Where does jump collide?

In Bohr's 1913 On the constitution of atoms and molecules, an electron in an atom occupies only certain allowed energy states and moves between them not gradually but in a single abrupt step, absorbing or emitting a fixed quantum of energy as it does so. This discontinuous change of state, later formalised within quantum mechanics, is what physicists call a quantum jump: the system is in one discrete level, then in another, with no measurable stage in between. The referent is a transition of a physical system across quantised energy levels, and it has nothing to do with a mobile stretch of DNA, a break in a financial price, or a person's reasoning.[1]

Unit

A single transition between two quantised energy levels of a system

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Inferred from discrete spectral lines and, in modern work, watched directly in single trapped atoms or ions

Barbara McClintock's 1950 The origin and behavior of mutable loci in maize reported that certain genetic elements in corn do not stay fixed on the chromosome but can move to new positions, switching nearby genes on or off as they relocate. These mobile elements, later called transposons and known popularly as jumping genes, are segments of DNA that change their own location within the genome. The referent is a piece of heritable material that physically moves between sites in a cell's DNA, unrelated to an electron's leap between energy levels, a break in a market price, or a leap in human reasoning.[2]

Unit

One transposable element and the site it moves to within the genome

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Mapped by genetic crosses and by DNA sequencing that locates where an element has inserted

Robert Merton's 1976 Option pricing when underlying stock returns are discontinuous modelled asset prices as moving in two ways at once: a smooth continuous drift plus occasional sudden jumps that arrive at random times and shift the price by a discrete amount. In this jump-diffusion picture, a jump is an instantaneous break in an otherwise continuous price path, standing in for the effect of unexpected news. The referent is a discontinuity in a mathematical model of prices over time, and it is distinct from an electron changing energy state, a gene relocating in a genome, or a mind settling on a conclusion.[3]

Unit

A single discrete break in a modelled price path, by size and arrival time

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Estimated from returns data by separating rare large moves from continuous variation

Huq, Garety, and Hemsley's 1988 Probabilistic Judgements in Deluded and Non-Deluded Subjects used a task in which people draw coloured beads one at a time and decide when they have seen enough to say which of two jars the beads came from. Some people ask for very few draws before committing, a pattern researchers labelled jumping to conclusions: reaching a firm decision on the basis of limited evidence. The referent is a measurable feature of how a person gathers and weighs information before deciding, and it bears no relation to an electron's energy transition, a mobile gene, or a discontinuity in a price series.[4]

Unit

The number of pieces of evidence a person requests before deciding

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Assessed by the draws-to-decision count on the beads task and related probabilistic reasoning tasks