I struggle with understanding just what a physical thing is? If a particle is an... | Hacker News

Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit

		criddell on May 11, 2021 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: An experiment caught a quantum system in the middl... I struggle with understanding just what a physical thing is? If a particle is an excitation of a quantum field, then what is a quantum field? Is it anything more than just information?

aeternum on May 12, 2021 [–]

I'd say a quantum field is a combination of both information and a rule.

The rule determines the quantum field's next state given it's current state (the schrodinger equation).

The state of the quantum field could probably be considered nothing more than information.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact