An extremely specialized area of physics that is really hard to understand, but it does actually make sense when you study it. Trust me, it's fucked up and involves a lot of fucked up math which I'm not going to explain but some of the other definitions on here explain it.
It will fuck up your worldview big time and that's one of the reasons Albert Einstein hated it so much. Can't blame him, I mean, his theory of relativity was supposed to be the one which finally described the true nature of reality and then comes along the double slit experiment and the schrodinger equation which just completely butt raped our current understanding of reality at the time and it's still puzzling today, although many scientists are searching for a grand unified theory which should explain the relationship between relativity and quantum mechanics.
Some of its philosophical implications are fucked up. Many believe it means reality doesn't exist but only our minds do, some believe it means there are parallel timelines/universes to our own, some believe its due to higher dimensions geometrically interacting with ours, some even believe it could imply our universe has some sort of pan-psyche to it. Yeah it gets really fucked. It just goes to show that we don't know shit about our universe.
It will fuck up your worldview big time and that's one of the reasons Albert Einstein hated it so much. Can't blame him, I mean, his theory of relativity was supposed to be the one which finally described the true nature of reality and then comes along the double slit experiment and the schrodinger equation which just completely butt raped our current understanding of reality at the time and it's still puzzling today, although many scientists are searching for a grand unified theory which should explain the relationship between relativity and quantum mechanics.
Some of its philosophical implications are fucked up. Many believe it means reality doesn't exist but only our minds do, some believe it means there are parallel timelines/universes to our own, some believe its due to higher dimensions geometrically interacting with ours, some even believe it could imply our universe has some sort of pan-psyche to it. Yeah it gets really fucked. It just goes to show that we don't know shit about our universe.
"If quantum mechanics hasn't profoundly shocked you, you haven't understood it yet."
by wugugugug November 26, 2019
A branch of physics in which the measurable qualities (position, momentum, energy) of a system are described by "observables." The system, upon measurement by the given observable, after being in a superposition of multiple states, collapses into one of a variety of states allowable by the Schrodinger equation. The exact state the system collapses into, is probablistically determined.
X|s1>=x1|s1>
In this example, |s1> is the system being "measured" by the observable X (X denoting the position observable, allowing us to see where the system is within space.) We obtained |s1> as a single state, from a previously superposed (|s> = |s1>+|s2>+|s3>+...)state through an earlier measurement, which collapsed |s> into |s1>, and allowed us to measure the value x1 for its position. In quantum mechanics, all of this information is encoded in the language of vector spaces, as well as linear algebra, and expanded into whats known as a hilbert space (can be thought of as an infinite dimensional vector space).
I'm probably going to get all thumbs down for this, but that's cool, you guys are all the same audience that jerks it to youtube, and probably added a new definition for "poop" or something stupid like that on this site.
In this example, |s1> is the system being "measured" by the observable X (X denoting the position observable, allowing us to see where the system is within space.) We obtained |s1> as a single state, from a previously superposed (|s> = |s1>+|s2>+|s3>+...)state through an earlier measurement, which collapsed |s> into |s1>, and allowed us to measure the value x1 for its position. In quantum mechanics, all of this information is encoded in the language of vector spaces, as well as linear algebra, and expanded into whats known as a hilbert space (can be thought of as an infinite dimensional vector space).
I'm probably going to get all thumbs down for this, but that's cool, you guys are all the same audience that jerks it to youtube, and probably added a new definition for "poop" or something stupid like that on this site.
by JP2269 October 20, 2006
After trying to understand quantum mechanics for 10 hours, I decided to write a bullshit definition for it.
by ADD.i.kt February 4, 2010
A theory that developed from Max Planck's quantum principle and Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.
The quantum principle states that waves (light, infrared, X rays, etc.) are emitted from any body in "packets" known as quanta, rather than arbitrarily. Each quantum would have more energy depending on the frequency of the waves.
The uncertainty principle states that the more accurately you know the position of a particle, the less accurately you can know its velocity, and vice versa.
Heisenberg, Erwin Schrodinger, and Paul Dirac created a theory called quantum mechanics, which was based on the uncertainty principle. Particles were now thought to have a quantum state, a combination of position and velocity.
In a nutshell, it brought randomness into physics, which many physicists (Einstein, for example) objected. Still, many others accepted it.
The quantum principle states that waves (light, infrared, X rays, etc.) are emitted from any body in "packets" known as quanta, rather than arbitrarily. Each quantum would have more energy depending on the frequency of the waves.
The uncertainty principle states that the more accurately you know the position of a particle, the less accurately you can know its velocity, and vice versa.
Heisenberg, Erwin Schrodinger, and Paul Dirac created a theory called quantum mechanics, which was based on the uncertainty principle. Particles were now thought to have a quantum state, a combination of position and velocity.
In a nutshell, it brought randomness into physics, which many physicists (Einstein, for example) objected. Still, many others accepted it.
Even after reading all that, does anyone actually understand what quantum mechanics is?
Quantum mechanics is complicated.
Quantum mechanics is complicated.
by SRG September 24, 2004
A concept in physics concerning the counter-intuitive motion and mechanics of subatomic particles. Despite not applying to anything larger than an electron, quantum mechanics is often lamely invoked by pseudoscientists to justify whatever ridiculous phenomenon they are proposing.
by Zamzara October 9, 2007
iℏ⋅(∂Ψ(x,t))/(∂t)=-ℏ^2/2m⋅(∂^2Ψ(x,t))/(∂x^2)
(This is how the average conversation about quantum mechanics generally goes:)
Person 1: Omg like literally iℏ⋅(∂Ψ(x,t))/(∂t)=-ℏ^2/2m⋅(∂^2Ψ(x,t))/(∂x^2)
Person 2: Right! Lmao it's just ∂Ψ(x,t)=Ae^(i(kx-ωt))
Person 1: Exactly! And iℏ⋅(∂Ψ(x,t))/(∂t)=iℏ⋅(∂Ae^(i(kx-ωt)))/(∂t)=ℏωAe^(i(kx-ωt))
Person 2: Hahaha! -ℏ^2/2m⋅(∂^2Ψ(x,t))/(∂x^2)=-ℏ^2/2m⋅(∂^2Ae^(i(kx-ωt)))/(∂x^2)
Person 1: Yeah and it's like -(ikℏ^2)/2m⋅(∂Ae^(i(kx-ωt)))/(∂x)=-ℏ^2/2m⋅(∂^2Ψ(x,t))/(∂x^2)=-ℏ^2/2m⋅(∂^2Ae^(i(kx-ωt)))/(∂x^2)
Person 2: Bro I was thinking the same thing, as soon as she walked in my mind just went (ℏ^2⋅k^2)/2m⋅Ae^(i(kx-ωt))= -(ikℏ^2)/2m⋅(∂Ae^(i(kx-ωt)))/(∂x)=-ℏ^2/2m⋅(∂^2Ψ(x,t))/(∂x^2)=-ℏ^2/2m⋅(∂^2Ae^(i(kx-ωt)))/(∂x^2)
Person 1: Pfffftttt!!! (ℏ^2⋅k^2)/2m=ℏω
Person 2: Lol yeah man, great shit right there... So anyway, how's Jack?
Person 1: Omg like literally iℏ⋅(∂Ψ(x,t))/(∂t)=-ℏ^2/2m⋅(∂^2Ψ(x,t))/(∂x^2)
Person 2: Right! Lmao it's just ∂Ψ(x,t)=Ae^(i(kx-ωt))
Person 1: Exactly! And iℏ⋅(∂Ψ(x,t))/(∂t)=iℏ⋅(∂Ae^(i(kx-ωt)))/(∂t)=ℏωAe^(i(kx-ωt))
Person 2: Hahaha! -ℏ^2/2m⋅(∂^2Ψ(x,t))/(∂x^2)=-ℏ^2/2m⋅(∂^2Ae^(i(kx-ωt)))/(∂x^2)
Person 1: Yeah and it's like -(ikℏ^2)/2m⋅(∂Ae^(i(kx-ωt)))/(∂x)=-ℏ^2/2m⋅(∂^2Ψ(x,t))/(∂x^2)=-ℏ^2/2m⋅(∂^2Ae^(i(kx-ωt)))/(∂x^2)
Person 2: Bro I was thinking the same thing, as soon as she walked in my mind just went (ℏ^2⋅k^2)/2m⋅Ae^(i(kx-ωt))= -(ikℏ^2)/2m⋅(∂Ae^(i(kx-ωt)))/(∂x)=-ℏ^2/2m⋅(∂^2Ψ(x,t))/(∂x^2)=-ℏ^2/2m⋅(∂^2Ae^(i(kx-ωt)))/(∂x^2)
Person 1: Pfffftttt!!! (ℏ^2⋅k^2)/2m=ℏω
Person 2: Lol yeah man, great shit right there... So anyway, how's Jack?
by wugugugug May 6, 2021
by SR May 6, 2005