=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= EDline Vol. 8, no. 52 (19 May 2003) Editorial mailing list (digest version) Published by the Electric Editors =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Contents: Q & A [2ya] Understanding quantum shifts [Offshoot of [6] Just for Fun] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ---[2]-- Q & A -------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 12 May 2003 From: Biddy Greene, fbgreene@mweb.co.za Iwan Thomas quoted > "As organizations globalize their operations, there appears > to be an imperceptible shift in focus from internal tangible > resources to ..." This reminds me of the phrase "quantum shift" which is usually used as meaning a very big change. But a quantum is the SMALLEST possible unit of stuff! ----------------------- Date: Tues, 13 May 2003 From: Sarah Margetts, sarahmargetts@ntlworld.com Oh dear. Now I'm completely stuck. I thought a quantum shift was when you couldn't identify a reason why one situation had turned into another. But then I haven't done science for years. Can anyone help me on what it does mean? But, please, no-one tell me to sign up to an e-mail group about science... ----------------------- Date: Tues, 13 May 2003 From: Iwan Thomas, iwan@iwanthomas.plus.com Just as an atom is the smallest quantity of chemical element that can exist, a quantum is the smallest portion of electromagnetic radiation (light, radio waves, x-rays etc) that can exist. A quantum change is therefore the smallest change that can occur. ----------------------- Date: Tues, 13 May 2003 From: David Ibbetson, isserlis@rogers.com Energy isn't continuous. It comes in multiples of tiny packets called "quanta". A quantum shift is a phrase used by physicists to mean a change of one quantum. An example is when an atom absorbs a quantum of energy and one of the electrons surrounding its nucleus moves to a more energetic orbit. Similarly when an atom emits a quantum of energy and an electron "falls back" to a less energetic orbit. ----------------------- Date: Tues, 13 May 2003 From: Douglas Meekison, dmeekison@aspects.net Sarah Margetts wrote: > I thought a quantum shift was when you couldn't identify a > reason why one situation had turned into another. But then I > haven't done science for years. Can anyone help me on what it > does mean? As a physicist, I feel I must chip in here. I have never seen the term 'quantum shift' used in serious scientific work. I think 'quantum shift', like 'quantum jump' and 'quantum leap', is a variant of the accepted term 'quantum transition', which means a transition of a system between two quantum states. An example would be when an atom makes a transition from one state to another state of lower energy and the difference in energy (very small by everyday standards) is emitted as a photon of light. In a quantum transition, the system goes directly from one state to another, rather than passing through a sequence of intermediate states, so it could be interpreted as a sudden, qualitative change (although it is arguable that such an interpretation is not quite accurate). Non-scientists who use 'quantum shift', etc. probably have something like the latter meaning in mind. 'Step change' and even 'seismic shift' seem to have acquired a similar meaning. Unfortunately, it seems rather common nowadays for people to use scientific terms that they do not understand - for instance, have others noticed the increasing misuse of 'exponential'? ---------------------- Date: Wed, 14 May 2003 From: Judy Stein, jstein@panix.com In the U.S. TV show "Quantum Leap" of several years ago, the "leap" was backward in time (so the hero could "make right what had once gone wrong"). The "leap" into a new time period always occurred without warning, except it was always shortly after the "problem" in the previous time period had been solved. (Not only that, the hero "leaped" into another person's body each time.) Great show in its first couple of seasons. Not exactly scientific, though... > 'Step change' and even 'seismic shift' seem to have acquired a > similar meaning. And the much older "sea change": Full fathom five thy father lies, Of his bones are coral made, Those are pearls that were his eyes; Nothing of him that doth fade But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange. This emphasizes the qualitative nature of the change rather than the lack of intermediate stages, but it has the same flavor. I'm guessing Shakespeare didn't coin the phrase, but what did it originally refer to? > Unfortunately, it seems rather common nowadays for people to > use scientific terms that they do not understand - for > instance, have others noticed the increasing misuse of > 'exponential'? That last is unfortunate, but often scientific terms are used as such expressive metaphors for some aspect of human experience that it doesn't really matter what the original referred to ("quantum leap" in the sense you cited being one), as long as folks don't try to extrapolate back to its scientific usage. I'm trying to think of other examples, and of course I'm coming up empty... ---------------------- Date: Wed, 14 May 2003 From: Christine Shuttleworth, cshuttle@dircon.co.uk Judy Stein quoted: > Full fathom five thy father lies, > Of his bones are coral made, > Those are pearls that were his eyes; > Nothing of him that doth fade > But doth suffer a sea-change > Into something rich and strange. > > ... > I'm guessing Shakespeare didn't coin the phrase, but what did > it originally refer to? I think Shakespeare did invent it, and was using it quite literally to refer to changes wrought by the sea. Am I the only person to dislike the use of this phrase to mean a major change of any kind? ---------------------- Date: Wed, 14 May 2003 From: Ian Kingston, i.kingston@ntlworld.com David Ibbetson wrote: > A quantum shift is a phrase used by physicists to mean a change > of one quantum. An example is when an atom absorbs a quantum of > energy and one of the electrons surrounding its nucleus moves > to a more energetic orbit. Similarly when an atom emits a > quantum of energy and an electron "falls back" to a less > energetic orbit. And just to clarify a little further: the electrons cannot have arbitrary orbits. For a given atom only certain orbits are possible, so the quanta are also fixed. ---------------------- Date: Wed, 14 May 2003 From: Anna McCormack, mccormack@goulburn.net.au That is the meaning I attribute to 'quantum shift' when I see it in non-scientific use---from this state, to that state, with no fudge in the middle (and probably no going back). You mean, 'exponential' used like its mates 'astronomical' and 'mega'? The misuse I don't like is 'decimate'. It used to mean reduce *by* a tenth (as in Romans executing a tenth of the squad as punishment). Now as an 'in' word it seems to mean reduce *to* a tenth or some other small proportion (by disease, natural disaster, massacre, etc.). ---------------------- Date: Wed, 14 May 2003 From: Nancy Boston, boston.editorial@ntlworld.com Judy Stein writes: > That last is unfortunate, but often scientific terms are used > as such expressive metaphors for some aspect of human > experience that it doesn't really matter what the original > referred to ("quantum leap" in the sense you cited being one), > as long as folks don't try to extrapolate back to its > scientific usage. An example I often see is "steep learning curve" to mean that something is difficult to learn because a lot of information has to be assimilated in a short space of time and/or a lot of effort is needed to get from one "step" of understanding to the next. In fact, in psychology, if something has a "steep learning curve" (i.e. the graph of the amount of time it took to assimilate a certain amount of information has a steep curve), it was easy to learn, because the information was assimilated very quickly. If something was difficult to learn, it would have had a shallow learning curve. I've given up trying to correct people on this though, because I understand the image they have (of a steep staircase compared with a gentle slope) and because they've got half the idea right - it's just that they feel the steep learning curve is being forced upon them, when a gentle slope would come more naturally. ---------------------- Date: Wed, 14 May 2003 From: Judy Stein, jstein@panix.com Nancy Boston wrote: > An example I often see is "steep learning curve" There you go; that's a great example. I didn't know that was what "steep learning curve" really meant! > I've given up trying to correct people on this though, because > I understand the image they have ... it's just that they feel > the steep learning curve is being forced upon them, when a > gentle slope would come more naturally. Yes, it's so evocative in this sense, even though it's the reverse of its technical meaning, that I suspect we're stuck with it; psych students are just going to have to unlearn the popular meaning for their work. ---------------------- Date: Wed, 14 May 2003 From: Chetan Desai, desaic@hotmail.com Judy Stein wrote: > I'm trying to think of other examples, and of course I'm coming > up empty... How about "the atmosphere was electric"? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= END OF EDline 8.52 E-mail address for posting messages or replies: edline@electriceditors.net Admin page: < http://www.electriceditors.net/edline/admin.htm > ** The views expressed in this mailing list are strictly those of the individual contributors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the moderators or of the Electric Editors. ** Articles (c) 2002--2003, by individual contributors Design (c) 1996--2003 Iain Brown Compilation (c) 2003 Iain Brown / The Electric Editors =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=