Simons Center Exhibit Honors 100 Years of Quantum Mechanics

The Simons Center for Geometry and Physics (SCGP) at Stony Brook University opened its newest gallery exhibition, 100 Years of Quantum Mechanics, on October 9 with a reception and lecture by Giuseppe Mussardo, distinguished professor of theoretical physics at Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) in Trieste, Italy.

Presented by the Simons Center Art and Outreach Program and curated by SCGP Art Director Lorraine Walsh, the exhibition marks a century for the reason that start of quantum principle, a turning level in science that reshaped our understanding of nature, power and matter. The exhibition, which runs by way of January 16, coincides with UNESCO’s designation of 2025 because the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology.

Walsh stated the exhibition “explores the foundations of quantum theory and its evolution, as well as continued research.” The present options the early discoveries that revolutionized physics, from Max Planck’s blackbody radiation components to the work of Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, and Erwin Schrödinger.

“It offers a snapshot on how quantum mechanics underlies much of modern physics that has led to a revolutionary understanding of matter, and a profound impact on technology and innovation,” added Walsh. 

Following the opening reception within the Simons Center foyer, friends gathered within the Della Pietra Family Auditorium for Mussardo’s lecture, God Plays Dice with the World: The Story of Quantum Mechanics. The title references his widespread ebook of the identical identify and Einstein’s well-known remark about probability in quantum physics.

“Today we are talking about one of the most gripping stories ever told,” he started. “It is a story of great ideas, fierce competition, and profound discoveries. The story of quantum mechanics is the great game of the 20th century.”

Over the following hour, Mussardo led the viewers by way of a historical past of quantum scientific perception, starting with Max Planck in 1900. As Mussardo recounted, Planck had been “obsessed with universal qualities” and sought a components to explain blackbody radiation, a problem that finally led him to introduce a brand new bodily fixed, h, now generally known as Planck’s fixed. “The magic of this formula is incredible,” Mussardo stated. “Never in the history of science has such a simple interpolation had such an immense consequence in physics and philosophy.”

He then traced the lineage of quantum thought by way of Einstein’s revolutionary papers of 1905, which launched the idea of sunshine quanta (now known as photons) and defined the photoelectric impact. Mussardo referred to as Einstein “a magician” who “invented out of the blue a new world,” versus the “ordinary geniuses” of science.

“Einstein was both a bird and a frog,” Mussardo stated, quoting physicist Freeman Dyson’s analogy. “He could see incredibly far, but he also worked with his hands in the mud — solving problems of heat, motion, and matter.”

Mussardo then chronicled the speedy succession of discoveries that adopted: Niels Bohr’s mannequin of the atom, Arnold Sommerfeld’s refinements, and the younger physicists who would redefine actuality itself. He described Heisenberg’s feverish retreat to the island of Helgoland in 1925, the place he devised the mathematical foundations of quantum mechanics. “Heisenberg said, ‘At first I was deeply alarmed. I had the feeling that through the surface of atomic phenomena I was looking into a strangely beautiful interior.’ That moment marked the birth of modern quantum theory,” Mussardo stated.

He continued with Erwin Schrödinger’s wave equation, and famous that Schrödinger’s work launched a second mathematical framework, one based mostly on waves relatively than matrices, resulting in a rivalry that formed the sector. “Heisenberg found Schrödinger’s theory ‘repulsive and lacking civilization,’ while Schrödinger thought Heisenberg’s algebra was frighteningly abstract,” Mussardo stated. “And yet they were describing the same reality in two languages.”

That duality culminated in certainly one of science’s most profound paradoxes: the double-slit experiment, the place particles like electrons behave as each waves and particles. “If you observe which slit the particle passes through, the interference pattern disappears,” he stated. “Reality changes with observation — that is the unsettling beauty of quantum mechanics.”

He concluded with the uncertainty precept, formulated by Heisenberg in 1927, which defines the bounds of what may be recognized a few particle’s place and momentum. “This is what blurred our reality forever,” Mussardo stated. “And this is why our life in quantum mechanics is so interesting.”

The viewers, which included college, college students, and guests from throughout the scientific and humanities communities, responded with applause and a question-and-answer session. 

“Quantum mechanics is not just a chapter in science,” Mussardo stated in closing. “It is a symphony, a story of human curiosity, creativity, and courage that continues to unfold.”

— Beth Squire