Quantum Mechanics Exam Review Flashcards

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms and concepts in quantum mechanics for exam preparation.

Quantum Mechanics

A fundamental theory in physics that describes nature at the smallest scales, specifically at the atomic and subatomic levels.

Black Body

An idealized object that absorbs all radiation incident upon it and emits radiation at a characteristic spectrum based on its temperature.

Planck's constant (h)

A fundamental constant used in quantum mechanics to describe the sizes of quanta: h = 6.626 x 10^-34 Js.

Photon

A massless particle representing a quantum of light or other electromagnetic radiation.

Photoelectric Effect

The emission of electrons when light shines on a material, demonstrating the particle-like properties of light.

Wave-Particle Duality

The concept in quantum mechanics that all particles exhibit both wave and particle properties.

Fermi-Dirac Statistics

A statistical distribution that describes the behavior of fermions, obeying the Pauli exclusion principle.

Bose-Einstein Statistics

A statistical distribution that describes the behavior of bosons, allowing multiple particles to occupy the same state.

Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle

A principle stating that certain pairs of physical properties, like position and momentum, cannot both be known to arbitrary precision.

Schrödinger Equation

A fundamental equation of quantum mechanics that describes how the quantum state of a physical system changes over time.

Eigenfunction

A special type of wave function associated with a particular observable and its corresponding eigenvalue in quantum mechanics.

Boson

A class of particles that includes photons and has integer spin, allowing multiple bosons to occupy the same quantum state.

Fermion

A class of particles that obey the Pauli exclusion principle, including electrons and protons, with half-integer spin.

Wave Function Collapse

The transition of a quantum system from a superposition of states to a single state due to measurement.

de Broglie Wavelength

The wavelength associated with a particle, proportional to Planck's constant divided by its momentum.

Black Body Radiation

The spectrum of electromagnetic radiation emitted by a black body in thermal equilibrium, supporting the quantization of energy.

Absorptivity

The measure of how much radiation is absorbed by a body compared to what is incident upon it, corresponding to emissivity in thermal equilibrium.

Ultraviolet Catastrophe

The prediction of classical physics that led to infinite energy emission at ultraviolet frequencies, which quantum theory later resolved.

Energy Quantization

The concept that energy exists in discrete packets, or quanta, rather than in a continuous spectrum.

Kinetic Energy

The energy that an object possesses due to its motion, often attributed to particles in statistical mechanics.

Thermal Equilibrium

A state in which a system's temperature is uniform and constant, resulting in no net flow of thermal energy.