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'Connell: 讓可見的量子物體有意義

Filmed:
1,482,555 views

物理學家們用的思想是,亞原子粒子的行為根據量子力學的古怪規則,完全不同於人類大規模的物體。在一個突破實驗中,通過創建一個肉眼可見的物體, 但可證明它是在同一時間在兩個地方, Aaron O'Connell已模糊了那個區別。在這次講座中,他提出一個有趣的方式思考結果。
- 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 representation表示 of your brain,
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這是一個代表你大腦的圖像。
00:18
and your brain can be broken破碎 into two parts部分.
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而你的大腦可以分成兩個部分。
00:21
There's the left half, which哪一個 is the logical合乎邏輯 side,
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左半邊,這是掌控邏輯的一邊,
00:23
and then the right half,
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然後是右半邊,
00:25
which哪一個 is the intuitive直觀的.
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它掌控直覺。
00:27
And so if we had a scale規模 to measure測量 the aptitude能力傾向 of each hemisphere半球,
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所以如果我們有一個尺度去衡量這兩邊,
00:30
then we can plot情節 our brain.
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那麼我們可以繪製我們的大腦。
00:32
And for example, this would be somebody who's誰是 completely全然 logical合乎邏輯.
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譬如,這是一個完全靠邏輯的人的大腦。
00:35
This would be someone有人 who's誰是 entirely完全 intuitive直觀的.
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這個人是完全直觀。
00:39
So where would you put your brain on this scale規模?
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那麼,你會把你的大腦放在這個尺上的哪裡?
00:42
Some of us may可能 have opted選擇 for one of these extremes極端,
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有些人可能會選擇其中一個極端,
00:45
but I think for most people in the audience聽眾,
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但我認為,對大多數在台下的人,
00:47
your brain is something like this --
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你們的大腦是這樣的 --
00:49
with a high aptitude能力傾向 in both hemispheres半球 at the same相同 time.
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兩個腦半球同時有著很高的潛力。
00:52
It's not like they're mutually相互 exclusive獨家 or anything.
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不是說它們會互相排斥或什麼的。
00:54
You can be logical合乎邏輯 and intuitive直觀的.
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你可以既理性又感性。
00:56
And so I consider考慮 myself one of these people,
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我自認為是一個和很多
00:59
along沿 with most of the other experimental試驗 quantum量子 physicists物理學家,
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其他的量子物理學家一樣,
01:02
who need a good deal合同 of logic邏輯
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有很好的邏輯思維
01:04
to string together一起 these complex複雜 ideas思路.
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能把這些複雜的想法串連起來。
01:06
But at the same相同 time, we need a good deal合同 of intuition直覺
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但同時,我們也需要很好的直覺
01:09
to actually其實 make the experiments實驗 work.
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讓實驗能切實的進行下去。
01:11
How do we develop發展 this intuition直覺? Well we like to play with stuff東東.
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我們如何啟發這種直覺呢?嗯,我們喜歡研究東西。
01:14
So we go out and play with it, and then we see how it acts行為,
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所以我們會去研究東西,然後我們會看它怎麼反應。
01:17
and then we develop發展 our intuition直覺 from there.
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接著我們從中提升我們的直覺力。
01:20
And really you do the same相同 thing.
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實際上你也做同樣的事情。
01:22
So some intuition直覺
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所以有一些直覺,
01:24
that you may可能 have developed發達 over the years年份
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你可能培養了很多年,
01:26
is that one thing is only in one place地點 at a time.
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像一個事物只能同時出現在一個方位。
01:30
I mean, it can sound聲音 weird奇怪的 to think about
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我的意思是,這聽起來很奇怪去考慮
01:33
one thing being存在 in two different不同 places地方 at the same相同 time,
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一個事物可以同時出現在兩個不同的地方,
01:37
but you weren't born天生 with this notion概念, you developed發達 it.
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但是你不是天生就有這種概念,你是後天培養的。
01:40
And I remember記得 watching觀看 a kid孩子 playing播放 on a car汽車 stop.
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我記得看到過一個小孩在阻車器上玩。
01:43
He was just a toddler幼兒 and he wasn't very good at it, and he kept不停 falling落下 over.
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他還只是個小朋友,而且非常不擅長玩這個,他一直摔倒。
01:46
But I bet賭注 playing播放 with this car汽車 stop taught him a really valuable有價值 lesson,
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但是我打賭跟阻車器玩耍給他上了很有價值的一課,
01:49
and that's that large things don't let you get right past過去 them,
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就是大型的物體不會輕易的讓你穿過,
01:53
and that they stay in one place地點.
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而且它們停留在一個地方。
01:56
And so this is a great conceptual概念上的 model模型 to have of the world世界,
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這是世上擁有的一個很具備概念性的模型,
01:59
unless除非 you're a particle粒子 physicist物理學家.
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除非你是粒子物理學家。
02:01
It'd它會 be a terrible可怕 model模型 for a particle粒子 physicist物理學家,
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對於粒子物理學家這會是一個很糟糕的模型,
02:03
because they don't play with car汽車 stops停止,
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因為他們不研究阻車器,
02:05
they play with these little weird奇怪的 particles粒子.
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他們研究那些很小的奇怪微粒。
02:08
And when they play with their particles粒子,
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當他們研究這些微粒的時候,
02:10
they find they do all sorts排序 of really weird奇怪的 things --
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他們發現他們都在做各種很奇怪的事情--
02:12
like they can fly right through通過 walls牆壁,
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比如他們能穿牆,
02:15
or they can be in two different不同 places地方 at the same相同 time.
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或者他們能同時出現在兩個地方。
02:19
And so they wrote down all these observations意見,
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他們寫下這些觀察記錄,
02:22
and they called it the theory理論 of quantum量子 mechanics機械學.
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然後他們把它起名為量子力學理論。
02:26
And so that's where physics物理 was at a few少數 years年份 ago;
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而幾年前的物理學就是這樣;
02:29
you needed需要 quantum量子 mechanics機械學
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你需要量子​​力學
02:31
to describe描述 little, tiny particles粒子.
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來描述細小,微小的粒子。
02:33
But you didn't need it
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但是你不需要
02:35
to describe描述 the large, everyday每天 objects對象 around us.
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它來描述那些巨大的、生活周遭的尋常物體。
02:39
This didn't really sit well with my intuition直覺,
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這並不是很符合我的直覺認知,
02:42
and maybe it's just because I don't play with particles粒子 very often經常.
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也許只是因為我不太時常研究微粒的緣故吧。
02:45
Well, I play with them sometimes有時,
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我有時候也會玩這些,
02:47
but not very often經常.
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但不是常常。
02:49
And I've never seen看到 them.
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而且我從來沒有看過他們。
02:51
I mean, nobody's沒有人是 ever seen看到 a particle粒子.
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我的意思是,沒有人看過這些微粒。
02:54
But it didn't sit well with my logical合乎邏輯 side either.
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但這跟我的理性不大相符。
02:57
Because if everything is made製作 up of little particles粒子
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因為如果所有東西都是由微小微粒組成的
03:00
and all the little particles粒子
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而且所有微粒
03:02
follow跟隨 quantum量子 mechanics機械學,
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都遵守量子力學,
03:04
then shouldn't不能 everything just follow跟隨 quantum量子 mechanics機械學?
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那不是所有東西都應該符合量子力學嗎?
03:09
I don't see any reason原因 why it shouldn't不能.
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我看不出為什麼不會。
03:12
And so I'd feel a lot better about the whole整個 thing
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所以我覺得
03:14
if we could somehow不知何故 show顯示
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如果能夠讓
03:16
that an everyday每天 object目的
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周遭所有東西都遵守量子物理
03:18
also follows如下 quantum量子 mechanics機械學.
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會讓我覺得更好過一點。
03:20
So a few少數 years年份 ago, I set off to do just that.
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所以在幾年前,我開始這麼做。
03:23
So I made製作 one.
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所以我製造了一個東西。
03:26
This is the first object目的
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這是第一個
03:28
that you can see
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你可以看得見
03:30
that has been in a mechanical機械 quantum量子 superposition疊加.
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且可以表現得如量子力學解釋那樣。
03:33
So what we're looking at here
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所以我們這裡看到的是
03:35
is a tiny computer電腦 chip芯片.
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一個很小的電腦晶片。
03:37
And you can sort分類 of see this green綠色 dot right in the middle中間.
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而且你可以稍微看到這中間的綠點。
03:40
And that's this piece of metal金屬 I'm going to be talking about in a minute分鐘.
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那就是我接下來要講的金屬。
03:43
This is a photograph照片 of the object目的.
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這是這個物件的照片。
03:45
And here I'll zoom放大 in a little bit. We're looking right there in the center中央.
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放大一些看。我們現在看到的是在正中間。
03:48
And then here's這裡的 a really, really big close-up特寫 of the little piece of metal金屬.
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這是非常非常接近地看這塊小金屬。
03:51
So what we're looking at is a little chunk of metal金屬,
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所以我們看到的是這塊小金屬,
03:53
and it's shaped成形 like a diving潛水 board, and it's sticking癥結 out over a ledge窗台.
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它的形狀像潛水板,而且它的周圍稍微凸出一些。
03:56
And so I made製作 this thing
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我用製造電腦晶片幾乎一樣的手法
03:58
in nearly幾乎 the same相同 way as you make a computer電腦 chip芯片.
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製作這個東西。
04:00
I went into a clean清潔 room房間 with a fresh新鮮 silicon wafer晶圓,
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我拿一個矽晶圓進到一個無塵室,
04:03
and then I just cranked手搖 away at all the big machines for about 100 hours小時.
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然後跟那些機器工作了大約一百個小時。
04:06
For the last stuff東東, I had to build建立 my own擁有 machine --
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在最後的時候,我自己做了一個機器
04:08
to make this swimming游泳的 pool-shaped池形 hole
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來製造下方這個
04:11
underneath the device設備.
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游泳池形狀的洞。
04:13
This device設備 has the ability能力
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這個器具
04:15
to be in a quantum量子 superposition疊加,
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可以在量子的形態存在,
04:17
but it needs需求 a little help to do it.
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但它需要經過一些加工。
04:19
Here, let me give you an analogy比喻.
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現在,讓我給你們一個比喻。
04:21
You know how uncomfortable不舒服 it is to be in a crowded elevator電梯?
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像是在很擠的電梯裡會感到不適,
04:24
I mean, when I'm in an elevator電梯 all alone單獨, I do all sorts排序 of weird奇怪的 things,
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我的意思是,當我自己一個人在電梯時,我會做很多奇怪的事,
04:27
but then other people get on board
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但當有其它人進到電梯時,
04:29
and I stop doing those things
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我停止做這些事,
04:31
because I don't want to bother them,
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因為我不想要打擾他們,
04:33
or, frankly坦率地說, scare them.
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或是說嚇壞他們。
04:36
So quantum量子 mechanics機械學 says
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所以量子力學說,
04:38
that inanimate老成 objects對象 feel the same相同 way.
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無生命物體也這麼認為。
04:41
The fellow同伴 passengers乘客 for inanimate老成 objects對象
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對無生命物體來說,
04:43
are not just people,
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乘客不只是人,
04:45
but it's also the light shining閃亮的 on it
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也包括了光源、
04:47
and the wind blowing past過去 it and the heat of the room房間.
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風和房間裡的熱。
04:50
And so we knew知道, if we wanted to see
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所以我們知道,如果我們想要看
04:52
this piece of metal金屬 behave表現 quantum量子 mechanically機械,
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這塊金屬以量子力學的方式呈現,
04:55
we're going to have to kick out all the other passengers乘客.
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我們需要把所有乘客都趕出去。
04:57
And so that's what we did.
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我們就是這麼做的。
04:59
We turned轉身 off the lights燈火,
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我們把燈關掉,
05:01
and then we put it in a vacuum真空 and sucked out all the air空氣,
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然後用吸塵器把氣體吸掉,
05:03
and then we cooled冷卻 it down
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然後讓它冷卻
05:05
to just a fraction分數 of a degree above以上 absolute絕對 zero.
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至比絕對零度高好幾分之一的溫度。
05:07
Now, all alone單獨 in the elevator電梯,
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現在,自己一個在電梯裡,
05:09
the little chunk of metal金屬 is free自由 to act法案 however然而 it wanted.
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這個小金屬可以做任意的事。
05:11
And so we measured測量 its motion運動.
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所以我們量測它的活動。
05:13
We found發現 it was moving移動 in really weird奇怪的 ways方法.
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我們發現它以奇怪的方式運動。
05:15
Instead代替 of just sitting坐在 perfectly完美 still, it was vibrating振動,
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它沒有靜止不動,而是在震動。
05:18
and the way it was vibrating振動 was breathing呼吸 something like this --
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而且它震動的方式是有點像這樣的:
05:21
like expanding擴大 and contracting承包 bellows風箱.
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像是吸氣吐氣的風箱。
05:23
And by giving it a gentle溫和 nudge微調,
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當我們給它一點能量,
05:25
we were able能夠 to make it both vibrate顫動
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我們能夠使它同時震動
05:27
and not vibrate顫動
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及不震動
05:29
at the same相同 time --
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在同一時間 --
05:31
something that's only allowed允許 with quantum量子 mechanics機械學.
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這只有在量子物理中是被容許的。
05:34
So what I'm telling告訴 you here is something truly fantastic奇妙.
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所以我在這裡告訴大家的這是一件真的奇妙的事情。
05:37
What does it mean for one thing
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一個東西
05:39
to be both vibrating振動 and not vibrating振動
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的同時在震動也不震動,
05:41
at the same相同 time?
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這是什麼意思?
05:43
So let's think about the atoms原子.
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讓我們考慮一下原子。
05:45
So in one case案件:
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舉例而言:
05:47
all the trillions萬億 of atoms原子 that make up that chunk of metal金屬
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所有萬億個形成金屬片的原子
05:50
are sitting坐在 still
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正保持靜止狀態
05:52
and at the same相同 time those same相同 atoms原子
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然後在此同時,同樣的這些原子
05:54
are moving移動 up and down.
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正在上下移動。
05:56
Now it's only at precise精確 times when they align對齊.
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只有在特定精確時間,它們是一致的。
05:59
The rest休息 of the time they're delocalized離域.
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餘下的時間它們則是不定域的。
06:01
That means手段 that every一切 atom原子
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這意味著每個原子
06:03
is in two different不同 places地方 at the same相同 time,
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在同一時間在兩個不同的地方,
06:05
which哪一個 in turn means手段 the entire整個 chunk of metal金屬
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進一步說明整個金屬片
06:08
is in two different不同 places地方.
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在兩個位置。
06:10
I think this is really cool.
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我認為這真的很酷。
06:12
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
06:14
Really.
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真的。
06:16
(Applause掌聲)
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(鼓掌)
06:19
It was worth價值 locking鎖定 myself in a clean清潔 room房間 to do this for all those years年份
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我這些年把自己鎖在無菌室所做的事都是值得的。
06:24
because, check this out,
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因為,看看這個,
06:26
the difference區別 in scale規模
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一個原子和一塊小金屬
06:28
between之間 a single atom原子 and that chunk of metal金屬
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在尺度上的不同
06:30
is about the same相同 as the difference區別
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就跟你和這塊小金屬的不同
06:32
between之間 that chunk of metal金屬 and you.
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差不多。
06:34
So if a single atom原子 can be in two different不同 places地方 at the same相同 time,
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所以如果一個原子可以同時在兩個地方,
06:37
that chunk of metal金屬 can be in two different不同 places地方,
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那塊金屬可以同時在兩個地方,
06:40
then why not you?
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那為什麼你不能?
06:42
I mean, this is just my logical合乎邏輯 side talking.
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我的意思是,這只是我的合理推測。
06:46
So imagine想像 if you're in multiple places地方 at the same相同 time,
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所以想像你可以同時在不同的地方,
06:50
what would that be like?
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那會是怎麼樣的呢?
06:53
How would your consciousness意識
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你的意識
06:55
handle處理 your body身體 being存在 delocalized離域 in space空間?
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能夠接受你同時在不同地方嗎?
06:59
There's one more part部分 to the story故事.
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這個故事還有另一個部份。
07:01
It's when we warmed溫暖 it up,
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就是當我們給這個東西加熱,
07:03
and we turned轉身 on the lights燈火 and looked看著 inside the box,
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且我們把燈打開來看這個盒子裡面,
07:06
we saw that the piece metal金屬 was still there in one piece.
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我們看到那塊金屬還是在那裡的。
07:10
And so I had to develop發展 this new intuition直覺,
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所以我必須發展另一個直覺,
07:13
that it seems似乎 like all the objects對象 in the elevator電梯
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就是看起來像是電梯裡所有的東西
07:16
are really just quantum量子 objects對象
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都是量子物體,
07:18
just crammed臨時抱佛腳 into a tiny space空間.
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只是放在一個狹小的空間裡。
07:20
You hear a lot of talk
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你們聽過很多說法
07:22
about how quantum量子 mechanics機械學 says that everything is all interconnected互聯.
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說量子力學是在說每個東西都有交互作用。
07:25
Well, that's not quite相當 right.
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這並不是完全正確的;
07:27
It's more than that; it's deeper更深.
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應該說,是更深奧的。
07:30
It's that those connections連接,
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是這些交互作用,
07:32
your connections連接 to all the things around you,
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你和你周圍東西的交互作用,
07:35
literally按照字面 define確定 who you are,
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事實上定義著你。
07:38
and that's the profound深刻 weirdness怪事 of quantum量子 mechanics機械學.
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而這正是量子力學奇怪的地方。
07:41
Thank you.
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謝謝。
07:43
(Applause掌聲)
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(鼓掌)
Translated by Joan Liu
Reviewed by Ana Choi

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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