KVANTEFYSIKKEN
Quantum technology defies reason
COMMUNICATION It is a quite an ordinary
morning. The Hoff family is seated around the
breakfast table. Suddenly, six-year Bertram
moves his chair closer to Ulrich’s, gives him a
serious look and says: “Dad, we need to have
a chat about this quantum physics business.”
Other busy parents might be tempted to say
‘later’, but Ulrich is not the kind of person to
miss such a golden opportunity—and there,
on the spot, he decides to give his son a story
about quantum physics. Ulrich explains that
he will also be giving a lecture on quantum
technology that same evening—to which Bertram
dryly remarks: “quantum technology is a
very long word”.
And he is right: the word refers to certain
phenomena we do not come across in everyday
life, which is what Ulrich finds so fascinating.
He does not claim to completely understand
the nature of quantum physics. Precisely
for this reason he finds it so rewarding to respond
to his son’s questions and in general to
communicate the subject to other people.
“It forces you to think about everything else
you tend to take for granted. We’re really good
at describing quantum phenomena in terms
of mathematics and conducting experiments
that show that our theories hold water. Things
can be in superposition—i.e. in several modes
at once and ‘entangled’ even though they are
located in two different locations. We can’t see
it, but we know it must be true. It’s incredibly
FORMIDLING I kvantefysikkens
verden
kan ting være to steder på en gang.
Postdoc Ulrich Busk Hoff vier en stor
del af sin tid til at fortælle om det
fascinerende fænomen.
FOTO JOACHIM RODE
18 | CAMPUSLIV / CAMPUS LIFE | NR. 9·2017