Cutting-edge theories of physics suggest time may not be real – but even if they’re right, life can still go on as usual.
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Articles on Quantum mechanics
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Scientists have come up with a number of theories about the multiverse.
Like a coffee you can’t finish stirring, a ‘time crystal’ is a strange quantum state of matter than never settles down to equilibrium.
The quantum nature of light can be harnessed for a variety of purposes.
‘Reality, including ourselves, is nothing but a thin and fragile veil’: a new interpretation of quantum physics says objects have no independent existence.
The world’s biggest gravitational wave observatory is now probing the limits of quantum mechanics.
Quantum microscopes reveal biological structures that would otherwise be impossible to see.
A small add-on to existing gravitational wave detectors could reveal what happens to matter as it becomes a black hole, a process like the big bang in reverse.
Researchers have found a way to speed up the search for dark matter using technology from quantum computing. By squeezing quantum noise, detectors can now look for axions twice as fast.
Quantum mechanics is strange. A philosopher explains just how strange, and what it means for reality.
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.
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.
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Quantum machine learning is an exciting, rapidly growing field.
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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Emeritus Professor, ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery, OzGrav, The University of Western Australia
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Lecturer, Newcastle University
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Professor, UNSW Sydney
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Associate professor, Australian Catholic University
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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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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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UQ Amplify Lecturer, The University of Queensland
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Professor of Quantum Physics and Quantum Technology, University of Sydney
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Professor of Astrophysics, University of Sydney
