The Misconceptions Surrounding the Origins of Quantum Theory, According to Carlo Robery

In my opinion, the story of the birth of quantum mechanics is often told, but it is not always accurate. The Introductory Quantum Physics class focuses on the well-known equation written by Erwin Schrödinger in 1926, explaining quantum waves. I think the emphasis on these waves has created the confusion that continues today. The birth of quantum theory occurred a year ago, mainly in the work of Max Bourne and his collaborators. And I think that the emphasis on Schrödinger’s waves, not just to give birth credibility, is responsible for today’s confusion about what quantum phenomenon is telling us about reality.

Let’s start from the beginning. It is often said that quantum physics arrived as a surprise when they thought physicists had understood all the fundamental laws of nature. There was no such time. At the end of the 19th century, physicists were confused about many basic things.

This is why no one paid much attention when Max Planck came up with a simple but unjust equation in October 1900 to try to understand certain obscure experimental measurements of electromagnetic radiation within a hot cavity. That’s how the equation was e = Hν. Connects energy (e) and frequency (ν) completely new constants of radiation (h), is currently known as a Planck constant. This constant sets the scale of quantum phenomena as we know it.

It was Albert Einstein…