外刊阅读 | 生活科学 | 量子力学:微观宇宙的奇幻法则

文摘   2024-08-22 07:31   中国香港  
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上期答案



For people working in manual labor, however, the increased physical activity can work against them, a phenomenon known as the physical activity paradox.

paradox   n.矛盾的情况悖论

然而,对于从事体力劳动的人来说,增加的体力活动可能对他们不利,这种现象被称为体力活动悖论。


本期内容



导读

早上好,读者朋友们,今天分享的文章节选自《生活科学》。在浩瀚无垠的宇宙深处,隐藏着一种超乎我们日常经验的奇妙规律——量子力学,这门被誉为“现代物理学皇冠上的明珠”的学科,正引领我们踏上一场前所未有的科学探险。想象一下,光子不仅是光的传播者,还是具有波粒二象性的神秘旅者;电子不再仅仅是围绕原子核旋转的行星,而是能够在多个状态间自由穿梭的幽灵粒子。这些看似荒谬的描述,却是量子世界中的日常现象。量子力学,正是这样一门揭示这些古怪行为背后科学定律的学科。

Quantum mechanics:

Definitions, axioms, and key concepts of quantum physics

量子力学:量子物理学的定义、公理和关键概念

1







At the smallest scales, the universe behaves very differently than the everyday world we observe around us. Quantum mechanics is the subfield of physics that describes this bizarre behavior of microscopic particles — atoms, electrons, photons and almost everything else in the molecular and submolecular realm. Developed during the first half of the 20th century, the results of quantum mechanics are often extremely strange and counterintuitive.However, studying them has allowed physicists to reach a greater understanding about the nature of the universe, and could one day change the way we as humans process information.


quantum /ˈkwɑːntəm/n. 量子;量子论

bizarre bɪˈzɑːr/adj. 奇异的,古怪的

particle /ˈpɑːrtɪk(ə)l/n.微粒;粒子


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在最小的尺度上,宇宙的行为与我们观察到的日常世界非常不同。量子力学是物理学的一个分支,它描述了微观粒子的奇异行为——原子、电子、光子以及分子和亚分子领域的几乎所有其他东西。在20世纪上半叶发展起来的量子力学的结果往往是非常奇怪和违反直觉的。然而,对它们的研究使物理学家对宇宙的本质有了更深入的了解,有朝一日可能会改变我们人类处理信息的方式。



At the scale of atoms and electrons, many of the equations of classical mechanics, which describe the movement and interactions of things at everyday sizes and speeds, cease to be useful. In classical mechanics, objects exist in a specific place at a specific time. In quantum mechanics, objects instead exist in a haze of probability; they have a certain chance of being at point A, another chance of being at point B and so on.


cease /siːs/ v. 终止,结束

haze /heɪz/n. 霾,烟雾;迷糊


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在原子和电子的尺度上,许多描述日常大小和速度下物体运动和相互作用的经典力学方程不再有用了。在经典力学中,物体在特定的时间存在于特定的地点。在量子力学中,物体存在于概率的迷雾中;它们有一定的机会到达A点,有另一次机会到达B点,以此类推。



In 1900, German physicist Max Planck was trying to explain why objects at specific temperatures, like the 1,470-degree-Fahrenheit (800 degrees Celsius) filament of a light bulb, glowed a specific color — in this case, red, according to the Perimeter Institute. Planck realized that equations used by physicist Ludwig Boltzmann to describe the behavior of gases could be translated into an explanation for this relationship between temperature and color. The problem was that Boltzmann's work relied on the fact that any given gas was made from tiny particles, meaning that light, too, was made from discrete bits. This idea flew in the face of ideas about light at the time, when most physicists believed that light was a continuous wave and not a tiny packet. Planck himself didn't believe in either atoms or discrete bits of light, but his concept was given a boost in 1905, when Einstein published a paper, "Concerning an Heuristic Point of View Toward the Emission and Transformation of Light." 


filament /'fɪləmənt/n.灯丝

discrete /dɪˈskriːt/adj. 分离的


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1900年,德国物理学家马克斯·普朗克试图解释为什么物体在特定的温度下,比如1470华氏度(800摄氏度)的灯泡灯丝,会发出特定的颜色——根据研究所的说法,在这种情况下,是红色的。普朗克意识到物理学家路德维希·玻尔兹曼用来描述气体行为的方程可以解释温度和颜色之间的关系。问题是,玻尔兹曼的工作依赖于这样一个事实,即任何给定的气体都是由微小的粒子构成的,这意味着光也是离散的。这个观点与当时关于光的观点截然不同,当时大多数物理学家认为光是一种连续的波,而不是一个微小的粒。普朗克本人既不相信原子,也不相信离散的光,但他的概念在1905年得到了推动,当时爱因斯坦发表了一篇论文,《关于光的发射和转换的启发式观点》。



Einstein envisioned light traveling not as a wave, but as some manner of "energy quanta." This packet of energy, Einstein suggested in his paper, could "be absorbed or generated only as a whole," specifically when an atom "jumps" between quantized vibration rates. This is where the "quantum" part of quantum mechanics comes from.With this new way to conceive of light, Einstein offered insights into the behavior of nine phenomena in his paper, including the specific colors that Planck described being emitted from a light bulb filament. It also explained how certain colors of light could eject electrons off metal surfaces — a phenomenon known as the photoelectric effect.


eject /ɪˈdʒekt/v.驱逐;喷射

emit  /iˈmɪt/v. 排放,散发


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爱因斯坦设想光不是以波的形式传播,而是以某种形式的“能量量子”传播。爱因斯坦在他的论文中指出,这个能量包“只能作为一个整体被吸收或产生”,特别是当原子在量子化振动率之间“跳跃”时。这就是量子力学中“量子”部分的来源。用这种新的方式来理解光,爱因斯坦在他的论文中提供了对九种现象行为的见解,包括普朗克描述的从灯泡灯丝发出的特定颜色。论文还解释了某些颜色的光如何从金属表面发射出电子——这种现象被称为光电效应




Schrödinger and Einstein helped highlight another strange result of quantum mechanics that neither could fully fathom. In 1935, Einstein, along with physicists Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen, showed that two quantum particles can be set up so that their quantum states would always be correlated with one another, according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The particles essentially always "knew" about each other's properties. That means that measuring the state of one particle would instantaneously tell you the state of its twin, no matter how far apart they were, a result that Einstein called "spooky action at a distance," but which Schrödinger soon dubbed "entanglement."Entanglement has been shown to be one of the most essential aspects of quantum mechanics and occurs in the real world all the time. Researchers frequently conduct experiments using quantum entanglement and the phenomenon is part of the basis for the emerging field of quantum computing.


fathom /ˈfæðəm/n.理解,弄清真相

spooky /ˈspuːki/adj. 幽灵般的

dub /dʌb/v.给...起绰号

quantum entanglement  量子纠缠


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薛定谔和爱因斯坦强调了量子力学的另一个奇怪的结果,他们俩都不能完全理解。根据斯坦福大学哲学百科全书,1935年,爱因斯坦与物理学家鲍里斯·波多尔斯基(Boris Podolsky)和内森·罗森(Nathan Rosen)证明,可以建立两个量子粒子,使它们的量子态始终相互关联。粒子本质上总是“知道”彼此的性质。这意味着测量一个粒子的状态会立即告诉你它的孪生粒子的状态,无论它们相距多远,爱因斯坦称之为“幽灵般的远距离作用”,但薛定谔很快将其称为“纠缠”。“纠缠已被证明是量子力学最重要的方面之一,并且一直发生在现实世界中。研究人员经常使用量子纠缠进行实验,这种现象是新兴量子计算领域的基础之一。


Journal:livescience( April 30, 2024)

Title:Quantum mechanics: Definitions, axioms, and key concepts of quantum physics

Category:Quantum Physics


END





写作句式积累

Einstein's relativity describes large and massive things, while quantum mechanics describes small and insubstantial things. 

爱因斯坦的相对论描述了大而重的事物,而量子力学描述了小而无形的事物。





长难句解析

The new chip, called "Xiaohong," is the biggest /built by China to date and is designed to improve systems /that manage the behavior and interaction of quantum bits, or qubits, in quantum computers, state-owned China Daily reported. 

句子主干是:The new chip is the biggest  and is designed to...

built by China to date 是过去分词短语作后置定语,and is designed to improve systems 是并列谓语部分,that manage the behavior and interaction ... 是定语从句,修饰先行词systems.

翻译:据《中国日报》报道,这款被称为“小红”的芯片是中国迄今为止制造的最大芯片,旨在改进量子计算机中管理量子比特(或称为量子位)的行为和交互的系统。





翻译练习

Many researchers have sought a theory of quantum gravity, which would introduce gravity into quantum mechanics and explain everything from the subatomic to the supergalactic realms.






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