For 60 years, physicists thought they knew exactly how coherent a laser could get. Now the ultimate quantum limit to laser coherence has been found, and it's much much bigger than anybody thought.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Quantum mechanics
Displaying 1 - 20 of 73 articles
We identify an experimental method which could finally reveal whether objects much larger than atoms - such as humans or animals - can exist in several places at once.
A new twist on an old experiment reveals several common-sense ideas about reality can't all be true.
Nobody expected that allowing more communication would make computational problems more reliable.
Physicists can use bright, hot lasers to slow atoms down so much that they measure -459 degrees Fahrenheit.
If every action spilts the universe into different versions, what does that mean for free will?
If it's impossible to accurately predict the future then there may be limits to how smart artificial intelligence can become.
A quantum experiment raises deeply philosophical questions about the fundamental nature of reality.
Manufacturing quantum computers would be a lot easier with existing technology than the exotic components currently used to build them.
CC BY-NC-ND4.87 MB (download)
Quantum machine learning is an exciting, rapidly growing field.
Heisenberg's famous Uncertainty Principle is put to the test to see if things really are uncertain in the quantum world.
Most people are familiar with lasers. But what about a laser made with sound rather than light? A couple of physicists have now created one that they plan to use for measuring imperceivable forces.
Quantum machine learning is an exciting and rapidly growing field.
Things get weird at the quantum level and now we know they can happen really fast when a particle pushes through an almost insurmountable barrier.
The discovery and development of optical tweezers won the 2018 Nobel Prize in physics. Now physicists are using this tool to crack some of the fundamental questions behind how the universe works.
CC BY-ND39.8 MB (download)
A podcast all about nothing. From the importance of doing nothing to the ill-effects of time spent in solitary confinement and what nothing means in space.
Physicists have designed an electrical component that breaks time-reversal symmetry. Not quite the time machine from Hollywood but it should help with communication technology and quantum computing.
The explainer episode.
The Conversation, CC BY67.5 MB (download)
Today on Trust me, I'm An Expert, we're explaining the tricky topics: what is quantum mechanics? What does the research say about lone actor terrorism? And why do people like pimple popping videos?
A particle physicist explains just what this keystone theory includes. After 50 years, it's the best we've got to answer what everything in the universe is made of and how it all holds together.
CC BY-ND40.5 MB (download)
A podcast on intuition: from how it works in the body, to how to harness it, and the story of two scientists who followed a hunch – about quantum biology.
Top contributors
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Howard Wiseman is a Friend of The Conversation.Director, Centre for Quantum Dynamics, Griffith University
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Lecturer, Newcastle University
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Professor, UNSW
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Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Griffith University
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Post Doctoral Research Associate, Centre for the Subatomic Structure of Matter, University of Adelaide
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Emeritus Professor, ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery, OzGrav, University of Western Australia
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Professor in Physics, Griffith University
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Associate Professor (ARC Future Fellow), Griffith University
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Professor and Director of the Lancaster Quantum Technology Centre, Lancaster University
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Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology
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Associate Professor of Quantum Optics & Quantum Physics, University of Rochester
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Associate professor, Australian Catholic University
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Professor of Quantum Physics and Quantum Technology, University of Sydney
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Professor of Astrophysics, University of Sydney
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ARC Laureate Fellow, Swinburne University of Technology
