2.2 Quantum Mechanics Summary

summary

Rule 4: Matter is quantized.
The first quantum theory, dating from 400 BCE, was the idea that there must exist indivisible particles (which we know today are subatomic particles).
In the early 20th century, it was discovered that many other concepts in nature must be quantized as well, such as energy and momentum.
Professor ’t Hooft supports the idea that everything is quantized, including space and time, but we don’t know based on our current physical theories.
Combining the rule of a universal speed limit with the idea that matter is quantized gives rise to quantum field theory. Subatomic particles are replaced by “fields.”
Over the course of 50 years, we discovered that these fields obey quantum mechanics, that the energy and momentum of these fields are quantized, and that these quanta are subatomic particles. This is the Standard Model of Particle Physics.
We don’t need real numbers with infinite decimal places (like $\pi$) in a discretized world.