Einstein-Bohr Debates – In the early days of Quantum Mechanics, Einstein and Bohr debated about the foundations of Quantum Mechanics. Einstein’s argument is summed up in his quote “God Does Not Play Dice With The Universe” – meaning laws of nature must be strict and predictable. To which Bohr famously replied as “Einstein, Stop Telling God What To Do With His Dice” To his last breath, he advocated randomness inherent in Quantum Mechanics. In what follows, we will try to reconcile the two ideas.
Copenhagen’s Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics – Universe is inherently nondeterministic. Only the probabilities of outcomes of an experiment can be predicted and are real. What happens to a particular particle can’t be predicted. The particle become “real” only when measurement is done and wave collapses.
Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion – At any instant, the net force on a body is equal to the body’s mass multiplied by its acceleration. In other words, the net force on the body is equal to the rate at which the body’s momentum is changing with time. In this article, we use m=1 at some places to make our point without loss of generality.
Laplace Demon – d2r/dt2 = F(r) with r(t0) as position r0 and (dr/dt)(t0) as velocity v0 are known for all particles ie, the position and momentum is known for all the particles at any instant, then their paths are fixed. And, thus their position and momentum can be calculated (at least theoretically) for any other instant using the laws of physics. And the past, present, and future can be precisely and accurately calculated.
Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle (HUP) – Heisenberg showed that the position and momentum of a particle cannot be measured accurately simultaneously. Δx Δp >= ħ/2. He implied that the particles don’t have fixed position and momentum.
Re-Interpretation of HUP – Even though a particle’s position and momentum can’t be measured/ calculated precisely simultaneously, it is fixed. That is, all particles have fixed position and momentum. Making a rough analogy, the mathematical constant Pi has a fixed value (the ratio of the circumference to diameter of any circle); but it being an irrational number, its value can’t be calculated precisely.
Absolute Postulate of the Universe – If position and momentum of all the particles at all the instants is fixed, the universe is completely determined. This postulate combines Einstein’s view and Bohr’s view of the universe. The determinism doesn’t imply predictability. That is, the universe can be deterministic and yet unpredictable because of (1) the large number of particles to be calculated/ measured required for making a decent prediction (2) HUP preventing precise measurement/ calculation of position and momentum of particles
Some of the Consequences of the Absolute Postulate of the Universe –
(1) Determinism and Predictability – Though the universe is completely deterministic using the laws of physics and initial conditions, the future (or the past for that matter) can’t be predicted because of (1) the huge number of particles that are involved and (2) the HUP preventing precise calculations/ measurements.
(2) Determinism and Radioactivity – In the basic radioactivity formula dN/ dt = -𝜆N, we can’t predict which particle will disintegrate but can predict that half of the initial particles will disintegrate in one half-life of the element in question. This article claims that even if we can’t calculate which particle will disintegrate and when, it is per-determined.
(3) Schrodinger’s Cat Paradox – A cat is placed in a closed box where a poison is released upon radioactive decay of an element. According to the Copenhagen Interpretation of QM, it is assumed that the cat is in a superposition state of dead and alive till the door is opened. On opening the door, the wave function of the cat collapses and the cat is found dead or alive. The paradox is how can a macro-animal like a cat be in a superposition state. It is claimed that depending on the radioactive decay of the particle and subsequent release of poison at time t0 , the cat is in a definite state – dead or alive. We just don’t know it till we open the door to the box.
(4) EPR Paradox – It is observed in quantum entanglement experiments that information travels from one photon to its twin photon instantaneously. This violates Einstein’s relativity proven argument that nothing in the universe can travel faster than the light. This article argues that the information of Alice’s photon is fixed and is available at Bob’s photon since the inception of the universe. And thus information need not travel superluminally.
(5) Implication for Chaos Theory – Two cannon balls are thrown one by one from the same cannon – keeping everything the same. Still, they land at two slightly different places. The article advocates that there are some changes in the universe that have taken place between the two experiments and that we have not accounted for that and that causes this change of results in these two experiments. If we knew position and momentum of all the particles in the Universe, we could have calculated precise trajectories of the two balls using the laws of physics.
(6) Illusion of the Free Will – An interesting consequence of Absolute Determinism is that as the initial conditions (position and momentum) and laws of physics are known, the paths of the particles are fixed and thus paths of neurons and neurotransmitters (constituting of particles) are known. Thus, the thoughts and emotions of people, that is in turn due to paths/ interactions of neurons and neurotransmitters, are fixed. Thus there is no freedom to choose our actions. Thus, free will is an illusion.
(7) Consciousness -When we say we are Conscious, we usually mean our body and its boundary. But when we inhale or eat, we take in particles in our so-called body, process them, assimilate them, grow/ repair tissues and eject particles when we exhale or excrete. So, there is no fixed body. And thus, there is no individual consciousness. In fact, the whole Universe is one connected deterministic entity in 4-dimensions. All the particles are connected to each other as one Absolute/ Universe/ Consciousness/ God.
Keywords – Universe, Determinism, Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, Quantum Mechanics, Laplace Demon, Free Will, Benjamin Libet, Consciousness, Theory of Everything
Link to Complete Paper as published in Indian Journal of Science and Technology on 22-06-2026:- https://doi.org/10.17485/IJST/v19i22.54
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