LONDON — Quantum physics, or quantum mechanics, is rapidly emerging not just as a means to develop new technologies but also as a scientific method that can help mankind better understand the truth about creation pointing to the mystery of its Creator.
In this July 31 interview with the Register on the sidelines of “A Day With Mary”conference in London, Catholic professor Vincenzo Tamma discusses what quantum mechanics is, how it relates to divine action, and how it can be a useful tool in the dialogue between science and theology.
“Quantum mechanics helps the faithful think about how God made the world because it describes the deepest level of how nature works,” explains professor Tamma, founding director of the Quantum Science and Technology Hub at the University of Portsmouth in the U.K. “It gives the most fundamental epistemological, ontological insights into nature, the way God willed it and has ordered it.”
To help maximize its potential in this field, he is calling for the recovery of an interdisciplinary idea of the university, as proposed by St. John Henry Newman, in order to deepen the intersection of Catholic theology, philosophy and quantum science and educate the wider public.
Professor Tamma, what in a nutshell is quantum physics?
Quantum physics is the rulebook for how reality works from the smallest scale. It is, if you like, the science of the fundamental building blocks of the universe — such as atoms, electrons and photons. Quantum physics says these things do not behave like ordinary objects; instead, they can be observed in probabilistic ways, where you can only predict the chances of any measurement outcome, not the exact result.
In simple terms, it gives us an understanding of nature at the most fundamental level. It explains why tiny particles can seem to be in more than one place at once, why light can act like both a wave and a particle, and why particles can be linked together in different ways over distance. Furthermore, quantum physics is not just a theory about the universe’s basics — it also powers new technologies like quantum computers, ultra-precise sensors and secure communication. All this technology is now based on the fundamental physics of quantum mechanics, so it helps us not only to understand the universe in its fundamental nature but can be used to develop new technologies.
How can it help us understand the truth of creation?
Quantum mechanics helps the faithful think about how God made the world because it describes the deepest level of how nature works. It gives the most fundamental epistemological, ontological insights into nature, the way God willed it and has ordered it. In that sense, the laws of physics — and especially the quantum laws — are part of the “book of nature,” and God is the one who gives those laws. As St. Augustine said, the book of nature and the Book of Revelation are two complementary ways of learning about God. They are not the same book, and they should not be merged into one, but they help us understand God together.
Does quantum physics support the meaning of mystery as we understand it as Catholics?
Yes, I believe so. Quantum physics and the empirical sciences in general cannot prove God because God is beyond the natural world and beyond the scientific method, even the laws of quantum physics. But the fact that the laws of nature, and especially the quantum laws, are intelligible at all is itself a sign of something deeper and greater. In other words, the laws of physics cannot explain themselves. The mystery is that the universe has intelligible laws that can be understood by a rational observer. So, in essence, quantum mechanics allows us to point towards higher-order realities and to point about the mystery of nature, its intelligibility. That points beyond the laws to a higher order of reality.
That is why many physicists have spoken with awe and wonder about the universe. Einstein famously said that the world’s comprehensibility is a mystery and even called it a miracle. He realized that intelligibility of nature was pointing towards a transcendent. So the answer is: Yes, quantum physics can support a Catholic sense of mystery because it shows that creation is intelligible, yet still ultimately points beyond itself to God.
How might quantum physics relate to divine action? How can it help us understand divine action perhaps in a way that previous science couldn’t?
Read the rest of this interview at www.ncregister.com
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