News tagged with quantum mechanics

Does the quantum wave function represent reality?

(Phys.org) -- At the heart of quantum mechanics lies the wave function, a probability function used by physicists to understand the nanoscale world. Using the wave function, physicists can calculate a system's ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Apr 25, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (38) | comments 136 | with audio podcast feature

Quantum strategy offers game-winning advantages, even without entanglement

(PhysOrg.com) -- Quantum correlations have well-known advantages in areas such as communication, computing, and cryptography, and recently physicists have discovered that they may help players competing in ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Mar 13, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (11) | comments 1 | with audio podcast feature

Physicists propose test for loop quantum gravity

(PhysOrg.com) -- As a quantum theory of gravity, loop quantum gravity could potentially solve one of the biggest problems in physics: reconciling general relativity and quantum mechanics. But like all tentative ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Jan 03, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (34) | comments 106 | with audio podcast feature

Fake violations of Bell tests reinforce importance of closing loopholes

(PhysOrg.com) -- In quantum mechanics, Bell’s inequalities serve as a test of nonclassical behavior: if something (such as a light source) violates Bell’s inequalities, then it can be considered to involve quantum ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Nov 08, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (8) | comments 8 | with audio podcast feature

Physicists seek to quantify macroscopic quantum states

(PhysOrg.com) -- "Scientists have been interested in generating and observing macroscopic quantum superpositions in order to test quantum mechanics at the macroscopic scale," physicist Hyunseok Jeong of Seoul National University ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Jun 29, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (11) | comments 10 | with audio podcast feature

New fundamental limitation restricts position accuracy of quantum objects

(PhysOrg.com) -- Although the uncertainty principle is probably the most well-known example of a fundamental limitation of measurement precision in quantum mechanics, it is not the only one. In fact, every physical system ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Mar 28, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (18) | comments 19 | with audio podcast feature

Quantum no-hiding theorem experimentally confirmed for first time

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the classical world, information can be copied and deleted at will. In the quantum world, however, the conservation of quantum information means that information cannot be created nor destroyed. ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Mar 07, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (22) | comments 16 | with audio podcast feature

Could the combination of general relativity and quantum mechanics lead to spintronics?

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the early 20th century, two famous discoveries about spin were made. One of them, discovered by Albert Einstein and Wander Johannes de Haas, explains a relationship between the spin of elementary particles. ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Mar 03, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (26) | comments 8 | with audio podcast feature

Physicists close two loopholes while violating local realism

(PhysOrg.com) -- The latest test in quantum mechanics provides even stronger support than before for the view that nature violates local realism and is thus in contradiction with a classical worldview. By ...

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 30, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (60) | comments 81 | with audio podcast feature

Enhanced efficiency when determining band gap in solids

(PhysOrg.com) -- "With density functional theory, we are able to put different elements in a computer simulation and do calculations based on quantum mechanics to find out about their different properties," Maria Chan tells ...

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Nov 23, 2010 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (11) | comments 1 | with audio podcast feature

Time travel theory avoids grandfather paradox

(PhysOrg.com) -- The possibility of going back in time only to kill your ancestors and prevent your own birth has posed a serious problem for potential time travelers, not even considering the technical details ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Jul 21, 2010 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (55) | comments 96 | with audio podcast report

Revised theory of gravity doesn't predict a Big Bang

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Big Bang theory has formed the basis of our understanding of the universe's origins since it was first proposed in 1927 by Georges Lemaitre. And for good reason: the theory is supported ...

Physics / General Physics

created Jul 12, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (77) | comments 213 | with audio podcast feature

Quantum non-demolition measurement allows physicists to count photons without destroying them

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a way, the quantum world seems to know when it's being watched. When physicists make measurements on photons and other quantum-scale particles, the measurements always disturb the system ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Jul 09, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (36) | comments 7 | with audio podcast feature

Physicists set guidelines for qubit candidates

(PhysOrg.com) -- To build a quantum computer, it's essential to be able to quickly and efficiently manipulate the quantum states of qubits. The qubits, which are the basic unit of quantum information, can be composed of many ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created May 04, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (17) | comments 2 feature

Making Quantum Behavior Observable Using Optical Levitation

(PhysOrg.com) -- Perhaps one of the biggest challenges of modern physics is figuring out how to realize and take advantage of strange quantum behaviors in progressively larger and more complex systems. Progress ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Jan 26, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (19) | comments 10 | with audio podcast feature

Quantum mechanics

Quantum mechanics is a set of principles underlying the most fundamental known description of all physical systems at the submicroscopic scale (at the atomic level). Notable among these principles are simultaneous wave-like and particle-like behavior of matter and radiation ("Wave–particle duality"), and the prediction of probabilities in situations where classical physics predicts certainties. Classical physics can be derived as a good approximation to quantum physics, typically in circumstances with large numbers of particles. Thus quantum phenomena are particularly relevant in systems whose dimensions are close to the atomic scale, such as molecules, atoms, electrons, protons and other subatomic particles. Exceptions exist for certain systems which exhibit quantum mechanical effects on macroscopic scale; superfluidity is one well-known example. Quantum theory provides accurate descriptions for many previously unexplained phenomena such as black body radiation and stable electron orbits. It has also given insight into the workings of many different biological systems, including smell receptors and protein structures.

For more information about Quantum mechanics, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.