The Biology of Belief - Bruce H. Lipton [49]
Constructive Interference. In 1 above, two sets of ripples are moving across the surface of water toward each other. As illustrated, both wave A and B are moving toward each other with their ripples in phase, in this case both waves are leading with their negative amplitude. Their cycle patterns are aligned. The waves merge together at the interface where two ripples meet. To illustrate the consequence of this merger, the waves are drawn with one above the other in figure 2. Where the amplitude of A is +1, the amplitude of B is also +1. Add the two together, and the resulting amplitude of the composite wave at that point is +2. Likewise, where A is –1 so is B, together the total amplitude will be –2. The resulting higher amplitude composite wave is illustrated in 3.
The behavior of energy waves is important for biomedicine because vibrational frequencies can alter the physical and chemical properties of an atom as surely as physical signals like histamine and estrogen. Because atoms are in constant motion, which you can measure by their vibration, they create wave patterns similar to the expanding ripples from the thrown pebbles we talked about above. Each atom is unique because the distribution of its negative and positive charges, coupled with its spin rate, generates a specific vibration or frequency pattern. (Oschman 2000)
Destructive Interference. In figure 1, the ripples derived from first pebble, labeled as Wave A, are moving from left to right. Wave B, moving right to left, represents the ripples from a second pebble dropped shortly after the first. Since the pebbles did not hit the water at the same time, the waves will not be aligned when they merge at the interface, they will be “out of phase.” In the illustration, Wave A is leading with a negative amplitude, and Wave B is leading with a positive amplitude. Where they meet in figure 2, the waves are mirror-images of each other, the high amplitude (+1) of one wave is aligned with the low amplitude (-1) of the other, and vice versa. As shown in 3, the amplitude values of each wave cancel each other out, so that the composite wave having 0 amplitude is no wave at all … it’s flat!
Scientists have devised a way to stop an atom dead in its tracks by exploiting its energy waves. They first identify the frequency of a specific atom and then tune a laser to emit the same frequency. Though the atom and the photoelectric frequency emit the same wave pattern, the laser’s waves are designed to be out of sync with those of the atom. When the light wave interacts with the atom’s wave, the resulting destructive interference cancels the atom’s vibrations and it stops spinning. (Chu 2002; Rumbles 2001)
When you want to enhance rather than stop atoms, you find vibrations that create harmonic resonance. Those vibrations can be of electromagnetic or acoustic origin. When, for example, a skilled vocalist like Ella Fitzgerald maintains a note that is harmonically resonant with the atoms of a crystal goblet, the goblet’s atoms absorb her sound waves. Through the mechanics of constructive interference, the added energy of resonant sound waves causes the goblet’s atoms to vibrate faster. Eventually the atoms absorb so much energy that they vibrate fast enough to break free from the bonds that hold them together. When that happens, the goblet actually explodes.
Doctors use constructive interference mechanics to treat kidney stones, a rare case where the laws of quantum physics have been harnessed as a therapeutic tool in modern medicine. Kidney stones are crystals whose atoms vibrate at a specific frequency. Doctors non-invasively focus a harmonic frequency on the kidney stone. Constructive interference results when the focused