Umberto Piacquadio - Understanding Quantum Physics

UNDERSTANDING

QUANTUM PHYSICS

Written by Umberto Piacquadio (studio.gemix@gmail.com)Translated by Giulia Carcaterra

copyright Ed 2019 by Umberto Piacquadio

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author.

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Not only is the Universe stranger than we think, it is strangerthan we can think

(Werner Heisenberg)

INDEX

1. ATOMIC HISTORY

2. THE ATOMIC MODELS 17

2.1 THOMPSON AND RUTHERFORD

2.2 ULTRAVIOLET CATASTROPHE

2.3 THE PLANCK CONSTANT 33

2.4 QUANTIZATION

2.5 BOHR ATOMIC MODEL

2.6 QUANTUM ATOMIC MODEL58

2.7 QUANTUM NUMBER OF SPIN

2.8 PRINCIPLE OF EXCLUSION OF PAULI

2.9 PRINCIPLE OF HEISENBERG INDETERMINATION

2.10 THE WAVE FUNCTION - SCHRDINGER EQUATION 90

2.11 SUPERPOSITION PRINCIPLE

2.12 SCHRDINGER'S CAT

2.13 WAVE- PARTICLE DUALITY

2.14 QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT

2.15 OTHER INTERPRETATIONS AND THEORIES

3 THE ATOM

3.1 THE DIMENSIONS OF THE ATOM 138

3.2 THE NUCLEUS AND THE ISOTOPES

4. RADIOACTIVITY

4.1 NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL RADIOACTIVITY 144

4.2 a DECAY 151

4.3 b- DECAY 152

4.4 b+ or b inverse DECAY

4.5 g DECAY 159

5 NUCLEAR FISSION

5.1 NUCLEAR CHAIN REACTION

5.2 UNCONTROLLED FISSION REACTION

5.3 CONTROLLED NUCLEAR FISSION 169

6 NUCLEAR FUSION

6.1 NUCLEAR FUSION REACTIONS

6.2 HYDROGEN BOMB (H BOMB )

6.3 NUCLEAR FUSION IN THE STARS 179

7 MATTER AND ANTIMATTER

7.1 THE ANTIMATTER 187

7.2 THE ELEMENTARY PARTICLES

7.3 THE GENERATION FERMIONS

7.4 THE SUCCESSIVE GENERATIONS OF THE FERMIONS

7.5 BOSONS 199

7.6 HIGGS BOSON

7.7 THE GRAVITON BOSON

8 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS

OTHER PUBLICATIONS 221

BIBLIOGRAPHY 223

After the formulations of Newton and Maxwell theories, it seemed thatnothing else could alter the path taken in the Physical description ofnatural phenomena.

The principle of causality well described the electromagneticphenomena and the motion of celestial bodies, from a deterministicpoint of view.

With the formulation of the Theory of relativity, Einstein continued thepath of description of the phenomena in motion even at speedscomparable to the one of light.

The change began with the in-depth and studies at the atomic levelwhere, Planck, Bohr and Einstein abandoned the concept of continuityin favor of the introduction of the matter's quantization, however,continuing to interpret the phenomena always with a classicalfoundation.

The contribution of the young Heinsenberg and Schoidenger will benecessary to definitively abandon the classical interpretation in order tointroduce the shocking interpretation of the new quantumThe subsequent formalization of quantum mechanics based on non-commutative algebra, introduced by the young Dirac continued the pathtowards the definitive use of quantum theory in the microscopic world.

With quantum physics we discover a whole new way of matter and lightbehaviour in the microcosm realm.

Grammatically it could be necessary to just invert one consonant for avocal : going from causality to casuality.

An atom is no longer made up of electrons orbiting like planets and it nolonger has a defined trajectory with certain values of speed and position.

Quantum physics describe the microcosm praising an evolution ofnature towards disorder and uncertainty, rather than a deterministicvision established by cause and effect, dominant in classical physics.

The particles can transmit instant information between themselves,beyond the limit of the speed of light, imposed by Einstein with theformulation of the special Relativity Theory.

Understanding the behavior of matter at the atomic level will lead you toimportant reflections, and to finally think that nothing that surrounds uscan be more interpreted with deterministic rationality alone.

To comprehend the fabolous world of quantum physics It is possible tofind hundreds of books, but most of the time they are either too popularor are treated at university level.

With the present exposition, instead, I tried to deal with these themesmaking you understand principally the concepts, without howeverneglecting the rigorous mathematical formulas and demonstrations,with a language that can be interpreted with mathematical and physicalskills that are learned in a high school.

The present text does not claim the prerogative of being exhaustive inthe interpretation of quantum theory, but it is certainly useful foracquiring notions in order to be able to understand from a scientific pointof view the texts on the market of a popular nature regarding this subjectand in any case creating excellent conditions for future in-depthuniversity studies.

I thank al those who have been close to me during the writing of thepresent discussion and with the hope of having set the work that couldbe useful to those who are approaching the study of the fascinatingworld of Quantum Physics. I am grateful since now to those who wantto propose improvements or possible suggestions.

1. ATOMIC HISTORY

The constitution of matter history, from an atomic point of view, had begun as early as 1500 - 500 BC in India, where philosophical schools, in order to motivate the existence of matter, identified five fundamental essences of which it was composed: Fire - Earth - Air - Water - Sky.

In addition to the five substances they identified four additional external senses: Space, Time, Mind and final y the Ego.

Because of the introduction of these concepts, matter was always divisible into a finite number of particles, between the fundamental essences and the external senses.

Later, in ancient Greece, Leucippus of Miletus used the term Atomfor the first time (), which means indivisible, and his student Democritus of Abdera, in 460-360 BC, made it into a famous term.

In this last interpretation, the atom was considered an indivisible particle of which matter was made up.

Everything else was fil ed with emptiness, like the same place where atoms bond together in a concept of eternity, through their birth, death and rebirth.

Therefore the concept of infinite divisibility, remained valid only in the logical-mathematical field, but it did not apply to the matter,because in a process of infinite divisibility it would have dissolved into nothingness, reaching an unworkable concept of non-matter.

Later, in 384-322 BC, Aristotle's theory,who stated that matter had to be understood as infinite and divisible was commonly accepted.So the concept of existence of the indivisible atom was abandoned.