Discovering quantum physics in the lab
During my second year at Phelma, I had the chance to move beyond equations and simulations and actually touch some of the fundamental experiments of quantum physics.
Up until then, concepts like photon statistics or entanglement felt very abstract — fascinating on paper, but still distant. Being in the lab, aligning mirrors and detectors, and actually seeing the physics happen made everything much more real.
Photon bunching & anti-bunching
This was my first direct look into the strange world of photons. By measuring correlations between detection events, we could tell if light was behaving as a classical wave (bunching) or showing its true quantum nature (anti-bunching). It was striking to see how statistics reveal behavior that no single measurement could.
Michelson & Mach-Zehnder interferometry
Setting up these interferometers reminded me that quantum mechanics often hides in plain sight. By adjusting just a mirror by a fraction of a wavelength, interference patterns appeared and disappeared. It was a very visual way to connect wave–particle duality to real, controllable setups.
Quantum entanglement (basic lab scale)
Probably the highlight of the practicals. With a fairly compact setup, we generated and measured entangled photon pairs. Even if it was on a small scale, it was hard not to think about how the same principles are used in quantum communication experiments worldwide.
Polarization qubit encoding
Finally, we encoded information in the polarization state of photons, treating them as qubits. This was my first step into quantum information: understanding how a physical property can carry information in a way that classical bits never could.
Reflection
These practicals may have been simple compared to what’s done in research labs, but for me they were a turning point. They connected abstract theory to real optical benches, and made me realize that quantum mechanics is not just equations on paper — it’s something you can build, measure, and play with.