Quantum computers aren’t the next generation of supercomputers—they’re something else entirely. Before we can even begin to talk about their potential applications, we need to understand the fundamental physics that drives the theory of quantum computing. (Featuring Scott Aaronson, John Preskill, and Dorit Aharonov.) For more, read “Why Quantum Computers Are So Hard to Explain”
How Small Is An Atom? Spoiler: Very Small.
Atoms are very weird. Wrapping your head around exactly how weird, is close to impossible – how can you describe something that is SO removed from humans experience? But then again, they kind of make up everything, so let us try anyways.
A Better Way To Picture Atoms
This video is about using Bohmian trajectories to visualize the wavefunctions of hydrogen orbitals, rendered in 3D using custom python code in Blender.
What the HECK is a Photon?!
A photon is a purely quantum mechanical object representing the smallest piece of energy (or quanta) for light. Every quantum particle is a packet of energy though, so how do we tell photons apart from electrons, quarks, and neutrinos?
What Does An Atom REALLY Look Like?
From orbital mechanics to quantum mechanics, this video explains why we must accept a world of particles based on probabilities, statistics, and chance. Electrons, protons, and neutrons don’t behave the same way that planets and billiard balls do.
The Hidden Reality of Quantum Physics With Sean Carroll
Sean Carroll, the American theoretical physicist who specializes in quantum mechanics, gravity and cosmology explains the hidden reality of the micro-world.
The fundamental theory in physics which describes the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles, is known as quantum mechanics. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, quantum field theory, quantum technology, and quantum information science.
Sean Carroll explains to us in simple turns the mysterious properties of quantum physics. He thinks that we should try to understand quantum mechanics even though prominent physicists like Richard Feynman thought no one can understand quantum mechanics.
Quantum mechanics arose gradually from theories to explain observations which could not be reconciled with classical physics, such as Max Planck’s solution in 1900 to the black-body radiation problem.
Sean Carroll mentions how predictions of quantum mechanics have been verified experimentally to an extremely high degree of accuracy.
He also explains the wave function collapse of quantum mechanics. Another spooky aspect in quantum mechanics is when quantum systems interact with each other and the result can be the creation of quantum entanglement: their properties become so intertwined that a description of the whole solely in terms of the individual parts is no longer possible.
Contrary to popular belief, entanglement does not allow sending signals faster than light.
Quantum mechanics is perhaps the most successful theory ever formulated. For almost a century, experimenters have subjected it to rigorous tests, none of which called its foundations into question. It is truly one of the major triumphs in modern physics.
Stuart Hammerof – Quantum Physics of Consciousness
Are quantum events required for consciousness in a very special sense, far beyond in the general sense that quantum events are part of all physical systems? What would it take for quantum events, on such a micro-scale, to be relevant for brain function, which operates at the much higher level of neurons and brain circuits? What would it mean?
Stuart Hameroff, MD, is a physician and researcher at the University Medical Center at the University of Arizona.
Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains The Weirdness of Quantum Physics
Quantum mechanics is the area of physics that deals with the behaviour of atoms and particles on microscopic scales. Since its inception, the many counter-intuitive aspects and results of quantum mechanics have provoked strong philosophical debates and many interpretations.
Neil deGrasse Tyson explains quantum physics in a way that is understandable even for the lay person. In Quantum Mechanics there is no such thing as absolute certainty when looking for something. This phenomenon is known as Uncertainty Principle and was Introduced first in 1927 by the German physicist Werner Heisenberg. Heisenberg realized that one implication of quantum physics is that the act of measurement always disturbs the object measured.
Neil deGrasse Tyson explains that the whole computer world is based on the principle of Quantum Physics. We are able to manipulate the electrical properties of silicon only because we can study the wave nature of electrons.
Our daily routines are often governed by technology that is directly related to Quantum Physics, thus our lives rest upon these fundamental scientific discoveries.
Another hard concept to grasp is Quantum entanglement. Einstein referred to it as “spooky action at a distance. It occurs when a pair or group of particles is generated, interact, or share spatial proximity in a way such that the quantum state of each particle of the pair or group cannot be described independently of the state of the others. But Neil deGrasse Tyson and Lawrence Krauss explain this concept with everyday life examples which makes it a little bit easier to understand.
As Neil deGrasse Tyson points out, the first quantum phenomena were observed more than a century ago. However scientists are still learning about this realm of our universe.
David Albert – Events in Quantum Mechanics and Relativity
Quantum mechanics, the best theory of the very small, and general relativity, the best theory of the very large, are deeply incompatible. One way to compare and contrast the two is by discerning the nature of an “event” in each. It is very different.
What Happens During a Quantum Jump?
Since the very beginning of quantum mechanics, a debate has raged about how to interpret its bizarre predictions. And at the heart and origin of that debate is the quantum jump or quantum leap – the seemingly miraculous and instantaneous transitions of quantum systems that have always defied observation or prediction. At least, until now.
Erratum: Figures in episode should be Minev et al. (2019), not Minney et al. (2009).