ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Aaron O'Connell - Physicist
Aaron O'Connell is the first person to experimentally induce and measure quantum effects in the motion of a humanmade object, bridging the quantum and classical worlds.

Why you should listen

Growing up reading philosophy, playing guitar, and generally not thinking about science, Aaron O’Connell never expected to revolutionize the world of physics. But an inspiring stuffed-monkey-shot-from-a-cannon demonstration and a series of positive research experiences as an undergraduate propelled him to graduate school at UCSB.

While there, in an experiment remarkable both for its conceptual simplicity and technical difficulty, O’Connell was the first person to measure quantum effects in an object large enough to see with the naked eye. Named Breakthrough of the year by Science Magazine, the experiment shattered the previous record for the largest quantum object, showing decisively that there is no hard line between the quantum and everyday worlds.

More profile about the speaker
Aaron O'Connell | Speaker | TED.com
TED2011

Aaron O'Connell: Making sense of a visible quantum object

Aaron O'Connel: Osmišljanje vidnega kvantnega predmeta

Filmed:
1,482,555 views

Fiziki so navajeni na misel, da se osnovni delci obnašajo po bizarnih pravilih kvantne mehanike, ki so popolnoma drugačni kot pri predmetih človeške velikosti. V prebojnem poskusu je Aaron O'Connell zabrisal to razliko in ustvaril predmet, viden s prostim očesom, a ki je lahko na dveh mestih hkrati. V pričujočem posnetku predstavi fascinantno dojemanje končnega rezultata.
- Physicist
Aaron O'Connell is the first person to experimentally induce and measure quantum effects in the motion of a humanmade object, bridging the quantum and classical worlds. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
This is a representationzastopanje of your brainmožganov,
0
0
3000
To je prikaz vaših možganov,
00:18
and your brainmožganov can be brokenzdrobljen into two partsdeli.
1
3000
3000
ki jih lahko razdelimo na dva dela.
00:21
There's the left halfpol, whichki is the logicallogično sidestran,
2
6000
2000
Tu je leva hemisfera, ki je logična,
00:23
and then the right halfpol,
3
8000
2000
tu pa desna hemisfera,
00:25
whichki is the intuitiveintuitiven.
4
10000
2000
ki je intuitivna.
00:27
And so if we had a scaleobsega to measureukrep the aptitudeusposobljenosti of eachvsak hemispherepolobli,
5
12000
3000
Če bi lahko z lestvico izmerili sposobnosti vsake hemisfere,
00:30
then we can plotparcela our brainmožganov.
6
15000
2000
bi lahko zasnovali naše možgane.
00:32
And for exampleprimer, this would be somebodynekdo who'skdo je completelypopolnoma logicallogično.
7
17000
3000
Tako bi bil to nekdo, ki se odziva popolnoma logično.
00:35
This would be someonenekdo who'skdo je entirelypopolnoma intuitiveintuitiven.
8
20000
3000
To pa nekdo s popolnoma intuitivnim odzivanjem.
00:39
So where would you put your brainmožganov on this scaleobsega?
9
24000
3000
Kam bi na tej lestvici uvrstili vaše možgane?
00:42
Some of us maylahko have optedodločila for one of these extremesekstremi,
10
27000
3000
Nekateri bi izbrali enega od ekstremov,
00:45
but I think for mostnajbolj people in the audienceobčinstvo,
11
30000
2000
a pri večini ljudi v občinstvu
00:47
your brainmožganov is something like this --
12
32000
2000
so možgani nekaj takega,
00:49
with a highvisoko aptitudeusposobljenosti in bothoboje hemispherespoloble at the sameenako time.
13
34000
3000
z veliko odzivnostjo v obeh hemisferah hkrati.
00:52
It's not like they're mutuallymedsebojno exclusiveizključno or anything.
14
37000
2000
Ena druge torej ne izključujeta.
00:54
You can be logicallogično and intuitiveintuitiven.
15
39000
2000
Lahko se odzivate tako logično kot intuitivno.
00:56
And so I considerrazmislite myselfjaz one of these people,
16
41000
3000
Sam sebe prištevam med tiste ljudi,
00:59
alongskupaj with mostnajbolj of the other experimentaleksperimentalni quantumkvant physicistsfiziki,
17
44000
3000
skupaj z večino drugih eksperimentalnih kvantnih fizikov,
01:02
who need a good dealobravnava of logiclogika
18
47000
2000
ki veliko uporabljajo logiko,
01:04
to stringniz togetherskupaj these complexkompleksno ideasideje.
19
49000
2000
da povežejo te zapletene zamisli.
01:06
But at the sameenako time, we need a good dealobravnava of intuitionintuicija
20
51000
3000
A hkrati potrebujemo veliko intuicije,
01:09
to actuallydejansko make the experimentsposkuse work.
21
54000
2000
da lahko poskusi zaživijo.
01:11
How do we developrazviti this intuitionintuicija? Well we like to playigraj with stuffstvari.
22
56000
3000
Kako razvijemo intuicijo? Radi se igramo s stvarmi.
01:14
So we go out and playigraj with it, and then we see how it actsdejanja,
23
59000
3000
Začnemo se torej igrati in ko vidimo, kako se odzivajo,
01:17
and then we developrazviti our intuitionintuicija from there.
24
62000
3000
razvijemo tudi našo intuicijo.
01:20
And really you do the sameenako thing.
25
65000
2000
Tudi pri vas je enako.
01:22
So some intuitionintuicija
26
67000
2000
Tista intuicija, ki ste jo razvili skozi čas,
01:24
that you maylahko have developedrazvili over the yearslet
27
69000
2000
vam pravi, da je določena stvar
01:26
is that one thing is only in one placemesto at a time.
28
71000
4000
ob določenem trenutku le na enem mestu.
01:30
I mean, it can soundzvok weirdčudno to think about
29
75000
3000
Morda bi se vam zdelo čudno misliti,
01:33
one thing beingbiti in two differentdrugačen placesmesta at the sameenako time,
30
78000
4000
da bi lahko ena stvar bila na dveh mestih hkrati,
01:37
but you weren'tni bilo bornRojen with this notionpojma, you developedrazvili it.
31
82000
3000
a s to intuicijo se niste rodili, pač pa ste jo razvili.
01:40
And I rememberZapomni si watchinggledal a kidfant playingigranje on a caravto stop.
32
85000
3000
Spominjam se otroka pri igri s parkirno blokado.
01:43
He was just a toddlermalček and he wasn'tni bilo very good at it, and he kepthranijo fallingpadec over.
33
88000
3000
Bil je še majhen in okoren, zato se je stalno spotikal.
01:46
But I betStavite playingigranje with this caravto stop taughtučil him a really valuabledragocen lessonlekcijo,
34
91000
3000
A verjamem, da se je pri tem naučil nekaj pomembnega,
01:49
and that's that largevelik things don't let you get right pastpreteklost them,
35
94000
4000
da preko velikih stvari ne moremo iti
01:53
and that they stayostani in one placemesto.
36
98000
3000
in da obstanejo na svojem mestu.
01:56
And so this is a great conceptualkonceptualno modelmodel to have of the worldsvet,
37
101000
3000
To je krasen pojmovni model sveta,
01:59
unlessrazen you're a particledelec physicistfizik.
38
104000
2000
razen če preučujete fiziko osnovnih delcev.
02:01
It'dTo bi be a terriblegrozno modelmodel for a particledelec physicistfizik,
39
106000
2000
Za te fizike bi bil ta model obupen,
02:03
because they don't playigraj with caravto stopsustavi,
40
108000
2000
saj se ne igrajo z blokadami za avte,
02:05
they playigraj with these little weirdčudno particlesdelci.
41
110000
3000
temveč s posebnimi majhnimi delci.
02:08
And when they playigraj with theirnjihovi particlesdelci,
42
113000
2000
Ko se z njimi igrajo, ugotavljajo,
02:10
they find they do all sortsvrste of really weirdčudno things --
43
115000
2000
da počnejo res posebne stvari,
02:12
like they can flyletenje right throughskozi wallsstene,
44
117000
3000
lahko potujejo skozi stene
02:15
or they can be in two differentdrugačen placesmesta at the sameenako time.
45
120000
4000
ali pa so lahko na dveh mestih hkrati.
02:19
And so they wrotenapisal down all these observationsopazovanja,
46
124000
3000
Vse te ugotovitve so zapisali
02:22
and they calledpozval it the theoryteorija of quantumkvant mechanicsmehanika.
47
127000
4000
in jih poimenovali teorija kvantne mehanike.
02:26
And so that's where physicsfizika was at a fewmalo yearslet agonazaj;
48
131000
3000
Področje fizike se je pred nekaj leti nahajalo tu;
02:29
you neededpotrebno quantumkvant mechanicsmehanika
49
134000
2000
majhne, majcene delce so razlagali
02:31
to describeopišite little, tinymajhen particlesdelci.
50
136000
2000
s kvantno mehaniko.
02:33
But you didn't need it
51
138000
2000
Niso pa je več uporabljali
02:35
to describeopišite the largevelik, everydayvsak dan objectspredmetov around us.
52
140000
4000
pri opisih večjih vsakodnevnih predmetov.
02:39
This didn't really sitsedi well with my intuitionintuicija,
53
144000
3000
To nekako ni prepričalo moje intuicije, morda le zato,
02:42
and maybe it's just because I don't playigraj with particlesdelci very oftenpogosto.
54
147000
3000
ker se ne srečujem pogosto z osnovnimi delci.
02:45
Well, I playigraj with them sometimesvčasih,
55
150000
2000
No, včasih že,
02:47
but not very oftenpogosto.
56
152000
2000
ne pa prav pogosto.
02:49
And I've never seenvidel them.
57
154000
2000
In še nikdar jih nisem videl.
02:51
I mean, nobody'sNobody's ever seenvidel a particledelec.
58
156000
3000
Pravzaprav jih ni še nihče.
02:54
But it didn't sitsedi well with my logicallogično sidestran eitherbodisi.
59
159000
3000
A tudi moje logične plati to ni prepričalo.
02:57
Because if everything is madeizdelane up of little particlesdelci
60
162000
3000
Namreč, če vse temelji na osnovnih delcih
03:00
and all the little particlesdelci
61
165000
2000
in če vsi ti osnovni delci
03:02
followsledite quantumkvant mechanicsmehanika,
62
167000
2000
sledijo načelom kvantne mehanike,
03:04
then shouldn'tne bi smel everything just followsledite quantumkvant mechanicsmehanika?
63
169000
3000
mar jim ne bi morali slediti tudi večji predmeti?
03:09
I don't see any reasonrazlog why it shouldn'tne bi smel.
64
174000
3000
Ne vidim razloga, zakaj ne.
03:12
And so I'd feel a lot better about the wholeceloto thing
65
177000
2000
Zelo vesel bi bil,
03:14
if we could somehownekako showshow
66
179000
2000
če bi lahko nekako pokazali,
03:16
that an everydayvsak dan objectpredmet
67
181000
2000
da tudi vsakodnevni predmeti
03:18
alsotudi followssledi quantumkvant mechanicsmehanika.
68
183000
2000
sledijo načelom kvantne mehanike.
03:20
So a fewmalo yearslet agonazaj, I setnastavite off to do just that.
69
185000
3000
Pred nekaj leti sem se tega lotil.
03:23
So I madeizdelane one.
70
188000
3000
In naredil sem tak predmet.
03:26
This is the first objectpredmet
71
191000
2000
To je prvi predmet,
03:28
that you can see
72
193000
2000
ki ga lahko vidite
03:30
that has been in a mechanicalšto tehničkewe tehnični rezermanov.D.DTC quantumkvant superpositionsuperpozicijo.
73
195000
3000
ki je bil v mehanski kvantni superpoziciji.
03:33
So what we're looking at here
74
198000
2000
Tu opazujemo
03:35
is a tinymajhen computerračunalnik chipčip.
75
200000
2000
majcen računalniški čip.
03:37
And you can sortRazvrsti of see this greenzelena dotdot right in the middlesredi.
76
202000
3000
V sredini lahko vidite to zeleno piko.
03:40
And that's this piecekos of metalkovinski I'm going to be talkinggovoriti about in a minuteminuto.
77
205000
3000
O tem koščku kovine bom govoril čez nekaj trenutkov.
03:43
This is a photographfotografija of the objectpredmet.
78
208000
2000
To je fotografija tega predmeta.
03:45
And here I'll zoomzoom in a little bitbit. We're looking right there in the centercenter.
79
210000
3000
Približal bom, da vidimo točno v sredino.
03:48
And then here'sTukaj je a really, really bigvelik close-upZapri of the little piecekos of metalkovinski.
80
213000
3000
To je zelo zelo približan prikaz.
03:51
So what we're looking at is a little chunkkos of metalkovinski,
81
216000
2000
Opazujemo ta majcen kovinski kos
03:53
and it's shapedoblikovan like a divingpotapljanje boardtabla, and it's stickingdrži out over a ledgepolica.
82
218000
3000
v obliki odskočne deske, ki štrli od nosilca.
03:56
And so I madeizdelane this thing
83
221000
2000
To sem ustvaril na podoben način,
03:58
in nearlyskoraj the sameenako way as you make a computerračunalnik chipčip.
84
223000
2000
kot so sestavljeni računalniški čipi.
04:00
I wentšla into a cleančisto roomsoba with a freshsveže siliconsilicij wafervafelj,
85
225000
3000
Čisto silicijsko rezino sem nesel v sterilno sobo
04:03
and then I just crankedZglavkast away at all the bigvelik machinesstroji for about 100 hoursure.
86
228000
3000
in zagnal vse velike stroje za okrog 100 ur.
04:06
For the last stuffstvari, I had to buildzgraditi my ownlastno machinestroj --
87
231000
2000
Nazadnje sem moral sestaviti svoj stroj,
04:08
to make this swimmingplavanje pool-shapedbazen v obliki holeluknjo
88
233000
3000
da sem pod napravo naredil
04:11
underneathspodaj the devicenaprave.
89
236000
2000
luknjo v obliki bazena.
04:13
This devicenaprave has the abilitysposobnost
90
238000
2000
Ta naprava je lahko
04:15
to be in a quantumkvant superpositionsuperpozicijo,
91
240000
2000
v kvantni superpoziciji,
04:17
but it needspotrebe a little help to do it.
92
242000
2000
a pri tem potrebuje nekaj pomoči.
04:19
Here, let me give you an analogyanalogija.
93
244000
2000
Naj vam ponazorim s primerom.
04:21
You know how uncomfortableneprijetno it is to be in a crowdedgneča elevatordvigalo?
94
246000
3000
Veste, kako neprijetno je obtičati v polnem dvigalu?
04:24
I mean, when I'm in an elevatordvigalo all alonesam, I do all sortsvrste of weirdčudno things,
95
249000
3000
Ko sem v dvigalu sam, se obnašam čudaško,
04:27
but then other people get on boardtabla
96
252000
2000
a ko ostali vstopijo,
04:29
and I stop doing those things
97
254000
2000
se ustavim in odneham,
04:31
because I don't want to bothermoti them,
98
256000
2000
saj jih ne želim motiti
04:33
or, franklyodkrito, scareprestraši them.
99
258000
3000
ali pa jih preprosto prestrašiti.
04:36
So quantumkvant mechanicsmehanika sayspravi
100
261000
2000
Kvantna mehanika pravi,
04:38
that inanimateneživi objectspredmetov feel the sameenako way.
101
263000
3000
da se negibni predmeti obnašajo enako.
04:41
The fellowkolega passengerspotnikov for inanimateneživi objectspredmetov
102
266000
2000
Sopotniki v dvigalu pri negibnih predmetih
04:43
are not just people,
103
268000
2000
niso le ljudje,
04:45
but it's alsotudi the lightsvetloba shiningsije on it
104
270000
2000
temveč tudi svetloba,
04:47
and the windveter blowingpiha pastpreteklost it and the heattoplote of the roomsoba.
105
272000
3000
pihanje vetra in toplota v prostoru.
04:50
And so we knewvedel, if we wanted to see
106
275000
2000
Vedeli smo torej, da če želimo,
04:52
this piecekos of metalkovinski behaveObnašajte se quantumkvant mechanicallymehansko,
107
277000
3000
da se ta kos kovine obnaša kvantno mehanično,
04:55
we're going to have to kickkick out all the other passengerspotnikov.
108
280000
2000
se bomo morali znebiti vseh ostalih potnikov.
04:57
And so that's what we did.
109
282000
2000
Točno to smo storili.
04:59
We turnedobrnjen off the lightsluči,
110
284000
2000
Izklopili smo luči,
05:01
and then we put it in a vacuumvakuum and suckedzanič out all the airzrak,
111
286000
2000
ga postavili v vakum in izsesali ves zrak
05:03
and then we cooledhlajeni it down
112
288000
2000
ter ga ohladili na le delček stopinje
05:05
to just a fractionulomek of a degreestopnja abovenad absoluteabsolutno zeronič.
113
290000
2000
nad absolutno ničlo.
05:07
Now, all alonesam in the elevatordvigalo,
114
292000
2000
Ko je zdaj sam v dvigalu,
05:09
the little chunkkos of metalkovinski is freeprost to actukrepati howeverVendar it wanted.
115
294000
2000
se lahko ta kovinski kos giblje po želji.
05:11
And so we measuredmerjeno its motiongibanje.
116
296000
2000
Izmerili smo njegovo gibanje
05:13
We foundnajdemo it was movingpremikanje in really weirdčudno waysnačinov.
117
298000
2000
in ugotovili, da se je gibal resnično čudno.
05:15
InsteadNamesto of just sittingsedi perfectlypopolnoma still, it was vibratingvibracijski,
118
300000
3000
Namesto da bi miroval, je vibriral
05:18
and the way it was vibratingvibracijski was breathingdihanje something like this --
119
303000
3000
in sicer kot bi dihal podobno kot
05:21
like expandingširjenje and contractingpogodbeno delo bellowsmeh.
120
306000
2000
širjenje in krčenje meha.
05:23
And by givingdajanje it a gentlenežno nudgePremakne izbrane risane predmete,
121
308000
2000
Ko smo ga narahlo dregnili,
05:25
we were ablesposoben to make it bothoboje vibratevibrira
122
310000
2000
je zavibriral
05:27
and not vibratevibrira
123
312000
2000
in ni zavibriral
05:29
at the sameenako time --
124
314000
2000
hkrati --
05:31
something that's only alloweddovoljeno with quantumkvant mechanicsmehanika.
125
316000
3000
to dovoljuje le kvantna mehanika.
05:34
So what I'm tellingpovedal you here is something trulyresnično fantasticfantastično.
126
319000
3000
Pripovedujem vam o nečem resnično izjemnem.
05:37
What does it mean for one thing
127
322000
2000
Kaj pomeni, da stvar hkrati
05:39
to be bothoboje vibratingvibracijski and not vibratingvibracijski
128
324000
2000
vibrira in
05:41
at the sameenako time?
129
326000
2000
ne vibrira?
05:43
So let's think about the atomsatomi.
130
328000
2000
Pomislimo na atome.
05:45
So in one caseprimera:
131
330000
2000
Na eni strani so torej
05:47
all the trillionstrilijonih of atomsatomi that make up that chunkkos of metalkovinski
132
332000
3000
bilijoni atomov, ki sestavljajo ta kovinski kos
05:50
are sittingsedi still
133
335000
2000
in mirujejo,
05:52
and at the sameenako time those sameenako atomsatomi
134
337000
2000
hkrati pa se ti isti atomi
05:54
are movingpremikanje up and down.
135
339000
2000
pomikajo gor in dol.
05:56
Now it's only at precisenatančno timeskrat when they alignPoravnaj.
136
341000
3000
Le v točno določenih trenutkih se poravnajo.
05:59
The restpočitek of the time they're delocalizeddelokaliziranih.
137
344000
2000
V ostalih trenutkih so dislocirani.
06:01
That meanssredstva that everyvsak atomatom
138
346000
2000
To pomeni, da je vsak atom
06:03
is in two differentdrugačen placesmesta at the sameenako time,
139
348000
2000
na dveh različnih mestih hkrati,
06:05
whichki in turnobrat meanssredstva the entirecelotno chunkkos of metalkovinski
140
350000
3000
kar posledično pomeni, da je celoten
06:08
is in two differentdrugačen placesmesta.
141
353000
2000
koviski del na dveh mestih hkrati.
06:10
I think this is really coolkul.
142
355000
2000
To se mi zdi res super.
06:12
(LaughterSmeh)
143
357000
2000
(Smeh)
06:14
Really.
144
359000
2000
Resnično.
06:16
(ApplauseAplavz)
145
361000
3000
(Aplavz)
06:19
It was worthvredno lockingzaklepanje myselfjaz in a cleančisto roomsoba to do this for all those yearslet
146
364000
5000
Bilo je vredno, da sem toliko let preždel v sterilni sobi
06:24
because, checkpreveri this out,
147
369000
2000
in to počel. Le pomislite,
06:26
the differenceRazlika in scaleobsega
148
371000
2000
da je razlika v velikosti
06:28
betweenmed a singlesamski atomatom and that chunkkos of metalkovinski
149
373000
2000
med atomom in tem kosom kovine
06:30
is about the sameenako as the differenceRazlika
150
375000
2000
podobna razliki v velikosti
06:32
betweenmed that chunkkos of metalkovinski and you.
151
377000
2000
med tem kosom in vami.
06:34
So if a singlesamski atomatom can be in two differentdrugačen placesmesta at the sameenako time,
152
379000
3000
Če je torej atom lahko na dveh mestih hkrati,
06:37
that chunkkos of metalkovinski can be in two differentdrugačen placesmesta,
153
382000
3000
je lahko tudi ta kos kovine
06:40
then why not you?
154
385000
2000
in zakaj ne bi bili vi?
06:42
I mean, this is just my logicallogično sidestran talkinggovoriti.
155
387000
3000
To mi pravi moja logična plat.
06:46
So imaginezamislite if you're in multiplevečkraten placesmesta at the sameenako time,
156
391000
4000
Predstavljajte si, kako bi bilo,
06:50
what would that be like?
157
395000
3000
če bi bili na večih krajih hkrati.
06:53
How would your consciousnesszavest
158
398000
2000
Kako bi se vaša zavest
06:55
handleročaj your bodytelo beingbiti delocalizeddelokaliziranih in spaceprostor?
159
400000
4000
odzivala na vaše telo, dislocirano v prostoru?
06:59
There's one more partdel to the storyzgodba.
160
404000
2000
Tu je še en del zgodbe.
07:01
It's when we warmedogreva it up,
161
406000
2000
Ko smo ta kos ogreli,
07:03
and we turnedobrnjen on the lightsluči and lookedpogledal insideznotraj the boxškatla,
162
408000
3000
vklopili luči in pogledali v notranjost,
07:06
we saw that the piecekos metalkovinski was still there in one piecekos.
163
411000
4000
smo videli, da je košček ostal na mestu in cel.
07:10
And so I had to developrazviti this newnovo intuitionintuicija,
164
415000
3000
Razvil sem torej to novo slutnjo,
07:13
that it seemsZdi se like all the objectspredmetov in the elevatordvigalo
165
418000
3000
da so očitno vse stvari v dvigalu
07:16
are really just quantumkvant objectspredmetov
166
421000
2000
pravzaprav zgolj kvantne stvari,
07:18
just crammedcrammed into a tinymajhen spaceprostor.
167
423000
2000
natrpane v majhnem prostoru.
07:20
You hearslišite a lot of talk
168
425000
2000
Velikokrat slišite, da je po načelih
07:22
about how quantumkvant mechanicsmehanika sayspravi that everything is all interconnectedmedsebojno povezani.
169
427000
3000
kvantne mehanike vse medsebojno povezano.
07:25
Well, that's not quitečisto right.
170
430000
2000
A temu ni ravno tako.
07:27
It's more than that; it's deepergloblje.
171
432000
3000
Gre namreč še globlje.
07:30
It's that those connectionspovezave,
172
435000
2000
Vse povezave med vami
07:32
your connectionspovezave to all the things around you,
173
437000
3000
in stvarmi, ki vas obdajajo,
07:35
literallydobesedno definedefinirati who you are,
174
440000
3000
dobesedno določajo, kdo ste
07:38
and that's the profoundgloboko weirdnessNeobičnost of quantumkvant mechanicsmehanika.
175
443000
3000
in v tem je globoka posebnost kvantne mehanike.
07:41
Thank you.
176
446000
2000
Hvala.
07:43
(ApplauseAplavz)
177
448000
2000
(Aplavz)
Translated by Lenka Tušar
Reviewed by Tilen Pigac - EFZG

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Aaron O'Connell - Physicist
Aaron O'Connell is the first person to experimentally induce and measure quantum effects in the motion of a humanmade object, bridging the quantum and classical worlds.

Why you should listen

Growing up reading philosophy, playing guitar, and generally not thinking about science, Aaron O’Connell never expected to revolutionize the world of physics. But an inspiring stuffed-monkey-shot-from-a-cannon demonstration and a series of positive research experiences as an undergraduate propelled him to graduate school at UCSB.

While there, in an experiment remarkable both for its conceptual simplicity and technical difficulty, O’Connell was the first person to measure quantum effects in an object large enough to see with the naked eye. Named Breakthrough of the year by Science Magazine, the experiment shattered the previous record for the largest quantum object, showing decisively that there is no hard line between the quantum and everyday worlds.

More profile about the speaker
Aaron O'Connell | Speaker | TED.com