What's up in
Quantum physics
Latest Articles
In the Quantum World, Even Points of View Are Uncertain
The reference frames from which observers view quantum events can themselves have multiple possible locations at once — an insight with potentially major ramifications.
Physicists Spot Quantum Tornadoes Twirling in a ‘Supersolid’
New observations of microscopic vortices confirm the existence of a paradoxical phase of matter that may also arise inside neutron stars.
It Might Be Possible to Detect Gravitons After All
A new experimental proposal suggests detecting a particle of gravity is far easier than anyone imagined. Now physicists are debating what it would really prove.
‘Quantum Memory’ Proves Exponentially Powerful
Researchers are exploring new ways that quantum computers will be able to reveal the secrets of complex quantum systems.
Physicists Reveal a Quantum Geometry That Exists Outside of Space and Time
A decade after the discovery of the “amplituhedron,” physicists have excavated more of the timeless geometry underlying the standard picture of how particles move.
If the Universe Is a Hologram, This Long-Forgotten Math Could Decode It
A 1930s-era breakthrough is helping physicists understand how quantum threads could weave together into a holographic space-time fabric.
John Wheeler Saw the Tear in Reality
Until his dying days, the giant of 20th-century physics obsessed over the underpinnings of space and time, and how we can all share the same version of them.
The Unraveling of Space-Time
This special issue of Quanta Magazine explores the ultimate scientific quest: the search for the fundamental nature of reality.
Can Thermodynamics Go Quantum?
The Industrial Revolution brought us the laws of thermodynamics, and new ideas about work, energy and efficiency. In this episode, co-host Steven Strogatz speaks with theoretical physicist Nicole Yunger Halpern about what these concepts might mean in the age of quantum mechanics.