Quantum chaos uses chaos theory to explain irregularities in molecular systems. While classical physics cannot explain these behaviors, studying highly energized Rydberg atoms and creating statistical measurements based on the wobble in the moon’s orbit have helped to partially explain the phenomenon.
Quantum chaos, a non-technical term, is a scientific shorthand that refers to the use of chaos theory to explain quantum systems. Chaos theory can explain the irregularities that occur in all dynamical systems from the macro to the micro level. Such irregularities include a wobble in the revolution of a satellite around a planet or the unexpected position of an electron at the atomic level. Quantum systems are those systems that operate at the molecular level. Taking these definitions together, quantum chaos attempts to explain irregularities in molecular systems.
For a long time, scientists were unsure of the existence of quantum chaos. Atoms tended to exhibit predictable wave-like energy patterns. Molecular-level objects did not appear to express extreme sensitivity to initial conditions, the traditional definition of physical chaos. Even some problems that have arisen could be explained through perturbation theory, which allows for minor deviations in a system exhibiting largely regular behavior that can be explained through classical physics.
However, as some 20th-century physicists discovered, not all events that occur at the molecular level could be adequately explained or predicted through classical quantum models. According to these models, events such as the movement of particles from one site to another would require exponentially growing amounts of energy that would be impossible to generate. Since particles have been observed to move without producing those energy levels, however, scientists had to find a different way to explain the phenomenon.
One way scientists explained it was through the study of the Rydberg atom. Rydberg atoms are highly energized atoms that exhibit chaotic behavior that can be explained through classical physics. Studying these atoms has shown that systems involving quantum chaos have highly correlated energy levels. The energy levels of the particles are not randomly distributed as in classical molecules. The events of one subsystem are inextricably linked to the events of another subsystem. Consequently, an energy spectrum can be used to at least partially explain the behaviors of these particles.
Another method was to examine situations in which classical physics could explain irregularities in large systems. The mechanisms behind the wobble in the moon’s orbit around the earth due to the sun’s gravitational pull were used to create a statistical measurement that helped explain and predict the behaviors of low-energy particles. While classical models in physics cannot adequately explain the behaviors of these chaotic molecular systems, it is interesting that quantum chaos uses those models as a starting point for creating new models to further understand these systems.
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