Quantum mechanics (QM; also known as quantum physics,

or quantum theory) is a fundamental branch ofphysics which

describes physical phenomena at scales typical of the quantum
realm of atomic and subatomiclength scales, where the action is
on the order of the Planck constant. At these scales, many
everyday concepts concerning physical
objects and energy (including the photons making up visible
light) are believed to behave and interact extremely differently
than is usually seen in daily life. Quantum mechanics provides
an extremely accurate description of the behavior
of photons, electrons, and other atomic- and molecular-scale
objects. At larger (macroscopic) scales its predictions simplify to
become the laws of classical mechanics familiar in the everyday
world, although even in the everyday world, many phenomena
can be observed with the naked eye, which cannot be explained
classically but require a quantum mechanical explanation.
Important applications of quantum mechanical theory
include superconducting magnets, LEDs and the laser,
the transistor and semiconductors such as
the microprocessor, medical and research imaging such
as MRI and electron microscopy, and explanations for many
biological and physical phenomena.
Quantum mechanics takes its name from the observation that
some physical quantities exist, and can change and interact,

only by discrete amounts (in a 'step-like' manner) and

behave probabilistically rather thandeterministically. The "steps"
are so tiny that they are completely imperceptible even with
a microscope, and any description must be given in terms of
a wave function rather than specific particles and movements.
The term "quantum" itself (plural: quanta) comes from
the Latin word quantus meaning how much?, referring to a
'packet' (or amount) of energy, momentum, or any other
attribute that is quantized and can only change by discrete
amounts. This tiny scale is why quantum mechanics generally
leads to classical mechanics in macroscopic situations: - the
vast numbers of quantum effects involved in everyday
observations means that discrete quantum behaviors are
usually hidden by much larger statistical effects (similar to
"averaging").
Other fundamental quantum mechanical principles are waveparticle duality (quanta exhibit both 'wave-like' behaviors such
as refraction and 'particle-like' behavior), the uncertainty
principle (attempting to measure one attribute such
as velocity orposition may cause another attribute to
become less measurable), and superposition and the status of
the observer (a wave function superimposes multiple coexisting states that have different probabilities; observation
causes collapse of the wave function to some specific state,

in several interpretations , as in the famous example

of Schrdinger's Cat).
Quantum mechanics was initially developed as a field in the
early 20th century, driven by the black-body radiation problem
(reported 1859) and Albert Einstein's 1905 paper which offered
a quantum-based theory to explain the photoelectric
effect(reported 1887). Around 1900-1910, the atomic theory and
the corpuscular theory of light[1] first came to be widely accepted
as scientific fact; these latter theories can be viewed as
quantum theories of matter and electromagnetic radiation,
respectively. Early quantum theory was significantly
reformulated in the mid-1920s by Werner Heisenberg, Max
Born andPascual Jordan (matrix mechanics); Louis de
Broglie and Erwin Schrdinger (wave mechanics);
and Wolfgang Pauli andSatyendra Nath Bose (statistics of
subatomic particles). Moreover, the Copenhagen
interpretation of Niels Bohr became widely accepted. By 1930,
quantum mechanics had been further unified and formalized by
the work of David Hilbert, Paul Dirac and John von
Neumann[2] with greater emphasis on measurement, the
statistical nature of our knowledge of reality, and philosophical
speculation about the 'observer'. It has since permeated many
disciplines including quantum chemistry,quantum
electronics, quantum optics, and quantum information science,

and its modern developments include quantum field

theory, string theory, and speculative quantum gravity theories.
It also provides a useful framework for many features of the
modern periodic table of elements, and describes the behaviors
of atoms during chemical bonding and the flow
of electronsin computer semiconductors, and therefore plays a
crucial role in many modern technologies.
The mathematical formulations of quantum mechanics are
abstract. A mathematical function, the wave function, provides
information about the probability amplitude of position,
momentum, and other physical properties of a particle.
Mathematical manipulations of the wave function usually
involve braket notation, which requires an understanding
of complex numbersand linear functionals. The wavefunction
formulation treats the particle as a quantum harmonic oscillator,
and the mathematics is akin to that describing acoustic
resonance. Many of the results of quantum mechanics are not
easily visualized in terms of classical mechanics. For instance,
in a quantum mechanical model, the lowest energy state of a
system, the ground state, is non-zero as opposed to a more
"traditional" ground state with zero kinetic energy (all particles at
rest). Instead of a traditional static, unchanging zero energy
state, quantum mechanics allows for far more dynamic, chaotic
possibilities, according to John Wheeler.

Contents

1 History

2 Mathematical formulations

3 Mathematically equivalent formulations of quantum

mechanics

4 Interactions with other scientific theories

o
o

4.1 Quantum mechanics and classical physics

4.2 Copenhagen interpretation of quantum versus
classical kinematics

4.3 Relativity and quantum mechanics

4.4 Attempts at a unified field theory

5 Philosophical implications

6 Applications

7 Examples
o

7.1 Free particle

7.2 Step potential

7.3 Rectangular potential barrier

7.4 Particle in a box

7.5 Finite potential well

7.6 Harmonic oscillator

8 See also

9 Notes

10 References

11 Further reading

12 External links

History[edit]

Modern physics

Schrdinger equation
History of modern physics
Founders
Max Planck Albert Einstein Niels
Bohr Max Born Werner
Heisenberg Erwin Schrdinger Louis
de Broglie Satyendra Nath
Bose Wolfgang Pauli Paul Dirac
Concepts
space time energy work
randomness information entropy min
d
Branches
Philosophy of Science Philosophy of

physics
Mathematical logic Mathematical
physics
Grand Unified Theory Standard model
Quantum mechanics Quantum field
theory
Electroweak interaction Antimatter
Weak interaction Quantum
electrodynamics
Strong interaction Quantum
chromodynamics
Particle physics Nuclear physics
Atomic, molecular, and optical physics
Condensed matter physics
Quantum statistical mechanics
Quantum information Quantum
Computation
Non-linear
dynamics Photonics Biophysics
Neurophysics Quantum mind
Plasma physics Neutrino astronomy
Special relativity General relativity
Dark matter Dark energy
Astrophysics Cosmology
Supersymmetry String theory
Quantum gravity Multiverse
Quantum chaos Complex systems
Scientists
Rntgen Becquerel Lorentz Planck
Curie Wien Skodowska-Curie
Sommerfeld Rutherford Soddy Onn
es Einstein Wilczek Born Weyl Bo
hr Schrdinger de
Broglie Laue Bose Compton Pauli
Walton Fermi Waals Heisenberg Dy
son Zeeman Moseley Hilbert Gdel

 Jordan Dirac Wigner Hawking P.W

Anderson Lematre Thomson Poincar
Wheeler Penrose Millikan Nambu
von
Neumann Higgs Hahn Feynman Le
e Lenard Salam 't Hooft Bell GellMann J. J.
Thomson Raman Bragg Bardeen S
hockley Chadwick Lawrence Zeilinge
r

V
T
E

Main article: History of quantum mechanics

Scientific inquiry into the wave nature of light began in the 17th
and 18th centuries, when scientists such as Robert
Hooke, Christiaan Huygens and Leonhard Euler proposed a
wave theory of light based on experimental observations.[3] In
1803, Thomas Young, an English polymath, performed the
famous double-slit experiment that he later described in a paper
entitled On the nature of light and colours. This experiment
played a major role in the general acceptance of the wave
theory of light.
In 1838, Michael Faraday discovered cathode rays. These
studies were followed by the 1859 statement of the black-body
radiation problem by Gustav Kirchhoff, the 1877 suggestion
by Ludwig Boltzmann that the energy states of a physical

system can be discrete, and the 1900 quantum hypothesis

of Max Planck.[4] Planck's hypothesis that energy is radiated and
absorbed in discrete "quanta" (or energy elements) precisely
matched the observed patterns of black-body radiation.
In 1896, Wilhelm Wien empirically determined a distribution law
of black-body radiation,[5] known as Wien's law in his honor.
Ludwig Boltzmann independently arrived at this result by
considerations of Maxwell's equations. However, it was valid
only at high frequencies and underestimated the radiance at low
frequencies. Later, Planck corrected this model using
Boltzmann's statistical interpretation of thermodynamics and
proposed what is now called Planck's law, which led to the
development of quantum mechanics.
Among the first to study quantum phenomena in nature
were Arthur Compton, C.V. Raman, and Pieter Zeeman, each of
whom has a quantum effect named after him. Robert A.
Millikan studied the photoelectric effect experimentally,
andAlbert Einstein developed a theory for it. At the same
time, Niels Bohr developed his theory of the atomic structure,
which was later confirmed by the experiments of Henry
Moseley. In 1913, Peter Debye extended Niels Bohr's theory of
atomic structure, introducing elliptical orbits, a concept also
introduced by Arnold Sommerfeld.[6] This phase is known as old
quantum theory.

According to Planck, each energy element (E) is proportional to

its frequency ():

Max Planck is considered the father of the quantum theory.

where h is Planck's constant.

Planck cautiously insisted that this was simply an aspect of
the processes of absorption and emission of radiation and
had nothing to do with the physical reality of the radiation
itself.[7] In fact, he considered his quantum hypothesis a
mathematical trick to get the right answer rather than a
sizable discovery.[8] However, in 1905 Albert
Einsteininterpreted Planck's quantum
hypothesis realistically and used it to explain
the photoelectric effect, in which shining light on certain
materials can eject electrons from the material. He won the
1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for this work. Einstein further
developed this idea to show that an electromagnetic wave

such as light could also be described as a particle (later

called the photon), with a discrete quantum of energy that
was dependent on its frequency.[9]

The 1927 Solvay Conference in Brussels.

The foundations of quantum mechanics were established

during the first half of the 20th century by Max Planck, Niels
Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Louis de Broglie, Arthur
Compton, Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrdinger, Max
Born, John von Neumann, Paul Dirac, Enrico
Fermi, Wolfgang Pauli, Max von Laue, Freeman
Dyson, David Hilbert, Wilhelm Wien,Satyendra Nath
Bose, Arnold Sommerfeld, and others. In the mid-1920s,
developments in quantum mechanics led to its becoming the
standard formulation for atomic physics. In the summer of
1925, Bohr and Heisenberg published results that closed the
old quantum theory. Out of deference to their particle-like
behavior in certain processes and measurements, light
quanta came to be called photons (1926). From Einstein's
simple postulation was born a flurry of debating, theorizing,

and testing. Thus, the entire field of quantum

physics emerged, leading to its wider acceptance at the
Fifth Solvay Conference in 1927.