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quantization

American  
[kwahnt-ahy-zay-shuhn, -uh-zay-shuhn] / ˌkwɑnt aɪˈzeɪ ʃən, -əˈzeɪ ʃən /

noun

  • quantizations
    plural
  1. Mathematics. the restriction of a variable quantity to discrete values rather than to a continuous set of values.

  2. Physics. the process of changing the description of a physical system from classical to quantum-mechanical, usually resulting in discrete values for observable quantities, such as energy or angular momentum.


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See Examples For:

"This is the approach used by people like Dirac, Schrödinger and Wheeler. It's just good, old-fashioned quantization."

From Science Daily Jun. 19, 2026

While high-dimensional vectors can be compressed through vector quantization, that technique comes with its own memory issues as it requires calculating and storing additional data, “partially defeating the purpose of vector quantization,” Google said.

From MarketWatch Mar. 25, 2026

The theory explained why electrons inside atoms occupy only certain allowed energy levels, a phenomenon known as quantization.

From Science Daily Mar. 10, 2026

At low frequencies, EM waves are generally treated as time- and position-varying electric and magnetic fields with no discernible quantization.

From Textbooks Aug. 12, 2015

This is exactly consistent with Planck’s quantization of energy levels in blackbody oscillators, since these oscillators increase and decrease their energy in steps of hf by absorbing and emitting photons having E = hf .

From Textbooks Aug. 12, 2015

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