To help as many people as possible discover the thrill of tackling our most fundamental realities, we’re making seven of our most popular in-depth articles on quantum mysteries available for free until June 11th.
Whether you simply want to understand the fundamentals of quantum theory or question your most cherished assumptions about what is actually real, click here to register as a newscientist.com user and access these premium You can unlock free access to articles.
A beginner’s guide to the quantum world
The “classical” world we see and experience stems from the world of elementary particles, all of which are governed by quantum theory. This is the most basic thing in the universe, and its notoriously weirdness may seem a little disconcerting. Fear not! This exclusive package invites you on a whistle-stop tour of known particles and forces. The laws and phenomena that have earned quantum physics a reputation for being strange. A hypothetical particle that would solve some of physics’ greatest mysteries. And the wildest idea of what lurks in the deeper layers of reality.I promise that It’s more thrilling and less confusing than you might think.
Does reality exist without us?
According to quantum theory, you can’t tell if something is here or there, or this or there, until you see it. For example, particles take on definite properties only when they are “measured”. But what about bigger things? This narrative looks at a series of experiments that explore the blurred boundaries between the quantum and ‘classical’ worlds by checking whether macroscopic objects exhibit quantum behavior. The stakes are high. For this work may prove once and for all that it is wrong to think that things exist whether we see them or not.
Challenging the greatest mystery of quantum theory
This idea that things become ‘real’ to the point of being recognizable only when observed or measured seems completely insane, but most physicists expressed philosophical concerns about it long ago. is swallowed by The math works, so as they say, just shut up and do the math. But what happened before there was a conscious observer distilling quantum fog? There are alternative explanations for understanding cosmological mysteries, from how halls work to why time only flows in one direction.
A new and even stranger twist on Schrödinger’s cat
According to Erwin Schrödinger’s famous thought experiment, a cat trapped in a box containing Gavin, which can kill cats, is both dead and alive until the box is opened. will be It was devised to explain the absurdity of quantum theory’s assertion that things only become real when we observe them. Even though most people moved on, the anxiety never went away. But a few years ago, physicists came up with a new version of Schrödinger’s cat. It spits out an even more troubling paradox than the original, a paradox that seemingly undermines the notion of absolute, objective truth. meow!
After all, why can everything ever be predetermined
What happens when a probabilistic quantum fuzz appears as something definite? , is ruled by chance. However, as this provocative story makes clear, some physicists believe that the quantum world is deterministic after all, and that its apparent randomness is only visible from our limited perspective. I think it’s nothing more than a product. This “hyperdeterminism” is, as you will see, very controversial and well worth your time.
How the Tangle of Time Takes Us to the Center of a Black Hole
Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon in which two particles far apart seem to influence each other even though they have no way of communicating. But what if entanglements develop over time and particles can be affected by future events? He explains how the suggestive experiment inspired him and his colleagues to fundamentally rethink time in the quantum realm. In doing so, he says, we will finally be able to reconcile Albert Einstein’s theory of gravity and quantum theory, and figure out what’s going on at the center of the black hole where the two theories are supposed to merge.
Quantum theory, but even stranger
Einstein called quantum entanglement “an eerie effect at a distance,” but it’s not the only hauntingly bizarre feature of the subatomic world. To understand why things are so strange, physicists have long explored the foundations of quantum theory. And in recent years, they’ve come up with a new version that looks even stranger than the original theory. As we explain in this story, potential successors match up with everything we already know, but also predict extreme versions of tangles that further insult our intuition. increase. It also happens to boast a mathematical structure that underpins one of his candidates for the enigmatic theory of quantum gravity. And believe it or not, we’re about to test it.
topic: