Annals of Atoms and Molecules

Mini-Review Pages 14-16

Chemistry and Quantum

Authors: Ogilvie JF

Abstract: Quantum physics signifies the observation and analysis of discrete phenomena. A perhaps most obvious instance of a discrete nature is a narrow spectral line. The line at wave length 21 cm, subject to a red shift depending on the relative speed of emitting H atom and observer, originating in interstellar clouds of atomic hydrogen lies toward one extreme of the natural electromagnetic spectrum, and x-rays or γ-rays toward the other extreme. Such discrete phenomena are not limited to visual observations. An analysis of those spectral lines provides information about the properties of their carriers. In 1924 Heisenberg wrote that the observable properties of (free) atoms and molecules are the frequencies

| | |