What's up in
theoretical physics
Latest Articles
Is Perpetual Motion Possible at the Quantum Level?
A new phase of matter called a “time crystal” plays with our expectations of thermodynamics. The physicist Vedika Khemani talks with Steven Strogatz about its surprising quantum behavior.
Wormhole Experiment Called Into Question
Last fall, a team of physicists announced that they had teleported a qubit through a holographic wormhole in a quantum computer. Now another group suggests that’s not quite what happened.
New Proof Distinguishes Mysterious and Powerful ‘Modular Forms’
Using “refreshingly old” tools, mathematicians resolved a 50-year-old conjecture about how to categorize important functions called modular forms, with consequences for number theory and theoretical physics.
Black Holes Will Eventually Destroy All Quantum States, Researchers Argue
New calculations suggest that the event horizons around black holes will ‘decohere’ quantum possibilities — even those that are far away.
How Our Reality May Be a Sum of All Possible Realities
Richard Feynman’s path integral is both a powerful prediction machine and a philosophy about how the world is. But physicists are still struggling to figure out how to use it, and what it means.
How Quantum Physicists ‘Flipped Time’ (and How They Didn’t)
Two teams have made photons act as if time were simultaneously flowing in two directions. The experiments demonstrate a way to potentially boost the performance of quantum devices.
Crucial Computer Program for Particle Physics at Risk of Obsolescence
Maintenance of the software that’s used for the hardest physics calculations rests almost entirely with a retiree. The situation reveals the problematic incentive structure of academia.
Physicists Create a Holographic Wormhole Using a Quantum Computer
The unprecedented experiment explores the possibility that space-time somehow emerges from quantum information.
Why This Universe? A New Calculation Suggests Our Cosmos Is Typical.
Two physicists have calculated that the universe has a higher entropy — and is therefore more likely — than alternative possible universes.