Speaker
Description
At the dawn of the 20th century physicists began to understand that the usual classical physics could not explain important features of nature, and the “Old Quantum Theory” emerged as an admittedly imperfect mix of classical physics with quantum ideas. Then, 100 years ago, a revolution replaced classical physics with a new mechanics, that of Heisenberg, Schroedinger, Dirac, and others, which revolutionized not only our understanding of the physical world but our very notions of reality itself. That revolution produced, among other things, semiconductor electronics that changed the lives of almost everyone on earth, with devices whose capabilities have been in a state of continual blossoming. Now, early in the 21st century, another revolution is at hand. The strange features of quantum mechanics, superposition and entanglement, well known to the founders, are now becoming part of the applications landscape, with activities like quantum computing, quantum communication, and quantum sensing poised to change lives in as-yet unimagined ways. 100 years of quantum mechanics have changed everything, and the coming years may do so again.
