Extinction Watch! 2005: American Movie, Guns n’ Roses, and Quantum symmetry.

Richard Tebrick, Moderator of Modulation

Figure One.
Mark Borchardt	Axl Rose

I was recently re-watching the instant classic documentary, American Movie, which is the touching story of filmmaker Mark Borchardt and his attempt to make his dream come true. His dream is directing a feature-length horror film called Northwestern, which is beside the point. The point is, that on this (perhaps my fifth watch) an important realization hit me like a backpack full of quarters. The realization came in the form of a question, which I now pose to you: What’s the deal with these guys and ’80s rock supergroup Guns n’ Roses? Is there some kind of hard-drinking rock music identity function at work here? Is this some sort of important and as-yet undiscovered physical symmetry? Were these characters living systems of anti-matter? Convinced that the mere possibility that these giant sets of anti-matter would collide threatened the existence of the Earth as we know it, I was positively determined to find out if these elements were reactive, or at least write a completely unresearched and off-the-cuff article for Tomarken.com about it.

Perhaps an introduction is necessary: First let me introduce you to Mark Borchardt and W. Axl Rose. Mark Borchardt and W. Axl Rose were born Mark Borchardt and William Bruce Rose. They were born in the midwest - in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Lafayette, IN respectively. They grew up, and while drinking and abusing drugs heavily, grew long red hair. Mark, a filmmaker, and W. Axl, a musician, were each the bandleader in their scenes. To the best of our knowledge, they are each still drinking heavily and living “la vida loca,” much as they did in their formative years.

Figure Two.
Mike Schank	Slash

On the other hand, we have Mike Schank and Slash, born Saul Hudson. Each of these spectacularly talented second-fiddles grew up with their hardcore friends, being hardcore and playing guitar. Slash was addicted to heroin and played lead guitar for the band Guns n’ Roses, and Mike Schank did a lot of acid and drank vodka, and played in bands as well. Subsequently, both Slash and Mike quit drugs and Slash came to make notable guest appearances in “The Drew Carey Show” and Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” video. Slash is married with children in Los Angeles, and Mike Schank lives in his parents’ basement and is awesome. Their mutual affinity for long curly black locks keeps rock alive well into the twenty-first century.

Let me tell you something now. There are symmetries that exist in the basic physical laws that govern the operation of the world. The behavior of objects in the world is governed by a series of symmetry operations: translation in space, translation in time, rotation through a fixed angle, uniform velocity in a straight line (Lorentz transformation), reversal of time, interchange of identical atoms or particles, quantum-mechanical phase, and matter-antimatter (change conjugation). These things mean the following (as far as we know):

1. If we had one Mike Schank (Apparatus M₁), and we then we built another one (M₂) at another place in space then whatever goes on in M₁ will go on in M₂.
2. If we had one Slash (Apparatus S₁), and then we built another one (S₂) in exactly the same condition, say, three days later, the two apparatuses will go through the same motions in exactly the same way no matter what the starting time.
3. If we have an apparatus Mark Borchardt (B), and we rotate B and everything that is relevant to B at an angle, it will work just as well.
4. If we have an apparatus W. Axl Rose (A), it will work the same way if it is at a standstill as if it is standing still inside a system moving at a uniform velocity.
5. Let us further assume that we can see apparatus Slash (S₁) with sufficient detail. In other words, we can see all the tiny subparts of S₁ moving in time. There is an idea that with a sufficiently detailed apparatus S₂, which starts its motion in the final condition of S₁, with all the velocities precisely reversed, then it will go through the same motions, but exactly in reverse! In other words, S₁ is theoretically reversible in time!
6. Back to apparatus Mike Schank (M₁), let us assume that M functions a certain way in a system. Now if we can find an identical apparatus (M₂), we can replace the one with the other.

Now listen, because this is where it gets interesting. There is a seventh type of symmetry in the physical world left to talk about. This is matter-antimatter symmetry. This works in conjunction with an as-yet unmentioned eighth symmetry, mirroring in space. Basically the idea is that particles have an axial spin either to the right-hand or the left-hand side. The problem at hand is that if have Mike Schank (M) we make an anti-matter Mike Schank (M_β), it runs the same way as M. What the heck? The secret here is knowing that M is really M_r, meaning that Mike Schank is spinning to the right. The way to solve the symmetry problem is to make M_β-l, meaning antimatter-left-hand-Mike Schank would run backwards with respect to M_r. Symmetry is conserved!

Here’s what’s more: In our world, all Mike Schanks spin to the right. (This is a sort of evolutionary tactic taken up by amino acids for example - a left-handed frog, say, could not digest a right-handed fly.) So under the conditions of our world, M_β (M_β-r) still works the same way as M! It would exhibit the same behavior, grow the same hair, occupy the same social position, etc. Certainly, we have to consider the real possibility that M_β-r could exist in the world.

What I am concerned about here is that M_β-r’s name is Slash. Further that B_β-r is Axl Rose. Or vice versa. And if this is true, we are in a very real danger of these particles and anti-particles colliding! For your information, when a particle and its anti-particle come into contact with each other, the two annihilate and produce a burst of energy - a HUGE burst of energy. I know this seems unlikely: As yet, we have only succeeded in producing anti-atoms of hydrogen, and also anti-deuteron nuclei, created out of an antiproton and an antineutron, but no more complex antimatter, although it is theoretically possible. But Mother Nature she’s a harsh mistress. I am beside myself with worry that evolution has dealt us a cruel test.

Thus, for the safety of our world, then, allow me to propose a pair of tests that would allow us to confirm or deny this very disturbing possibility.

TEST ONE (Translation in space):
Our subjects, Mike Schank (M) and Slash (M_β) are observed at two different locations in space, at the exact same time doing the exact same thing. Obviously, this will have to be in a highly controlled environment because changes in the surface of the earth, magnetic fields, etc., will have to be accounted for. If M and M_β respond to the identical stimuli in exactly the same way (with an acceptable margin of error, of course, due to the limits of measuring equipment) it will further our hypothesis that M and M_β are in fact, anti-particles relative to one another. The optimal environment for this test is to take a series of measurements in two space ships orbiting the earth at the same speed. Let us remember, for this test and the one that follows, that if M and M_β were to occupy even approximately the same space, the consequences could be dire.

TEST TWO (Interchange of identical atoms or particles):
Carefully guarding for the possibility of a potentially disastrous collision, and in a matched pair of controlled environments, we exchange M for M_β. In other words, we provide a situation for M_β to act as a substitute for M in the nuclear reaction of the M-B relationship, and vice versa. A battery of situational tests is undertaken, and then M and M_β are flipped again to their standard relationships, upon which the same tests are done with respect to the “control relationships.” If the same events occur in each situation, it will go further to confirm our hypothesis.

Tomarken.com is currently seeking funding to test this danger-laden area, and potentially, to save the world.