quantum physics – Quanta Magazine https://www.quantamagazine.org Illuminating science Mon, 16 Sep 2024 14:10:47 -0400 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2 Can Thermodynamics Go Quantum? https://www.quantamagazine.org/can-thermodynamics-go-quantum-20240912/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/can-thermodynamics-go-quantum-20240912/#respond Thu, 12 Sep 2024 13:43:17 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=140647 The post Can Thermodynamics Go Quantum? first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> The principles of thermodynamics are cornerstones of our understanding of physics. But they were discovered in the era of steam-driven technology, long before anyone dreamed of quantum mechanics. In this episode, the theoretical physicist Nicole Yunger Halpern talks to host Steven Strogatz about how physicists today are reinterpreting concepts such as work, energy and information for a quantum...

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]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/can-thermodynamics-go-quantum-20240912/feed/ 0 Computer Scientists Prove That Heat Destroys Quantum Entanglement https://www.quantamagazine.org/computer-scientists-prove-that-heat-destroys-entanglement-20240828/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/computer-scientists-prove-that-heat-destroys-entanglement-20240828/#respond Wed, 28 Aug 2024 14:09:05 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=140110 The post Computer Scientists Prove That Heat Destroys Quantum Entanglement first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> Nearly a century ago, the physicist Erwin Schrödinger called attention to a quirk of the quantum world that has fascinated and vexed researchers ever since. When quantum particles such as atoms interact, they shed their individual identities in favor of a collective state that’s greater, and weirder, than the sum of its parts. This phenomenon is called entanglement. Researchers have a firm...

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]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/computer-scientists-prove-that-heat-destroys-entanglement-20240828/feed/ 0 Physicists Pinpoint the Quantum Origin of the Greenhouse Effect https://www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-pinpoint-the-quantum-origin-of-the-greenhouse-effect-20240807/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-pinpoint-the-quantum-origin-of-the-greenhouse-effect-20240807/#respond Wed, 07 Aug 2024 14:25:32 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=139592 The post Physicists Pinpoint the Quantum Origin of the Greenhouse Effect first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> In 1896, the Swedish physicist Svante Arrhenius realized that carbon dioxide (CO2) traps heat in Earth’s atmosphere — the phenomenon now called the greenhouse effect. Since then, increasingly sophisticated modern climate models have verified Arrhenius’ central conclusion: that every time the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere doubles, Earth’s temperature will rise between 2 and 5 degrees Celsius.

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]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-pinpoint-the-quantum-origin-of-the-greenhouse-effect-20240807/feed/ 0 ‘Metaphysical Experiments’ Probe Our Hidden Assumptions About Reality https://www.quantamagazine.org/metaphysical-experiments-test-hidden-assumptions-about-reality-20240730/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/metaphysical-experiments-test-hidden-assumptions-about-reality-20240730/#respond Tue, 30 Jul 2024 14:40:10 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=139377 The post ‘Metaphysical Experiments’ Probe Our Hidden Assumptions About Reality first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that deals in the deep scaffolding of the world: the nature of space, time, causation and existence, the foundations of reality itself. It’s generally considered untestable, since metaphysical assumptions underlie all our efforts to conduct tests and interpret results. Those assumptions usually go unspoken. Most of the time, that’s fine.

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]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/metaphysical-experiments-test-hidden-assumptions-about-reality-20240730/feed/ 0 Vacuum of Space to Decay Sooner Than Expected (but Still Not Soon) https://www.quantamagazine.org/vacuum-of-space-to-decay-sooner-than-expected-but-still-not-soon-20240722/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/vacuum-of-space-to-decay-sooner-than-expected-but-still-not-soon-20240722/#respond Mon, 22 Jul 2024 13:45:36 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=139255 The post Vacuum of Space to Decay Sooner Than Expected (but Still Not Soon) first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> Vacuum decay, a process that could end the universe as we know it, may happen 10,000 times sooner than expected. Fortunately, it still won’t happen for a very, very long time. When physicists speak of “the vacuum,” the term sounds as though it refers to empty space, and in a sense it does. More specifically, it refers to a set of defaults, like settings on a control board. When the quantum fields...

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