mechanical effects

Quantum mechanical effects such as radioactive decay, or more generally: 'tunneling', display intriguing mathematical patterns.

"We observed certain quantum mechanical effects emerging in films of up to about 40 nanometers, which was unexpected, because normally for a metal, you don't see such effects until you go well below 10 nm," she says.

"This work represents the focus of our lab: to isolate quantum mechanical effects where we can quantitively understand what is going on."

"Quantum simulators are systems whose behavior is determined by quantum mechanical effects and which can be controlled and monitored particularly well. These systems can therefore be used to study fundamental phenomena of quantum physics that also occur in other quantum systems, which cannot be studied so easily."

In the nanoscale structures that Professor Jan Mol, Dr James Thomas, and their group study at Queen Mary's School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, quantum mechanical effects dominate, and electrons behave as waves rather than particles.