Quantum Mechanics in a Shoebox: XR for High School Physics That Defies Scale

Education and understanding are spheres of society that can only be enhanced by XR. Using 3D models and virtual worlds is an ideal way to impart understanding on a huge number of subjects. Learning about historical periods can be enhanced by using virtual 3D worlds to actually show how people actually lived and what their lives were like. However, when it comes to subjects in highly technical fields such as physics, using XR has started to become an essential tool for visualising the world of the sub-atomic.

Almost every other level of visualisation, be it historical, engineering, social, fantastical, or physical, can be readily appreciated, because it is just a simulation of what we know anyway. We already know what an Olympic stadium looks like, and XR can help us virtually participate in virtual sports in iconic stadiums. 

We have a good idea of what to expect from the application of engineering principles from bending moments to design constraints, and drama classes can only be enhanced with an immersive environment. But when it comes to physics and chemistry and the need to understand concepts that we have no way of visualising in the real world, XR can also help introduce us to the world of the very small in a way that no other technology can.

With XR now being readily available, it is becoming a huge feature of not only education but also research and development, and that makes it a powerful tool.

Not Seeing the Light

We cannot directly visualise atoms using normal light microscopes. Atoms are undetectable to the naked eye and optical microscopes due to their extremely small size, which ranges from 30-300 nanometres, or around 10-12 metres in diameter. To be visible, an object’s size must be at least half the wavelength of the light employed to illuminate it. However, the wavelength of visible light, while short, is far larger than an atom, rendering them invisible because the atoms slip between the waves (or particles?  More on that later) illumination. The problem becomes even greater when dealing with even smaller quantum particles.

A quantum is defined as the smallest discrete unit of a phenomenon. For example, a photon is a quantum of light, while an electron is a quantum of electricity. The term “quantum” derives from Latin and means “an amount”. An electron – the negative charge of the atom – is around 2×10-15 metres, or a thousand times smaller than the actual atom itself. There simply is not the technology to be able to view these and it is unlikely that there will ever be.  

However, while we can’t see them, we have a pretty good idea of how an atom works and its constituent parts from detailed experimentation and a bit of interpretation of the results of those experiments. What we know, and what we surmise allows us to construct highly-detailed models of both atoms and the sub-atomic structures, and XR is now giving us the power to view them in three dimensions.

Differing Views

Hollywood has already given us their interpretation of what the quantum world looks like and works with films such as Antman, but scholars are shying away from that view as being completely unrealistic. Today’s physicists are keen to structurally develop models that help them understand the nature of particles along with the intricate interactions that they experience. By creating models that engineers and physicists can walk through via XR, it is hoped that what we currently understand as theory, may just start to yield more precise information in a model. Take, for example, the duality of light.

Not One but Both

The duality of light is a notion that has puzzled theoretical researchers since Thomas Young carried out the first Double Slit experiment in 1801. Young’s experiment demonstrated the wave-particle duality of matter and energy, revealing that particles like electrons can behave as waves and also exhibit interference patterns, a phenomenon associated with something moving as a wave. In this experiment, when particles are fired at a black screen with two slits, they create an interference pattern on a screen behind the slits, as if each particle passed through both slits simultaneously, even when sent one at a time.

This test has been carried many thousands of times, and always with the same results. The results plainly infer that the quantum light particle is also a wave. Puzzling stuff and one that continues to puzzle since we cannot actually see what is happening.  But suppose we could construct virtual models that behave in the same way? Imagine setting up a double slit experiment where the photons – the basic element of light – were the size of footballs rather than the (approximately) 0.5 x 10-15 m that they actually are. If the XR software was designed to follow all applicable physical laws, then it should be possible to actually observe what was happening rather than just interpreting it.

And what about the high-speed collisions that the CERN establishment spends so much time mulling over? Supposing that we could apply the same conditions there and – suitably slowed of course – gain a much better understanding of the myriad interactions happening at the point of impact, together with the resulting sub-atomic products. 

Chemistry and the interactions between different atoms in a chemical way is another area where XR simulations could give us a far greater insight into what is happening, rather than just seeing the products of a reaction. In fact, any technical subject where atoms or quantum factors come into play could benefit from accurate models and simulations.

As Good as It Gets

The next generation of scientists and researchers are already going through high school, and receiving an education on the elements that we cannot see. By employing XR, we can give them a much better understanding of fundamental particles with engaging models, and that will give them a solid start in complex subjects.

It is unlikely that we will ever be able to directly observe the quantum world, but we have a great deal of inferred and interpreted information that has been backed up by experimental data. All of that gives us solid foundations on which to build reliable and representative software models of the atomic and sub-atomic world, and with such simulations being controlled by the laws of physics, we can be assured that they will perform in an authentic way. XR potentially gives us the next best thing; high-definition 3D simulations that we can walk through and investigate in detail.  

Of course, the simulations can only be as good as the software – such as Unity – used to develop them, the hardware that is used to view them, and the skills of the development engineers, who need to understand the laws of physics just as much as they do the intricacies of the software being used. Unity Developers are a team of expert software engineers and graphic artists with the background and capabilities to develop accurate XR models. Why not contact us and see how we can help you with your technical projects.