, i.e., they are really one.  Nitzavim and Vayelech, however, speak of the opposite themes – “nitzavim” connotes standing( lit., you stand), while “vayelech” connotes walking (lit., …and he walked). As much as it seems paradoxical at first, from the physicist’s point of view, it is not surprising at all.  Typically, [...]

By |2020-10-15T22:53:46-04:00October 9th, 2016|Collapse of the wavefunction, Deuteronomy, Devarim, Devarim, Entanglement, Nitzavim, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Quantum Theory, Rosh HaShanah, Superposition, Uncategorized, Vayelech, Wavefunction|1 Comment
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Balak and Balaam – an entangled pair

In my last year’s post "Balak – Interference of Souls," I suggested that Balak needed Balaam (Bilam) to cause constructive interference to make the curse more powerful. This year, while reading this Torah portion last Shabbat, I realized that there was another reason for which Balak needed Balaam – the entanglement. As I wrote last year, both Balak and Balaam received evil aspects of the souls of Cain and Abel (Havel) but in different proportions: Balak was primarily a reincarnation (gilgul) of the evil aspect of Cain (although he also received some smaller portion of the evil aspect of the soul of Abel) and Balaam was primarily a reincarnation of the evil aspect of Abel (although he also received some smaller portion of the evil aspect of the soul of Cain). Let us [...]

By |2019-07-16T22:57:19-04:00January 18th, 2016|Balak, Bamitbar, Entanglement, Numbers, Pentateuch (Chumash)|0 Comments
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Pesach Sheni – in a State of Superposition

There were men who were ritually unclean [because of contact with] a dead person, and therefore could not make the Passover sacrifice on that day. So they approached Moses and Aaron on that day. Those men said to him, "We are ritually unclean [because of contact] with a dead person; [but] why should we be excluded so as not to bring the offering of the Lord in its appointed time, with all the children of Israel? Moses said to them, "Wait, and I will hear what the Lord instructs concerning you." The Lord spoke to Moses saying: “Speak to the children of Israel saying, Any person who becomes unclean from [contact with] the dead, or is on a distant journey, whether among you or in future generations, he shall make a Passover sacrifice [...]

By |2024-05-21T20:51:07-04:00January 10th, 2016|Behaalotecha, Holidays (Yomim Tovim), Passover (Pesach), Superposition|0 Comments
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Balak – Interference of Souls

Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. Moab became terrified of the people, for they were numerous, and Moab became disgusted because of the children of Israel. Moab said to the elders of Midian, "Now this assembly will eat up everything around us, as the ox eats up the greens of the field. Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. He sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of his people, to call for him, saying, "A people has come out of Egypt, and behold, they have covered the 'eye' of the land, and they are stationed opposite me. So now, please come and curse this people for me, for [...]

By |2020-10-15T23:12:39-04:00July 8th, 2015|Balak, Bamitbar, Entanglement, Ezekiel, Kabbalah, Mashiach (Messiah), Numbers, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Physics, Sefirot, Soul, Spirituality, Superposition, Tanakh, Uncategorized, Zohar|4 Comments
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