In physics, a quantum (plural quanta) is the minimum amount of any physical entity (physical property) involved in an interaction. The fundamental notion that a physical property can be "quantized" is referred to as "the hypothesis of quantization".[1] This means that the magnitude of the physical property can take on only discrete values consisting of integer multiples of one quantum.
For example, a photon is a single quantum of light (or of any other form of electromagnetic radiation). Similarly, the energy of an electron bound within an atom is quantized and can exist only in certain discrete values. (Atoms and matter in general are stable because electrons can exist only at discrete energy levels within an atom.) Quantization is one of the foundations of the much broader physics of quantum mechanics. Quantization of energy and its influence on how energy and matter interact (quantum electrodynamics) is part of the fundamental framework for understanding and describing nature.
Etymology and discovery
The word quantum is the neuter singular of the Latin interrogative adjective quantus, meaning "how much". "Quanta", the neuter plural, short for "quanta of electricity" (electrons), was used in a 1902 article on the photoelectric effect by Philipp Lenard, who credited Hermann von Helmholtz for using the word in the area of electricity. However, the word quantum in general was well known before 1900.[2] It was often used by physicians, such as in the term quantum satis. Both Helmholtz and Julius von Mayer were physicians as well as physicists. Helmholtz used quantum with reference to heat in his article[3] on Mayer's work, and the word quantum can be found in the formulation of the first law of thermodynamics by Mayer in his letter[4] dated July 24, 1841.
In 1901, Max Planck used quanta to mean "quanta of matter and electricity",[5] gas, and heat.[6] In 1905, in response to Planck's work and the experimental work of Lenard (who explained his results by using the term quanta of electricity), Albert Einstein suggested that radiation existed in spatially localized packets which he called "quanta of light" ("Lichtquanta").[7]
The concept of quantization of radiation was discovered in 1900 by Max Planck, who had been trying to understand the emission of radiation from heated objects, known as black-body radiation. By assuming that energy can be absorbed or released only in tiny, differential, discrete packets (which he called "bundles", or "energy elements"),[8] Planck accounted for certain objects changing color when heated.[9] On December 14, 1900, Planck reported his findings to the German Physical Society, and introduced the idea of quantization for the first time as a part of his research on black-body radiation.[10] As a result of his experiments, Planck deduced the numerical value of h, known as the Planck constant, and reported more precise values for the unit of electrical charge and the Avogadro–Loschmidt number, the number of real molecules in a mole, to the German Physical Society. After his theory was validated, Planck was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery in 1918.
Quantization
While quantization was first discovered in electromagnetic radiation, it describes a fundamental aspect of energy not just restricted to photons.[11] In the attempt to bring theory into agreement with experiment, Max Planck postulated that electromagnetic energy is absorbed or emitted in discrete packets, or quanta.[12]
See also
Elementary particle
Graviton
Introduction to quantum mechanics
Magnetic flux quantum
Photon
Photon polarization
Quantization (physics)
Quantum cellular automata
Quantum channel
Quantum cognition
Quantum coherence
Quantum chromodynamics
Quantum computer
Quantum cryptography
Quantum dot
Quantum electrodynamics
Quantum electronics
Quantum entanglement
Quantum field theory
Quantum immortality
Quantum lithography
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mind
Quantum mysticism
Quantum number
Quantum optics
Quantum sensor
Quantum state
Subatomic particle
Quantum teleportation
References
Wiener, N. (1966). Differential Space, Quantum Systems, and Prediction. Cambridge: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press
E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
E. Helmholtz, Robert Mayer's Priorität Archived 2015-09-29 at the Wayback Machine (in German)
Herrmann, Armin (1991). "Heimatseite von Robert J. Mayer" (in German). Weltreich der Physik, GNT-Verlag. Archived from the original on 1998-02-09.
Planck, M. (1901). "Ueber die Elementarquanta der Materie und der Elektricität" (PDF). Annalen der Physik (in German). 309 (3): 564–566. Bibcode:1901AnP...309..564P. doi:10.1002/andp.19013090311.
Planck, Max (1883). "Ueber das thermodynamische Gleichgewicht von Gasgemengen". Annalen der Physik (in German). 255 (6): 358–378. Bibcode:1883AnP...255..358P. doi:10.1002/andp.18832550612.
Einstein, A. (1905). "Über einen die Erzeugung und Verwandlung des Lichtes betreffenden heuristischen Gesichtspunkt" (PDF). Annalen der Physik (in German). 17 (6): 132–148. Bibcode:1905AnP...322..132E. doi:10.1002/andp.19053220607.. A partial English translation is available from Wikisource.
Max Planck (1901). "Ueber das Gesetz der Energieverteilung im Normalspectrum (On the Law of Distribution of Energy in the Normal Spectrum)". Annalen der Physik. 309 (3): 553. Bibcode:1901AnP...309..553P. doi:10.1002/andp.19013090310. Archived from the original on 2008-04-18.
Brown, T., LeMay, H., Bursten, B. (2008). Chemistry: The Central Science Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education ISBN 0-13-600617-5
Klein, Martin J. (1961). "Max Planck and the beginnings of the quantum theory". Archive for History of Exact Sciences. 1 (5): 459–479. doi:10.1007/BF00327765.
Melville, K. (2005, February 11). Real-World Quantum Effects Demonstrated
Modern Applied Physics-Tippens third edition; McGraw-Hill.
Further reading
B. Hoffmann, The Strange Story of the Quantum, Pelican 1963.
Lucretius, On the Nature of the Universe, transl. from the Latin by R.E. Latham, Penguin Books Ltd., Harmondsworth 1951.
J. Mehra and H. Rechenberg, The Historical Development of Quantum Theory, Vol.1, Part 1, Springer-Verlag New York Inc., New York 1982.
M. Planck, A Survey of Physical Theory, transl. by R. Jones and D.H. Williams, Methuen & Co., Ltd., London 1925 (Dover editions 1960 and 1993) including the Nobel lecture.
Rodney, Brooks (2011) Fields of Color: The theory that escaped Einstein. Allegra Print & Imaging.
Quantum mechanics
Background
Introduction History
timeline Glossary Classical mechanics Old quantum theory
Fundamentals
Bra–ket notation Casimir effect Coherence Coherent control Complementarity Density matrix Energy level
degenerate levels excited state ground state QED vacuum QCD vacuum Vacuum state Zero-point energy Hamiltonian Heisenberg uncertainty principle Pauli exclusion principle Measurement Observable Operator Probability distribution Quantum Qubit Qutrit Scattering theory Spin Spontaneous parametric down-conversion Symmetry Symmetry breaking
Spontaneous symmetry breaking No-go theorem No-cloning theorem Von Neumann entropy Wave interference Wave function
collapse Universal wavefunction Wave–particle duality
Matter wave Wave propagation Virtual particle
Quantum
quantum coherence annealing decoherence entanglement fluctuation foam levitation noise nonlocality number realm state superposition system tunnelling Quantum vacuum state
Mathematics
Equations
Dirac Klein–Gordon Pauli Rydberg Schrödinger
Formulations
Heisenberg Interaction Matrix mechanics Path integral formulation Phase space Schrödinger
Other
Quantum
algebra calculus
differential stochastic geometry group Q-analog
List
Interpretations
Bayesian Consistent histories Cosmological Copenhagen de Broglie–Bohm Ensemble Hidden variables Many worlds Objective collapse Quantum logic Relational Stochastic Transactional
Experiments
Afshar Bell's inequality Cold Atom Laboratory Davisson–Germer Delayed-choice quantum eraser Double-slit Elitzur–Vaidman Franck–Hertz experiment Leggett–Garg inequality Mach-Zehnder inter. Popper Quantum eraser Quantum suicide and immortality Schrödinger's cat Stern–Gerlach Wheeler's delayed choice
Science
Measurement problem QBism
Quantum
biology chemistry chaos cognition complexity theory computing
Timeline cosmology dynamics economics finance foundations game theory information nanoscience metrology mind optics probability social science spacetime
Technologies
Quantum technology
links Matrix isolation Phase qubit Quantum dot
cellular automaton display laser single-photon source solar cell Quantum well
laser
Extensions
Dirac sea Fractional quantum mechanics Quantum electrodynamics
links Quantum geometry Quantum field theory
links Quantum gravity
links Quantum information science
links Quantum statistical mechanics Relativistic quantum mechanics De Broglie–Bohm theory Stochastic electrodynamics
Related
Quantum mechanics of time travel Textbooks
Hellenica World - Scientific Library
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