The article is devoted to the analysis of the origins of the second quantum technological revolution associated with the transmission and processing of quantum information. The objective of the study is to describe how radical restructuring of the foundations of quantum physics in the first quarter of the XX century led to the creation of technological innovations in the early XXI century. The first part of the paper clarifies the notions of scientific innovations and revolutionary transformations in science, and characterizes the main differences between quantum mechanics and classical physics. The second part argues that the second quantum revolution was prepared in the process of experimental verification of different views on the reality of the objects of quantum theory and the ways of their cognition.
The article is devoted to the analysis of the origins of the second quantum technological revolution associated with the transmission and processing of quantum information. The objective of the study is to describe how radical restructuring of the foundations of quantum physics in the first quarter of the XX century led to the creation of technological innovations in the early XXI century. The first part of the paper clarifies the notions of scientific innovations and revolutionary transformations in science, and characterizes the main differences between quantum mechanics and classical physics. The second part argues that the second quantum revolution was prepared in the process of experimental verification of different views on the reality of the objects of quantum theory and the ways of their cognition.
The centenary of quantum mechanics brings into focus the question of the accuracy of established terminology for describing the radical transformations that occurred. Critical analysis reveals that the term “quantum revolution” fosters a simplified perception of a single, pivotal turn in physics during the 1920s and 1930s and provides a superficial account of the actual changes over the past 100 years. This article critically re-examines the established term “quantum revolution” from the perspective of its conceptual limitations in describing the real changes of the last century. Arguments are presented for its partial replacement with the more flexible concept of “revolutionary transformations in quantum theory and its interpretations”, which emphasises the processual and multifaceted nature of these changes. The methodological foundation of this research is the distinction between two types of interpretations of quantum theory: “pragmatic” interpretations, which focus on connecting the formalism with experiment, and “explanatory” interpretations, which aim to form conceptions of quantum reality. The application of the concept of a quantum revolution is justified for the pragmatic interpretation, which was formed in 1925–1927 and later became established as the orthodox view, but not for interpretations of the explanatory type. Three initial strategies for preserving classical language in the description of quantum phenomena are identified: classical realism, quantum dualism, and instrumentalism. The analysis addresses persistent historiographical myths surrounding the Copenhagen interpretation – namely, that it is inherent in the postulates of quantum theory, and that it is inherently instrumentalist and subjectivist. A distinction is shown between the orthodox (pragmatic) and the Copenhagen (explanatory) interpretations. Particular attention is paid to the realistic turn in explanatory interpretations (1952–1958), largely associated with the later works of Heisenberg. It is concluded that the development of quantum theory is characterised not by a single revolution, but by a series of transformations of varying revolutionary intensity, many of which occurred in parallel and are still far from complete.
Quantum physics, emerging from the intellectual crisis of classical mechanics at the dawn of the twentieth century, has over the course of twelve decades established itself as the most foundationally disruptive, experimentally verified, and technologically generative scientific framework in the history of human inquiry. This article presents a synthetic, balanced account of quantum physics across three temporal dimensions — its historical origins and theoretical maturation, its present theoretical frontiers and technological applications, and its future prospects across computing, communication, sensing, and the search for a unified theory of physical reality. Drawing upon foundational primary literature, historiographical scholarship, experimental physics, and contemporary quantum technology research, the article traces the discipline's evolution from Planck's quantum hypothesis of 1900 through the quantum mechanical revolution of the 1920s, the development of quantum field theory and the Standard Model, and the emergence of a second quantum revolution deliberately harnessing entanglement and superposition as technological resources. The analysis identifies three domains of outstanding significance for quantum physics in the present century: the unresolved interpretational and foundational questions surrounding the measurement problem and the nature of quantum reality; the technological race toward fault-tolerant quantum computing and global quantum communication networks; and the deep theoretical challenge of reconciling quantum mechanics with general relativity in a unified framework capable of describing physical reality at all scales. The article concludes that quantum physics remains an unfinished revolution whose most consequential theoretical discoveries and technological applications may lie not behind but ahead of us, and that understanding its past, present, and future is essential for any serious engagement with the scientific and technological landscape of the twenty-first century.
As one of three revolutions of physics in 20th century,quantum mechanics has greatly transformed the world view of classical science in many aspects.Quantum mechanics breaks though the mechanical determinism in classical science,transforming it into non-mechanical determinism;it changes scientific cognitive process from the theory of reductionism to the theory of wholism;it shifts the way of thinking from pursuing simplicity to exploring the complexity;it also establishes the interaction between subject and object in scientific researches.
The quantum revolution in physics of the 20th century has completely transformed the nature not only of physics and science in general, but also of philosophy and our worldview. Quantum revolution began in the early 19th century with the discovery of ‘quantum’ (plural ‘quanta’) principally by Max Planck, and with theories and discoveries in the field of relativity, linked inseparably with the name of Albert Einstein. Max Planck came across the quanta when he was studying what is known as the ‘blackbody radiation’. In classical physics in particular and the classical world in general, there was no serious problems with objects, objectivity and ontology. In classical physics, particles and fields have an existence independent of the observer. In broader view, everything, the world, exists independent of the observer and of the consciousness. The first quantum-mechanical theories on electron in mid-1920s did not take into account the effect of velocity of light, and were therefore non-relativistic.
The last century has been a period of extreme interest for scientific research, marked by the overcoming of the classical frontiers of scientific knowledge.Research oriented towards the infinitely small and infinitely big, in both cases beyondthe borders of the visible. Quantum physics has led to a new Copernican revolution,opening the way to new questions that have led to a new view of reality. At the sametime, new theories have developed, involving every field of science, philosophy and art, rediscovering the link between unity and totality and the importance of humanpotential. In a transdisciplinary approach we consider quantum field theory, new ideason the concepts of vacuum and entanglement, metaphysical aspects of quantum revolution and the introduction of different interpretative approaches on the “Whole”.
Quantum mechanics, which emerged in the 20th century, has achieved remarkable feats, giving rise to the first quantum revolution. Toward the end of the 20th century, the emergence of quantum information theory sparked the second quantum revolution. Unlike the first one, the second quantum revolution directly focuses on the development of quantum artifacts that are governed by the laws of quantum mechanics. This book delves deeply into the core concepts of the two quantum revolutions, including quantum reality, quantum information, quantum entanglement, quantum world, quantum computing, and quantum matter. By analyzing quantum mechanics from the perspectives of phenomenology, hermeneutics, and the trans-empirical concept, it expands the frontiers of understanding. This approach contributes to the formation of a trans-empirical reality and a trans-empirical cognition model.