Is there a good definition for quantum physics?

Energy is held in tiny amounts, smaller than an atom or a nuetron or a proton. An individual packet of energy is called a quantum. This is the absolute smallest amount of energy. Particles are found to exhibit certain wavelike properties when in motion. This is what I remember from the quantum theory. I remember the show Quantum Leap and this is the means he traveled.. by those microscopic particles. Maybe. ( I took physics years ago)

When people say that something is a "quantum leap" and mean a huge distance, they are wrong. A quantum leap would be about the tiniest distance something could move.

I've never been able to figure out exactly what the TV show meant. I suppose it meant "quantum" in the technical sense -- some kind of wave vibration or something that allowed the hero to travel as he did.

I never did buy the concept of his advisor being able to appear as a hologram. The rest I could believe, within the construct of the show's logic.

Here's a good definition of quantum theory from Quantum Theory:

Quantum theory is the theoretical basis of modern physics that explains the nature and behavior of matter and energy on the atomic and subatomic level. In 1900, physicist Max Planck presented his quantum theory to the German Physical Society. Planck had sought to discover the reason that radiation from a glowing body changes in color from red, to orange, and, finally, to blue as its temperature rises. He found that by making the assumption that energy existed in individual units in the same way that matter does, rather than just as a constant electromagnetic wave - as had been formerly assumed - and was therefore quantifiable, he could find the answer to his question. The existence of these units became the first assumption of quantum theory.

Hey Strider thats it! I knew I'd remember once I saw it. It's funny when when I learned it I knew every detail. I actually got an A in College physics. Outta site, outta mind

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Originally posted by anguilla:
When people say that something is a "quantum leap" and mean a huge distance, they are wrong. A quantum leap would be about the tiniest distance something could move.

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While it may happen, I've never heard anyone use "quantum leap" in the literal sense of a large jump. As a metaphorical jump, it just means an abrupt change (of course from "quantum jump: an abrupt transition [as of an electron, an atom, or a molecule]," Merriam-Webster). Maybe people put in an additional metaphor of large change = large distance, but that doesn't make their usage wrong. It may, however, make them misunderstand the basis of quantum physics.