"The Curious Observer's Guide to Quantum Mechanics"

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rjlittlefield
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"The Curious Observer's Guide to Quantum Mechanics"

Post by rjlittlefield »

For all those interested in quantum mechanics...

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/01/the-curious-observers-guide-to-quantum-mechanics/

This series has been coming out one installment per week, finishing today with the 7th installment.

From the author's introduction:
My goal in this seven(!)-part series is to introduce the strangely beautiful effects of quantum mechanics and explain how they’ve come to influence our everyday world. Each edition will include a guided hike into the quantum mechanical woods where we’ll admire a new—and often surprising—effect. Once back at the visitor’s center, we’ll talk about how that effect is used in technology and where to look for it.

Embarking on a series of quantum mechanics articles can be intimidating. Few things trigger more fear than “a simple introduction to physics.” But to the intrepid and brave, I will make a few promises before we start:
  • No math. While the language of quantum mechanics is written using fairly advanced math, I don’t believe one has to read Japanese before you can appreciate Japanese art. Our journey will focus on the beauty of the quantum world.
  • No philosophy. There has been a fascination with the ‘meaning’ of quantum mechanics, but we’ll leave that discussion for pints down at the pub. Here we will focus on what we see.
  • Everything we encounter will be experimentally verified. While some of the results might be surprising, nothing we encounter will be speculative.
If you choose to follow me through this series of articles, we will see quantum phenomena on galactic scales, watch particles blend and mix, and see how these effects give rise to both our current technology and advances that are on the verge of making it out of the lab.

So put on your mental hiking boots, grab your binoculars, and follow me as we set out to explore the quantum world.
For me there's a lot of additional insight from studying the readers' comments. Those are normally hidden, but they are easily opened up.

Cheers,
--Rik

Chris S.
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Posts: 4037
Joined: Sun Apr 05, 2009 9:55 pm
Location: Ohio, USA

Re: "The Curious Observer's Guide to Quantum Mechanics"

Post by Chris S. »

What marvelous science writing!

It would be nice to be at least a shade-tree quantum mechanic--able to change the oil in a quantum or check its tire pressure.

--Chris S.

pierre
Posts: 287
Joined: Mon Jan 04, 2010 12:37 pm
Location: France, Var, Toulon

Re: "The Curious Observer's Guide to Quantum Mechanics"

Post by pierre »

Excellent !
Thanks for sharing.
Regards

Pierre

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