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Quantum physics

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Beyond the Second Law

March 31, 2022

Thanks to the power of fluctuation relations, physicists are taking the second law of thermodynamics to settings once thought impossible.

Massive Black Holes Shown to Act Like Quantum Particles

March 29, 2022

Physicists are using quantum math to understand what happens when black holes collide. In a surprise, they’ve shown that a single particle can describe a collision’s entire gravitational wave.

Quantum Complexity Tamed by Machine Learning

February 7, 2022

If only scientists understood exactly how electrons act in molecules, they’d be able to predict the behavior of everything from experimental drugs to high-temperature superconductors. Following decades of physics-based insights, artificial intelligence systems are taking the next leap.

How the Physics of Resonance Shapes Reality

January 26, 2022

The same phenomenon by which an opera singer can shatter a wineglass also underlies the very existence of subatomic particles.

Quantum Simulators Create a Totally New Phase of Matter

December 2, 2021

One of the first goals of quantum computing has been to recreate bizarre quantum systems that can’t be studied in an ordinary computer. A dark-horse quantum simulator has now done just that.

The Algorithm That Lets Particle Physicists Count Higher Than Two

November 22, 2021

Through his encyclopedic study of the electron, an obscure figure named Stefano Laporta found a handle on the subatomic world’s fearsome complexity. His algorithm has swept the field.

An Ultra-Precise Clock Links the Quantum World With Gravity

October 25, 2021

Time was found to flow differently between the top and bottom of a single cloud of atoms. Physicists hope that such a system will one day help them combine quantum mechanics and Einstein’s theory of gravity.

‘Impossible’ Particle Discovery Adds Key Piece to the Strong Force Puzzle

September 27, 2021

The unexpected discovery of the double-charm tetraquark has given physicists a new tool with which to hone their understanding of the strongest of nature’s fundamental forces.

One Lab’s Quest to Build Space-Time Out of Quantum Particles

September 7, 2021

For over two decades, physicists have pondered how the fabric of space-time may emerge from some kind of quantum entanglement. In Monika Schleier-Smith’s lab at Stanford University, the thought experiment is becoming real.

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