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From: koll@NECAM.tdd.sj.nec.com (Michael Goldman)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: 64-bits, How many years?
Message-ID: <1991Mar21.181256.1494@sj.nec.com>
Date: 21 Mar 91 18:12:56 GMT
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This is to argue that we may be able to circumvent the speed of light limiting
computer speed by using the quantum tunneling effect currently under
development at TI and others. (I think they made a functioning circuit a year
or two ago.)

In a much earlier posting, Bill Davidsen expressed an innocent faith in
relativity and physics as providing limits to getting to a 64-bit address space.
I'm here to tell ya, Bill, they ain't the same.  I.e., relativity is a subset
of physics.  Quantum mechanics is another subset.

The general theory of relativity is basically a philosophical
resolution of the paradox posed by the finite speed of light, and the
non-existence of an "ether" or medium for its transmission.  The paradox was
that one could travel faster than a light beam which transmitted information
which had happened before your departure.  The resolution was that therefore
you can't travel faster than light (other results follow from that).

However, if one is on the sub-atomic level, this paradox may not arise.
The Heisenberg uncertainty principle states that (your uncertainty in
determining a particle's speed) * (your uncertainty in determining a
particle's position) > (Planck's constant * particle's frequency).  Therefore,
if you know a particle's position precisely, your uncertainty concerning
it's speed is infinite, so it's speed could be infinite!

This is more than a wild surmise.  When I was studying particle physics, I
went to the professor about a problem in which it seemed that some of the
sub-atomic particles were exchanging other sub-atomic particles (as a binding
force) in times that implied exceeding the speed of light.  He assured me that
that was, in fact, what was happening due to quantum mechanics and the
resultant probability distributions and reminded me of the uncertainty
principle in the context where light = a photon = just another sub-atomic
particle.  Relativity is not violated, but the IMPLICATION of relativity in
the macro world we live in that the speed of light cannot be exceeded does
not apply.  Quantum mechanics gives results which say that a particle has a
finite (though tiny) probability of being anywhere in the universe, which
means that it could be definitely at point A at one time, and definitely
at point B at another time, and that the delta-time is a probability
ditribution on an open-ended scale - i.e. the probability is the area under
a curve that extends to infinity.  (Einstein and others had problems with
this.  Einstein never accepted it, hence his famous saying that God does not
play dice with the universe.)  C.f., "Schroedinger's cat"

The quantum tunneling effect that TI and others are pursuing relies on the
quantum mechanical results above.  These do not change simply because there
is a barrier between the two places an electron might be.  One transmits
electrons THROUGH (not over) potential barriers by somehow using these effects
to make the probability ~ 1 that an electron that was once on one side of
the barrier is now on the other side of the barrier.  I don't know how they
do this, but an interesting thought is that they are in a realm where
relativitistic results take on a different nature than on the macro scale
we live in.  So, maybe we'll get switching times faster than light!?

	"A lady who was truly quite bright,
	 Traveled far faster than light.
	 She set out one day,
	 In a relative way,
	 And returned the previous night."