Portal:Mathematics/Featured article/2007 7

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Through a century of experimentation and applied science, quantum mechanical theory has proven to be very successful and practical. The term "quantum mechanics" was first coined by Max Born in 1924. Quantum mechanics is the foundation for other sciences including condensed matter physics, quantum chemistry, and particle physics.

Despite the success of quantum mechanics, it does have some controversial elements. For example, the behaviour of microscopic objects described in quantum mechanics is very different from our everyday experience, which may provoke an incredulous reaction. While most areas of fundamental physics are understood as quantum theories, some areas remain difficult, such as developing quantum gravity which requires Einstein's general relativity to be quantised.