EPR correlations in the molecular domain

✍ Scribed by Thomas Krüger

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 160 KB
• Volume: 64
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0020-7608
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-461x(1997)64:6<679::aid-qua5>3.0.co;2-t

✦ Synopsis

Quantum mechanics is the first mathematically formulated scientific Ž theory where in a nontrivial way the whole is more than the combination of its parts'' H.

. Primas, 1982 . Nowadays most chemical observations and phenomena are understood on the basis of the molecular point of view. The three-dimensional molecules chemists speak about are micro-entities that as such are subject to a theoretical description in terms of quantum mechanics. Therefore one would expect that also in the molecular domain holistic effects appear which are caused by the well-known Einstein᎐Podolsky᎐Rosen Ž . EPR correlations. In the present study we demonstrate that-the unrestricted validity of quantum mechanics presupposed-such correlation phenomena play an important role Ž in the description of a dissociation reaction A ª 2A, where an intrinsic structure 2 . establishing degree of freedom fades into a mere translation of the fragments. Finally we will address the question, why in general EPR correlations are observed quite rarely in the domain of molecules-despite their fundamental importance for the notion of molecule itself.