QUANTUM THEORY, also quantum mechanics, in physics, a theory based on using the concept of the quantum unit to describe the dynamic properties of subatomic particles and the interactions of matter and radiation.The nature and behavior of matter and energy at that level is sometimes referred to as quantum physics and quantum mechanics.The foundation was laid by the German physicist Max Planck, who postulated in 1900 that energy can be emitted or absorbed by matter only in small, discrete units called quanta.
|