98 Quantum Physics Trivia Questions with Answers
98 public questions with answers, drawn from the well. How many can you answer?
In quantum information theory, which theorem says an unknown quantum state cannot be copied perfectly?
Answer
No-cloning theorem
Which phenomenon produces discrete energy levels for an electron confined to a small region?
Answer
Quantum confinement
What is the name of the quantum phenomenon in which repeated measurements inhibit a system’s evolution?
Answer
Quantum Zeno effect
Which physicist proposed the first quantum theory of the atom in 1913?
Answer
Niels Bohr
Which physicist introduced the term “quantum entanglement” in a 1935 paper?
Answer
Erwin Schrödinger
What effect quantizes the Hall conductance into integer multiples of e²/h?
Answer
Integer quantum Hall effect
What name is given to the quantum rule that identical bosons can occupy one shared state?
Answer
Bose–Einstein statistics
Which physicist explained the photoelectric effect using light quanta in 1905?
Answer
Albert Einstein
Which 1935 thought experiment introduced the famous cat used to discuss quantum superposition?
Answer
Schrödinger’s cat
Which experiment showed in 1914 that atoms absorb energy in discrete amounts?
Answer
Franck–Hertz experiment
Which physicist proposed a quantum computer simulation of physics in a 1982 paper?
Answer
Richard Feynman
In quantum mechanics, what quantum number specifies an electron orbital’s angular-momentum type?
Answer
Azimuthal quantum number
Which experiment, published in 1927, first clearly demonstrated electron diffraction from a crystal?
Answer
Davisson–Germer experiment
In quantum physics, which statistics describe particles that can share the same quantum state?
Answer
Bose–Einstein statistics
In quantum physics, what is the name of the two-slit experiment that reveals particle interference?
Answer
Double-slit experiment
In quantum physics, what name is given to the rule that two particles can behave as one linked system?
Answer
Quantum entanglement
In quantum physics, what experiment split silver atoms into separate beams according to spin?
Answer
Stern–Gerlach experiment
In quantum physics, which equation describes how a nonrelativistic quantum state changes with time?
Answer
Schrödinger equation
In quantum physics, what principle states that position and momentum cannot both be known exactly?
Answer
Heisenberg uncertainty principle
In quantum physics, which 1925 formulation represented observables as mathematical matrices?
Answer
Matrix mechanics
In quantum physics, what term describes a measurement that changes a system from several possible states to one outcome?
Answer
Wave function collapse
In quantum physics, which interpretation is associated especially with Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg?
Answer
Copenhagen interpretation
In quantum physics, what principle says identical fermions cannot share the same quantum state?
Answer
Pauli exclusion principle
In quantum physics, what state of matter forms when bosons occupy one ground state at ultralow temperature?
Answer
Bose–Einstein condensate
In quantum physics, who first proposed wave–particle duality for matter?
Answer
Louis de Broglie
In quantum physics, what phenomenon lets a particle cross a classically forbidden energy barrier?
Answer
Quantum tunneling
In quantum physics, what constant relates a photon's energy to its frequency?
Answer
Planck constant