Spooky Action at a Distance

August 10, 2015
In this accessible and imaginative book, science journalist Musser (The Complete Idiot’s Guide to String Theory) introduces readers to the “mother of all physics riddles”: nonlocality—the weird entanglement between particles in different places, which could help scientists better understand black holes, unified field theories, and other phenomena. Experimental evidence has long suggested that distant particles could indeed be connected, but in the early 20th century, many theoretical physicists thought that accepting nonlocality was like using magic to explain physics. Einstein held that it violates his theory of relativity, calling it “spooky action at a distance.” Nearly a century later, there’s still no good explanation for how nonlocality works. Musser explores nonlocality’s possible role in black holes and wormholes, quantum teleportation, cosmic background radiation left over from the Big Bang, and even the existence of free will. Along the way, he introduces some of the scientists who have worked on nonlocality, including black hole expert Charles Misner, cosmologist Steve Giddings, and physicist John Stewart Bell, whose groundbreaking eponymous theorem makes nonlocality an “unavoidable” aspect of the universe. Clarity and humor illuminate Musser’s writing, and he adroitly captures the excitement and frustration involved in investigating the mysteries of our universe. Illus. Agency: Susan Rabiner Literary Agency.

Starred review from August 15, 2015
Two particles behave identically and instantaneously though separated by great space and with no force passing between them. How? Award-winning Scientific American contributing editor Musser (The Complete Idiot's Guide to String Theory, 2008) probes the riddle. Locality was the bedrock of physics for centuries. "It means that everything has a place. You can always point to an object and say, 'Here it is.' If you can't, that thing must really not exist," writes the author in this anything-but-simple story of nonlocality. Einstein understood locality as both separability-things in separate places have independent existences-and local action: objects interact by striking one another or intermediarily. Musser covers the evolution of physics' method of physical inquiry, "driven by the conviction that the universe is within the human power to understand," with comprehensible rules and a history of systematic investigation for reference: from Zeno and Democritus to Newton, who turned inquiry-and locality-on its head. Newton couldn't explain gravity, but his equations proved out. Now, writes Musser, "modern physicists think of any theory as having two separate functions. First, the theory should provide a mathematical description....Second, the theory should provide an 'interpretation' of the formulas: a compelling picture of what's going on...." But the second part is flexible enough that physicists can "kick away the interpretation and let the equations stand on their own." Much the same can be said about the entire quantum revolution and certainly nonlocality: locality may be a precondition for relativity, but there are enough instances of flabbergasting nonlocality to suggest that space is simply a convenient notion to describe order. With brio and dash, Musser navigates the difficult science and also introduces interesting characters such as Michael Heller, "a physicist, philosopher, and priest" at Krakow's Pontifical Academy of Theology, and theorist Nima Arkani-Hamed, winner of the 2012 Fundamental Physics Prize. An endlessly surprising foray into the current mother of physics' many knotty mysteries, the solving of which may unveil the weirdness of quantum particles, black holes, and the essential unity of nature.

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