An Introduction to Quantum Physics

An Introduction to Quantum Physics: How Does It Affect Our Understanding Of Science And The Way We See The World?

Quantum physics is the study of matter and energy at the most fundamental level. It helps us to understand the behaviour and properties of the structure of nature. Quantum physics helps to fill the gaps in our knowledge of physics and helps us to paint a clearer picture of our everyday lives.

How was quantum physics discovered? It arose in the late 1800s to early 1900s, when experiments involving atoms weren’t making any logical sense in the laws of “normal” physics at the time. What they discovered was that matter and energy can be discovered as discrete packets, or quanta, each having a minimum value. As an example, light delivers a frequency in quanta called “photons”, each photon at the same frequency will have the same energy, and that energy cannot be minimalized, it is at its smallest. This makes sense when we look at the Latin meaning of the word “quantum” which means “how much”.

Most quantum experiments focus on electrons and photons, but quantum phenomena are constantly happening all around us, although sometimes hard to detect. Discoveries within quantum physics has led to the creation of lasers, transistors and major break throughs in technology. It has also made the possibility of quantum computers not so radical. A quantum computer is a computer that is much faster than any of the technology we have to-date. It could outperform any supercomputer currently created.

Being able to comprehend quantum principles has transformed our perception of the atom. The atom we know has a nucleus (containing protons and neutrons) and is surrounded by shells of electrons that “orbit” the nucleus. Quantum physics makes us conceptualize that these electrons are not bound to their orbits, they can exist in more than one location at a time. When electrons gain energy or lose it, they can move from one orbit to another, but, however they are never situated between orbits at any time.

Quantum science could eventually reveal how our universe or multiverse can be connected to other dimensions that we as humans could not even begin to grasp. There are ten dimensions that string theory says the universe exists in, and without these forces, we would not exist. The field of quantum physics may seem irrational, but it describes everything around us, whether we can prove it or not.

Quantum physics can influence how we think about the quantum world. The quantum world involves human consciousness, which gives our minds a place in the universe. The quantum world is supposedly smaller than a single atom and this subatomic matter doesn’t follow our standard rules of matter. These particles can clump up in balls or spread out as waves. However, a scientist can’t find these particles, but they can predict where they might be. David Lindley says, ‘the quantum world just doesn’t work in the way the world around us works”.

Coming back to photons, they are particles that make up light and radiation. Hundreds of years ago, light was believed to travel as a stream of particles, but 200 years ago, light was showed to travel in waves. Then 100 years ago, light was proved to either act like waves or even like particles (photons). This raised a great amount of uncertainty in this particular field, because you can’t measure a photon as being a wave or particle simultaneously, but experiments have been designed to show them as one or the other.

Einstein played an important role in quantum physics, and asked a challenging question: “Do you really believe the moon exists only when you look at it?” When asking this question, he means that physical objects exist in space, but also that quantum physics doesn’t follow our usual rules of observation. This question begins to refer to any particle smaller than an atom. The theory of wave particle duality suggests that any elementary particle (a particle containing matter and energy), have both the properties of a particle and a wave.

As I mentioned before, particles could be found in more than one place at a time, and they can also tunnel through walls. When the location of a photon is recorded, it can also be recorded somewhere else. Scientists have discovered that pairs of particles can be linked, even if they are on separate side of the world. These particles are said to be entangled. Scientists so far have been able to entangle particles up to 1200 kilometres and plan to increase this distance.

If you are feeling confused at this point don’t worry, as many scientists have been alongside you. For example: Albert Einstein said, If you can think about quantum science without getting dizzy, you don’t get it,”

Overall quantum physics helps us to understand the building blocks of everyday life in ways we couldn’t even imagine or think of theories or even proved results that we might not have even thought to be possible. It shows us the world from a different perspective and makes us think deeper about the structure of the universe.

By Dani L (Hu)