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From: 1314jb@houxf.UUCP (J.BOKOR)
Newsgroups: net.physics
Subject: Re: Re: why FTL is illegal (wrt: free will).
Message-ID: <842@houxf.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 4-Jan-85 23:03:25 EST
Article-I.D.: houxf.842
Posted: Fri Jan  4 23:03:25 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 8-Jan-85 13:10:22 EST
References: <683@gloria.UUCP> <785@ariel.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Holmdel NJ
Lines: 23

michael ellis writes:

>Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I thought that even the  simplest
>Newtonian   models   of  the  universe  result  in  intrinsically
>INSOLUBLE differential equations (like the three-body problem).
>Doesn't this mean  that  prediction  is  impossible,  even  in  a
>vanilla Newtonian universe with more than two objects?

A so-called intrinsically  INSOLUBLE  differential  equation  has
absolutely  no  relation  to quantum mechanical uncertainty.  The
three-body problem in classical Newtonian  theory  has  no  known
*analytical* exact solution, but this doesn't mean that 1) such a
solution  will  never  be  found,  or  2)  that   prediction   is
impossible.   The  solution  may  be  obtained numerically to any
arbitrary degree of accuracy given sufficient computing time,  as
implied  by  Guy  Harris'  article.   The  difference  is that in
quantum mechanics, you can't  write  down  an  equation  for  the
coordinates  of  particles,  you can only calculate a probability
distribution function for  each  coordinate.   The  probabilistic
nature  of  the  theory  is  built  into  the assumptions used to
construct the equations.

				Jeff Bokor