The Quantum Around You – With Andrea Morello

Last updated May 22, 2017 at 12:07 pm

Topics: Innovate & Tech

Is quantum mechanics one of those fields that feels just too hard to grasp? Let Professor Andrea Morello take you through this series which demonstrates that quantum mechanics is evident in many tangible examples in the world around us.

Artificial Atoms: The Quantum Around You. Ep 8

Our latest episode with Associate Professor Andrea Morello. Everything around us is made of atoms. Certain atoms, such as sodium, can emit beautiful yellow light. What if we want another colour? We can now make artificial atoms, to produce any colour we like — and fancy flat-screen TVs.

Join UNSW Australia’s Andrea Morello in this series which proves that quantum mechanics has more of an impact on your daily life than you think.

Professor Andrea Morello is a researcher and lecturer in the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications at UNSW Australia in Sydney. He was one of the 2013 Australian Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science, the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year.

Bird navigation: The Quantum Around You. Ep1

Quantum phenomena often seem mysterious to us, because we cannot “see” them. What if some other animal species could? “Seeing” quantum correlations between pairs of electrons might be precisely the way certain birds navigate from North-South. Join UNSW Australia’s Andrea Morello in this series which proves that quantum mechanics has more of an impact on your daily life than you think.

Professor Andrea Morello is a researcher and lecturer in the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications at UNSW Australia in Sydney. He was one of the 2013 Australian Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science, the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year.

Casimir force: The Quantum Around You. Ep 6

In this latest episode, Andrea Morello talks about a phenomenon known as the Casimir force. Ancient sailors knew that ships in a rough sea should not be placed alongside each other, or a “mysterious force” will make them smash together. A similar effect happens because of quantum waves, and can make small electrical switches stick together against our will.

Join UNSW Australia’s Andrea Morello in this series which proves that quantum mechanics has more of an impact on your daily life than you think.

Professor Andrea Morello is a researcher and lecturer in the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications at UNSW Australia in Sydney. He was one of the 2013 Australian Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science, the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year.

Entanglement: The Quantum Around You. Ep 2

Albert Einstein was famously sceptical about certain predictions of Quantum Mechanics, such as the idea that there is a special type of correlation, called “entanglement”, through which acting on a particle here can influence another particle far away. It is now well established that entanglement exists, and the infamous “spooky action at a distance” that goes with it has been observed in many experiments. It’s not easy to explain what entanglement is, but it’s possible to explain what it is not: it’s not a form of classical correlation. This can be illustrated with a simple example – a piece of paper and four numbers on it!

Magnetism: The Quantum Around You. Ep 3

We all use magnetism to stick photos to the fridge, find the North with a compass, store data on a hard drive. Although magnetism has been known for centuries, now we understand that magnetic materials only exist thanks to quantum mechanics.

Join UNSW Australia’s Andrea Morello in this series which proves that quantum mechanics has more of an impact on your daily life than you think.

Professor Andrea Morello is a researcher and lecturer in the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications at UNSW Australia in Sydney. He was one of the 2013 Australian Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science, the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year.

Quantum Attraction: The Quantum Around You. Ep 5

Opposite charges attract right? What about systems of particles with zero total charge? In the quantum world, nothing ever stands still, and because of this, even non-charged objects can attract each other. Like the feet of a gecko to the wall. Want to know about this phenomenon? Join UNSW Australia’s Andrea Morello in this series which proves that quantum mechanics has more of an impact on your daily life than you think.

Professor Andrea Morello is a researcher and lecturer in the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications at UNSW Australia in Sydney. He was one of the 2013 Australian Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science, the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year.

Quantum conductance: The Quantum Around You. Ep 7

Electrical wires are made of metals that have a good ability to carry current. If we make the wire really small, the conductance becomes quantized. This is not an exotic phenomenon: it happens every time you switch off the light. Explore more in this latest episode of The Quantum Around You with UNSW’s Andrea Morello, the series which proves that quantum mechanics has more of an impact on your daily life than you think.

Professor Andrea Morello is a researcher and lecturer in the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications at UNSW Australia in Sydney. He was one of the 2013 Australian Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science, the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year.

Teleportation: The Quantum Around You Ep. 9

Teleportation has usually been found only in science fiction books and movies. Now, thanks to the special properties of quantum entangled particles, it also takes place in the laboratory. We cannot yet teleport physical objects, but we can teleport the information encoded onto quantum particles. Doing so also allows us to send the information in a secure way, which can be used to protect it from eavesdroppers.

Professor Andrea Morello is a researcher and lecturer in the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications at UNSW Australia in Sydney. He was one of the 2013 Australian Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science, the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year.

Wave particle duality: The Quantum Around You. Ep 4

In the quantum world, there’s no such thing as a “particle”. Each particle is also a wave, and can interfere with itself. Find out more in this latest episode of The Quantum Around You, the series which proves that quantum mechanics has more of an impact on your daily life than you think.

Professor Andrea Morello is a researcher and lecturer in the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications at UNSW Australia in Sydney. He was one of the 2013 Australian Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science, the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year. Subscribe for more on the extraordinary subject of quantum mechanics.

We thank Prof. M. Arndt for providing the C60 image