Theory

Foundations

  1. Energy quantization Max Planck (1900) Blackbody radiation
  2. Light quanta Albert Einstein (1905) Photoelectric effect; wave-particle duality
  3. Quantized atomic orbits Niels Bohr (1913) Old quantum theory
  4. Matter waves Louis de Broglie (1924) Wave-particle duality for particles

Core quantum mechanics

  1. Matrix mechanics Werner Heisenberg (1925) Observable-first formalism
  2. Exclusion principle Wolfgang Pauli (1925)
  3. Wave mechanics Erwin Schrödinger (1926) Schrödinger equation
  4. Probabilistic interpretation Max Born (1926) Wavefunction squared as probability
  5. Uncertainty principle Werner Heisenberg (1927)
  6. General quantum formalism Paul Dirac (1927) Bra-ket notation
  7. Hilbert space formulation John von Neumann (1932) Measurement theory

Interpretations

  1. Copenhagen interpretation Niels Bohr; Werner Heisenberg (1920s-1930s) Family of views
  2. Many-worlds interpretation Hugh Everett (1957)
  3. Pilot-wave theory Louis de Broglie; David Bohm (1927; 1952) Deterministic hidden variables
  4. Objective collapse theories Ghirardi; Rimini; Weber; Roger Penrose (1980s-present)

Relativistic quantum theory & Quantum Field Theory

  1. Relativistic electron equation Paul Dirac (1928) Predicts antimatter
  2. Quantum electrodynamics Tomonaga; Schwinger; Feynman; Dyson (1940s) Relativistic QFT of electromagnetism
  3. Renormalization Freeman Dyson; Gell-Mann; Low (1949-1954) Renormalization group

Many-body and condensed matter

  1. Fermi liquid theory Lev Landau (1930s-1950s) Superfluidity
  2. Bethe ansatz Hans Bethe (1931) Exact solutions in many-body systems
  3. BCS theory Bardeen; Cooper; Schrieffer (1957) Superconductivity

The Standard Model

  1. Quark model Murray Gell-Mann; George Zweig (1964)
  2. Higgs mechanism Peter Higgs; François Englert; Robert Brout (1964) Mass generation
  3. Electroweak theory Weinberg; Salam; Glashow (1967-1968)
  4. Quantum chromodynamics Gross; Wilczek; Politzer (1970s) Strong interaction
  5. Standard Model Particle physics community (1970s) Unified gauge theory

Quantum gravity

  1. Quantum field theory in curved spacetime Stephen Hawking (1970s) Black hole radiation
  2. Canonical quantum gravity John Wheeler; Bryce DeWitt (1960s-1970s) Wheeler-DeWitt equation
  3. Loop quantum gravity Carlo Rovelli; Lee Smolin (1990s)
  4. String theory Multiple authors (1960s-present) Origin in hadron physics

Holography and dualities

  1. Holographic principle Gerard ‘t Hooft; Leonard Susskind (1993-1995)
  2. AdS/CFT correspondence Juan Maldacena (1997) Gauge gravity duality

Modern quantum science

  1. Quantum information theory Multiple authors (1980s-present) Entanglement as a resource
  2. Quantum computation Richard Feynman; David Deutsch (1982-1996) Computational model
  3. Quantum algorithms Peter Shor; Lov Grover (1994-1996)
  4. Topological phases of matter Robert Laughlin; Xiao-Gang Wen (1980s-1990s)
  5. Quantum Hall effects Multiple authors (1980s-present) Anyons
  6. Quantum simulation Multiple authors (1990s-present) Cold atoms; trapped ions
  7. Quantum cryptography Charles Bennett; Gilles Brassard (1984)

Quantum cosmology

  1. Wheeler-DeWitt equation John Wheeler; Bryce DeWitt (1967)
  2. Hartle-Hawking state James Hartle; Stephen Hawking (1983) No boundary proposal