Yo! It’s me Srikar and I’m back with another science post (I’ve tried maths but we’ve already got better teachers here). Quantum mechanics is some really complicated physics and I, until recently, believed it to be bullshit too. But some bizarre things start happening and the classical physics outclassed when you go into the realm of Quantum Physics. Before we go to Quantum Field Theory and shit, I’d like to mention some traditional quantum aspects. First, scientists thought the atom was indivisible. Like hell it is, it wasn’t. Later, as you all might be knowing already, some great people divided the atom into sub-atomic particles: protons, electrons, and neutrons. When they were thought to be the fundamental and indivisible particles, some other great people said “As if!” and they proved that the proton and neutron can be further divided into smaller particles called “quarks”, while the electron cannot. 
That picture above shows the list of fundamental particles which make up about everything we know. You don’t have to understand all of them right now (I’ll make a post explaining them sometime later, probably) As you can see, the electron by itself, is a fundamental particle which cannot be divided further. (Those names sound weird, don’t they?) There’s something interesting, though. We all know that a proton carries a relative charge of “+1”. If you look at that picture again, you can see that an “up” quark has a relative charge of “+2/3” and a “down” quark has a relative charge of “-1/3”. Applying the math, a proton is made up of 2 “up” quarks and 1 “down” quark. Mathematically, that is, (2/3) + (2/3) -(1/3) = (4/3) – (1/3) = (3/3) = 1. Similarly, a neutron is made of 2 “down” quarks and 1 “up” quark. That is, (-1/3) + (-1/3) + (2/3) = (-2/3) + (2/3) = 0. Hence, a neutron has 0 charge. {Note: The names “up” and “down” don’t have anything to do with the nature of the quarks. But it’s just due to how bad scientists are at naming things} I know this new fundamental particles chatter sounds strange and new. But this is now too old. Quantum Physics has further advanced to show that all of those particles which make up matter are fluctuations in their own quantum “fields”. This is the Quantum Field Theory. Wait wait! There’s still something you need to learn in order for this theory to make any sense to you. That is about the wave-particle duality of matter. Some experiments show that all particles behave as waves and in some, all waves behave as particles. The most basic approach for Quantum Field theory is that all particles are waves, that is fluctuations in the quantum fields. 
Quantum physics deals with probability. A wave can exist in multiple positions at the same time (as it spreads), but a particle can only exist at one position at one time. So, there is a probability for that particle to exist anywhere in that wave. But where the amplitude of the wave is the highest, the particle is most likely to exist. There is a probability that a particle can exist at any other point too, but the probability of it being there is less. Until we check, we never know where exactly it exists (it can even exist at multiple places at once, until we check). You can imagine it like a wave in water, where each ripple itself is a particle. According to Quantum Field Theory, each fundamental particle has its own field, of which it is the “ripple”. For example, quarks are the fluctuations of the quark field, and electrons of the electron field. Similarly, gravitons, or the particles responsible for gravity (which are missing in that picture), are the fluctuations in space-time field. 
These quantum fields are believed to be invisible, and are everywhere in the universe, constantly fluctuating in the vacuum. This is why even vacuum is not really empty, but with all kinds of complicated fields. In fact, empty space is the simplest thing we know (by existence), yet we don’t understand it. 
The picture you see above is the so called empty space. What I meant by not understanding it is that scientists are whacking their brains to find any pattern in the vibrations of those fields but with no luck. The fields constantly vibrate, and some particles come into existence and pop out of existence in instants. These particles are called virtual particles. And photons, or the particles of light, are fluctuations in electro-magnetic field. That’s pretty much it, all the basic stuff you need to know (without the scary math) to understand Quantum Field Theory.
There have been many science posts on this blog recently, from a couple of authors and I really enjoy those. For more science (or even quantum physics) posts, let me know. I’ve got loads of other interesting things to write about. Captain America Style: “I can do this all day” That said, the article’s already over. What are you reading this shit for, anyway? ‘Bye ~ Srikar out.
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