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t. e. In theoretical physics, quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that combines classical field theory, special relativity, and quantum mechanics. [1]: xi QFT is used in particle physics to construct physical models of subatomic particles and in condensed matter physics to construct models of quasiparticles.
Light from a green laser passing through two slits 0.4 mm wide and 0.1 mm apart. In modern physics, the double-slit experiment demonstrates that light and matter can exhibit behavior of either classical particles or classical waves. This ambiguity is considered evidence for the fundamentally probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics.
e. In particle physics, quantum electrodynamics (QED) is the relativistic quantum field theory of electrodynamics. [1][2][3] In essence, it describes how light and matter interact and is the first theory where full agreement between quantum mechanics and special relativity is achieved. [2]
Important applications of quantum theory include quantum chemistry, quantum optics, quantum computing, superconducting magnets, light-emitting diodes, the optical amplifier and the laser, the transistor and semiconductors such as the microprocessor, medical and research imaging such as magnetic resonance imaging and electron microscopy. [ 4 ]
The definition of quantum theorists' terms, such as wave function and matrix mechanics, progressed through many stages.For instance, Erwin Schrödinger originally viewed the electron's wave function as its charge density smeared across space, but Max Born reinterpreted the absolute square value of the wave function as the electron's probability density distributed across space; [3]: 24–33 ...
Quantization (in British English quantisation) is the systematic transition procedure from a classical understanding of physical phenomena to a newer understanding known as quantum mechanics. It is a procedure for constructing quantum mechanics from classical mechanics. A generalization involving infinite degrees of freedom is field ...
In quantum field theory, the Casimir effect (or Casimir force) [ 1 ] is a physical force acting on the macroscopic boundaries of a confined space which arises from the quantum fluctuations of a field. It is named after the Dutch physicist Hendrik Casimir, who predicted the effect for electromagnetic systems in 1948.
Quantum field theory originated in the 1920s from the problem of creating a quantum mechanical theory of the electromagnetic field.In particular, de Broglie in 1924 introduced the idea of a wave description of elementary systems in the following way: "we proceed in this work from the assumption of the existence of a certain periodic phenomenon of a yet to be determined character, which is to ...