So with all this talk about Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Fields, the big question that should be on our mind is, why don't we see the effects of quantum mechanics in our everyday macroscopic lives? Why do things feel so solid? Well, for starters we do actually see the effects of QM in our every day lives. Experiments are proving that quantum effects do "leak" over into the macroscopic realm.
The article below was written in July of 2009 and explains how an experiment at CalTech brought Quantum Physics into the realm of classical mechanics by building an object, a "bridge," of only 10 billion atoms. For perspective, the human body contains about 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms. That's a 7 followed by 27 zeros.
But that's not all. Since then scientists have created an object billions of times bigger then that bridge, or just short of a trillion atoms. That's a 1 followed by 12 zeros. It's the largest quantum object so far and you can see it with the naked eye. If you'd like the quick run down on this very object, here's an 8 minute long Ted Talk by Aaron O'Connell entitled "Making sense of a visible quantum object." His experiment successfully bridges the gap between classical mechanics and the quantum realm, proving there is no definitive line between CM and QM.
The article below was written in July of 2009 and explains how an experiment at CalTech brought Quantum Physics into the realm of classical mechanics by building an object, a "bridge," of only 10 billion atoms. For perspective, the human body contains about 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms. That's a 7 followed by 27 zeros.
But that's not all. Since then scientists have created an object billions of times bigger then that bridge, or just short of a trillion atoms. That's a 1 followed by 12 zeros. It's the largest quantum object so far and you can see it with the naked eye. If you'd like the quick run down on this very object, here's an 8 minute long Ted Talk by Aaron O'Connell entitled "Making sense of a visible quantum object." His experiment successfully bridges the gap between classical mechanics and the quantum realm, proving there is no definitive line between CM and QM.
There are a few other interesting real world applications of Quantum Mechanics. Take Quantum Entanglement to start with.
"Quantum entanglement represents the extent to which measurement of one part of a system affects the state of another; for example, measurement of one electron influences the state of another that may be far away."
http://phys.org/news/2012-12-physicists-quantum-entanglement.html
http://phys.org/news/2012-12-physicists-quantum-entanglement.html
Einstein did not like Quantum Entanglement, he called it "Spooky Action At A Distance" as its effects seemed to travel faster then the speed of light, which nothing is supposed to be able to do. Quantum Entanglement, while still thought to be instantaneous, has been measured scientifically to be at least 10,000 times faster then light.
"We know that spooky action at a distance has a lower bound of four orders of magnitude faster than light, or around 3 trillion meters per second. We say “at least,” because the physicists do not rule out that spooky action is actually instantaneous — but their testing equipment and methodology simply doesn’t allow them to get any more accurate."
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/150207-chinese-physicists-measure-speed-of-einsteins-spooky-action-at-a-distance-at-least-10000-times-faster-than-light
"The reach of the spooky quantum link called entanglement keeps getting longer. A team has transmitted entangled photons some 144 kilometers (89 miles) between La Palma and Tenerife, two of Spain's Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco."
"The distance achieved is 10 times farther than entangled photons have ever flown through the air."
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=entangled-photons-quantum-spookiness
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/150207-chinese-physicists-measure-speed-of-einsteins-spooky-action-at-a-distance-at-least-10000-times-faster-than-light
"The reach of the spooky quantum link called entanglement keeps getting longer. A team has transmitted entangled photons some 144 kilometers (89 miles) between La Palma and Tenerife, two of Spain's Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco."
"The distance achieved is 10 times farther than entangled photons have ever flown through the air."
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=entangled-photons-quantum-spookiness
But how can this be? Well, the findings suggest that objective reality does not exist. The separation between the two particles, does not actually exist in the first place. To us it would appear that the speed of light has been broken, but in reality, in the implicit order of the universe, "distance" does not exist. If we think of those particles as existing outside of time we can see how they could, to us, be everywhere at the same time and that the illusion of two particles and the problems with nonlocality disappear.
So what are the real world application of quantum entanglement?
So what are the real world application of quantum entanglement?
"Quantum entanglement has applications in the emerging technologies of quantum computing and quantum cryptography, and has been used to realize quantum teleportation experimentally."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/q/quantum_entanglement.htm
"LRPA team says they've found a way to use quantum entanglement to essentially create sound out of thin air."
http://www.soundandvision.com/content/researchers-use-quantum-entanglement-create-wireless-%E2%80%9Cinvisible%E2%80%9D-speakers
http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/q/quantum_entanglement.htm
"LRPA team says they've found a way to use quantum entanglement to essentially create sound out of thin air."
http://www.soundandvision.com/content/researchers-use-quantum-entanglement-create-wireless-%E2%80%9Cinvisible%E2%80%9D-speakers
And not only can entangled particles be locked by infinite distance, there's also the possibility that they can be linked through time as well. We shall patiently await testable results of that theory.
"Two physicists have mathematically described how this spooky effect, called entanglement, could also bind particles across time."
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/01/timelike-entanglement/
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/01/timelike-entanglement/
If you want a full in-depth classroom lecture of Quantum Entanglement from none other then Leonard Susskind, the Felix Bloch Professor of Physics at Stanford University, himself. Watch these three videos, else, continue.
"Entanglement is one of the strangest predictions of quantum mechanics. Two objects are entangled if their physical properties are undefined but correlated, even when the two objects are separated by a large distance. No mechanism for entanglement is known, but so far experiments universally show that non-local entanglement is real."
"...in systems having large numbers of particles, a pair of tiny subsystems tend not to be entangled with each other, but a pair of large subsystems tend to be entangled. If you consider two subsystems each having fewer than about one-fifth of the total number of particles in the overall system, the subsystems are almost certainly not entangled with each other. If the two subsystems are larger than one-fifth of the original system, they are almost certainly entangled. The abrupt change in entanglement behavior is characteristic of the geometry of high-dimensional spaces.
The result shows that everyday objects are so constructed that their parts are entangled with each other, and are also entangled with most everything with which they have previously interacted. "
http://www.gizmag.com/quantum-entanglement-ubiquitous/27836/
"...in systems having large numbers of particles, a pair of tiny subsystems tend not to be entangled with each other, but a pair of large subsystems tend to be entangled. If you consider two subsystems each having fewer than about one-fifth of the total number of particles in the overall system, the subsystems are almost certainly not entangled with each other. If the two subsystems are larger than one-fifth of the original system, they are almost certainly entangled. The abrupt change in entanglement behavior is characteristic of the geometry of high-dimensional spaces.
The result shows that everyday objects are so constructed that their parts are entangled with each other, and are also entangled with most everything with which they have previously interacted. "
http://www.gizmag.com/quantum-entanglement-ubiquitous/27836/
If you're interested in Quantum Entanglement and it's real-world applications here are a few more links:
So Quantum Physics does have real world implications and applications, so the next question is, does it effect things at a biological level? The answer is a resounding yes.
- http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/139857-quantum-entangled-batteries-could-be-the-perfect-power-source
- http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/156673-the-first-quantum-entanglement-of-photons-through-space-and-time
- http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/q/quantum_entanglement.htm
- http://www.livescience.com/37244-quantum-entanglement-heralding-efficiency.html
- http://guardianlv.com/2013/09/nasa-sees-teleportation-one-step-closer/
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z34ugMy1QaA
So Quantum Physics does have real world implications and applications, so the next question is, does it effect things at a biological level? The answer is a resounding yes.