Does The Atom Have A Designer?

DOES THE ATOM HAVE A DESIGNER?

Lakhi N. Goenka

1st Edition

December 2013

Updated July 2019

Copyright © 2013/2016 eThermal, LLC

All Rights Reserved.

ISBN-10:  0692789170

ISBN-13:  978-0692789179

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to our beloved son Bentley Bjorklund Goenka (1989 - 2007).

We dearly love you and miss you, Bentley.  I know we will see you again.

We are in the position of a little child, entering a huge library whose walls are covered to the ceiling with books in many different languages. The child knows that someone must have written those books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books, a mysterious order, which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of the human mind, even the greatest and most cultured, toward God. We see a universe marvelously arranged, obeying certain laws, but we understand the laws only dimly. Our limited minds cannot grasp the mysterious force that sways the constellations.

​ ​  - Dr. Albert Einstein

Contents

Synopsis

Atomic Structure

First-Ever Image Of A Hydrogen Atom

Introduction

Atomic Rules of Order

Matter and Energy

The Quantization of Matter (and Energy)

Charge, Spin, and Electromagnetism

Wave-Particle Duality and Schroedinger’s Wavefunction

The Role of Symmetry

The Atomic Nucleus

Atomic Stability

Time’s Arrow and the Atom

Atomic Functionality and Purpose

Underlying Mechanisms: The Elephant in the Room

Quantum Field Theory

Inexplicable Structure and Complexity

The Why Question: Causality, Metaphysics, & Teleology

Who Designed the Designer?

The Multiverse Hypothesis

Summary

References

Acknowledgements

SYNOPSIS

Did the order and function of the Atom arise from random events?

Does the Atom have a Designer? critically examines if the order and complexity of the Atom arises simply from random events following the Big Bang.  The Atom, with its complex structure, its quantized properties, and its many dynamic interactions, realizes the physical, electromagnetic, nuclear, chemical, and biological functionalities of the universe.

This book, written by a secular researcher searching for answers, examines subatomic behaviors such as wave-particle duality & quantum superposition, quark-gluon interactions within the atomic nucleus, and electron-photon interactions within atomic orbitals, as well as their role in realizing the many functionalities of the Atom.

The Why Questions related to the Atom are discussed in depth using Aristotle’s four causes.  The question: Does your kitchen table have a Designer? does not require a scientific or a mathematical explanation.  It requires a logical one.  Aristotle’s theory of causality was developed to show that four related causes (or explanations) are needed to explain change in the world: a material, a formal, an efficient, and a final cause.  A complete explanation of any material change will use all four causes.  The Why Questions related to the Atom are investigated in great depth using this approach toward causality.

The commonly cited objection Then who designed the Designer? is also addressed in the book. The controversial and unverified Multiverse Hypothesis, often used against a Design argument, is also discussed.

And yes, your kitchen table does have a Designer.

(Note that this is an argument based on Design, and not on fine tuning.)

Atomic Structure

The Atomic System comprises of Quarks within the Nucleus and Electrons in their Orbitals.

First-Ever Image Of A Hydrogen Atom

Using ultrafast lasers, wave packet experiments (2013) have been performed by A. S. Stodolna et al* illustrating how coherent superpositions of quantum mechanical stationary states describe electrons that move on periodic orbits around nuclei.

(Image courtesy Physical Review Letters)

❖     Related Reference:

Hydrogen Atoms under Magnification: Direct Observation of the Nodal Structure of Stark States

A. S. Stodolna et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 213001 – Published 20 May 2013

Introduction

The fundamental building block for the universe is not a passive billiard ball.  It is a complex system of interacting particles called the Atom (which can perhaps be more appropriately referred to as The Atomic System).  This book examines if the Atom with its complex structure and its multiple functionalities arises simply from random events, or if it has a Designer.

Even the simplest of atoms, Hydrogen and Helium, consist of numerous subatomic particles such as quarks, gluons, and leptons that interact together in complex ways.  These subatomic particles represent a fine balance of forces, have special quantum properties, interact together in complex ways, follow complex laws, and obey multiple rules of order, all to ultimately provide function.  Atoms don’t simply follow laws—they provide function.  Atoms are a fundamental system of parts (subatomic particles) that dynamically interact together to provide multiple levels of functionality. 

The nucleus, or heart, of the Atomic System formed within fractions of a second after the Big Bang, and combined later with electrons that balanced out the charge within the system. The Atomic System represents the starting level of complexity for the universe, and consists of numerous subatomic particles whose quantum structure and interactions enable the physical, electromagnetic, nuclear, chemical, and biological functioning of the universe.

This book critically examines whether the Proton-Neutron-Electron structure of the Atom and its resulting