Experiment Looks to Bridge Classical Physics and Quantum Mechanics

Thursday, July 30, 2009 - 09:14 in Physics & Chemistry

Researchers takes steps to observe the ghostly effects of quantum mechanics in objects larger than atoms Pity the science students who can't just learn about Newtonian laws of physics and falling objects. No, there's also the small-scale world of quantum physics where atoms can exist in two states at once, or remain connected across millions of light years. But researchers may have found relief in a potentially groundbreaking experiment that could demonstrate quantum mechanics in large objects. It's not just for atoms! Quantum mechanics operates in a bizarro world that includes superposition, where atoms can maintain more than one state at a time. Matter can also become entangled so that it remains connected across vast distances -- a ghostly phenomenon dubbed "spooky action at a distance" by Albert Einstein. "It'd be weird to think of ordinary matter behaving in a quantum way, but there's no...

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