Quantum Mechanics

Experimental physicists turn their attention to studying blackbody radiation and discover the 'blackbody spectrum', which contradicts classical theory and experimental data. The search for an explanation of the blackbody spectrum becomes one of the most important problems in theoretical physics at this time.

In 1895, German physicist William Roentgen discovers X-rays, which are invisible rays emitted by Crookes tubes. He names them 'X-rays' due to their unknown nature. This discovery leads to the use of X-rays in medical diagnosis within three years.

Marie Curie investigates uranium salt samples using a very sensitive electrometer device and discovers that rays emitted by the uranium salt samples make the surrounding air electrically conductive.

J. J. Thomson's experimentation with cathode rays led him to suggest a fundamental unit more than a 1,000 times smaller than an atom, based on the high charge-to-mass ratio. He called the particle a 'corpuscle', but later scientists preferred the term electron.

Max Planck made the unprecedented step of assuming that the total energy is made up of indistinguishable energy elements - quanta of energy. This led to the development of quantum theory and had a significant impact on the field of physics.

Max Planck proposed the idea that energy is quantized, meaning it can only exist in discrete units. This hypothesis laid the foundation for the development of quantum mechanics and revolutionized the understanding of atomic and subatomic processes.

Max Planck introduced the concept of discrete quanta to explain black-body radiation, revolutionizing the atomic theory and laying the foundation for Quantum Mechanics.

Albert Einstein's explanation of the photoelectric effect in 1905, where he proposed that light consists of discrete packets of energy called photons, played a crucial role in the establishment of quantum theory.

Geoffrey Ingram Taylor demonstrated in 1909 that photons exhibit interference with themselves, even when only one photon is present near the slits at any given time. This experiment contributed significantly to the understanding of quantum mechanics.

Robert Millikan measures the charge on the electron to within 1% using a method involving oil droplets, a tele-microscope, and a voltage differential across a chamber. He proves that the charge on the electron is fixed at 1.6 X 10-19 coulomb and provides evidence that it is the smallest, most fundamental unit of charge in the Universe. This experiment is considered to be one of the most laborious ever carried out by one man.

Niels Bohr proposed the Bohr-Rutherford model of the atom in 1913, which incorporated the quantization of electron orbits and laid the foundation for quantum atomic theory.

In 1914, Danish physicist Niels Bohr introduced the concept of wave-particle duality, suggesting that radiation exhibits both wave-like and particle-like behavior, laying the foundation for quantum mechanics.

The equation F=ma is a fundamental equation in physics, representing Newton's second law of motion. It states that the force acting on an object is equal to the mass of that object multiplied by its acceleration.

Otto Stern and Walther Gerlach perform the Stern–Gerlach experiment, detecting discrete values of angular momentum for atoms in the ground state passing through an inhomogeneous magnetic field, leading to the discovery of the spin of the electron.

Arthur Compton's demonstration in 1923 showed that X-rays exhibit a phenomenon where they bounce off and eject electrons, similar to the collision of billiard balls. This experiment provided crucial evidence for the wave-particle duality of light.

In 1924, Louis De Broglie extended the concept of wave-particle duality to particles using relativistic arguments, which was a groundbreaking development in quantum mechanics.

In 1924, French physicist Louis de Broglie extended the concept of wave-particle duality to matter, suggesting that all particles exhibit wave-like behavior. His de Broglie Equation established a relationship between the wavelength and momentum of particles.

In 1925, Wolfgang Pauli observed that no two electrons in an atom can have the same set of quantum numbers. This principle explains the behavior of electrons in atoms and is a fundamental concept in quantum mechanics.

In 1926, Erwin Schrödinger formulated the Schrödinger Equation, describing the wavefunction of particles. This equation revolutionized quantum mechanics by providing a mathematical framework to understand the behavior of particles.

Werner Heisenberg introduced the uncertainty principle, which states that it is impossible to simultaneously know both the exact position and momentum of a quantum object.

Paul Dirac's work on relativistic quantum theory led to the exploration of quantum theories of radiation, culminating in quantum electrodynamics, the first quantum field theory.

In 1930, Paul Dirac combined quantum mechanics and special relativity to describe the electron, making significant contributions to the field of theoretical physics.

In 1932, von Neumann established quantum theory on a firm theoretical basis by rigorously putting the entire theory into the setting of operator algebra. This work addressed the lack of mathematical rigor in some earlier quantum theory developments.

In 1934, the concept of 'Dead and Alive' was likely related to Schrödinger's cat thought experiment, exploring the paradoxical nature of quantum superposition. This concept further delved into the complexities of interpreting quantum mechanics in observable phenomena.

Einstein, Boris Podolsky, and Nathan Rosen describe the EPR paradox, challenging the completeness of quantum mechanics by demonstrating the need for hidden parameters to explain the influence of measuring the quantum state of one particle on another particle without apparent contact.

Hermann Arthur Jahn and Edward Teller prove, using group theory, the instability of non-linear degenerate molecules, leading to the development of the Jahn-Teller effect and its consideration in relation to superconductivity mechanisms.

The Lamb-Retherford experiment in 1947 discovered the Lamb shift, which played a crucial role in the development of quantum electrodynamics.

Hugh Everett formulates the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, which states that every possible quantum outcome is realized in divergent, non-communicating parallel universes in quantum superposition.

Maria Goeppert Mayer and J. Hans D. Jensen, along with Eugene P. Wigner, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963 for their discoveries related to nuclear shell structure theory.

Nikolai G. Basov and Aleksandr M. Prokhorov were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1964 for their work on semiconductor lasers and Quantum Electronics. They shared the prize with Charles Hard Townes, the inventor of the ammonium maser.

Martinus J. G. Veltman and Gerardus 't Hooft demonstrate that the symmetries of Yang–Mills theory can be renormalized if broken according to the method suggested by Peter Higgs. This predicts the existence of the massless particle, gluon, and explains the mass acquisition of W and Z bosons via spontaneous symmetry breaking and the Yukawa interaction.

Pier Giorgio Merli performs Young's double-slit experiment using a single electron with similar results, confirming the existence of quantum fields for massive particles.

Sir Nevill Mott and Philip Warren Anderson received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1977 for their quantum theories related to electrons in non-crystalline solids, which led to the development of electronic switching and memory devices in computers. They shared the prize with John Hasbrouck Van Vleck for his contributions to the understanding of the behavior of electrons in magnetic solids.

Physicists Glashow, Weinberg and Salam received the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics for showing how the weak nuclear force and quantum electrodynamics could be merged into a single electroweak force.

The quantized version of the Hall effect was discovered by Klaus von Klitzing in 1980. This discovery led to the definition of a new practical standard for electrical resistance and an extremely precise independent determination of the fine-structure constant.

Vladimir Gershonovich Drinfeld introduces the concept of quantum groups as Hopf algebras and connects them to the study of the Yang–Baxter equation, which is crucial for the solvability of statistical mechanics models. He also generalizes Hopf algebras to quasi-Hopf algebras and introduces the study of Drinfeld twists.

Mihai Gavrilă discovers the new quantum phenomenon of atomic dichotomy in hydrogen and publishes a book on the atomic structure and decay in high-frequency fields of hydrogen atoms placed in ultra-intense laser fields.

In 1994, Paul Kwiat, Harold Wienfurter, Thomas Herzog, Anton Zeilinger, and Mark Kasevich conducted the Mach–Zehnder interferometer experiment, providing experimental verification of the Elitzur–Vaidman bomb tester and proving interaction-free measurement is possible.

Eric Cornell, Carl Wieman, Wolfgang Ketterle, and co-workers at JILA create the first 'pure' Bose–Einstein condensate by cooling a dilute vapor consisting of approximately two thousand rubidium-87 atoms to below 170 nK using a combination of laser cooling and magnetic evaporative cooling. This marks a significant milestone in the field of quantum mechanics.

The existence of Higgs boson was confirmed by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations based on proton-proton collisions in the large hadron collider at CERN. Peter Higgs and François Englert were awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics for their theoretical predictions.

Scientists transfer data by quantum teleportation over a distance of 10 feet with zero percent error rate, a vital step towards a quantum internet.