QUANTUM PHYSICS FOR BEGINNERS: A Simple Guide for Discovering the Hidden Side of Reality. Master the Theory of Relativity and the Mechanics of Particles Like Einstein|With Easy and Practical Examples by James Fradkov

Author:James Fradkov [Fradkov, James]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2020-09-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

Quantum

A s if to confirm its supernatural appearance, the quantum theory of Heisenberg and Schrödinger literally worked miracles. The hydrogen atom model was clarified without the need of Keplerian conceptual crutches: the orbits were replaced by "orbital", sons of the new and indeterminate wave functions. The new quantum mechanics turned out to be a formidable tool in the hands of physicists, who became more and more good to apply Schrödinger's equation to various fields and atomic and subatomic systems, of increasing complexity. As Heinz Pagels said, "the theory released the intellectual energies of thousands of young researchers in all industrialized nations. In no other occasion has a series of scientific ideas had such fundamental consequences on technological development; its applications continue to shape the political and social history of our civilization".

But when we say that a theory or model "works", what exactly do we mean? That it is mathematically able to make predictions about some natural phenomenon, comparable with experimental data. If the predictions and measurements accumulated in our experiences collimate, then the theory works "ex post", i.e. it explains why a certain fact happens, which was previously unknown to us.

For example we could ask ourselves what happens to throw two objects of different mass from a high point, say the tower of Pisa. Galileo's demonstration and all the experiments performed afterwards show that, unless small corrections due to air resistance, two serious objects of different mass falling from the same height reach the ground at the same time. This is one hundred percent true in the absence of air, as has been spectacularly demonstrated on the Moon live on television: the feather and hammer dropped by an astronaut arrived at exactly the same time.2 The original and profound theory that has been confirmed in this case is Newtonian universal gravitation, combined with its laws of motion. Putting together the relative equations, we can predict what will be the behavior of a falling body subject to the force of gravity and calculate how long it will take to reach the ground. It is child's play to verify that two objects of different masses dropped from the same height must reach the ground at the same time (if we neglect air resistance).

But a good theory must also make us able to predict the evolution of phenomena not yet observed. When the ECHO satellite was launched in 1958, for example, gravitation and Newtonian laws of motion were used to calculate in advance what trajectory it would follow, note the thrust force and other important corrective factors, such as wind speed and earth rotation. The predictive power of a law depends, of course, on how much control you can exercise over the various factors involved. Under every point of view, Newton's theory has proved to be of extraordinary success, both in ex post verifications and in the predictive field, when applied to its wide range of relevance: not too high speeds (much smaller than light) and not too small scales (much larger than atomic).

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