Recent reviews of my paper How Do Objects Move?
I may be wrong, but I think this is a very original paper that tackles
fundamental issues, shows surprising possible links and makes stunning
claims in a well-structured and modest way. [...]
---- Review #1 of Dialectica
This paper takes a step back from the idea, common since the time of
Newton, that inertial motion doesn't need an explanation. As a
background it uses a Russellian at-at conception of motion and tries to
argue that that theory needs to be supplemented with an explanatory
layer that can only be supplied by a discontinuous random process in
discrete space and time. (This can be linked to some proposals in
current physics.) If the argumentation were convincing, this paper would
establish an important conceptual result. [...]
---- Review #2 of Dialectica
It is an
exercise in a priori speculative physics, and if presented to a physics
journal it would be dismissed as a "crank" theory instantly. Even as a
submission to a philosophy journal, the paper is simply too wild to be
considered. I read enough of the paper to be sure that the philosophical
arguments are weak to nonexistent. The key starting arguments
concerning velocity and motion are rife with non-sequiturs. The author
defends a bizarre theory of motion as essentially discontinuous and
random, but magically arrives at the claim (no argument or derivation
given) that his theory yields the Schroedinger equation of QM as the
correct (or at least, simplest) law. Maybe the author is right - who
knows? - but if so, he gets there by brilliant, blind intuition, not by
argumentation or careful analysis. [...]
---- Review #3 of Dialectica
Latest Responses of My New Book
God Does Play Dice with the Universe
I enjoyed reading it. More reviews
---- Tommaso Dorigo, experimental particle physicist. His A Quantum Diaries Survivor is the best experimental physics blog.
God Does Play Dice With the Universe is a great book for anyone interested in the quantum theory and its implications. Amazon Reviews 
---- David McMahon, author of "Quantum Mechanics Demystified" and many other popular titles
Your book and thoughts are worth reading.
---- Fred Alan Wolf, theoretical physicist, popular author of 11 books including the National Book Award Taking the Quantum Leap: The New Physics for Nonscientists.
Your book is simply beautiful!
---- Lubos Motl, string theorist. His The Reference Frame is the best theoretical physics blog.
Congratulations over the enthusiastic reception of your book.
---- Abner Shimony, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Physics at Boston University, one of the most eminent physicist-philosophers.
In spite of my doubting of your strong claims, I did find your
book entertaining.
---- Henry Stapp, quantum physicist, Theoretical Physics Group Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory University of California Berkeley
It is a wonderful illumination of the discrete/ continuum problem... Everyone should enjoy your concise writing style and, more so, the poetic repeats of what God does or does not do with dice.
---- Joseph Mazur, Professor of Mathematics at Marlboro College, PEN Award winning author of Euclid in the Rainforest: Discovering Universal Truth in Mathematics
I am one of those people "plagued by the quantum puzzle": none of the
explanations given by great physicists about the behavior of the
microscopic world ever satisfied me. Let me say I know the discomfort
you felt about quantum mechanics, wave equations, indetermination
principle and all the rest.
Why am I saying all this? Simple, I'm reading your books, following your
logic and opening my eyes that have been blind for so long... I have read many books on the TOE (Theory Of Everything)
subject: string theory, quantum loop gravity, you name it. Many have
started where great minds, like Einstein's, have left. They have done
new theories, made new mathematical tools... This time is different: I
feel your original ideas are the right ones.
---- Dr. Marco De Lellis, Italy
Book Description
Science has made a mighty advance since it originated from ancient Greece more than 2500 years ago. Yet we still live in Plato's cave today; we think everything around us moves continuously, but continuous motion is only a shadow of the real motion. Even the greatest scientists Newton and Einstein were also deluded by the appearance. How about the real motion then?
The book God Does Play Dice with the Universe will lead you to walk out the cave along a logical and comprehensible road. After passing Zeno's arrow, Newton's inertia, Einstein's light, and Schrödinger's cat, you will finally reach the real world, where every thing in the universe, whether it is an atom or a ball or even a star, jumps in a random and discontinuous way. In a famous metaphor, God does play dice with the universe. In this new picture of reality, thing is not inert but active; it ceaselessly jumps by its own "free will". Moreover, such motion will entangle the universe into an inseparable whole in the form of time division. The new discovery may finally solve Zeno's paradoxes and the quantum puzzle.
Life is transitory. Everyone is a mere mote in the universe. But God gives us mind; thus we can see and understand the real world. The most happiness is not beyond this. So let us now head for the real world! More »
A Quantum Theory of Consciousness
Quantum collapse is a big puzzle, and consciousness is another great riddle. It might be expected that discovering their actual connection may help to solve both problems. There are two main viewpoints which assert that quantum collapse and consciousness are essentially connected. The first view holds that consciousness causes quantum collapse (von Neumann 1955; Wigner 1967; Stapp 1996). The second view holds that quantum collapse generates consciousness (Hameroff and Penrose 1996). It can be seen that these two completely contrary views are actually two extremes concerning the relationship between quantum collapse and consciousness. It seems more natural and reasonable that quantum collapse and consciousness are essentially independent with each other. In fact, this point of view is held by most physicists. But does this mean that quantum collapse and consciousness have no connection? The answer is surprisingly negative. As we have argued, their combination will generate an unexpected new outcome, which can indeed help to solve both puzzles.
Although quantum collapse is an objective dynamical process, and its origin is irrelevant to consciousness, the conscious observer can have a distinct role from the physical measuring device during the quantum collapse owing to the intrinsic nature of consciousness. A conscious observer is able to be conscious of his own state, while the state of a physical measuring device can only be measured by another measuring system. As a result, the conscious observer can know whether he is in a definite state or a quantum superposition of definite states, while the physical measuring device cannot “know”. This then results in the existence of a definite nonlinear evolution element in the complete quantum evolution of matter state, which is introduced by consciousness and relates to the conscious content. The definite nonlinear evolution can generate some quantum effects of consciousness, for example, the distinguishability of nonorthogonal states, nonlocal communication, and consciousness influencing random process etc.
The existence of the definite nonlinear evolution introduced by consciousness, if it is confirmed by experiment, will help to solve the hard problems of quantum collapse and consciousness, and have some profound implications for physics (including quantum theory and relativity), the science of consciousness and the research of psi phenomena. First, it implies the actual existence of objective quantum collapse, and will help to complete the existing quantum theory. Besides, its resulting nonlocal communication will reveal the limits of the principle of relativity. Next, it implies that consciousness has basic causal efficacies in the physical world. As thus, consciousness is not reducible or emergent, but a new fundamental property of matter. This will establish a quantum basis for panpsychism, and make it be a promising solution to the hard problem of consciousness. Lastly, it may provide a possible scientific explanation for the psi phenomena. This will help to mitigate the enmity between the scientists with different viewpoints, and further facilitate the study of the nature of consciousness. More »
How do objects move?
Motion is the eternal subject of human enquiry. It is an experiential fact that objects can move, and macroscopic objects appear to move continuously. However, it is still a great puzzle that how objects move in reality. We cannot simply regard the appearance of continuous motion as the real picture of motion. Moreover, the debate about the meaning of quantum theory, which is regarded as the most fundamental theory of nature, makes the puzzle of motion more complex. In this essay, we will try to find the actual picture of motion through a new logical and historical analysis. More »
What happens in an atom?
In October 1926, Schrödinger said to Bohr in Copenhagen:
I should simply like to know what happens in an atom. It’s all the same to me in what language you talk about it. If there are electrons in atoms, which are particles, as we have so far supposed, they must also move about in some way.: More »
Kill off the Ghosts in Modern Science
Searching for reality through mere illusion has been one of the greatest actions of human beings. We live in a curious world full of illusions. What about it? Who are we? Exactly what is the meaning of life? These deep riddles have been haunting our human beings. Although science has made a mighty advance since it originated in ancient Greece more than 2500 years ago, we still live in Plato's cave today.
We don't know what matter is. We don't know what mind is either. More surprisingly, modern science tells us (quantum) matter is the ghost in the atom, and (conscious) mind is the ghost in the machine. Although matter and mind are different, they are both intangible, elusive, and illusory. But is it really true that we live in a ghostly universe? Is it really true that everything is an illusion? A rational man must know by his innermost instinct that all these are seer nonsense. The world seen by modern science must be a mere shadow of reality, a true illusion. How to peer through appearance to see the reality then? We need to find a firm starting point. We need to find a new road from this point, along which we can wake up from the modern nightmare and finally reach reality. Then we will walk out of Plato's cave. We will breathe the fresh air of reality and see the real sun. Wow, reality is much stranger than our imagination!
Quantum Matter: the ghost in the atom?
Conscious Mind: the ghost in the machine?
My Conjecture on the Origin of Dark Energy
Its prediction coincides with the dark energy within 5% according to the newest analyses
Dark energy is widely regarded as a deep mystery at the heart of physics. In March 2005, I proposed an conjecture on the origin of the dark energy (Chin. Phys. Lett 22 (2005) 783-784). In my monograph Quantum Motion, I further refine the conjecture and predict a new quantum effect of black hole.
The idea is very simple. In my model, our universe is taken as a finite system limited by its event horizon in space. Due to the discreteness of space and time, the event horizon will contain finite area units, whose number is the formula N in the above figure, where A is the area of event horizon, LP is the Planck length, 2LP is the space unit in discrete space-time, and LH is the event horizon of our universe. In addition, it is assumed that the space-time limited in the event horizon undergoes quantum fluctuations according to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, and its quantum fluctuation energy of one degree of freedom is the formula ε. Since the quantum fluctuation of space-time of one degree of freedom corresponds to two area units in the two ends of the event horizon, the energy density of the quantum fluctuations of space-time in our universe is the formula ρV.
It is worth noting that my formula of dark energy is in perfect agreement with the present observational data of dark energy. According to the newest analyses of the data [1] (Phys. Rev. D 76 (2007) 023502) [2], the discrepancy is only about 5%. The discrepancy is even as small as about 1% according to another analysis of different data in [2] (see the quoted table below). Certainly, more observations need to be made to test the equation of state which describes the evolution of dark energy.
Note: A similar formula with an undetermined coefficient c is also guessed from a holographical dark energy model (see, e.g. [2]). But their deduction and explanation may be not right. In my model, the coefficient c is fixed in theory as 
. The nearest experimental value of c in the above table is 0.88 from Gold+A+R data. As I think, the formula originates not from the holography principle, but from the discreteness of space-time and the quantum fluctuation of space-time.
Why Does Nobody Understand QM?
Why nobody understand quantum mechanics is because nobody understands motion. As I think, the quantum dilemma lies in that continuous motion cannot explain quantum phenomena, but it is taken for granted that continuous motion is the only possible form of motion. So, Einstein could not accept quantum because it excludes the only reality, continuous motion, while Bohr rejected reality because the only reality, continuous motion, is excluded by quantum. In a similar way, why Feynman took the double-slit experiment as the only mystery is because continuous motion cannot explain it, but continuous motion was unconsciously regarded by him as the only possible motion.
Once we understand motion, all these quantum mysteries will be unveiled, and all these quantum puzzles will also be solved. Motion is actually discontinuous and random. Continuous motion is merely the shadow of the real motion. A single particle can pass through two slits at the same time in the double-slit experiment. It needs not be divided, but only needs to move discontinuously.
If people cannot yet understand quantum mechanics now, it is no longer because of logic, but because of belief. Nature is logical and comprehensible. Only the way we understand nature may be illogical and incomprehensible. More »
From World Line to World Set
If motion is really discontinuous and random, then world line will be replaced by world set.
We Live in a Time Division Universe
The deepest implication of random discontinuous motion lies in that it entangles the world into an inseparable whole in a form of time division.
Our universe is time-divided by God in a completely random way. Everything, from atoms to stars, lives in the time division universe. It looks as if the whole world is composed of many sub-worlds, each one of which occupies one tiny part of the continuous time flow, and the occupying way is discontinuous and random in essence.
Schrodinger's cat in the time division universe
No doubt the new picture will lead to a profound shift in our world view. It implies that our universe is not a mere aggregate of independent existences, but an entangled inseparable whole in the time division form.
We live in a time division universe in reality. More »
Three Roads to Quantum Reality
More than eighty years ago, Erwin Schrödinger wrote, “it has even been doubted whether what goes on in an atom can be described within a scheme of space and time. From a philosophical standpoint, I should consider a conclusive decision in this sense as equivalent to a complete surrender. For we cannot really avoid our thinking in terms of space and time, and what we cannot comprehend within it, we cannot comprehend at all.” Now the picture of random discontinuous motion of particles in space and time might satisfy Schrödinger, the discover of the wave function and its equation.
In our picture of quantum reality, microscopic particles as well as macroscopic objects have a clear picture of motion. But against all expectations, such motion is discontinuous and random in nature. The wave function in quantum mechanics is neither a mere probability amplitude nor an objective physical field, but the very mathematical description of the random discontinuous motion of microscopic particles.
According to this picture of motion, quantum superposition exists in a time division form. Such a division is random and discontinuous. Each branch of the superposition occupies a discontinuous time sub-flow. All these time sub-flows constitute a whole continuous time flow. As thus, reality is not a collection of independent existences, but an inseparable whole in the form of time division. Quantum entanglement is a typical illustration.
Every road, no matter it is physical or mathematical or logical, can actually lead us to such a strange picture of quantum reality. More »
Living for Ideas: A Short Recollection
On 22 August 1987, I wrote in my scientific diary: 'Is it really true that we have no way to describe the atom processes as processes happening in space and time?' Then I was at the age of 16... In a morning of October 1993 when I studied at the Institute of Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, I suddenly had the idea of random discontinuous motion after long reflection in solitude and meditation. I realized that the microscopic particles described by the wave function may probably move in a random and discontinuous way... More »
What Is the Cause of Motion?
Aristotle: "Force is the cause of motion."
Newton: "No, force is the cause of the change of motion. As to the cause of motion, I make no hypothesis."
Einstein: "At any rate, I am convinced that God is not playing at dice."
Gao: "Motion has no cause. So it must be random and discontinuous. As a result, God does play dice!" More »
What Quantum Mechanics Really Describes:
Random Discontinuous Motion
It is well understood that classical mechanics describes continuous motion of particles. A natural question appears when we turn to quantum mechanics, i.e., what does quantum mechanics describe? This is by no means an easy question. In fact, people have been arguing with each other about it since the founding of quantum mechanics. For example, Copenhagen interpretation asserts that quantum mechanics does not describe the motion of microscopic particles, and the wave function only represents our knowledge of it, while hidden variables interpretation assumes that the microscopic particles still undergo continuous motion, and the wave function in quantum mechanics is one kind of real physical field.
Through a deep analysis of space-time and motion, we find the real motion may be random discontinuous motion of particles in discrete space and time. We call such motion quantum motion. Furthermore, we show that the wave function in quantum mchanics is just a mathematical complex which describes quantum motion, and the evolution of quantum motion naturally includes both the Schroedinger evolution of the wave function and the dynamical collapse of the wave function. This provides an ontological basis for quantum mechanics. See the book Quantum Motion for a clear and detailed exposition.
An open-minded reader may understand the new ideas here more easily. Since the quantum puzzle may be the most bewildering problem in the history of science, the reador must be prepared to get rid of some cherished prejudices such as the prejudice of the uniqueness of continuous motion. Once these implicit prejudices are all rejected, everyone can understand quantum mechanics.
Although quantum motion may be remote from or even contradict our everyday experience of motion, it is more natural in logic and closer to reality. It is intelligible for everyone. I hope indeed that this website will appeal to all those who have been looking for a real understanding of quantum mechanics.