My OperaQuantum mechanics in understandable language
Thursday, November 5, 2009 1:19:01 PM
Quantum mechanics, the basis for modern discription of the physical structure of all matter is notorious unintuitive and hard to understand. Prominent physicists such as Richard Feinman claimed that nobody, including himself, understanding quantum mechanics – they just knows how to compute things in order to get predictions that fit the facts!
There has been a strong culture of "shut up and calculate!" - i.e. do the math and don't worry too much about the philosophical issues - in quantum physics. Althouh "explaining Quantum mechanics without maths is like trying to convey the genius of Shakespeare without English!", trying to formulate quantum mechanical concepts in "everyday language", rather than by writing down mathematical expressions, makes one realise just how much we really don't understand about Quantum mechanics!
There has been a strong culture of "shut up and calculate!" - i.e. do the math and don't worry too much about the philosophical issues - in quantum physics. Althouh "explaining Quantum mechanics without maths is like trying to convey the genius of Shakespeare without English!", trying to formulate quantum mechanical concepts in "everyday language", rather than by writing down mathematical expressions, makes one realise just how much we really don't understand about Quantum mechanics!
