Conceptual understanding of quantum physics across varying levels of expertise

Conceptual understanding in quantum physics acts as a bridge between the abstract mathematical framework and the physical reality it describes, fostering intuition, guiding research, and enabling communication.Although, accurately pinpointing or describing an individual's conceptual understanding is challenging, language, imagery, and gestures could offer a proxy, as is suggested by Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT).A core idea in CMT is that we understand abstract concepts by relating them to concrete physical experiences or familiar knowledge via metaphors, images, or actions.Adopting a CMT perspective, this poster explores how individuals, across varying levels of expertise, express a conceptual understanding of quantum physics.Through classroom observations, focus groups, and interviews with expert-physicists, physics teachers, and students, recurring metaphorical mappings within the field of quantum physics were identified.The findings revealed increasingly interconnected metaphorical structures with greater expertise: experts demonstrated richer, integrated networks of metaphors, while novices showed fragmented and less developed conceptualizations.