Quantum field

A quantum field assigns quantum-mechanical degrees of freedom throughout space and time. Its quantized excitations can be detected as particles, such as photons or electrons.

Quantum field theory: A framework that describes particles and their interactions by quantizing fields. It supplies the mathematical framework in which quantum fields are defined and used.
Classical field: A physical quantity defined at every point in space and time, described without quantum states. Quantum fields retain the spacetime-wide structure of classical fields but obey quantum rules.
Electromagnetic field: The field that carries electric and magnetic interactions and whose quantum is the photon. Its quantization yields photons and quantum electrodynamics.
Max Born: A German-born physicist who helped establish quantum mechanics and its probabilistic interpretation. His work helped form the quantum framework later extended to fields.
Quantum vacuum: The lowest-energy state of quantum fields, with correlations and fluctuations but no real particles. Its physical structure complicates the simple picture of empty space.
Field quantization: The procedure for turning a classical field into a quantum system with operators or quantum states. It replaces classical field values with quantum degrees of freedom.
Quantum harmonic oscillator: A quantum system with equally spaced energy levels and dynamics governed by a quadratic potential. Each independent field mode behaves mathematically like a quantum harmonic oscillator.
Electron field: A quantum field whose excitations are electrons and positrons. It describes electron states and their interactions with the electromagnetic field.
Pascual Jordan: A German theoretical physicist who helped develop quantum mechanics and early quantum field theory. His work on quantizing fields was central to the theory's early formation.
Vacuum energy: The energy associated with the ground state of quantum fields. Calculations of field vacuum energy raise the cosmological constant problem.

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