Atomic electron transition is a change of an electron from one quantum state to another within an atom or artificial atom. It appears discontinuous as the electron "jumps" from one energy level to another in a few nanoseconds or less. It is also known as atomic transition, quantum jump, or quantum leap.
Quantum leaps cause the emission or absorption of electromagnetic radiation in the form of quantized units called photons. Their statistics are Poissonian and the damping of statistic values of time between jumps is exponential on average. The damping time constant (which ranges from nanoseconds to a few seconds) relates to the natural, pressure and field broadening of spectral lines. The farther the electron jumps the shorter the wavelength of the photon emitted, meaning they emit different colors based on how far they jump.
Although changes of quantum state occur on the submicroscopic level, in popular discourse, the term "quantum leap" refers to a large increase.
Famous quotes containing the words atomic and/or transition:
“The totality of our so-called knowledge or beliefs, from the most casual matters of geography and history to the profoundest laws of atomic physics or even of pure mathematics and logic, is a man-made fabric which impinges on experience only along the edges. Or, to change the figure, total science is like a field of force whose boundary conditions are experience.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)
“There is not any present moment that is unconnected with some future one. The life of every man is a continued chain of incidents, each link of which hangs upon the former. The transition from cause to effect, from event to event, is often carried on by secret steps, which our foresight cannot divine, and our sagacity is unable to trace. Evil may at some future period bring forth good; and good may bring forth evil, both equally unexpected.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)