Difference between classical physics and

modern physics;
Classical physics refers to theories of physics that predate modern, more
complete, or more widely applicable theories. If a currently accepted theory
is considered to be "modern," and its introduction represented a major
paradigm shift, then previous theories (or new theories based on the older
paradigm) will often be referred to as "classical".

As such, the definition of a classical theory depends on context. Classical

physical concepts are often used when modern theories are unnecessarily
complex for a particular situation.

Classical theory has at least two distinct meanings in physics. In the context
of quantum mechanics, classical theory refers to theories of physics that do
not use the quantization paradigm, particularly classical mechanics,
including relativity. Likewise, classical field theories, such as general
relativity and classical electromagnetism, are those that do not incorporate
any quantum mechanics. In the context of general and special relativity,
classical theories are those that obey Galilean relativity.

Among the branches of theory included in classical physics are:

Classical mechanics

Newton's laws of motion

Classical Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms

Classical electrodynamics (Maxwell's Equations)

Classical thermodynamics

Special relativity and general relativity

Classical chaos theory and nonlinear dynamics

Comparison with modern physics

In contrast to classical physics, "modern physics" is a slightly looser term

which may refer to just quantum physics or to 20th and 21st century
physics in general. Modern physics includes quantum theory and relativity,
when applicable.

A physical system can be considered in the classical limit when they satisfy
conditions such that the laws of classical physics are approximately valid. In
practice, physical objects larger than atoms and molecules can be well-
understood with classical mechanics, including the objects in the
macroscopic and astronomical realm. Beginning at the atomic level, the laws
of classical physics break down and generally do not provide a correct
description of nature. Electromagnetic fields and forces can be described well
by classical electrodynamics at length scales and field strengths large
enough that quantum mechanical effects are negligible. Unlike quantum
physics, classical physics is generally characterized by the principle of
complete determinism, although deterministic interpretations of quantum
mechanics do exist.

From the point of view of classical physics as non-relativistic physics, the

predictions of general and special relativity are significantly different than
those of classical theories, particularly concerning the passage of time, the
geometry of space, the motion of bodies in free fall, and the propagation of
light. Traditionally, light was reconciled with classical mechanics by assuming
the existence of a stationary medium through which light propagated,
the luminiferous aether, which was later shown not to exist.

Mathematically, classical physics equations are ones in which Planck's

constant does not appear. According to the correspondence
principle and Ehrenfest's theorem, as a system becomes larger or more
massive the classical dynamics tends to emerge, with some exceptions, such
as super fluidity. This is why we can usually ignore quantum mechanics when
dealing with everyday objects; instead the classical description will suffice.
However, one of the most vigorous on-going fields of research in physics
is classical-quantum correspondence. This field of research is concerned with
the discovery of how the laws of quantum physics give rise to classical
physics in the limit of the large scales of the classical level.
 Quantum Mechanics

Quantum mechanics (QM; also known as quantum physics, orquantum

theory) is a fundamental branch of physics which deals with physical
phenomena at nanoscopic scales where the action is on the order of
the Planck constant. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at
the quantum realm of atomic and subatomic length scales. Quantum
mechanics provides a mathematical description of much of the dualparticle-
like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. Quantum
mechanics provides a substantially useful framework for many features of
the modern periodic table of elements including the behavior of atoms
during chemical bonding and has played a significant role in the
development of many modern technologies.
In advanced topics of quantum mechanics, some of these behaviors
aremacroscopic (see macroscopic quantum phenomena) and emerge at only
extreme (i.e., very low or very high) energies or temperatures (such as in the
use of superconducting magnets). In the context of quantum mechanics,
the waveparticle duality of energy and matter and theuncertainty
principle provide a unified view of the behavior of photons, electrons, and
other atomic-scale objects.
The mathematical formulations of quantum mechanics are abstract. A
mathematical function, the wave function, provides information about
the probability amplitude of position, momentum, and other physical
properties of a particle. Mathematical manipulations of the wavefunction
usually involve braket notation which requires an understanding of complex
numbers and linear functionals. The wavefunction formulation treats the
particle as aquantum harmonic oscillator, and the mathematics is akin to
that describing acoustic resonance. Many of the results of quantum
mechanics are not easily visualized in terms of classical mechanics. For
instance, in a quantum mechanical model the lowest energy state of a
system, the ground state, is non-zero as opposed to a more "traditional"
ground state with zero kinetic energy (all particles at rest). Instead of a
traditional static, unchanging zero energy state, quantum mechanics allows
for far more dynamic, chaotic possibilities, according toJohn Wheeler.
The earliest versions of quantum mechanics were formulated in the first
decade of the 20th century. About this time, the atomic theory and
the corpuscular theory of light (as updated by Einstein) first came to be
widely accepted as scientific fact; these latter theories can be viewed as
quantum theories of matter and electromagnetic radiation,
respectively. Early quantum theory was significantly reformulated in the mid-
1920s by Werner Heisenberg, Max Born and Pascual Jordan, (matrix
mechanics); Louis de Broglie and Erwin Schrdinger (wave mechanics);
and Wolfgang Pauli and Satyendra Nath Bose (statistics of subatomic
particles). Moreover, theCopenhagen interpretation of Niels Bohr became
widely accepted. By 1930, quantum mechanics had been further unified and
formalized by the work of David Hilbert, Paul Dirac and John von Neumann
with a greater emphasis placed on measurement in quantum mechanics, the
statistical nature of our knowledge of reality, andphilosophical speculation
about the role of the observer. Quantum mechanics has since permeated
throughout many aspects of 20th-century physics and other disciplines
including quantum chemistry, quantum electronics,quantum optics,
and quantum information science. Much 19th-century physics has been re-
evaluated as the "classical limit" of quantum mechanics and its more
advanced developments in terms of quantum field theory,string theory, and
speculative quantum gravity theories.
The name quantum mechanics derives from the observation that some
physical quantities can change only indiscrete amounts (Latin quanta), and
not in a continuous (cf. analog) way.
The Founders of Quantum Mechanics;
Among the first to study quantum phenomena in nature were Arthur
Compton, C.V. Raman, Pieter Zeeman, each of whom has a quantum effect
named after him. Robert A. Millikan studied the Photoelectric
effect experimentally and Albert Einstein developed a theory for it. At the
same time Niels Bohr developed his theory of the atomic structure which was
later confirmed by the experiments of Henry Moseley. In 1913, Peter
Debye extended Niels Bohr's theory of atomic structure, introducing elliptical
orbits, a concept also introduced by Arnold Sommerfeld. This phase is known
as Old quantum theory.
According to Planck, each energy element, E, is proportional to
its frequency, :

Max Planck is considered the father of the Quantum Theory

where h is Planck's constant. Planck (cautiously) insisted that this was

simply an aspect of the processes of absorption and emission of radiation
and had nothing to do with the physical reality of the radiation itself. In
fact, he considered his quantum hypothesis a mathematical trick to get
the right answer rather than a sizable discovery. However, in 1905 Albert
Einstein interpreted Planck's quantum hypothesis realistically and used it
to explain the photoelectric effect in which shining light on certain
materials can eject electrons from the material.
The foundations of quantum mechanics were established during the first
half of the 20th century by Max Planck, Niels Bohr, Werner
Heisenberg, Louis de Broglie,Arthur Compton, Albert Einstein,Erwin
Schrdinger, Max Born,John von Neumann, Paul Dirac,Enrico
Fermi, Wolfgang Pauli, Max von Laue, Freeman Dyson,David
Hilbert, Wilhelm Wien, Satyendra Nath Bose, Arnold
Sommerfeld and others. In the mid-1920s, developments in quantum
mechanics led to its becoming the standard formulation for atomic
physics. In the summer of 1925, Bohr and Heisenberg published results
that closed the "Old Quantum Theory". Out of deference to their particle-
like behavior in certain processes and measurements, light quanta came
to be called photons (1926). From Einstein's simple postulation was born a
flurry of debating, theorizing, and testing. Thus the entire field
of quantum physics emerged, leading to its wider acceptance at the
Fifth Solvay Conference in 1927.
The other exemplar that led to quantum mechanics was the study
of electromagnetic waves, such as visible and ultraviolet light. When it
was found in 1900 by Max Planck that the energy of waves could be
described as consisting of small packets or "quanta", Albert Einstein
further developed this idea to show that an electromagnetic wave such as
light could also be described as a particle (later called the photon) with a
discrete quantum of energy that was dependent on its frequency. Einstein
was able to use the photon theory of light to explain the photoelectric
effect for which he won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics. This led to
a theory of unitybetween subatomic particles and electromagnetic waves
in which particles and waves are neither simply particle nor wave but
have certain properties of each. This originated the concept of wave
particle duality.
While quantum mechanics traditionally described the world of the very
small, it is also needed to explain certain recently
investigated macroscopic systems such as superconductors, super fluids,
and large organic molecules.
The word quantum derives from the Latin, meaning "how great" or "how
much". In quantum mechanics, it refers to a discrete unit that quantum
theory assigns to certain physical quantities, such as the energy of
an atomat rest (see Figure 1). The discovery that particles are discrete
packets of energy with wave-like properties led to the branch of physics
dealing with atomic and sub-atomic systems which is today called
quantum mechanics. It underlies the mathematical framework of many
fields of physics and chemistry, including condensed matter
physics, solid-state physics, atomic physics, molecular
physics, computational physics, computational chemistry,quantum
chemistry, particle physics, nuclear chemistry, and nuclear physics. Some
fundamental aspects of the theory are still actively studied.

Quantum mechanics is essential to understanding the behavior of

systems at atomic length scales and smaller. If the physical nature of an
atom was solely described by classical mechanics electrons would not
"orbit" the nucleus since orbiting electrons emit radiation (due to circular
motion) and would eventually collide with the nucleus due to this loss of
energy. This framework was unable to explain the stability of atoms.
Instead, electrons remain in an uncertain, non-deterministic,
"smeared", probabilistic, waveparticle orbital about the nucleus, defying
the traditional assumptions of classical mechanics and electromagnetism.
Quantum mechanics was initially developed to provide a better
explanation and description of the atom, especially the differences in
the spectra of light emitted by different isotopes of the same element, as
well as subatomic particles. In short, the quantum-mechanical atomic
model has succeeded spectacularly in the realm where classical
mechanics and electromagnetism falter.
Broadly speaking, quantum mechanics incorporates four classes of
phenomena for which classical physics cannot account:

quantization of certain physical properties

waveparticle duality
 principle of uncertainty

quantum entanglement.