Introducing Quantum Mechanics through light polarization: Experiences in Hungary

Abstract

In the 2019/20 school year I directed a teaching unit on quantum mechanics based on light polarization which enriched me with several experiences. Sometimes I faced problems because the obligatory Hungarian curriculum based on the wave nature of particles does not fit perfectly with the polarization approach of quantum physics. Nevertheless, I presented the polarization approach to my physics teacher colleagues too. Then I recognized some of the difficulties of Hungarian physics teachers in relation to this approach because they used to apply the wave approach. Thus, teacher training programmes should include the foundations of different approaches on equal footing, and in my opinion, teacher education should also respond to secondary school opportunities. In this article, I summarize the problems that may arise in applying the polarization approach in countries where wave formalism has a great tradition, like in Hungary. I also show why I personally prefer a 2-state approach in secondary school instead of the traditional wave formalism, and present what I have learned as a teacher. I highlight some of the requirements that arise when we intend to use polarization approach in physics teacher training programmes, and I make suggestions for teacher education too.

Quantum uncertainty: what to teach?

“…a mathematically well-defined quantity. The bests of the students were able to follow the material up to the expression of ∆A(ψ) (equation (12) with λ − = 0, λ + = 1, as natural in the polarisation approach). They all were shown a graph corresponding to figure 6(a), and based on this they easily accepted the general rule that two quantities cannot be certain simultaneously.…”

“…A possible motivation behind these developments is the preparation of secondary school teaching for the age of quantum computers or quantum cryptography [4][5][6], also supported by the choice of topics of The Nobel Prize Committee in Physics 2022 [7]. Teaching experiments have also been performed showing encouraging positive outcomes [8][9][10][11][12][13]. Teaching materials [1][2][3] are based on Dirac's approach [14] as well as on later textbooks dealing with two-state quantum systems [15][16][17][18], although the mathematics used by them is unavoidably restricted to real numbers and planar vectors.…”

From light polarization to quantum physics: Supporting lower secondary school students’ transition from gestalt to functional thinking

“…Two properties are incompatible if the possession of one makes the possession of the other uncertain. This is, where the uncertainty principle appears (for deeper explanation, see Tóth, 2023Tóth, , 2024Tóth & Tél, 2023): incompatible properties exist in QM. Two incompatible properties cannot certainly be associated with a system simultaneously, one of them will always remain uncertain; but the uncertain one can also be measured with a given probability.…”

“…They introduced the elements of quantum concepts and simplified mathematics through easy-to-implement student experiments and single photons thought experiments (Cobal et al, 2002a(Cobal et al, , 2002bMichelini, 2008;Michelini & Stefanel, 2006, 2014, 2023. In addition, many educational pathways making use of light polarization have been developed to introduce university students (French & Taylor, 1978;Singh, 2008;Tóth, 2023Tóth, , 2024 and secondary school learners to QM (Migdał et al, 2022;Müller & Wiesner, 2002;Schlummer et al, 2022) and to quantum computing (Berbhardt, 2019;Bondani et al, 2022;Migdał et al, 2022;Walsh et al, 2022).…”

Dirac’s Approach to Quantum Mechanics in Physics Teacher Education: From Linear to Circular Polarisation

“…One of the aims of this paper is to present a well-researched secondary school material [2] to prospective physics teachers which will equip them with didactic and conceptual knowledge and also help them to explore some of the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics and its simplified formalism using only real numbers, as in secondary schools. [9,10] Since this is a university course, this paper extends the secondary school material to university level by providing the appropriate physical background knowledge. This paper extends the results of a previous pilot experiment in which a part of the extension to two-dimensional matrix formalism using real numbers was presented and secondary school statistics was introduced for teacher trainees [11,12].…”