Ever since cinema enthusiasts got to watch Christopher Nolan’s film, Oppenheimer, the world has been hooked. While the movie might be getting its recognition at the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs, everyone is waiting for the day it will bag an Oscar. Although that day might not be too far away, it looks like there are still a few questions surrounding the scientific concepts that were added to the biographical tale.

The film might have come out last year. However, here is everything to know about the concepts used in Cillian Murphy’s big break blockbuster.

Scientific concepts from Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer might have earned him his first-ever BAFTA. However, with many scientific jargon used, a lot of things may have gone over the viewers’ heads. Thankfully, with the digital release done way back in November, fans now have the chance to rewatch it anytime they want and get a better understanding of the concepts used in the film.

Quantum Mechanics

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer was filled with so many complex science terms that went over people’s heads. Thankfully, there were scenes in the film that ended up explaining some of those concepts. One of those scenes took place with Cillian Murphy’s character and Emily Blunt’s character, Kitty. When the two of them meet in the movie, the creative mind behind the Manhattan Project explained quantum mechanics to his future wife.

Murphy’s character explained it to Blunt by telling her that everything that existed was composed of individual atoms. He also added that these atoms were strung together by forces that made matter solid to human eyes. However, that was not the case.

The rest of the film showed viewers that quantum mechanics explains how small objects simultaneously have the characteristics of both particles and waves. It was the key concept that the entire project was based on.

Nuclear Fission vs Fusion

Throughout Cillian Murphy’s Oppenheimer, two terms kept coming up over and over again. They were nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. While both of them are key components of nuclear technology, the two processes are very different from each other. In 1938, two radiochemists named Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman, alongside physicist Lise Meitner, discovered the former while they were testing theories in Berlin.

They found out that fission occurred when neutrons slammed into an atom, splitting its nucleus in half. Meanwhile, fusion took place when two atoms slammed into one another and formed one heavier atom. This was the process behind Oppenheimer’s atomic bomb because the act of splitting an atom could release a large amount of energy, and could be accomplished by using either plutonium or uranium.

New Physics

New Physics played a big part in Oppenheimer’s pursuit of creating an atomic bomb. While the term has a rather broad explanation, it had been used to describe the rapid discoveries that were made by various practicing physicists in physics back in the mid-to-late 20th century.

Although new physics may not have been directly helpful to J. Robert Oppenheimer, it did help him with the task he had at hand. It also ended up providing him with the tools he needed like the calutron and even helped him gather more knowledge about nuclear fission and fusion.

Over the years, these new physics ideas have often emerged when scientists encounter phenomena that they cannot find a way to explain with the existing theories in their arsenal.

Radioactivity

In the film Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy’s work did not focus on radioactivity. Instead, it was built based on nuclear physics, particularly in developing the atomic bomb during the Manhattan Project. However, radioactivity still ended up playing a rather significant role in the broader field of nuclear physics. Thankfully for him, it worked in the scientist’s favor.

According to Marie Curie, Ernest Rutherford, and Henri Becquerel, this phenomenon can be considered a natural process where certain atoms are unstable and end up breaking apart. After the split happens, the atoms will emit particles or energy in the process, which can be rather dangerous.

Do you understand the scientific concepts used in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer better now? Let us know in the comments below.