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Quantum theory doesn’t have to be rocket science
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By Christine Bordelon
Photo courtesy of Basil S. Davis
“Physics is all around us,” says Basil S. Davis, a physics professor at Xavier University of Louisiana. “The basic premise of physics is that there is an underlying logic and intelligibility to all of nature, and that the task of a physicist is to discover that logic and express it in humanly intelligible terms. On this all physicists – whether believers or atheists – are in agreement.”
But for Davis, who has a doctorate in physics from Tulane University, everything visible and tangible is united by a personal intelligence, the Logos or Word of God.
Until 2010, Davis was a professor of Sacred Scripture at Notre Dame Seminary, a job that he held for nine years after getting a doctorate in biblical studies from the University of Notre Dame.
Today, Davis specializes in the branch of modern physics called quantum theory. Quantum theory is the study of matter and energy at the microscopic level. The motion of microscopic particles called electrons is the basis for electric currents, whether in a computer or in the human brain. Our very thought processes leave their physical imprints in the varied motions of electrons in the brain, as an electroencephalograph demonstrates.
Thus, Davis claims, when you study quantum theory, you are, in a sense, studying yourself, perhaps more intimately than when you study biology or chemistry, even though these are very important for the study of the human body.
Davis has published a book called “The Basic Physics of Quantum Theory” (World Scientific, April 2020) ( https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/11801).
“Theologians feel they must have an opinion on every discovery in modern science,” Davis said. “But when they write about modern physics, and especially quantum theory, I get the impression that many of them don’t really understand what they are talking about.
“As a theologian turned physicist, I felt called upon to educate my fellow theologians – and anyone else who wants to learn – on this subject. So, I decided to write a book on quantum theory which would be accessible to anybody – a book that does not have a great deal of mathematics.”
Journey in faith, science
From childhood, Davis was intrigued by the material, visible and tangible universe and how objects moved. “I was always fascinated by the night sky as I gazed up and observed the stars, the Milky Way and the planets,” he says. “Space, the universe and the mathematical structure of reality appealed to me.”
Davis graduated from a Catholic high school run by the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers in Kolkata, India. In school he excelled in mathematics, so his parents were somewhat taken aback when he decided to major in physics, and not math, at Loyola College in Chennai. He explains: “Math is fun, but physics is real.” His master’s degree in physics came from Madras Christian College, also in Chennai.
Through a conversion experience halfway through college, he sensed a strong desire for religious life. Once his master’s was completed, he joined the Congregation of Christian Brothers and subsequently taught physics at St. Edmund’s College in Shillong, India.
As his faith life matured, Davis was attracted to the Bible. He received approval from his Christian Brothers superiors to take two years’ leave from teaching to earn a master’s in theology from the University of Notre Dame, after which he returned to India and resumed the teaching of physics.
Simultaneously, he conducted popular “charismatic” retreats for young lay people, seminarians and religious. The retreats were scripturally based with prayer, teachings on the Holy Spirit’s gifts, laying on of hands and praying for participants.
Despite his success as a teacher and retreat leader, Davis began to feel a deep restlessness. His religious superiors granted him permission to return to Notre Dame for a doctorate in theology. Through the guidance of a spiritual director, he discerned that God was calling him out of religious life, and he left the order with the blessings of his superiors.
With a doctorate in theology, Davis was offered a teaching position in biblical studies at Notre Dame Seminary in 2001. He and his wife Shyla are parishioners at St. Francis Xavier Church in Metairie.
In the spring of 2006, Davis had a mystical experience in which he sensed a unity between the study of the physical universe, the prayerful contemplation of God’s love and beauty, and a mission to the poor and oppressed, a unity that flowed from the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Two days after this experience, he met with the physics department chair of Tulane University. The latter invited Davis to pursue a doctoral degree in physics at Tulane.
“I was over 50 at the time,” Davis recalls, “and the idea of doing a doctorate in physics after a 15-year absence from the subject was terrifying, but also fascinating and so attractive. I said, ‘yes.’”
Realizing he could not juggle teaching at the seminary and working on his dissertation, he resigned from the seminary in 2010. After completing his Ph.D. in 2012, he worked at Tulane for a couple of years before joining Xavier, where he is now an assistant professor of physics.
Why write this book?
Four years ago, after teaching physics to humanities students using a rough draft of what would become his book, Davis realized that students who are humanities majors could also learn quantum theory with proper guidance.
Davis spent approximately three months honing and polishing the work. He considers the book an intellectual user’s manual and hopes physics teachers, at both college and high school levels, will use it in their class or at least read it to gain a deeper insight into quantum theory.
“It could also be used in a liberal arts curriculum where students can learn some physics, along with great books and literature, and see how a book like this can capture the beauty and poetry of the material world and communicate it in an intelligible manner without overwhelming them with a whole lot of equations,” he says. “My hope is that it will reach many people who would like to learn quantum theory and are looking for a relatively painless way to learn the subject.”
Faith guides his research and teaching
Davis says his motivation as a physicist has received much inspiration from his love of the Bible.
“Jesus is the Word through whom all things were made,” Davis says. “Not only is he the basis of all investigation of physical realities, but also because he has redeemed us by his love, he has also redeemed the whole of creation by his death and resurrection. When I’m doing research in physics, I am looking at something so precious, something redeemed by the blood of the Son of God.”
Davis never makes any mention of faith in his teaching, but he strives to express his faith by treating each of his students with respect and compassion.
“My motivation for teaching is not just that I like physics as an academic discipline,” he says. “It is obvious to my students that I love them. As I look at my students, I see each one of them as a person for whom Jesus died. And, so, when I teach physics to them, I am in a sense evangelizing them. In a sense, I am also laying down my life for them. That is the powerful motivation I have in communicating the beauty of God’s universe to these students.”
Christine Bordelon can be reached at [email protected].