The Invisible Characters: George Gamow

[Jan Lundquist]

From what I read of Russian born physicist George Gamow, he would have been described by his peers as a "real card". meaning a cut-up and pranksters. But he was also quite brilliant, solving the theory of alpha particle decay with quantum tunneling by the age of 24. He fled Russia shortly afterward and took up a teaching position at George Washington University, in DC.

We know of his WW connection with Townsend only through a surviving photograph of him with Townsend and Jo on the banks of the Potomoc.

I did not know that he was Russian born Jacques Bergier's uncle until I found this message from "Twigsnapper" in the old forum:

Paul,

I know this is all very confusing but there are golden threads just lying there waiting to be picked up. You can do this but take the stress away from the search. That golden thread will reach up and put itself into your hands. Just relax a little.

Here is an odd connection. I place into your hands. An uncle of Jacques Bergier. Notice the words that jump out at you." Quantum Tunneling?" There was another Russian speaking fellow that told you about this I think. A certain red haired lad. ( well, used to be) Try this. There will be other connections. Relax ( but pay attention! <g>) twigsnapper

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gamow

viewtopic.php?p=9360&hilit=Gamow#p9360

I am just going to leave Gamow, here, for now, for other brains to play with.

[Jan Lundquist]

"Vital to the fusion process and used in a wealth of technological applications, new research shows quantum tunneling is still delivering surprises."

A deeper look at quantum tunneling lays the groundwork for new discoveries by Robert Lea | Jul 5, 2023
Advanced Science News
https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/a-d ... scoveries/

[Paul Schatzkin]

Goodness, what sort of worm-can have we opened here?

First, what...? Quantum tunneling?

FWIW, that topic comes up a lot over on the Fusor.net forums. A simple search of the site provides what appears to be at least 100 references:

https://bityl.co/Juiv

I never quite understood the role or quantum tunneling in fusion, so I asked ChatGTP to explain it:

In nuclear fusion, two atomic nuclei come together and merge to form a heavier nucleus. However, in order for this to happen, the nuclei must overcome the strong electrostatic repulsion between their positively charged protons. This requires a tremendous amount of energy, which is typically provided by high temperatures and pressures.

Quantum tunneling allows atomic nuclei to overcome this energy barrier by "tunneling" through it. According to quantum mechanics, particles can sometimes pass through energy barriers that would be classically impossible to penetrate. This is because particles can exist in a state of superposition, where they exist in multiple states simultaneously, and can tunnel through barriers by taking advantage of this property.

In the case of nuclear fusion, quantum tunneling allows atomic nuclei to overcome the repulsive electrostatic forces between them and merge together to form a heavier nucleus. This process is crucial for the production of energy in stars, and is also being studied as a potential source of clean energy on Earth.

That makes a bit of sense. It also offers a suggestion why the electrostatic Farnsworth Fusor would actually hold more promise than the monolithic magnetic machines like the $20-billion ITER beast they're building in France.

While we're on the subject of all things quantum...

At some point when I've got my Rabbit Hole Dive Suit on again, I'll have to dig into my correspondence with Morgan, who encouraged me at some point to pay attention to 'Quantum Entanglement.' Again, ChatGPT to the rescue:

Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon in which two or more particles become correlated in such a way that the state of one particle is dependent on the state of the other, even if they are separated by large distances. This means that measuring the state of one particle can instantaneously affect the state of the other particle, regardless of the distance between them. Quantum entanglement is a key feature of quantum information processing and has important implications for quantum cryptography and quantum computing.

In other words, what Einstein called "spooky action at a distance."

I've been thinking a lot about Quantum Mechanics, the history of its evolution and the quirky personalities that developed the various thirties in the first half of the 20th century.

Not sure what else to say at the moment.

It's curious that all this stuff is coming to the surface as we await the arrival of "Oppenheimer" at the bijou this week. I've already got my ticket.

--PS

[Jan Lundquist]

Paul, how was Oppenheimer? How was it received by the audience?

More interesting Gamow tidbits:

We call him Russian, but he was born in Odessa, a Ukrainian port city on the Black Sea. It took he and his wife three tries before they were able to defect to the west

He helped design of the first cyclotron in Europe, though it would not be completed until 1937, after he was in the States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gamow

While at GWU, he worked on Beta decay transition theory with Edward Teller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_decay_transition

You, too, saw the big tell in his wiki bio:

During World War II, Gamow did not work directly on the Manhattan Project producing the atomic bomb, in spite of his knowledge of radioactivity and nuclear fusion. He continued to teach physics at George Washington University and consulted for the US Navy. .

None of that explains why Townsend has a photograph of Gamow, with him and Jo in the woods by a river. Nor who took the photo...possibly Gamow's wife, "Rho." The location implies that this was a clandestine meeting, but that Townsend retained the photo indicates that it memorialized something important to him. He was very selective in his curation of the files that would be left for Linda.

[Jan Lundquist]

In other words, what Einstein called "spooky action at a distance."

Yes, this is what he was seeing with the communications device: Spark gap jumped in one room, recording device clicks in the next.

[Paul Schatzkin]

Paul, how was Oppenheimer? How was it received by the audience?

There is a very informed discussion of Oppenheimer over on the fusor.net site:

https://fusor.net/board/viewtopic.php?t=14962

...which includes my personal review after seeing it last Thursday:

https://fusor.net/board/viewtopic.php?p=99255#p99255

and I've got some further thoughts on the subject vis-a-vis Farnsworth here:

https://farnovision.com/wp/o-e-f/

More on Gamow later, I have his book.

--PS