Quantum mechanics was born 100 years ago. Physicists are celebrating

A century ago, science went quantum. To celebrate, physicists are throwing a global celebration, one year old.

In 1925, quantum mechanics, the scientific theory describing the vague rules of very small degrees, began to crystallize in the minds of physicists. Starting from that year, a series of monumental letters determined the frame of theory. Quantum physics has traversed a wide range of scientific disciplines – explaining the periodic table, life and death of stars and more – and enabled laser technologies on the smartphone.

In honor of this century of progress, physicists are celebrating 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, as defined by the United Nations. The celebrations begin on February 4 with a opening ceremony in Paris, and continue throughout the year with scientific conferences, public lectures and more, including Quantumfest, an event on Mars at the Global Summit of Global Physics of American Physical Society in Anaheim, Calif., Presenting hands on activities and demonstrations.

Beginning around 1900, a number of theoretical experiments and advances began to discover pieces and pieces of the strange quantum sphere. Then, a 1925 letter from German physicist Werner Heisenberg, followed by newspapers from others, including Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger, turned Hodgepodge hinted at a cohesive view.

“We still use those equations that were published in 1925 and ’26,” says theoretical physicist Ana María Cetto of the Institute of Physics of the National University of Mexico in Mexico in Mexico. “And they have led to a large amount of theoretical results and experimental results and technological applications.” The subsequent quantum revolution became the basis for much of modern physics.

In those important years, says quantum physicist Smith Vishveshwara from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, “the foundations of a completely different way of seeing nature were strengthened.”

According to that new view of nature, matter absorbs energy in small, discrete or quantum packages. And surprisingly, the seemingly detached objects can be confused, their properties associated with an intangible connection. The principle of Heisenberg’s uncertainty, formulated in 1927, states that it is impossible to determine exactly both the position and the moment of an object. The strange quantum limbo known as the superposition was famously illustrated in 1935 with Schrödinger’s cat, a scientific parable in which a hypothetical cat is dead and vibrant. Over the past century, such wonders have traversed not only science but also popular imagination.

Scientific news He spoke with Cetto and Vishveshware, who are involved in this year’s celebration. Their answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Sn: What is the importance of quantum physics today?

Cetto: In these 100 years, quantum physics has become one of the main areas – if not the main area – of contemporary physics. It is difficult to find any area in physics or any problems in physics where quantum mechanics do not play a role, especially now that we are working with systems that are smaller and smaller in scale or shorter and shorter in time. Because here the quantum phenomena appear.

Sn: What are the technological applications?

VishwarashWara: Semiconductor technology, MRI, quantum calculation, laser – all this comes from understanding quantum physics. You absolutely need to have an understanding of atoms and elements and compounds at a quantum level to create even the basic element of the circuit that goes to your smartphone.

Sn: What are the goals of the international year of science and quantum technology?

VishwarashWara: One is to really help in raising public awareness of the wonders of quantum science and the way it affects our daily lives. There are 60 places plus behind it, so it’s really a global holiday. In addition to raising awareness to the public and uniting different communities, I think it is uniting people from all over the world and through different spheres of life in a way I have not seen in my life.

Sn: Quantum physics has a reputation to be mysterious – is it?

VishwarashWara: Absolutely absolutely mysterious. I think this is part of its charm, because we all love the mysteries. Already in popular culture, there is attraction. Now “Quantum” is this ultracool word, where you have [Marvel character] Ant-man entering the quantum field.

Sn: What are some open questions that remain in quantum physics?

Cetto: We still miss some basic elements that can take us full photography. What is the physical cause of fraud? What is the physical cause of indefinning expressed in Heisenberg [uncertainty principle]? It is not that it cannot be understood because it is not magic, it is physical. We just have to work on it.