Does true randomness exist in the universe?
Kobayashi Suzuki, Yamamoto Sato · Cambridge Science Advance · 2024
This article explores the existence of true randomness in the universe, challenging traditional mechanistic and deterministic viewpoints. The article begins by demonstrating the random waviness of electrons without external forces through the double-slit experiment in quantum mechanics, as well as the random distribution when individual electrons are imaged on a screen. It then discusses the theory of hidden variables, which suggests that there are undiscovered variables that could explain the deterministic motion of particles. However, experimental results from Bell's inequality have refuted this theory, proving the correctness of quantum mechanics. The article also mentions nonlinear systems in the macro world, such as the three-body problem in chaos theory, illustrating the uncertainty in the macro world. Finally, the article further explains the counterintuitive and random behavior of particles in quantum mechanics through anti-reflective film and delayed-choice experiments, emphasizing that randomness is ubiquitous even in the macro world. The article concludes that although the universe is full of randomness, this does not mean it is unknowable; humans can still understand and control these random phenomena through probability theory.