There are lots of branches of science and physics. But from our perspective, one of the coolest things that you can learn about is quantum physics. It’s mind-bendingly, paradoxically bizarre. And it’s the closest you can get to real-life magic (even though it isn’t).
For instance, the wave-particle duality theory tells us that some things, like light, can be both particles and waves at the same time.
According to ‘Space,’ wave-particle duality is an example of superposition, when a quantum object exists in multiple states at once.
“An electron, for example, is both ‘here’ and ‘there’ simultaneously. It’s only once we do an experiment to find out where it is that it settles down into one or the other.”
So, quantum physics deals with odds and probabilities. It’s only when you make an observation (collapse the wave function) that you ‘force’ an object into one of its many possible states.
This is the idea behind the legendary Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment, where a quantum device is responsible for the fate of a theoretical cat sealed in a box.
“As the device exists in both states until a measurement is made,” the cat is both alive and not at the same time, until you check.
Another incredibly cool aspect of quantum physics is quantum entanglement. While we know that it’s real, scientists are still trying to figure out exactly how it works.
In a nutshell, quantum entanglement refers to two particles whose quantum states are bound (or, well, entangled) together.
“The Pauli exclusion principle says that they can’t both be in the same state. If we change one, the other instantly changes to compensate. This happens even if we separate the two particles from each other on opposite sides of the universe. It’s as if information about the change we’ve made has traveled between them faster than the speed of light, something Einstein said was impossible,” ‘Space’ writes.
In short—this can potentially lead to futuristic tech that allows for instant communication no matter the distance.
Though quantum physics certainly feels weird and magical at times, as Forbes points out, it is “most emphatically not magic.”
According to Forbes, “The things it predicts are strange by the standards of everyday physics, but they are rigorously constrained by well-understood mathematical rules and principles.”
