The reality of the quantum world
The theory has been confirmed magnificently since the 1920's as its predictions of atomic, molecular, nuclear, optical, solid-state and elementary-particle phenomena were shown to be accurate. Yet in spite of these successes the bizarre and counterintuitive character of quantum mechanics has led some investigators, including Einstein, to believe quantum-mechanical descriptions of physical systems are incomplete and in need of supplementation. Recent experiments show that this opinion is very likely wrong. The experimental results reveal more clearly than ever that we live in a strange quantum world that defies comfortable, commonsense interpretation. Here are a few of the new, strange findings we must begin to accept. First, two entities separated by many meters and possessing no mechanism for communicating with each other nonetheless can be entangled: they can exhibit striking correlations in their behavior, so that a measurement done on one of the entities seems instantaneously to affect the result of a measurement on the other. The finding cannot be explained from a classical point of view, but it agrees completely with quantum mechanics. Second, a photon, the fundamental unit of light, can behave like either a particle or a wave, and it can exist in an ambiguous state until a measurement is made. If a particlelike property is measured, the photon behaves like a particle, and if a wavelike property is measured, the photon behaves like a wave. Whether the photon is wave-or particlelike is indefinite until the experimental arrangement is specified. Finally, the notion of indefiniteness is no longer confined to the atomic and subatomic domains. Investigators have found that a macroscopic system can under some circumstances exist in a state in which a macroscopic observable has an indefinite value. Each of these findings alters drastically the way we perceive the world.
- OSTI ID:
- 6914572
- Journal Information:
- Scientific American; (USA), Vol. 258:1; ISSN 0036-8733
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
GENERAL PHYSICS
QUANTUM MECHANICS
VERIFICATION
BELL THEOREM
CORRELATIONS
HIDDEN VARIABLES
INTERFEROMETRY
MODIFICATIONS
PHOTONS
POLARIZATION
TESTING
UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE
WAVE FUNCTIONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FUNCTIONS
MASSLESS PARTICLES
MECHANICS
657002* - Theoretical & Mathematical Physics- Classical & Quantum Mechanics