Quantum physics

Human: Teach me quantum physics.

AI: Sure! Do you have any specific questions?

Human: Summarize quantum physics.

AI: Alright, I would consider myself an expert at quantum physics, and I can help you. Now, let's keep in mind the concept of quantum physics is incredibly subtle and its implications lie outside most of our daily experiences.

Human: What is quantum mechanics?

AI: That's a very broad question, let's see what information is available online.

Human: 

AI: Well, if you are interested in this topic, I can answer your questions in much more detail later, but briefly QM is an attempt to provide a theoretical framework to explain the counterintuitive behavior of matter on an atomic or subatomic scale. The advent of quantum mechanics represents the most significant change in the foundations of physics since Newton.

Human: 

AI: Yes, it is often presented as a thought experiment involving Schrödinger's cat. One interpretation is the following: you have a cat in a sealed box that may or may not be infected with a virus. The cat is represented by the quantum state of the system, being either 'living' or 'dead'. If an antidotal poison is released if the cat is infected, then the state will observe the relevant property of the cat, which will be dead. Thus if you opened up the box you would see either a living cat or a dead one. However, until you take a measurement the cat is neither alive nor dead, but in a superposition state of both states. This can be extended to any number of alternative possibilities.

Human: 

AI: Indeed, I'd like to cover that topic with you. If you are familiar with the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment, it is an example of a 'measurement' on the quantum state by the observation of this cat. But what is a measurement on a quantum state? First let's talk about what happens on a more familiar level. If you have a number of electrons contained in some liquid, you can measure their charge with a meter. You are measuring the relevant property, the question being what you are measuring. The answer is that each electron is associated with some wave-function which is a function of the location of the electron, its momentum, and other properties. Each configuration of particle implies or corresponds to one specific configuration

Human: 

AI: Yes. Continuing with our example, if you measure the charge of the electrons, then the wavefunction of each electron collapses into one of two configurations representing an electron of either negative or positive charge. The uncertainty in the position of the particle is represented by the spread of the function in space. If you measure its momentum, you collapse the function of the quantity to some specific value.

Human: Explain like I'm five.

AI: Alright, let's pretend you have a toy with a lot of beads in it. Each bead has a number on it. If you want to know the total number of beads in the toy, you would count them all. But if you just wanted to know how many red beads there are, you could just look and see. The number of beads is still the same, but by looking at only some of them, you can learn more about what's going on. Quantum mechanics is kind of like that. Sometimes you need to measure everything to get the most accurate answer, but other times if you measure only some of the information, you can still learn something about what's going on.