QUANTUM METAPHYSICS - E-thesis

4.1.3. Consequences related to quantum theory
In spite of its abstract nature and the problems of interpretation, quantum theory has proved to be
an extremely accurate and efficient formalism. It has become the basic tool of modern physics,
and has been successfully applied to an enormously diverse range of fields and applications. The
whole of today’s electronics industry with its silicon-chip technology is based on discoveries
made by the pioneers of quantum mechanics. Even though the birth of quantum mechanics was a
result of considering the interaction between atoms and light, the theory has not broken down as
research has, over the decades, advanced from atomic physics to nuclear and particle physics. It
has led to an understanding of radioactivity and nuclear reactions. All the modern physical
theories which deal with particle phenomena have their foundation in quantum mechanics and
using this as a basis, a physicist can, for example, control particles with unbelievable accuracy in
huge particle accelerators, separating different beams of particles and arranging the desired
reactions between them. When we recall that the size of an atom is ten thousand times larger than
its nucleus and that the collision energies employed in experiments are billions of times greater,
the astonishing universality of the theory becomes clear.
Quantum theory not only explains the structure of atoms, it can also be used to determine how
atoms combine to form molecules. It has become the central theory for both physics and
chemistry. The properties of all materials depend upon how their atoms and molecules interact
with one another. 482 Nowadays, in addition to research into microscopic phenomena, quantum
theory has begun to be used in investigations at the macroscopic level. Macroscopic quantum
phenomena can be revealed in the Bose-Einstein condensate and in low-temperature physics.
When a material is in superconducting mode, its behaviour is completely defined by the laws of
quantum mechanics. Also, an ever-increasing number of areas of application which utilise “odd”
features of the theory such as superposition states or tunnelling phenomena are being seriously
planned. For example, quantum computers and quantum communication are expected to open up
dazzling future visions. 483
In spite of the development of physical theory, a satisfactory way of successfully combining
quantum mechanics with the general theory of relativity has not yet been found. Both the theory
of relativity and quantum mechanics required major changes in the structure of physics. The
theory of relativity is used in the examination of fast-moving particles and cosmic phenomena,
482 Morris 1997, 95.
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