According to
quantum mechanics, every
atom is like a miniature solar system, with the
nucleus in place of the sun and
electrons in place of planets orbiting the nucleus. According to
Niels Bohr, electrons revolve around the atomic nucleus along particular and fixed
orbits.
KEY:
* = electrons (within orbit)
@ = nucleus (protons & neutrons)
_________
/ \
/ _____ \
| / \ |
* | @ * | A HTML representation of an atom
| \_____/ | --------------------------------
\ /
\_________/
If we bombard an atom with
energy we may
'excite' it's electrons to jump from one orbit to another, but they can never be made to reside somewhere in between. In fact, they can't even be said to
exist in between. They disappear from one orbit and appear at another. Once we remove such external stimuli, the electrons will
jump back to their original orbits releasing energy in the process.
This is the famous
quantum leap, and was first described by Bohr in 1913. When an electron jumps from an outer orbit into an inner one, energy is released in the form of a
quantum of light called a
photon. The abruptness of the change in energy, and the fact that electrons jump instantly from one position to another nonadjacent one, without actually passing physically in between, explains the common use of
'quantum leap' to mean
'radical and sudden change of circumstances'. To my knowledge physicists prefer the term
quantum jump when describing this theory.
The problem with Bohr's theory is that, while it does account for a variety of observed phenomena, it can never be proved through observation. What I mean to say by that, is that you can't put an atom under a microscope and watch it's electrons jumping orbit.
Because of this reason a number of rival methods and theories sprang up in response to Bohr's research but since they don't belong in this node, I shall speak of them elsewhere...
Well I hope that this loosely explains the analogy of how Samuel Beckett supposedly jumped around from one universe to another!