A Simple Question

What is life?

Is it a grand persistent illusion to quote the mystics?

Or is it hard rock reality as proclaims the skeptics?

Is it harsh and rude like the prose?

Or simple, fluid and elegant like the poetry?

Perhaps even both who knows?!

Is it about dying at every moment?

Or art of learning how to live?!

Is it learning through experience?

Or a journey towards an unknown goal, worth pursuing with patience?

Or perhaps something more profound; who comprehends?!

Is it a string of failure running after ever illusive success!!

Or about growing from strength to strength?

And who can either define failure and success?

Is it about bonding with some for a very brief time?

Or these emotions are just bondage that binds!

Perhaps it is complex like a labyrinth!

Or under the apparent complexities simple and elegant

But whatever it means for each one of us

With its various forms, faces and colors;

It amazes me to notice…

It is simply the most beautiful gift one can ever receive!

Isn't it ?!

                                                                                      -Debabrata Banerjee  

A Sincere Prayer

O rain come, come riding;

Come with the trumpets blowing,

Come with your chariots roaring,

Come o fearsome warrior,

Summon all your strength and vanquish whatever is dark and evil,

Come with new leash of life for the lifeless, hope for the hopeless;

Come to become the voice of weak and downtrodden;

To become their weapon against the strong and corrupted;

Wash away whatever is impure;

Whatever is evil, whatever is rotten and is to be abhorred;

Making way for the new, that which is fresh and pure;

Come to show that truth can’t be vanquished;

Even in the darkest of hours it is just behind the veil;

It will come piercing the veil of ignorance, the veil of darkness;

Ignited by the spark of knowledge it will spread like the wild fire,

Destroying the rotten, the dead under its flames while the evils in fear perspire;

And after your wrath is over…all the dirt will be gone;

The new air will bring with it the sweet smell of freshness;

The sky, the birds, all of nature will be dancing in anticipation of hope,

The sun will be bringing with it new rays of life,

All that is dark, evil and rotten would have been washed;

To make way for the new, the pure, the sanctified,

What a wonderful new dawn it would be for the mankind….

                                                                                 -Debabrata Banerjee  

Quantum World

The quantum world that is the world of infinitesimally small…the world of electrons and Photons, is pretty different from what we observe in daily life. The reality at quantum dimensions is so weird and understanding that great physicists of the status of Einstein, Niels Bohr, Richard Feynman have failed to understand it fully. Niels Bohr quipped, “If anybody says he can think about quantum physics without getting giddy, that only shows that he has not understood the first thing about it”. The problem with the world at quantum level is that the quantum particles seems to have no regard for the rules of  classical mechanics framed by Newton and others that seems to so well describe our observable universe.

For example

1.     At quantum levels you can create reality by simply looking at it.

2.     A quantum particle can occupy more than one place or take more than one path at the same time. This simultaneous coexistence of all possibilities is known as coherent superposition or quantum coherence.

3.     Quantum entanglement: As shown by Non locality experiment that if we send twin photons that were joined earlier to different sectors of space, any action performed upon one instantaneously affects the other as if they remained forever bound in spite of their spatial separation.

In Quantum world a quantum particle actually exists as a wave function with the probability of finding it extending till the end of universe but with a high probability of finding it at one particular space. This description of quantum particle actually arises from the famous uncertainty principle of Heisenberg who stated that it is impossible to measure the position and velocity of a quantum particle accurately beyond a certain fixed level of accuracy defined by his equation. This impossibility is not due to the fault of measuring instruments but is inherent characteristics of quantum world. That the position of quantum particle is defined in terms of probability led Einstein to utter: “God Does Not Play Dice”. However as soon as a quantum particle is observed by a conscious agent they collapse from their wavy nature to reality at a particular position.

For example let us consider that you are an electron seated in a chair. But in quantum world you are actually a wave spread over the entire universe with high probability of finding in your chair. You will remain in that state until and unless a conscious agent looks upon and collapses you into reality seated in the chair. This may sound like the staff of science fiction but the postulates and predictions of quantum mechanics have been proved through numerous experiments like EPR and Young’s Double Slit Experiment.

                                            THE EPR EXPERIMENT 

Now the question is what is consciousness (click on the link to know more about consciousness)? Scientists are too in debate over this question and we will deal with it in our next article.

Let us return again to uncertainty principle of Heisenberg. The uncertainty principle can also be stated in terms of energy and time. It states that if time is stretched enough and we look at very very tiny interval of time while trying to find out about the energy of a certain small volume of space we would be so uncertain about its energy content that a particle may pop out of existence out of nothingness provided it vanishes as soon as it appeared. To show you how this could happen let me tell you a small story.

Around 1928 Physics was suffering from another big problem. The two most important theorems of physics did not agree with each other. On the one hand you had Einstein’s special theory of relativity that described the description of particles moving at a speed close to the speed of light encapsulated in the beautiful equation E=MC² and on the other hand Planks discovery of quantum and the revolution that followed describing the bizarre rules of very very small. Problems arose when trying to describe the behavior of particles that were small enough for quantum rules to be applies and moving fast enough for Einstein’s special theory of relativity to be applied, (especially the behavior of electron). If this theory could not be married it meant that one of them had to be wrong.

At this critical moment Paul Dirac; a brilliant scientist came up with a very elegant description of election that helped to marry the Einstein’s special theory of relativity with plank’s quantum mechanics.

This elegant equation is known as the Dirac equation. In his description of electron Dirac was forced to use a set of four equations represented by the symbol γ.

                       

While the first to equations were quite familiar and referred to the behavior of electron as observed in the laboratory. The next two pair were suggesting to a type of electron never before observed. In some way just like the electron yet very very different. It came to be known as the anti-electron. Dirac realized that if the things and anti-things ever meet each other they would instantly annihilate converting all their mass into energy.

Now here was the answer to the riddle of empty space. Heisenberg had suggested that matter could pop into existence from empty space for very very small amount of time. Dirac provided the mechanism how this could happen. So actually whenever a matter particle pops into existence from empty space so does its anti particle and then they quickly fall back upon each other and annihilate.

Strange as it may seem just like a compulsive credit card addict, pairs of particles and antiparticles constantly borrow energy from space to pop into existence before annihilating again and returning back the energy. Thus what may seem as vacuum is constantly seething with this activity which is known as quantum fluctuations. But as soon there is sufficient energy made available by any source, stable particles are able to emerge and have a ‘real’ existence in the world.

Now you might be wondering why am I discussing so much about nothingness and quantum world?! Well for the curious mind here is the answer…Wherever you see in the observable universe including sun, moon; stars, you and I all have come out of this vacuum. So to understand and get the big picture you have to understand the small…. Om tat sat

The Big Bang-1

It was in 1916 that Einstein published his general theory of Relativity. It was a defining moment not only for physics or science but for mankind as a whole. It would forever change the way we look at the universe. Before Einstein came out with his theory of relativity space was considered static. But Einstein’s space is dynamic. It curves and bends due to the presence of mass in it. It appears almost like a living entity which reacts to its surrounding. Einstein’s general theory of relativity thus stated that the planets which moves in orbital paths around the sun or the way in which every other heavenly body moves is not due to the action of the force of gravity but are actually moving in the simplest of paths that is formed due to curving of space.

When Einstein’s equations of general theory of relativity were applied to the space a more startling and bewildering discovery was made. It was found out that the space was actually expanding. The idea was so adverse to common sense logic that Einstein became convinced that there must be something wrong in his equations. So Einstein went again to his drawing board to reintroduce a cosmological constant in his equations to stabilize the expanding universe that his equations predicted. But Einstein was going to fix something that wasn’t broken. The fact that universe was expanding was shown by Edwin Hubble.

(Hubble knew that for a light source moving towards the observer the waves emitted by it would get compressed and so the light would appear to be blue in color. On the other hand for a light source that is moving away from the observer the waves would get stretched and the light would appear reddish in color. With this knowledge in mind and armed with the hooker telescope Hubble saw that most of the galaxies were red shifted and the further the galaxies were the faster were they moving apart.) 

Einstein paid a visit to Hubble and saw this with his own eyes. 

Einstein later admitted that changing the equations would have been his greatest scientific blunder. Hubble and Einstein jointly came to the conclusion that if the universe was expanding now then at some time in the past the universe must have had a beginning.  If the future was taking the galaxies far away, then it stood to reason that in the past they must have been closer together. So close ultimately that the matter’s compression might result in what Einstein’s equations predicted to be a point of singularity. (Upanishad’s rishis also said the same thing thousands of years ago and the termed the singular point ‘Dahar’)

The fact of physics pointed to clues that eventually made the case for a cosmic explosion as the event that kicked off the expansion of universe. Georges Lemaître, a Belgian priest conceived the idea, and British astronomer Fred Hoyle, in jest coined the term “Big Bang” to describe the explosion.

It is however important to note that it was an explosion of the space itself and not an explosion in any existing space. In the expanding universe today, it is the space between galaxies that is expanding. There was no space before; it appeared along with the Bang.

My discussion on Big Bang and reality continues in my next article...But before that let me discuss about the weird nature of quantum world because this infinite universe was shaped by this weird quantum world at its infancy...Om tat sat

FORCES OF NATURE

The four fundamental forces of nature are the strong nuclear force, weak nuclear force, electromagnetic force and gravitation. Strong nuclear forces are responsible for holding the nucleons together in the nucleus and quarks together in the nucleons. The gravitational force as we all know binds us to our planet, earth to the solar system, stars to the galaxies and so on. Electromagnetic forces bind nuclei and electrons to form atoms and molecules and bind atoms or molecules to form solid matter. Weak nuclear forces on the other hand cause the beta decay of nuclei and also are responsible for the fusion reactions that power the sun and stars.

INTERACTION	RELATIVE STRENGTH	RANGE OF FORCE	MEDIATING FIELD PARTICLE
Nuclear	1	Short(~1fm)	Gluon
Electromagnetic	10-2	∞	photons
weak	10-5	Short(~10-3fm)	W±,Z0 bosons
Gravitational	10-39	∞	Graviton

However with developments in physics in the 20^th century the textbook classification of the four fundamental forces of nature has broken down. We now know that the weak force and electromagnetism are two facets of one entity called the electroweak force. Can one go further and unify the strong force with the electroweak force?

It is possible. It is called the grand unification but that is a speculative step which could be confirmed only in the future. The grander unification will be with the unification of the gravitation which we may call total unification which is what Einstein dreamed of.

What is reality?

For most of us reality is what we experience through our senses daily and at every moment of our life and is most comforting….But is it truly what reality is?...think again…For example I feel that I am sitting pretty comfortably in my chair while writing this article but actually speaking I am zooming through the space at around 64000miles per hour around the sun. When we touch our body or anything around for example table we fill that it is solid but actually most of it is empty space. Physicists are trying everyday to decode reality but defining reality is turning out to be pretty illusive. When it comes to understand what makes up the objects that we think to be real around us what physicist do is to smash them with each other. Through these experiments it was discovered that all elements are made up of atoms which are further made up of a tiny nucleus of positively charged protons and neutral neutrons. Most of the space inside the atoms is actually empty space and then there are electrons which revolve around the positively charged nucleus. To further understand what protons are made of they smashed two protons. But instead of getting one or two particles which they could name as elementary what they got was hundreds of particles comprising of baryons and mesons (together they were called as particle zoo).

THE PARTICLE ZOO

Now the question was which one of them was elementary? For the answer to this profound question the experimental physicists had to turn towards theoretical physicists who came up with the standard model which became the basic elementary particles of reality from which our entire reality was made of including the four primary forces of nature. (or was it?) 

THE STANDARD MODEL

Now we return to the question asked by experimental physicists. They turned towards theoretical physicists for help, who came up with standard model of elementary particles. The constituents of the universe according to the standard model come in two categories, the field sector and the particle sector. In the field sector we have got 12 gauge fields the four electroweak fields that includes the photon (γ, W+,W-,Z) and the eight gluon fields(G1,G2,…G8) their quanta are all particles with one unit of quantum attribute called spin exactly like the first and most familiar among them, the photon. All such particle having integral spin belong to the family of particles called bosons (this obeys what is called Bose Einstein statistics).

The particle sector consists of spin 1/2 particles belonging to other great family of “fermions”(Particles that obey Fermi-Dirac statistics). Most matter on earth are however made up of the quark doublet (up and down quark) and the two leptons (v, e). However nature has chosen to repeat this quartets two more times so that there actually exist three “generations” of particle quartets each consisting of a quark doublet and a lepton doublet.

Now the question that arises is why three generations? Related to this question is another more profound question- How is everything including the forces of nature that we know today come into being?? For this we have to study a cosmological phenomenon- The Big Bang!

What is the message that the characters of Mahabharata war (Pandavas) give through blowing their conch shell?

Tatahsvetairhayairyukte,mahatisyandanesthitau;
madhavahpandavascaiva,divyau sankhau pradadhmatuh

                                         ….. B.G.CHAP 1 VERSE 14

After the Kaurav, Krishna and Arjun, riding in their magnificent, sacred chariot drawn by flawlessly white horses (“white” symbolizes purity), also blow their “celestial” conches. “Celestial” means beyond the material world. Yogeshwar Krishna’s transcendental message is a promise to render unto souls the most auspicious, unworldly existence that is beyond the worlds of both mortals and gods, and verily the whole universe (Brahmlok), which is all afflicted with the fear of birth and death. If the words in this verse are carefully looked at they indicate something…It says the chariot is celestial (not made of gold or silver) conch is celestial, everything is pure and celestial so the poet wants to state that their message is also celestial.

Beyond these worlds there is only the one unique and indescribable God. Krishna’s message is of establishing a direct contact with this Supreme Being. But how will he affect this state?

Pancajanyamhrsikeso,devadattamdhananjayah;
paundramdadhmaumaha-sankham,bhima-karma vrkodarah

                                              ….. B.G.CHAP 1 VERSE 15

So Hrishikesh (lord of the senses), who knows all the mysteries of the human heart, blows the conch PANCHJANYA. This is a declaration of his intent to restrain the five organs of perception which correspond to word, touch, form, taste, and smell, and to transmute their inclinations into devotion.

ARJUNA or Dhananjay (the victor of wealth) is the affectionate devotion that attains to the state of divine exaltation. This devotion is a feeling of tenderness for the desired object, which includes within itself all the experiences of devotees, even pangs of separation and occasional disenchantment and tears. There should be nothing for a devotee except the longed-for God. If the devotion to him is perfect, it embraces the virtues (DEVDATTA) that provide access to the Supreme Spirit.

BHEEM of awesome deeds blows his great conch PAUNDR, which denotes sentiment. The heart is the spring as well as the habitat of feeling. This is why Bheem is called Vrikodar, the large-hearted. Sentiment is fathomless and mighty, and this sentiment is Bheem’s great conch that is now blown. The affection that he represents is embodied in sentiment. That is why Bheem blows the conch named Paundr.

Anantavijayamraja,kunti-putroyudhisthirah
nakulahsahadevasca,sughosa-manipuspakau

                                     ….. B.G.CHAP 1 VERSE 16

King Yudhisthir blows the conch Anantvijay (endless conquest). Kunti is the very image of dutifulness; and Yudhisthir, the embodiment of dharm (natural piety). If one’s adherence to dharm is steady, Anantvijay will bring about the absorption of the Self in the boundless God.

Nakul, who is a symbol of restraint, blows the conch named Sughosh. As restraint grows firmer, evil is subdued and the dominance of righteousness is proclaimed. Sahdev, the adherer to truth, blows on the conch which bears the name of Manipushpak. Sages have described each breath as a precious ruby. “What a pity that we squander the jewels of our breath on idle gossip!” One kind of satsang is the moral discourse we hear from noble men, but the real spiritual discourse is internal. According to Krishn, the Self alone is true and eternal. True satsang comes about when the mind reins itself in from all externals and dwells with the Self. This adherence to truth is cultivated by incessant reflection, meditation, and samadhi. The more joy one feels in dwelling with the one reality, the more restraint one gains over each breath, the mind, and the instruments by which objects of sense affect the Self. The day they are totally restrained is the day when we are absorbed in the ultimate essence. Providing, like a good instrument, harmonious accompaniment to the song of the Self is true satsang. The physical ruby is hard, but the jewel of breath is even more tender than a flower. Flowers fall and wither soon after they bloom, and we can never say that we shall live until the next breath. But if there is true adherence to the Self, it leads us to realize the highest goal through providing control over each breath. There is nothing to proclaim beyond this, although each device is helpful in traversing a certain stretch of the path of spiritual perfection….OM TATSAT