News

Rewriting quantum mechanics in their spare time

A pair of civil servants solve a quantum mechanics problem that had bothered them since they were students
The study took Jussi Lindgren, left, and Jukka Liukkonen, right, back to year 1941 when Stueckelberg’s wave equation was invented. The equation is the foundation for parameterized relativistic dynamics.
The study took Jussi Lindgren, left, and Jukka Liukkonen, right, back to year 1941 when Stueckelberg’s wave equation was invented. The equation is the foundation for parameterized relativistic dynamics.

As students, Jussi Lindgren and Jukka Liukkonen had found one element of their quantum mechanics lectures unsatisfying. “When we were taught physics, there were some fundamental elements you were told were true, and you had to accept they were true without it being shown why,” said Jussi Lindgren, “and I didn’t really like this”.

Working as a hobby alongside their jobs in the Finnish government, and Lindgren’s PhD work in systems analysis at Aalto, the researchers devised a new method for expressing the laws of quantum mechanics using stochastic methods, a type of mathematics that deals with random chance and probability.

The paper, published 27 December in Scientific Reports explores how stochastic methods can be used to derive a variety of equations in quantum mechanics from first principles, as opposed to having to build from ad hoc prior postulates. “The method will be useful for teachers or learners because it gives a better understanding of the reason why something is correct,” said Jukka Liukkonen.

You can read the full paper at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56357-3

  • Updated:
  • Published:
Share
URL copied!

Read more news

Four people in a meeting room watch a large screen showing charts and photos, with laptops on a long table.
Research & Art Published:

Bachelor's Students Successfully Complete Research Internship

Three bachelor's students have successfully completed their research internships.
Scientist in white coat and gloves examining wooden samples at a lab bench with shelves and equipment
Research & Art Published:

From Materials to Smart Textiles: Benjamin Begins a New Chapter at Aalto

Ping-Chun Chen is a researcher from National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan.
A group of people cheering with branded black cups. 4 people sitting, 2 on each side, and one in the middle standing up. 3 men and two women
Campus, Research & Art, University Published:

The idea of three researchers generated a deep tech company

Sim Analytics Oy relies on strong research expertise. Its story began when three researcher colleagues working in different laboratories at LUT University began to consider how to provide and analyse data in a way that would support industrial companies in making business decisions.
Glowing neon sphere with geometric core and light trails floating above a tablet in the dark
Press releases, Research & Art Published:

World’s first superconducting quantum heat engine opens the path to larger quantum computers

A newly-developed superconducting quantum heat engine not only advances our understanding of thermodynamics but also enables technologies needed for high-qubit quantum computers.