Erwin Schrödinger is one of the greatest physicists of 20th century was also an enigmatic figure. He was a brilliant scientist, philosopher, poet and a humanist who lead a complex personal life. He was deeply philosophical in his thoughts than any other scientist of his time, but he apparently did not make far-reaching philosophical conclusions from his work in quantum physics. He was held back because he knew there was a lack of clarity. His search for the truth never reached conclusion as his one time lover Hansi Bauer noted. Erwin’s interest in Vedanta (one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy) and Upanishads started at a young age when he was accustomed to cold and hungry times in war-torn Vienna, but his belief in Vedanta remained the same until his death in 1961: He was a life long believer. Schrödinger was deeply influenced by the thoughts of Schopenhauer, and thus developed strong interest in Buddhist philosophy and Vedanta. He studied the works of Schopenhauer, Henry Warren, Max Welleser, Richard Garbe, Paul Deussen, Max Muller, and Rhys Davids to understand Hindu and Buddhist philosophies.
According to Vedanta; there exists only one universal being called the Brahman, which comprises all of reality in an undivided unity. This being absolutely homogeneous in nature: It is pure thought, which is not an attribute but the substance devoid of any qualities. The Brahman is associated with a power or a principle of illusion called Maya. As a magician creates illusion during his act, Brahman through Maya creates the appearances of the material world. Maya is the cause of the material world, and an indivisible Brahman is present in all forms of existence. The soul in reality is an infinite Brahman enmeshed in the unreal world of Maya. The unenlightened soul is incapable of looking beyond this illusion, but an enlightened soul knows the difference between its true self and the external illusory world thus paving the way for identifying itself with Brahman. This unity and continuity concept of All in One expounded in Vedanta is consistent with quantum physics where the universe is superimposed with inseparable waves of probability amplitudes. The Heisenberg uncertainty phenomenon and quantum Zeno effect is an allegory to the illusions of Maya or a prelude to the indivisible, All in One, Supreme Brahman.
In his lectures on relationship of spirit and science, Schrödinger believed that spirit is subjective and can not be subjected to objective examination. He quoted Sañkarâcârya’s commentary, Subject and Object; I and not-I are opposed to each other like light and darkness. Hindu philosophers believed that ego consists of thought in its relation to God, Schrödinger wished to identify ego consisted of thought and the spirit. In a letter to Einstein, he once wrote that he doesn’t believe much in God the father, and Jesus Christ His son, and he lashed out Christian churches accusing them of gross superstition in their belief of individual souls. He continued to believe in the concept one universal being, the Brahman, which comprises all of reality in an undivided unity. Quantum physics has tremendous philosophical implications, which revolutionized modern thought in science and philosophy because it did not agree with the philosophy of materialism expounded by Newton. Interpretation of quantum world suggested that strict determinism and predictability is not an accurate description of reality, and consciousness is an integral part of the laws of quantum physics. Quantum physical experiments conducted by Alain Aspect (to address Einstein’s EPR experimental results) showed that measurements on correlated pairs follow the quantum mechanical predictions. This result has been found even when the particles are separated by a distance such that even an influence propagated at the speed of light does not affect the result. Thus clearly denying the local realism concept of proposed by Einstein. This simply justifies the principle concept of Vedanta; that is, the reality behind the appearances of physics as an unbreakable whole. If the physical world is real, it is holistic and not merely the sum of separate parts. The wholeness created by the wave particle duality and the indivisible nature of quantum world is in agreement with Vedanta philosophy of unity or Oneness of the Brahman.
Nov 1925 to Dec 1926 is a critical period in the development wave mechanics. Erwin’s thought process was so upbeat that his creative power peaked during this period and remains without parallel in the history of science! It was at this time intense Vedantic thoughts were taking place in the mind of young Erwin. In 1933 Schrödinger and Paul Dirac were awarded Nobel Prize for physics. Erwin taught at the many universities, such as universities of, Vienna, Zurich, Berlin, Oxford, Graz and Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies. At one time he considered a faculty position at Tata Institute (Indian Institute of Science) in Bangalore, India at the invitation of Nobel laureate C.V. Raman. During Nazi uprising, scientists like Max Born, Schrödinger and Rudolph E. Peierls (later became a member of Manhattan Project in United States) were interested to work in India. Max Born visited India as a guest of Raman and acted as the emissary for Nazi displaced German scientists. Raman requested the academic council that these displaced physicists be admitted to the Institute. British Physicist Francis William Aston, who won the 1922 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the Mass Spectroscopy, objected to Raman’s suggestion. He is known to have stated that "these scientists were rejected by their own country and that is an indication of their worthlessness." If Schrödinger was given the opportunity, perhaps he would have learnt Sanskrit and studied Vedanta more intensively and translated many Vedantic and Upanishdic works. Students of Vedanta across the globe may have missed his valuable contributions.
It is ironic that the personal stress associated with Erwin’s daring extra martial affairs unperturbed by the pressures of the society; sadness created by financial problems, deaths of his parents, and the terrible guilt that ensured due to his inability to do more to care his parents may have helped rather than hindered his creativity. In a letter of 1930, he recalls how his father’s death on the Christmas Eve of 1919 left little cheer in his soul for the festive season throughout his life. This demonstrates the emotional and human side of Erwin; the deaths of his parents shook his consciousness and left him with tremendous pain and loss. In 1945 a letter addressed to Herman Weyl, he stated that the dangerous enemy is the State, and expressed fear of destruction of the world by nuclear weapons. Erwin had contempt for Nazis but never openly criticized the regime. Schrödinger left Berlin 1933 to protest Nazi regime. Erwin’s life was filled with drama and sadness caused by several failed romances; two illegitimate children, infidelity, two wives, nervous breakdown of his wife Annemarie, and some of his lovers, and his own illness due to various health problems, and constant displacement due to war and the Nazi regime. Yet his contributions to mankind are immortal, and you would feel like crying at the triumphs and tragedies of this great human being.
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