Quantum-Atom

चरमः सद्विशेषणम् अनेको सम्युतः सदा ।

परमाणुः स विज्ञेयो नृणाम् ऐक्यभ्रमो यतः ॥

Don’t worry if you can’t read Sanskrit. This shloka was given by Sage Maitreya in a very famous piece of literature called ‘Bhagavatam’ dating 5000 years back. The meaning of this shloka is (and I quote Sage Maitreya here),

“One should know that the ultimate presence of that what shows itself in the manifold as being indivisible, consists of an infinitesimal particle, the combination of which into material forms creates an illusion in man.”

Remember, this concept of an atom was idealised 5000 years ago, a long time before John Dalton proposed the first atomic theory. Ever since the ancient times, philosophers have imagined what they’d get if they kept on splitting matter into half until they ended up with an indivisible particle which builds up the entire universe.

John Dalton’s atomic theory states that an atom is indivisible. In those days, atom was assumed to be the fundamental building block of everything. However, this assumption was broken when J.J Thompson discovered the electron and showed that even atom was built by smaller particles.

So, what state of matter is an atom in? Is it a solid sphere as shown in animations and pictures? What state is the electron in? These questions become tricky if we limit ourselves to the three states of matter (Actually five states of matter. Find them out or ask me!). Atom is not in any state of matter. It need not be.

To understand what I am saying, you need to know how energy and matter are related. Everyone knows that “e is equal to mc squared”. What does it really mean? Yes, it does relate matter and energy. But how?

According to relativity (especially special relativity), as matter approaches the speed to that of light’s, it becomes heavier. So, at exactly the speed of light, we require infinite energy to keep that matter in motion. It is impossible to achieve light speed, for now. What can also be derived by this is that by adding energy to matter, its mass increases.

Applying this to the present-day atomic model, the atomic realm consists of sub-atomic particles which obey the special relativity concept. The assumed matter has so much energy in it that it actually is a form of energy. This is the same energy that is released during nuclear fusion.

The atomic world is more like a magical world. Sub-protonic particles (quarks) are floating around in a void. They magically disappear and reappear in a different place without tracing a path. Don’t think that it’s just magic, there’s science in quantum realm too!

As for the electrons, they are not spherical objects rotating around the nucleus. They are theorised to be found somewhere near the nucleus, at all places at once! That is the weird thing about present-day model. If you know anything about the s, p, d and f orbitals in chemistry, then you should know that they aren’t just letters with numbers. They are the shape of the orbital. An orbital is a place of finding an electron with high probability. Thus, each orbital has a shape. For example, if an electron is said to be in an s orbital, it means that the probability of finding an electron around the nucleus is higher when searched in a spherical boundary. For a p orbital, the shape is a dumbbell with the nucleus in the centre. This shows that the exact location of an electron can’t be determined (all thanks to Mr. Heisenberg!). Also, electron is no more a ball with an orbit. It’s a cloud around a nucleus. Sorry to ruin your childhood.

So, an atom is not a matter, but more of an energy. It might disturb your thoughts of high-school education but it makes things so much easier for scientists and astronomers. The string theory can be explained using this concept of atom.

If you think the smallest world obeys quantum mechanics and kicks classical physics in its face, the larger world does the same too! All rules are broken near cosmic bodies of larger mass. The theory of classical and special relativity come into picture here, once again.

This leads to exciting questions… Is our universe an atom? Is every atom a different universe? Keep wondering!

-Sameer V Devipur