Quantum mechanics (QM; also known as quantum physics, or quantum theory), including

quantum field theory, is a fundamental branch of physics concerned with processes involving, for
example, atoms andphotons. In such processes, the action has been observed to be only in integer
multiples of the Planck constant, a physical quantity that is exceedingly, indeed perhaps ultimately,
small. It is said to be quantized. Other physical quantities change in corresponding discrete
amounts. In the light of the laws of classical physics, this discreteness has no explanation, and
seems perhaps mysterious. Moreover, it entails that the finest possible experimental preparation of a
physical system is defined by quanta, and that the finest possible physical observation is of a single
quantum.

Physical

measurements a

priori,

in

classical

terms,

assume

that

continuous

measurements are possible. Consequently, quantum phenomena can be accurately described only if
the elementary processes are conceived as stochastic or probabilistic, averaging to provide
continuous measurements. The vast numbers of elementary quantum effects involved in everyday
macroscopic observations mean that discrete quantum behaviors are usually hidden by much larger
statistical effects, as averages. Quantum mechanics often leads to classical mechanics in
macroscopic situations.
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 asMRI and electron microscopy, and explanations for many biological and physical
phenomena.
Two fundamental quantum mechanical principles are wave-particle 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 or position may cause another
attribute to become less measurable), and superposition and the status of the observer (a wave
function superimposes multiple co-existing 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 gradually arose from Max Planck's solution in 1900 to the black-body
radiation problem (reported 1859) and Albert Einstein's 1905 paper which offered a quantum-based
theory to explain thephotoelectric 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 and Pascual

Schrdinger (wave mechanics);

Jordan (matrix

and Wolfgang

mechanics); Louis

Pauli and Satyendra

de

Nath

Broglie and Erwin

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. Its speculative modern developments include string
theory and 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
bondingand the flow of electrons in 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 numbers and linear
functionals. The wavefunction formulation treats the particle as aquantum 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.
The term "quantum" itself (plural: quanta) comes from the Latin word quantus meaning how
much or as much as, referring to discrete units of change.