Introduction To Quantum Physics

* This document provides an introduction to quantum physics for nonspecialists, with an emphasis on applications. It requires no math above simple high-school algebra and the like, but it does require a reasonable grasp of basic classical physics.

[1.0] Challenges To Classical Physics

• [1.1] THE BOUNDS OF CLASSICAL PHYSICS
  
• [1.2] MAX PLANCK & BLACK BODY RADIATION
  
• [1.3] EINSTEIN & THE PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT
  
• [1.4] THE DISCOVERY OF RADIOACTIVITY
  
• [1.5] THE RUTHERFORD NUCLEAR ATOM
  

[2.0] The Bohr Atom & The New Quantum Mechanics

• [2.1] THE BOHR ATOM
  
• [2.2] DE BROGLIE & WAVE-PARTICLE DUALITY / QUANTUM STATISTICS
  
• [2.3] WERNER HEISENBERG & MATRIX MECHANICS
  
• [2.4] THE SCHROEDINGER EQUATION
  
• [2.5] INTERPRETATION OF THE WAVE FUNCTION
  
• [2.6] THE PAULI EXCLUSION PRINCIPLE
  

[3.0] The Uncertainty Principle & Copenhagen Interpretation

• [3.1] THE HEISENBERG UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE
  
• [3.2] THE COPENHAGEN INTERPRETATION
  
• [3.3] SCHROEDINGER'S CAT AND ALL THAT
  
• [3.4] QUANTUM PHYSICS & THE ATOM
  

[4.0] The Quantum Atom

• [4.1] THE SCHROEDINGER EQUATION & THE HYDROGEN ATOM
  
• [4.2] MULTI-ELECTRON ATOMS
  
• [4.3] MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF THE ATOM
  
• [4.4] CHEMICAL BONDING & QUANTUM CHEMISTRY
  
• [4.5] SOLID STATE PHYSICS
  

[5.0] QED, ZPE, Quantum Computers, & Quantum Teleportation

• [5.1] EXCHANGE PARTICLES / YUKAWA DESCRIBES THE STRONG FORCE
  
• [5.2] QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS (QED)
  
• [5.3] THE FEYNMAN TOUCH
  
• [5.4] QED & ZERO POINT ENERGY
  
• [5.5] QUANTUM COMPUTING, CRYPTOGRAPHY, & TELEPORTATION
  

[6.0] The Particle Hunters

• [6.1] THE INVENTION OF ATOM SMASHERS / LINACS
  
• [6.2] CYCLOTRONS & SYNCHROTRONS
  
• [6.3] THE COLLIDERS
  
• [6.4] PARTICLE DETECTORS
  

[7.0] Discovering Quarks

• [7.1] THE FIRST ATOMIC PARTICLE SYSTEM / MATTER VERSUS ANTIMATTER
  
• [7.2] DISCOVERING THE PARTICLE ZOO
  
• [7.3] THE SEARCH FOR ORDER
  
• [7.4] GROUP THEORY / THE EIGHTFOLD WAY
  
• [7.5] DISCOVERING QUARKS
  
• [7.6] QUANTUM CHROMODYNAMICS
  
• [7.7] THE ELECTROWEAK THEORY
  
• [7.8] THE HIGGS BOSON / EXTENDING THE QUARK MODEL
  
• [7.9] FOOTNOTE: THE OSCILLATING NEUTRINO
  

[8.0] Life, The Universe, & The Theory Of Everything

• [8.1] GRAND UNIFICATION / THEORIES OF EVERYTHING
  
• [8.2] STRING THEORY / OTHER TOES
  
• [8.3] COMMENTS, SOURCES, & REVISION HISTORY