Quantum Mechanics and Chaos Theory A Tale of Mathematicians and Hollywood Producers

Hollywood likes science. Or, to put that more precisely, Hollywood likes to sound as if it likes science. Consequently, what Hollywood really likes are scientific buzzwords words that sound technical and important so that they impress the audience. In the realm of buzzwords, it is hard to think of any more prominent or more fitting of the description than the words “quantum” and “chaos”. Behind each of these simple words lies a vast mass of twentieth-century mathematics. Between them, they arguably represent two of the greatest achievements on the applied side of subject of recent times. In the space below, we look to reveal just some of this remarkable science and history from behind the buzzword veil. Remarkably, though, we can go even further than this. In recent decades mathematicians have begun to investigate the possibility of combining the two of elucidating the precise ways in which the theory of chaos manifests itself in the quantum regime. The result is the very active modern research topic of quantum chaos, an amalgamation of two such potent scientific buzzwords that is sure to please the mathematician and the Hollywood producer alike!