Researchers observe how energy of single electron is tuned by surrounding atoms

phys.org

39 points·wglb··5 comments

> One of the oddities of quantum physics is that particles, e.g., electrons, can often only take on quantized energy values—as if the ball was leaping between specific heights, like steps of a ladder, rather than flying continuously.

Less an oddity and more the defining feature that the field is named after.

I understand "oddity" here to mean that it is odd in relation to our intuitive everyday experiences, which feel rather continuous at human scales.

How could we know if this is because we can only measure these specific heights, not that they don't exist at other heights? And is there even a real difference between these two scenarios.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet_catastrophe

"The phrase refers to the fact that the empirically derived Rayleigh–Jeans law, which accurately predicted experimental results at large wavelengths, failed to do so for short wavelengths. (See the image for further elaboration.) As the theory diverged from empirical observations when these frequencies reached the ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum, there was a problem.[3] This problem was later found to be due to a property of quanta as proposed by Max Planck: There could be no fraction of a discrete energy package already carrying minimal energy."

That and phenomena like the Planck length. Call it "snap to grid" ?

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