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I still want to know who turned a "quantum change" from the very smallest change one can possibly make to something revolutionarily large (I bet it was some mar

I still want to know who turned a "quantum change" from the very smallest change one can possibly make to something revolutionarily large (I bet it was some marketting guy)

krastanov 9y ago
This is an amusing meme/complaint, but it is not really correct. In physics "quantum" does frequently imply very small, but its fundamental meaning is a "discrete" change with no intermediate state. Hence, it is perfectly correct to use "quantum leap" to describe a significant development. P.S. There are now plenty of real-world quantum systems that are centimeter sized. Check "cavity QED".
- SiempreViernes 9y ago
  Quantum leap is also somewhat passable as a name for the period from 1905 to the 1950 when Quantum Mechanics established itself as the foundational theory of physics. I suspect the various pop-accounts of this period to be the source for quantum leap as a term for ”huge change” . I think Quantum revolution is the more common term for the period.
- leggomylibro 9y ago
  So is it sort of like how we use 'atomic' to mean a single discrete operation in programming? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linearizability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linearizability
  - TuringTest 9y ago
    Yes. The name "atom" literally meant "indivisible" in its original greek form. It's fitting for computations that go on undisturbed until completion.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
kazinator 9y ago
That sounds like a variation of "quantum leap". https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/391644/etymology-of-quantum-leap https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/391644/etymology... "Quantum leap" justifiably jives with the quantum mechanical meaning.
- krastanov 9y ago
  I am greatly amused to see that the answer on the English Stackexchange is from Peter Shor, one of the people that initiated the Quantum Computing revolution in the 90s and earlier.
  - kazinator 9y ago
    He's just sitting there googling for "quantum" anything.
Pxtl 9y ago
https://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2628 https://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2628

I still want to know who turned a "quantum change" from the very smallest change one can possibly make to something revolutionarily large (I bet it was some marketting guy)

krastanov 9y ago

This is an amusing meme/complaint, but it is not really correct. In physics "quantum" does frequently imply very small, but its fundamental meaning is a "discrete" change with no intermediate state. Hence, it is perfectly correct to use "quantum leap" to describe a significant development. P.S. There are now plenty of real-world quantum systems that are centimeter sized. Check "cavity QED".

SiempreViernes 9y ago
Quantum leap is also somewhat passable as a name for the period from 1905 to the 1950 when Quantum Mechanics established itself as the foundational theory of physics. I suspect the various pop-accounts of this period to be the source for quantum leap as a term for ”huge change” . I think Quantum revolution is the more common term for the period.
leggomylibro 9y ago
So is it sort of like how we use 'atomic' to mean a single discrete operation in programming? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linearizability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linearizability
- TuringTest 9y ago
  Yes. The name "atom" literally meant "indivisible" in its original greek form. It's fitting for computations that go on undisturbed until completion.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]

kazinator 9y ago

That sounds like a variation of "quantum leap". https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/391644/etymology-of-quantum-leap https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/391644/etymology... "Quantum leap" justifiably jives with the quantum mechanical meaning.

krastanov 9y ago
I am greatly amused to see that the answer on the English Stackexchange is from Peter Shor, one of the people that initiated the Quantum Computing revolution in the 90s and earlier.
- kazinator 9y ago
  He's just sitting there googling for "quantum" anything.

Pxtl 9y ago

https://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2628 https://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2628