My Phone Call to Dr Clauser on Quantum

 

My call to John Clauser.

The following is not a call for empathy. I’m not doing it to win any points; I’m doing it just to share a story that I think is (personally) quite remarkable. It’s part of my story.

 I called one of the greatest scientists of our time, Dr John Clauser, wanting to discuss the paper that I submitted and had published in the International Journal of Quantum Foundation on the topic he won his Nobel Prize in, quantum entanglement. It ended up that he hung up on me. I was shattered, but what did I expect? Well, I expected a little curiosity, a bit of time, maybe a "I’ll give it a look, and I’ll get back to you," but no, this was not to be. It was very harsh and not very constructive at all. On his side, he must get a lot of this, and I understand that. Even I do, and I am not supportive of people all the time.

I had written a letter to Dr Clauser and sent it to him, covering two topics I had been involved in and wanted to share with him. The first was my paper on quantum mechanics, for which I wrote a section on quantum entanglement, and the second was on the oversight of Raman spectroscopy and climate science atmospherics. I knew his supervisor was the inventor of the laser (Charlie Townes) and that he (Towns) knew of Raman's work and the potential for lasers.  

I wrote a detailed letter, and he never got back to me, so I tried calling him. I found his number, worked out the times, and dialled on Skype.

Before I go into the conversation about how it went or didnt, I would like to say that I’m deeply inspired by Dr Clauser and still am. I studied his story and was at his Nobel lecture in Stockholm in 2022. I sat five rows behind, listening to them, proud that I had written something on this esoteric topic. Knowing that someday, someone will pick up on this. 

I recall that at the end of Clauser's and the others' presentations, he/they didn’t understand (rightly) how it (entanglement) works, only that it does. What was crazy for me was that I wrote about it, connecting it to the fractal. And it remains that way, crazy. But I think I have an interpretation and an explanation of it, something universal in this geometry we are surrounded by. So that is what I wanted to share with him. 

The conversation started cordial, and I was just polite and respectful. I found myself being clear even if I was rather nervous. I asked him if he had seen my letter, and he came with a rather gruff grandfather sort of voice as if I was bothering him from the beginning. I knew this wasn’t going to go quite like I thought. He said, "I haven’t got time to look at my emails all the time. What have you got? Tell me now." 

When I heard those words, I thought, oh no, I can’t do this. I can’t talk on the telephone about what I have.  I told him that I’ve been working with the fractal, and it seems to be doing similar things described as being 'quantum', I wrote a paper on it and would care to look at it. I have a section on entanglement. 

'What do you mean by quantum?! 

What do you mean by entanglement?! He said, "It is not my entanglement; it is Shrodinger." He started asking me all these things, "What do you mean?" I didn't have the answers to those questions. I'm not an expert, and I didn't pretend to be.

He then asked: "What space are you talking about? He kept asking me this, and really, I’m not a mathematician, and I knew a little about space, but I couldn’t answer, and I knew that my presentation was collapsing. My little moment was collapsing. And it collapsed. 

I tried to defend myself, lastly asking, knowing that it was ending, if I could just take a look, and he said, "I don’t have time for this!". Then Silence.  

I sat back, put my head in my hands, and swore to myself. Then I laughed, knowing that I had just talked to one of the greatest scientists of our time, maybe all time.

 I felt rather humiliated and disappointed, yes, but I never blame others; it's me, and I just have to do better. I just thought, how stupid could I be! I looked at the wall and thought, 'I’m not doing this anymore. This is just crazy. Nobody seems to care.'

Yes, I feel sorry for myself, but, again, it’s not a call for emotion. Getting hung up on doesn’t mean I’m right. It’s just that I’d like to discuss it with somebody, it’s not easy to carry something like this. Like the fractal I describe, I feel I am losing my understanding of it as time goes on, and I am losing interest too, cause it hurts to go back. But every now and then, it comes back, and I love it and am proud I have written an interpretation of the mystery. 

I didn’t get to talk to him about Raman and lasers. I was so excited to do that. I think the prospects would’ve been great. To be honest, I have seen his approach to atmospherics and climate science, and I’m glad I’m not associated with them. I think those guys have all taken the wrong approach.

Thanks for reading.