IT'S A BIRD...IT'S A PLANE...IT'S A WAVE GOODBYE!
In QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016), A. G. Hayes and I introduce the Quantum Death Machine, a theoretical weapon not so much of mass destruction (WMD) as of mass infrastructure interference (WMII). In this new scenario, the objective isn't to destroy an enemy so much as paralyze it, allowing the aggressor to acquire all its resources intact. Our Quantum Death Machine is based on some of the emerging characteristics of theoretical #quantum physics and it's overarching #M-Superstring Theory. in the evolving field of applied physics, it's about using and applying these characteristics. In applied physics, perhaps the most fundament question remains when a wave becomes a particle and vice versa. After all, a wave is insubstantial; a quantum wave typically can't be seen or held and examined between a thumb and forefinger. Tossing a wave somewhere doesn't make much sense. A particle on the other hand is more substantial; even a quantum particle, with assistance, can be at least indirectly observed, captured and examined, and, like a bullet it can be sent flying in one direction in a projection of power. That's a lot of what the European Organization for Nuclear Research, called #CERN, is investigating with the Large Haldron Collider these days.
<Standing Waves from Wikipedia Commons>
Quantum physics holds that a wave and its particle are indistinguishable at a certain point in situational space/time. My favorite example of this is to start with a standing wave. Hold a string at each end in a thumb and finger and move one end up and down and it looks like a wave. A standing wave has two key measurements: its frequency of vibration and its length (technically the length from non-vibrating node to non-vibrating node). In a sense, the former defines the wave's inherent energy, while the latter defines a wave's effective size. At the moment when the wave and particle are one, the same is true of the corresponding particle: In particle terms, the former defines the particle's inherent energy, while the latter defines its effective size.
So, wave? Particle? Or both at the same time? It's left to the observer to decide based on the immediate situation. M-Superstring Theory, however, holds that a string vibrating as a standing wave of incredibly small diameter is the fundamental basis for everything "real" that we interact with in the cosmic, quantum and our "normal-sized" world. At least, that's my current take on it.
In QUANTUM DEATH, it is these properties of wave/matter that are at the heart of the Quantum Death Machine (QDM) that threatens the existence of North America and the world. It's up to Cerebrus Agents Susan Koski and Joseph Falk to save everyone, if possible, with a little help from Cerebrus brilliant female scientist Kate Keenan on special assignment. In writer's terms the QDM is the MacGuffin, but in QUANTUM DEATH it's an entirely plausible one. That's what makes QUANTUM DEATH a real #thriller.
