The Quantum Universe is a universe whose main objects of study are the elements found at the microscopic level such as atoms, electrons and molecules.
If we understand this, we can decipher that they are examples of structures that inhabit the subatomic world, and in turn, they mean a universe of energy. And that’s why everything we know about the Universe goes back, somehow
Given that the atom is the structural unit that justifies the chemistry of any system, knowing the structure of the atom becomes essential in order to analyze both the structures and the countless chemical reactions that constitute living systems.
Quantum universe, a small world life
To understand the quantum universe is to know that an atom is still the smallest unit of matter we know and that it still retains the unique characteristics and properties that apply to the macroscopic world, including the physical and chemical properties of matter. And yet, an atom is a fundamentally quantum entity, with its own energy levels, properties, and conservation laws.
Better said, it is the study of nature, materials, everything that makes up our Universe on the smallest scale that we can identify, which is the atomic molecular scale, this is because on Earth everything is formed naturally thanks to that molecule, because to exist it needs:
- hardness,
- color,
- melting and boiling points,
- density (how much mass occupied a given volume),
- conductivity (how easily your electrons transport when a voltage is applied),
- electronegativity (the strength with which your atomic nucleus holds electrons when bonded to other atoms),
- ionization energy (how much energy is required to eject an electron) and,
- the number of protons in the nucleus.
This could be translated into the fact that everything that is formed, seen or felt is an atom, given the diversity that exists and the quantum rules that govern electrons (identical particles) mean that everything under the Sun is atoms.
Without giving too much thought…why is the quantum universe the atom?
Each atom, with a unique number of protons in its nucleus, will form a unique set of bonds with other atoms, allowing a virtually unlimited set of possibilities for the types of molecules, ions, salts and larger structures it can form. Primarily through electromagnetic interaction, the subatomic particles that make up atoms will exert forces on each other, leading, given enough time, to the macroscopic structures we observe not only on Earth, but throughout the Universe.
Hence, it is said that the universe is created by a quantum universe, that is, of atoms. Especially because when an atom approaches another atom (or group of atoms), those different atoms can interact. At the quantum level, the wave functions of those multiple atoms can overlap, allowing atoms to join together to form molecules, ions, and salts.
The same rule that creates life
The deeper we delve into the basic components of matter, the better we understand the very nature of the Universe. From how these various quanta come together to form the Universe we observe and measure to the underlying rules that each particle and antiparticle obeys, only by interrogating the Universe we have can we learn about it. That’s the key to science: if you want to know something about how the Universe works, you explore it in a way that forces it to tell you about itself.
For that reason the quantum universe tells us: if there is any particle in the Universe, even one we have not yet discovered, that interacts through any of these four fundamental forces, it will also interact with atoms.