18 September 2025

Hands-on excellence research

Particles that simultaneously change their state despite vast distances between them? Electrons with the properties of both waves and particles? Quantum phenomena are often dramatically different from anything we can experience and imagine. The exhibition “Light and Matter” by the Cluster of Excellence MCQST aims to bring quantum physics closer to real life through hand-on demostrations of application in everyday life.

In this insight article by TUM, you can get a feeling of this special exhibition through the eyes of Paula Garcia-Mochales, studying at TUM for a Master’s in Quantum Science & Technology.

© Andreas Heddergott / TUM

The special exhibition "Light and Matter" was conceived for this very purpose by the Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST), a Cluster of Excellence comprising the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, TUM, and further research institutions as well as the Deutsches Museum. The exhibition presents the history and fundamental principles of quantum physics in the twentieth century, enhanced with various stories of the personalities involved—such as Dr. Alice Golsen. She was the first person to succeed in precisely measuring the radiation pressure of light as a physical quantity in 1923. Despite her achievements, she was denied due recognition for her research during her lifetime. During the National Socialist regime in Germany, Golsen was forced to flee Germany and eventually took her own life in exile. A scenorama of appealingly crafted set-pieces tells this moving story, including an interactive push-button element that shows the setup of her groundbreaking experiment.

Alongside these scenic exhibits, the interactive stations are the most popular with visitors. Here, children and adults alike can explore phenomena such as how the “Paul trap” works, using a simple ping-pong ball that stays in place on a rotating bed. This ion trap enables highly precise analyses of the properties of charged particles to be performed, and is crucial in spectroscopy and the development of quantum computers. Its inventor, Wolfgang Paul, received the 1989 Nobel Prize for Physics.

The researchers at the Cluster and the team at the Deutsches Museum spent almost five years creating the exhibits. “We can only create the individual objects and devise the overall concept for an exhibition of this kind because we have our workshops right here on site. As a result, we can assess very quickly whether a particular idea will repay further work, or whether it is impossible to present in a way that fits the exhibition,” says Katharina Stuhrberg, today’s guide for the group of training course students. She is currently demonstrating an experiment on display called “Atomic Harmonies,” in which the line spectrum of the hydrogen atom is converted into sound. “The line or radiation spectrum of an atom can be explained using quantum physics, and can even be calculated for a hydrogen atom,” she says. “The frequencies of the light waves are in an integer ratio, creating harmonious sounds here in our experiment.”

Read the full article on the TUM website.