Quantum
Quantum
Quantum
In physics, a quantum (pl.: quanta) is the minimum amount of any physical entity (physical property)
involved in an interaction. Quantum is a discrete quantity of energy proportional in magnitude to the
frequency of the radiation it represents. The fundamental notion that a 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 of a specific frequency (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.[2] 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.
In 1901, Max Planck used quanta to mean "quanta of matter and electricity",[6] gas, and heat.[7] 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").[8]
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"),[9] Planck accounted for certain objects changing color when heated.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12] 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.[13]
See also
Graviton
Introduction to quantum mechanics
Magnetic flux quantum
Particle
Elementary particle
Subatomic particle
Photon polarization German Physicist and 1918 Nobel
Qubit Prize for Physics recipient Max
Quantum cellular automata Planck (1858–1947)
Quantum channel
Quantum chromodynamics
Quantum cognition
Quantum coherence
Quantum computer
Quantum cryptography
Quantum dot
Quantum electronics
Quantum entanglement
Quantum fiction
Quantum field theory
Quantum lithography
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mind
Quantum mysticism
Quantum number
Quantum optics
Quantum sensor
Quantum state
Quantum suicide and immortality
Quantum teleportation
References
1. Wiener, N. (1966). Differential Space, Quantum Systems, and Prediction. Cambridge,
Massachusetts: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press
2. Rovelli, Carlo (January 2017). Reality is not what it seems: the elementary structure of
things. Translated by Carnell, Simon; Segre, Erica (1st American ed.). New York, New York:
Riverhead Books. pp. 109–130. ISBN 978-0-7352-1392-0.
3. E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898. (http://www.bartleby.c
om/81/13830.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20170630232946/http://www.bartle
by.com/81/13830.html) 2017-06-30 at the Wayback Machine
4. E. Helmholtz, Robert Mayer's Priorität (http://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/helios/fachinfo/www/
math/edd/helmholtz/R-Mayer.pdf) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20150929101449/htt
p://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/helios/fachinfo/www/math/edd/helmholtz/R-Mayer.pdf) 2015-
09-29 at the Wayback Machine (in German)
5. Herrmann, Armin (1991). "Heimatseite von Robert J. Mayer" (https://web.archive.org/web/19
980209044633/http://fs.math.uni-frankfurt.de/fsmath/misc/RobertMayer.html) (in German).
Weltreich der Physik, Gent-Verlag. Archived from the original (http://fs.math.uni-frankfurt.de/fs
math/misc/RobertMayer.html) on 1998-02-09.
6. Planck, M. (1901). "Ueber die Elementarquanta der Materie und der Elektricität" (https://zeno
do.org/record/1423997). Annalen der Physik (in German). 309 (3): 564–566.
Bibcode:1901AnP...309..564P (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1901AnP...309..564P).
doi:10.1002/andp.19013090311 (https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fandp.19013090311). Archived
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original on 2023-06-24. Retrieved 2019-09-16 – via Zenodo.
7. Planck, Max (1883). "Ueber das thermodynamische Gleichgewicht von Gasgemengen" (http
s://zenodo.org/record/1423794). Annalen der Physik (in German). 255 (6): 358–378.
Bibcode:1883AnP...255..358P (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1883AnP...255..358P).
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(https://web.archive.org/web/20210121222137/https://zenodo.org/record/1423794) from the
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8. Einstein, A. (1905). "Über einen die Erzeugung und Verwandlung des Lichtes betreffenden
heuristischen Gesichtspunkt" (http://www.physik.uni-augsburg.de/annalen/history/einstein-p
apers/1905_17_132-148.pdf) (PDF). Annalen der Physik (in German). 17 (6): 132–148.
Bibcode:1905AnP...322..132E (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1905AnP...322..132E).
doi:10.1002/andp.19053220607 (https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fandp.19053220607). Archived
(https://web.archive.org/web/20150924072915/http://www.physik.uni-augsburg.de/annalen/h
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Retrieved 2010-08-26.. A partial English translation (https://en.wikisource.org/?curid=59468)
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9. Max Planck (1901). "Ueber das Gesetz der Energieverteilung im Normalspectrum (On the
Law of Distribution of Energy in the Normal Spectrum)" (https://web.archive.org/web/200804
18002757/http://dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/webdocs/Chem-History/Planck-1901/Planck-1901.ht
ml). Annalen der Physik. 309 (3): 553. Bibcode:1901AnP...309..553P (https://ui.adsabs.harva
rd.edu/abs/1901AnP...309..553P). doi:10.1002/andp.19013090310 (https://doi.org/10.1002%
2Fandp.19013090310). Archived from the original (http://dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/webdocs/Ch
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10. Brown, T., LeMay, H., Bursten, B. (2008). Chemistry: The Central Science Upper Saddle
River, New Jersey: Pearson Education ISBN 0-13-600617-5
11. 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 (https://doi.org/10.100
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12. Parker, Will (2005-02-11). "Real-World Quantum Effects Demonstrated" (http://www.sciencea
gogo.com/news/20050110221715data_trunc_sys.shtml). ScienceAGoGo. Retrieved
2023-08-20.
13. Modern Applied Physics-Tippens third edition; McGraw-Hill.
Further reading
Aaronson Scott, Quantum computing since Democritus (https://www.file-upload.org/v38ag25
pd8po)
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 Limited., Harmondsworth 1951.
J. Mehra and H. Rechenberg, The Historical Development of Quantum Theory, Vol.1, Part 1,
Springer-Verlag, New York 1982.
M. Planck, A Survey of Physical Theory, transl. by R. Jones and D.H. Williams, Methuen &
Co., Limited., 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.