Dao and Physics

文、譯/林巍

我在西方大學講老子時，最難解釋的是“道”。它看不見，摸不著，卻又無處不在1根據(jù)英文表述習慣，翻譯中不妨顛倒詞序。。然而，若與現(xiàn)代物理學研究的某些基本知識結(jié)合起來，似乎又不太難理解。

When I lectured Lao Zi at universities in the West, one of the most difficult things was to explain the concept ofDaoto my students, given its ubiquitous and yet invisible nature.However, it may not be that difficult if we can relate it to some of the fundamentals in modern physics.

2Lao Zi hypothesized: “All things in the cosmos are generated from being and being arises from non-being”;“Dao produces one, one produces two,two produce three and three yield everything on earth”.Stephen Hawking,the British scientist, has theorized that time began with the Big Bang, originating from nothing.According to the theory of modern quantum cosmology,the observable universe is in that empty space where energy is at its lowest (or“ground”) state, formulated as a “constant quantity”, but certainly not below zero in light of the “uncertainty principle” of quantum mechanics.

2老子說：“天下萬物生于有，有生于無。”“道生一，一生二，二生三，三生萬物。”根據(jù)英國科學家霍金的研究2“根據(jù)……研究”一般都譯成“According to… research”，但亦可根據(jù)不同語境作變通處理，如：“據(jù)有關(guān)科學家的研究，暗物質(zhì)一般不與大多數(shù)其他物質(zhì)作用，而會直接穿過地球、房屋甚至是人的身體，并不會被原子所彈開。”（Dark matter, as some scientists have theorized, doesn’t often interact with most other matter, but flies right through the Earth, your house, and your body without bouncing off atoms.），時間是從“宇宙大爆炸” 開始的，在此之前是空白；現(xiàn)代量子宇宙學也斷言，“觀測宇宙始于真空”。所謂“真空”，是系統(tǒng)的最低能量態(tài)（基態(tài)），特別是，依照量子理論中的“測不準原理”3又譯為“不確定性原理”（uncertainty principle）及下文的“測不準原理”，是量子力學中的一個基本原理，由德國物理學家海森堡（Werner Heisenberg）于1927 年提出。，真空中的能量并不等于零，而是形成某一常量4句式重組，將其提前、融匯。。

3Also, Lao Zi said, “All things under heaven are manipulated byDao, in the same way as all streams and torrents flow to rivers and seas”.By assembling in the sea, all rivers actually make a “field ofDao”, where energy at high levels will naturally fill the void (ground state),which very much resembles a vacuum cavity in modern quantum field theory.

3老子又說“：譬道之在天下，猶川谷之于江海。”而百川歸海便形成一種“道場”——在場里較高的能態(tài)都會自發(fā)地趨向基態(tài)（真空態(tài)） ，非常近似于現(xiàn)代量子場中的“真空場”。

4其實，真空不空，因真空中充滿了無數(shù)倏忽產(chǎn)生又倏忽消失的“虛粒子對”，故曰“虛空”5未譯成the so-called “vacant space”，而是作為狀語within a “vacant space” 融入整句之中。，如“虛電子對”就是一個虛的電子加上一個虛的正電子。所謂“虛”，是指這些粒子生成的時間非常短暫，受到海森堡“測不準原理”的限制，因此原則上不可能用任何精密儀器直接探測其存在。

4Such a so-called vacuum is in fact full of fleeting virtual particle pairs,such as a “virtual electron pair” made up of a virtual electron with a positron,floating within a “vacant space”.These particles, characterized by their transient nature, are hardly detectable even with the most sophisticated instruments,according to the “uncertainty principle”proposed by Heisenberg.

5Quantum-mechanical research reveals that in any microcosmos we cannot point out exactly where electrons will appear, except calculating their probability as “material particles” drifting in a certain space at a certain time, which is very much in line with Lao Zi’s conceptualization: “Shapeless shapes are called vague resemblances—going towards them one can see no front; going after them one can see no rear”.

5量子力學的研究表明，在微觀世界里，我們無法準確指出電子在某一時刻出現(xiàn)的地方，而只能6似也可譯成“… but can only calculate…”。確定電子在某一時刻出現(xiàn)在空間某一點的概率，即實物粒子處在“恍恍惚惚”中，正是老子所言：“無物之象，是謂恍惚7這里不是主觀上的in a trance/absent-minded 等，而是指客觀現(xiàn)象。。迎之不見其首，隨之不見其后。”

6In this way, the “something” and

6老子的“有”又可視為物理學中的實物粒子，而“天下萬物”均為實物粒子所組成8將前面的“有”和此處的“天下萬物”合并譯出。。至于“道生一”，無異于基本場，“二”或“三”則分別表示物質(zhì)結(jié)構(gòu)由低層次向高級層次9譯成more advanced/sophistic 等似都夠準確。的轉(zhuǎn)化。由此看來，老子的自然宇宙觀，居然與最新的科學發(fā)展（主要是與現(xiàn)代宇宙學和物理學所給出的宇宙本源、宇宙創(chuàng)生的基本圖像）不謀而合10此句括號里的內(nèi)容在翻譯中可不必拘泥形式，而將其擴展出來。。“all things in the cosmos” described by Lao Zi can also be seen as equivalent to physical particles in modern physics.“Daoproduces one” is in fact little more than ascending transformation,symbolized by “two” and “three” as materialized structures at more complex levels.In a way, Lao Zi’s natural cosmology happens to hold the same view as the most recent scientific developments in terms of the fundamental profile of the origin and genesis of the cosmos portrayed by modern cosmology and physics.

7On 1st February 2003, NASA (the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration) announced that the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe(WMAP) had found that most materials detected had so far been “dark” or“vacuum” energy, which further consolidates the scientific foundation for convincing interpretations of the ideas ofDaoandWuin Daoist philosophy.

72003 年2 月1 日，美國國家航空航天局宣告，威爾金森宇宙波各向異性衛(wèi)星發(fā)現(xiàn)，宇宙中的絕大部分物質(zhì)都是暗能量，亦即真空能量11與前面的“暗能量”一并譯出（energy）。，從而更加證實了對于“道”和“無”的解釋確為可信，其科學依據(jù)更為堅實。

8More interestingly, recent research in quantum physics has proved that under enough pressure of high-energy photons, an electron-positron pair can be produced.In other words, imposed by an external force (such as when struck by high-energy photons or induced by an electric or magnetic field), virtual particles can materialize, becoming a pair of particles that are detectable—a physical effect of “creating something out of nothing”.Doesn’t that precisely coincide with Lao Zi’s statement that “Being arises from non-being”?

8更有趣的是，量子物理學新近研究證明，如果高能光子的能量足夠高，就有可能從真空中打出一對正負電子。即真空中的虛粒子對在一定外界條件下，如高能光子的打擊或極強的電場和磁場的激發(fā)等等，便可能“實化”12數(shù)學里是realification，物理學中多用subslantialization/materialization 等。，變成可以觀測的粒子對，于是產(chǎn)生“無中生有”的物理效應，而這不正是老子的“有生于無”嗎？

9早在1930 年，科學史專家薩頓就斷言，新的啟示13一般譯為revelation/inspiration 等，這里特指對客觀認識的啟迪，故用了enlightenment，其意為to give someone more knowledge and greater understanding about something。可能會來自東方。卡普拉也曾感嘆，遠在2000 多年前，老子就已經(jīng)預見到了今天人類文明的狀態(tài)。可見，中國古代哲學與西方現(xiàn)代科學之間，原本有著某種奇妙的契合14似可用agree with/tally with/correspond to/accord with 等，但這里講的是某種同發(fā)性，即the occurrence of them at the same time or place，故用了conjunctions。。 □

9Sutton, an expert in the history of science, asserted in 1930 that a new enlightenment would probably originate from the East.Capra was also surprised that Lao Zi could foresee today’s human civilization as early as 2000 years ago.Clearly, there are some marvelous conjunctions between ancient Chinese philosophy and modern Western science.■