Quantum Mechanics and the Layman

Most people don't know it, but research in quantum mechanics has influenced our lives in many ways. From lasers to the transistor, understanding quantum mechanics has led to huge advancements in technology over the last century. However, if you ask an average person about quantum mechanics, they usually won't have a clue as to what it is, and most definitely couldn't tell you the contributions the study of quantum mechanics has made in our lives. With this in mind, it seems necessary to teach people at least the basics of quantum mechanics and let them know how it holds relevance in their lives.

The problem with this lies in the fact that almost everybody finds quantum mechanics to be extremely confusing and counterintuitive. This can be attributed to the fact that what is shown to be true on a microscopic level is at odds with our everyday experience. We don't see, say, a baseball teleporting through a wall, but quantum tunneling shows that electrons can to just that. This leads people to think of quantum mechanics as some sort of science fiction that can never be fully understood. However, experiments show that the paradoxical events that happen atomically are quite real and in fact have a large effect on everything in the universe. Given that all matter is made up of atoms which in turn are made up of protons and electrons, to understand life as we know it, we must understand the physics behind very small particles.

I interviewed professor Carter Hall who among other classes teaches Quantum Mechanics (PHYS401) at the University of Maryland. He also is involved in several research projects involving nuclear physics, neutrinos and dark matter. He told me that not only do laymen find quantum mechanics to be confusing, but the people who perhaps find it most confusing are particle physicists themselves. The further one delves into the world on the atomic level, the more involved physics becomes. Uncertainty is the primary device used to measure anything at this scale, and unlike our macroscopic world, it becomes impossible to measure, for example, position and momentum accurately for one point in space.  On this level, many things are possible, albeit usually improbable, that are impossible in the reality we see every day.

This might be overwhelming for a non-physicist, but at least understanding that these things are possible can help the general population appreciate how technological developments such as nuclear reactors are possible. In order to bring people closer to science, we need to show them how it impacts their everyday lives, so hopefully in schools or in seminars we can teach students how things we can't even see have dramatically changed our lives.