See also: Timeline of quantum mechanics, History of physics, and History of quantum field theory
10 of the most influential figures in the history of quantum mechanics. Left to right: Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Louis de Broglie, Max Born, Paul Dirac, Werner Heisenberg, Wolfgang Pauli, Erwin Schrödinger, Richard Feynman.
The history of quantum mechanics is a fundamental part of the history of modern physics. The major chapters of this history begin with the emergence of quantum ideas to explain individual phenomena—blackbody radiation, the photoelectric effect, solar emission spectra—an era called the Old or Older quantum theories.[1] Building on the technology developed in classical mechanics, the invention of wave mechanics by Erwin Schrödinger and expansion by many others triggers the "modern" era beginning around 1925. Paul Dirac's relativistic quantum theory work lead him to explore quantum theories of radiation, culminating in quantum electrodynamics, the first quantum field theory. The history of quantum mechanics continues in the history of quantum field theory. The history of quantum chemistry, theoretical basis of chemical structure, reactivity, and bonding, interlaces with the events discussed in this article.
The phrase "quantum mechanics" was coined (in German, Quantenmechanik) by the group of physicists including Max Born, Werner Heisenberg, and Wolfgang Pauli, at the University of Göttingen in the early 1920s, and was first used in Born's 1925 paper "Zur Quantenmechanik".[2][3]
The word quantum comes from the Latin word for "how much" (as does quantity). Something that is quantized, as the energy of Planck's harmonic oscillators, can only take specific values. For example, in most countries, money is effectively quantized, with the quantum of money being the lowest-value coin in circulation. Mechanics is the branch of science that deals with the action of forces on objects. So, quantum mechanics is the part of mechanics that deals with objects for which particular properties are quantized.
^Cite error: The named reference Whittaker was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Max Born, My Life: Recollections of a Nobel Laureate, Taylor & Francis, London, 1978. ("We became more and more convinced that a radical change of the foundations of physics was necessary, i.e., a new kind of mechanics for which we used the term quantum mechanics. This word appears for the first time in physical literature in a paper of mine...")
^Fedak, William A.; Prentis, Jeffrey J. (2009-02-01). "The 1925 Born and Jordan paper "On quantum mechanics"" (PDF). American Journal of Physics. 77 (2): 128–139. Bibcode:2009AmJPh..77..128F. doi:10.1119/1.3009634. ISSN 0002-9505.
and 27 Related for: History of quantum mechanics information
historyofquantummechanics is a fundamental part of the historyof modern physics. The major chapters of this history begin with the emergence of quantum...
Quantummechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that describes the behavior of nature at and below the scale of atoms.: 1.1 It is the foundation...
An interpretation ofquantummechanics is an attempt to explain how the mathematical theory ofquantummechanics might correspond to experienced reality...
The timeline ofquantummechanics is a list of key events in the historyofquantummechanics, quantum field theories and quantum chemistry. 1801 – Thomas...
Quantummechanics is the study of matter and its interactions with energy on the scale of atomic and subatomic particles. By contrast, classical physics...
Quantum statistical mechanics is statistical mechanics applied to quantum mechanical systems. In quantummechanics a statistical ensemble (probability...
This is a list of notable textbooks on classical mechanics and quantummechanics arranged according to level and surnames of the authors in alphabetical...
relativistic theory of classical mechanics, while the analogous movements of an atomic nucleus are described by quantummechanics. The following are the...
mathematical formulations ofquantummechanics are those mathematical formalisms that permit a rigorous description ofquantummechanics. This mathematical formalism...
physics, mechanics is the study of objects, their interaction, and motion; classical mechanics is mechanics limited to non-relativistic and non-quantum approximations...
The Principles ofQuantumMechanics is an influential monograph on quantummechanics written by Paul Dirac and first published by Oxford University Press...
which can explained by classical mechanics. Beginning out of attempts to extend the understanding ofquantummechanics, the theory has developed in several...
Measuring a quantum system generally changes the quantum state that describes that system. This is a central feature ofquantummechanics, one that is...
Quantum superposition is a fundamental principle ofquantummechanics that states that linear combinations of solutions to the Schrödinger equation are...
In quantummechanics, wave function collapse, also called reduction of the state vector, occurs when a wave function—initially in a superposition of several...
Copenhagen interpretation is a collection of views about the meaning ofquantummechanics, stemming from the work of Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Max Born...
Matrix mechanics is a formulation ofquantummechanics created by Werner Heisenberg, Max Born, and Pascual Jordan in 1925. It was the first conceptually...
The old quantum theory is a collection of results from the years 1900–1925 which predate modern quantummechanics. The theory was never complete or self-consistent...
In quantummechanics, the consistent histories or simply "consistent quantum theory" interpretation generalizes the complementarity aspect of the conventional...
summarizes equations in the theory ofquantummechanics. A fundamental physical constant occurring in quantummechanics is the Planck constant, h. A common...
In particle physics, the historyofquantum field theory starts with its creation by Paul Dirac, when he attempted to quantize the electromagnetic field...
In quantummechanics, the measurement problem is the problem of definite outcomes: quantum systems have superpositions but quantum measurements only give...
Relativistic quantum chemistry combines relativistic mechanics with quantum chemistry to calculate elemental properties and structure, especially for the...
entanglement Quantum fiction Quantum field theory Quantum lithography QuantummechanicsQuantum mind Quantum mysticism Quantum number Quantum optics Quantum sensor...
realism view of causality (Einstein referring to it as "spooky action at a distance") and argued that the accepted formulation ofquantummechanics must therefore...
Global Information