Category Archives: Quantum Physics

National Post

It's widely abused as a buzzword. But can quantum mechanics explain how we think? National Post But deterministic physics is outdated. The core of quantum mechanics is that there is not much certain at the subatomic level. Everything is more or less potential, probabilistic, at least until you observe and measure it. Then, the various ...

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It's widely abused as a buzzword. But can quantum mechanics explain how we think? - National Post

Quantum physics is oppressive, according to a feminist scholar, because it promotes binary and absolute differences. This makes it hierarchical and exploitative. As such, it is part of the system that enables oppression.

This is an example of the anti-intellectualism and Stalinism that is plaguing the academic world. Stalinist because it subjects all knowledge and cultureincluding scientific findingsto a political critique. It then seeks to silence and punish scientists, artists, and intellectuals who do not conform to the Marxist, or, in this case, post-Marxist worldview.

But it raises another issue. The scholar contends, in effect, that the structure of natureas physicists have studied itteaches that there are binary differences. For example, positive and negative charges, which she contends encourages people to think in terms of male and female.

She believes that conclusions drawn from nature should be suppressed in the name of social causes.She thinks we should replace quantum physics with what she calls quantum feminisms.

But what if society, culture, and human beings are tied to nature? Maybe nature really has binary differences and this is why society and the human mind also have them. This is part of what classical thinkers mean by natural law, that human social and moral life are not arbitrary or humanly-made constructions; rather, they are connected to nature; that is, to reality.

From Katherine Timpf,Quantum Physics: Oppressive to Marginalized People | National Review:

A feminist scholar has published a paper claiming that quantum physics is oppressive and that we must use quantum feminisms to make the science more intersectional.

In a paper for The Minnesota Review, culture and gender-studies researcher Whitney Stark argues that physics is oppressive because it has separated beings based on their binary and absolute differences a structure that she calls hierarchical and exploitative and the same kind of system is embedded in many structures of classification, making it part of the apparatus that enables oppression.

Stark explains: This structural thinking of individualized separatism with binary and absolute differences as the basis for how the universe works seeped into/poured over/ is embedded in many structures of classification, which understand similarity and difference in the world, imposed in many hierarchical and exploitative organizational structures, whether through gender, life/nonlife, national borders, and so on.

According to Stark, the tendency to categorize in this way particularly hurts marginalized people because it can cause the activist efforts of minority groups to be overshadowed by the efforts of dominant groups

[Keep reading. . .]

Illustration: Propaganda Poster of Joseph Stalin (1941), from the collection of the National Archives UK Marshall Stalin, No restrictions, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20461157

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Quantum physics is oppressive - Patheos - Patheos (blog)

June 1, 2017 Dr. Piotr Bernatowicz from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw and Prof. Slawomir Szymanski from the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the PAS have predicted and observed that quantum phenomena can mimic classical rotations of atomic groups in molecules. Credit: IPC PAS, Grzegorz Krzyzewski

In molecules, there are certain groups of atoms that are able to rotate. This movement occurs under the influence of random stimuli from the environment, and is not continuous, but occurs in jumps. It is generally believed that such jumps occur in a manner that is typical of classical objects, such as a fan blade prodded by a finger. Chemists from the institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw have, however, observed rotations that follow the non-intuitive rules of the quantum world. It turns out that under the appropriate conditions, quantum rotations can very well mimic normal, classical rotation.

Professor Slawomir Szymanski from the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IOC PAS) in Warsaw is certain that much more exotic and non-intuitive phenomena of a quantum nature are responsible for some of the effects observed in molecules. For years, he has been developing a quantum model of the jump rotations of whole groups of atoms in molecules. The theoretical work of Prof. Szymanski has just found further confirmation in experiments conducted at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the PAS (IPC PAS) by a group led by Dr. Piotr Bernatowicz, and described in the Journal of Chemical Physics.

"In chemistry, quantum mechanics is used almost exclusively to describe the motion of tiny electrons. Atomic nuclei, even those as simple as the single-proton nucleus of hydrogen, are considered too large and massive to be subject to quantum effects. In our work, we prove that this convenient but very simplistic view must finally begin to change, at least in relation to certain situations," says Prof. Szymanski.

Prof. Szymanski's quantum rotation model describes the rotation of atomic groups composed of identical elements, e.g. hydrogen atoms. The latest publication, completed in cooperation with Dr. Bernatowicz's group, concerns CH3 methyl groups. In their structure, these groups are reminiscent of tiny propellers. There are three hydrogen atoms around the carbon atom spaced at equal intervals. It has been known for a long time that the methyl groups connected by a carbon atom to the molecules can make rotational jumps. All the hydrogen atoms can simultaneously rotate 120 degrees around the carbon. These rotations have always been treated as a classic phenomenon in which hydrogen 'balls' simply jump into the adjacent 'wells' that have just been vacated by their neighbours.

"Using nuclear magnetic resonance, we carried out difficult but precise measurements on powders of single crystals of triphenylethane, a compound of molecules each containing one methyl group. The results leave no room for doubt. The shapes of the curves we recorded, so-called powder resonance spectra, can only be explained by the assumption that quantum phenomena are responsible for the rotations of the methyl groups," says Dr. Bernatowicz.

The measurements of the rotation of the methyl groups by nuclear magnetic resonance required precise control of the temperature of the powdered substances. This is because the quantum nature of the rotation only becomes clearly visible in a narrow temperature range. When the temperature is too low, the rotation stops, and when it is too high, the quantum rotations become indistinguishable from the classical ones. The temperatures of experiments at the IPC PAS, in which the quantum nature of the rotations was clearly visible, ranged from 99 to 111 Kelvin.

A new picture of chemical reality emerges from this research. The CH3 group in the molecule is no longer a simple rotor composed of a carbon core and three rigidly attached hydrogen atoms. Its actual nature is differentno hydrogen atom occupies a separate position in space. What's more, each of them continually mixes in a quantum manner with the other two. Under the right conditions, the methyl group, although constructed of many atoms, turns out to be a single, coherent quantum entity that does not resemble any object known to us from the everyday world.

A description of classical atomic rotator motion can be constructed using one constant measuring the average frequency of its jumps. It turns out that in the quantum model, there must be two such constants and they depend on the temperature. When the temperature rises, both constants take on a similar value and the rotations of the methyl group begin to resemble classical rotations.

"In our measurements, we really observed the gradual transformation of the quantum rotations of the methyl groups into rotations difficult to distinguish from the classical ones. This effect should be appropriately understood. Quantum phenomena did not cease to function, but in a certain way imitated classical jumps," explains Dr. Bernatowicz.

Scientists from the IPC PAS and IOC PAS had already confirmed the correctness of the quantum rotation model in experiments with methyl groups (among others in molecules of dimethyl triptycene, where these effects were accompanied by dynamic changes in the crystal lattice). However, predictions concerning the rotations of a much more complex atomic structure, the C6H6 benzene ring, await experimental verification.

"Our research is of a basic nature, and it is difficult to talk here immediately about specific applications," notes Prof. Szymanski, adding, "It is worth emphasizing, however, that quantum effects are considered to be extremely sensitive to the environment. Chemists and physicists assume that in very dense environments, they are destroyed by the thermal movements of the surroundings. We observe quantum effects at relatively high temperatures, in addition in condensed environments: liquids and crystals. The results we obtain should therefore be a warning to chemists or physicists who like oversimplified interpretations."

The imitation of classical physics by quantum phenomena, in addition in a dense and relatively warm environment, is a surprising effect that should draw the attention of, among others, the constructors of nanomachines. By designing smaller molecular devices, they may unwittingly move from the world of classical physics to the world of quantum phenomena. Under new conditions, the operation of nanomachines could suddenly stop being predictable.

Explore further: Exotic quantum effects can govern the chemistry around us

More information: Agnieszka Osior et al, Nonclassical dynamics of the methyl group in 1,1,1-triphenylethane. Evidencefrom powderH NMR spectra, The Journal of Chemical Physics (2017). DOI: 10.1063/1.4978226

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In atomic propellers, quantum phenomena can mimic everyday ... - Phys.Org

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Researcher Whitney Stark of the University of Arizonas Institute for LGBT Studies claims to have invented a new form of physics, intersectional quantum physics, that combats the alleged bigotries of classical science.

Intersectionality and quantum physics can provide for differing perspectives on organizing practices long used by marginalized people, for enabling apparatuses that allow for new possibilities of safer spaces, and for practices of accountability, she writes in the abstract for her paper, Assembled Bodies: Reconfiguring Quantum Identities.

Inside the paper, Stark argues that the advent of quantum feminisms will allow for an anti-oppressive transformation in the sciences.

I refer to these allying strategies as a constellatory body called quantum feminisms Hopefully, this locating-as-body can enflame some political closenesses that help shift apparatuses, allowing for energy, time, love, concentration to disperse and gather differently. That is, serve as a decent coalition, a relevant apparatus enabling conditions possible for thinking/mattering innovative transformative antioppression practices and helpful semantic/teleological tools and for checking the political salience of structures in work toward accountable, anti-oppressive transformation. I hope to unpack and highlight connectivities in which these quantum feminist posthuman tools can be explicitly relevant to anti-oppression struggles.

The research was published inthe Minnesota Review, a literary magazine published by the Duke University Press that describes itself as a publication that publishes contemporary poetry and fiction as well as reviews, critical commentary, and interviews of leading intellectual figures, the Minnesota Reviewcurates smart, accessible collections of progressive new work.

This follows a recent trend of feminism creeping into other academic disciplines. At the University of Wisconsin, a class that combines neurobiology and feminism was praised in the schools student newspaper. A research paper published in a peer-reviewed journal argued that Womens Studies departments should act as a virus that infiltrates other departments with its ideology.

Tom Ciccotta is a libertarian who writes about economics and higher education for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @tciccotta or email him at tciccotta@breitbart.com

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University of Arizona Scholar Creates a Feminist Brand of Physics to ... - Breitbart News

According to a feminist academic working with the University of Arizona, Newtonian physics is oppressive, and physics needs a new theoryto combat it the theory of "intersectional quantum physics." In a journal published by Duke University Press, she used academic jargon to deconstruct not just physics but basic logic in the service of fighting "oppression."

"The idea of the body (whether biological, social, or of work) is not stagnant, and new materialist feminisms help to recognize how multiple phenomena work together to behave in what can become legible at any given moment as a body," wrote Whitney Stark, a researcher in culture and gender studies at Utrecht University in the Netherlands with ties to U.S. colleges.

Newtonian physics is fundamentally oppressive becauseit defines what the word "body" means. No joke: In her paper, Stark identified "Newtonian physics" as a culprit behind oppression, because it has "separated beings" based on their "binary and absolute differences."

In her paper "Assembled Bodies: Reconfiguring Quantum Identities," published in the latest issue of The Minnesota Review,Stark argued that thinkers need to combine "intersectionality and quantum physics" to understand "marginalized people" and to create "safer spaces" for them. But the way in which she argued this spoke volumes.

"This structural thinking of individualized separatism with binary and absolute differences as the basis for how the universe works is embedded in many structures of classification," the researcher wrote. Such "structures of classification," such as male or female, living or non-living, are "hierarchical and exploitative" and therefore "part of the apparatus that enables oppression."

But the basic ability to determine male from female, living from non-living, and other simple binary identities, and to make arguments and conclusions based on these differences, is also called "logic." It enables human beings to understand the world around them, and it is the basic foundation of all science, physics included.

There is nothing unique to Newtonian physics about this simple logic, but Stark attacks it as a vehicle for oppression. To be clear, it is a vehicle for understanding the world and using knowledge. People can use knowledge for good or for ill, for freedom or oppression. The very same logic which allows someone to distinguish a human being from an animal, and to free an enslaved person but not a chained pet, also allows someone to distinguish between a man and a woman, and to treat one better than the other.

Logical categories enable discrimination, but they also enable justice, knowledge, all kinds of relations even love.

But quantum physics blurs the lines between logical binaries, allowing for particles to be in two states at the same time. Even this mind-bending relies on logical and scientific study of physics, starting at easier levels and proceeding toward the more difficult.

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Feminist Launches 'Intersectional Quantum Physics' to End Newton's 'Oppression' - PJ Media

A feminist scholar has published a paper claiming that quantum physics is oppressive and that we must use quantum feminisms to make the science more intersectional.

In a paper for The Minnesota Review, culture and gender-studies researcher Whitney Stark argues that physics is oppressive because it has separated beings based on their binary and absolute differences a structure that she calls hierarchical and exploitative and the same kind of system is embedded in many structures of classification, making it part of the apparatus that enables oppression. Stark explains:

This structural thinking of individualized separatism with binary and absolute differences as the basis for how the universe works seeped into/poured over/ is embedded in many structures of classification, which understand similarity and difference in the world, imposed in many hierarchical and exploitative organizational structures, whether through gender, life/nonlife, national borders, and so on.

According to Stark, the tendency to categorize in this way particularly hurts marginalized people because it can cause the activist efforts of minority groups to be overshadowed by the efforts of dominant groups.

For instance, in many official feminist histories of the United States, black/African American womens organizing and writing are completely unaccounted for before the 1973 creation of the middle-class, professional National Black Feminist Organization, Stark writes.

Part of this absence is the frequent subsuming of intersectional identities under supposedly encompassing meta-identities more readily recognized by/as hegemonicized groupings, she continues. For instance, black women subsumed under black, equated with male, or feminist equated with white women.

Thankfully, Stark has a solution to this very clearly serious problem: quantum feminisms and intersectionality.

By taking a critical look at the noncentralized and multiple movements of quantum physics, and by dehierarchizing the necessity of linear bodies through time, it becomes possible to reconfigure structures of value, longevity, and subjectivity in ways explicitly aligned with anti-oppression practices and identity politics, she writes. Combining intersectionality and quantum physics can provide for differing perspectives on organizing practices long used by marginalized people, for enabling apparatuses that allow for new possibilities of safer spaces.

Honestly, all of this makes perfect sense. Personally, whenever I think about oppression, the very first thing that comes to my mind is: Damn it Isaac Newton! This is all your fault! Im just glad someone is finally writing about it. Maybe someday we can take it a step further, and replace all lessons on the outdated, sexist, racist concept of quantum physics in our schools with lessons on quantum feminisms. Ah, yes. Then, and only then, will our nation be truly great.

This story was initially covered by the College Fix.

Katherine Timpf is a reporter for National Review Online.

Originally posted here:

Academic Journal: Quantum Physics Is 'Oppressive' to Marginalized People - National Review

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ant-Man is something of a JV-tier character. Despite having his own solo movie and appearing in the big brawl of Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man isnt as popular as Spider-Man or as imposing as Thor. But Dr. Spiros Michalakis, a quantum physicist and staff researcher at the California Institute of Technology, says that Ant-Man may, in fact, be the strongest superhero character of all time.

Michalakis was selected by Marvel Studios in August 2014 to consult on Ant-Man. In an early meeting with the studio, he geeked out about the potential of a character who could shrink to a quantum level. As he wrote in a 2015 blog post:

[I]f someone could go to a place where the laws of physics as we know them were not yet formed, at a place where the arrow of time was broken and the fabric of space was not yet woven, the powers of such a master of the quantum realm would only be constrained by their ability to come back to the same (or similar) reality from which they departed. All the superheroes of Marvel and DC Comics combined would stand no chance against Ant-Man with a malfunctioning regulator.

In a recent call with Inverse, Michalakis walked through the shrinking superheros potential and explained how concepts from his first movie will reverberate through the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including next years Captain Marvel.

When Michalakis first joined Ant-Man, the studio asked him what they should call it when the character gets really small. They couldnt call it the Microverse, as its known in the comics, due to legal issues. Michalakis suggested the quantum realm a real concept that describes stuff that happens at the scale of subatomic particles.

Im not quite sure if they ever considered going quantum or if it was more like nano, Michalakis says. The idea often lost to the public is that quantum physics and quantum theory is not even in space and time.

The first quantum theories were developed more than a hundred years ago by the likes of Max Planck, Albert Einstein, and Werner Heisenberg, but Michalakis says theres been a second quantum revolution the influx of devices that rely on quantum mechanics, such as MRI imagery. And no doubt, Ant-Mans gear to shrink and grow could be the bomb to blast open the second quantum revolution.

So when I was looking to inject elements of modern physics into the script, I brought up this idea that, when Ant-Man goes into the Microverse and something malfunctions, he doesnt just go to just a smaller space like Fantastic Voyage, Michalakis says. Ant-Man goes a step beyond. This is a place where the nature of reality changes around you. So, when you enter the quantum realm, its different set of laws takes hold.

In our world, the laws of physics are crystallizations of chaos, says Michalakis. All superheroes, if they were real, would be limited by the laws of physics, including even Superman. Kryptonians may defy human science, but theyre still working within our limitations. Dr. Michalakis argues Ant-Man does not.

One major law Superman is beholden by? Gravity. Gravity, as Einstein said, is nothing but the curvature of space-time. The curvature of space-time is the curvature of something we call the manifold, like a 4-dimensional structure like the sphere, or a globe, Michalakis explains. So, if you understand that, and manipulate that, you can change the curvature of space-time. Hence, changing gravity.

How might Ant-Man beat up Superman? What Im saying is that potentially understanding the quantum code from which curvature of space-time comes from, [Ant-Man] could manipulate to increase it or decrease it. Superman has, in the canon of the DC Universe, lifted 200 quintillion tons. But Ant-Man might find a way to alter the laws of the universe so he could crush Superman with 201 tons. And, Michalakis says, Ant-Man could be even more devastating. Ant-Man could have created say, a black hole. Could Superman escape the black hole? Probably not. Then game over.

Can Ant-Man actually make these quantum mechanical adjustments in the movies or the comics? Not that weve seen. But apparently the character, at least in the MCU, can access levels of science and reality untouched by anyone in history, where he could in theory do almost anything.

Ant-Man bears ties to two other Marvel heroes: Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Captain Marvel, who will debut next year. Ant-Man and the quantum realm teased Doctor Strange, which introduced mysticism and the multiverse. Michalakis wasnt involved in but did talk with the producers. I think they did a great job describing [the multiverse]. Where these other states exist concurrently with yours. You dont have to go somewhere else. Its not like theres another bubble universe out there, and you can travel to it or something.

As for Captain Marvel, Michalakis wasnt at liberty to talk in-depth. But he does hint that understanding the quantum realm will give a better understanding of Carol Danvers and her place in the MCU. This is exciting for the future. There are different ways that some of these ideas appear on-screen in a few years. Not just for Ant-Man, but also for Captain Marvel and all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Dr. Michalakis loved comics as a kid. (He just didnt read a lot of Ant-Man.) Of his small but significant role in the development of the MCU, Dr. Michalakis says, Its not about giving it scientific legitimacy because we are talking about insane stuff even physicists would consider weird. Rather, its about getting the public interested in science and discovery. How do you get them to switch on that hunger for discovery? Its one thing to gobble up already-known facts and another to become an adventurer. To consider, how could this work? How can somebody shrink? What would that be like?

Read more here:

A Quantum Physicist Explains How Ant-Man Can Beat Superman - Inverse

Quantum physics is weird. To begin to understand it, you have to set aside everything you thought you knew about space and time and develop complex, abstract models of a universe in which the tiniest divisions of matter exist in constantly changing states and where the normal rules of action at a distance dont apply . . .

Oh, wait. Thats Emanuel Swedenborg.

Spiritual concepts have nothing to do with space. They have to do solely with state, state being an attribute of love, life, wisdom, desires, and the delights they providein general, an attribute of what is good and true. A truly spiritual concept of these realities has nothing in common with space. . . .

However, since angels and spirits see with their eyes the way we do on earth, and since objects can be seen only in space, there does seem to be space in the spiritual world where angels and spirits are, space like ours on earth. Still, it is not space but an appearance of space. It is not fixed and invariant like ours. It can be lengthened, shortened, changed and altered; and since it cannot be defined by measurement, we here cannot grasp it with an earthly concept, but only with a spiritual one. Spiritual concepts are no different when they apply to spatial distances than when they apply to distances of what is good and distances of what is true, which are agreements and likenesses as to state. (Divine Love and Wisdom 7; see also Heaven and Hell 15455)

Swedenborg emphasizes that space in the spiritual world is nothing like ours: he describes angels traveling over huge distances in an instant to reach someone who is thinking about them, communities of angels who are bound together by similarities in their states of love and wisdom, and surroundings that change in response to peoples thoughts and emotions. During the eighteenth century, when Isaac Newtons laws of physics were still brand new, this must have been hard to imagine. Today, quantum physics is giving us new ways to think about the universe that have interesting parallels to what Swedenborg described.

Take the principle of quantum entanglement, for example:

Entanglement occurs when two quantum particles interact with each other so that their quantum states become interdependent. If the first particle is in state A, say, then the other must be in state B, and vice versa.

Until a measurement is made of one of the particles, its state is undetermined: it can be regarded as being in both states A and B simultaneously, known as a superposition. The act of measuring collapses this superposition into just one of the possible states.

But if the particles are entangled, then this measurement also determines the state of the other particleeven if they have become separated by a vast distance. The effect of the measurement is transmitted instantaneously to the other particle, through what Albert Einstein skeptically called spooky action at a distance. [1]

In other words, if two particles are entangled, they function together as a single system. An action taken to affect one will also affect the other, no matter how far away they are. You could visualize this on a larger scale by imagining a pair of dice: if the dice were entangled in the same way that particles can become entangled, then when rolled simultaneously they would always turn up matching numbers, even if one die was on the opposite side of the planet from the other.

Entanglement between particles can happen as a result of almost any type of interaction, as long as they are close enough to affect each other. The effect can be almost unmeasurably brief (for example, when produced in a lab, as described in the article referenced above) or it could last indefinitely.

Compare this to the way that Swedenborg describes interaction between souls in the afterlife:

All motion in the spiritual world is the effect of changes of inner states, to the point that motion is nothing but change of state. . . .

This being the nature of motion, we can see that drawing near is likeness of inner state and moving away is dissimilarity. This is why the people who are nearby are the ones in a similar state and the ones who are far away are in dissimilar states. It is why space in heaven is nothing but the outward states that correspond to the inner ones.

This is also why in the spiritual world one individual is present to another if only that presence is intensely desired. This is because one person sees another in thought in this way and identifies with that individuals state. Conversely, one person moves away from another to the extent that there is any sense of reluctance; and since all reluctance comes from an opposition of affections and disagreement of thoughts, there can be many people appearing together in one place as long as they agree, but as soon as they disagree, they vanish. (Heaven and Hell 19294)

In Swedenborgs case, the interaction between two souls is a thought or feelingan emotional or spiritual state that can either draw individuals closer or drive them apart. This works not only for individuals, as described above, but for communities of angels in heaven, who are bound together by similarities in the things they love (Heaven and Hell 4144). And, like quantum particles, two individuals can align either briefly or indefinitely, depending on their internal qualities.

Of course, the similarity isnt perfect; as far as scientists know today, quantum entanglement cant be used to move objects or information through space. But the idea of two objects being so aligned that they can affect each other regardless of the distance between them is one that has a powerful resonance in Swedenborgs thought.

If we use quantum entanglement as a model, we see love as the glue that connects people together. In fact, in many places, Swedenborg observes that love is life itself (for example, the very first sentence of Divine Love and Wisdom). If thats true, then when people share a common love, they share a common lifea common existence that stretches from this world to the next.

Theres one more very intriguing way in which quantum entanglement parallels Swedenborgs thought. When building mathematical models of the universe based on quantum theory, researchers have found that entanglement is necessary to the existence of, well, everything:

Mark Van Raamsdonk, a string theorist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, likens the holographic concept [of the structure of the universe] to a two-dimensional computer chip that contains the code for creating the three-dimensional virtual world of a video game. We live within that 3-D game space. . . .

In 2010 Van Raamsdonk proposed a thought experiment to demonstrate the critical role of entanglement in the formation of space-time, pondering what would happen if one cut the memory chip in two and then removed the entanglement between qubits [quantum bits of information] in opposite halves. He found that space-time begins to tear itself apart, in much the same way that stretching a wad of gum by both ends yields a pinched-looking point in the center as the two halves move farther apart. Continuing to split that memory chip into smaller and smaller pieces unravels space-time until only tiny individual fragments remain that have no connection to one another. If you take away the entanglement, your space-time just falls apart, said Van Raamsdonk. [2]

Swedenborg says something very similar about the spiritual universe:

If you look at the created universe with an eye to its design, it is so full of wisdom from love that you might say everything taken all together is wisdom itself. There are things without measure in such a pattern, both sequential and simultaneous, that taken all together they constitute a single entity. This is the only reason they can be held together and sustained forever. (Divine Love and Wisdom 29)

Bringing these two ideas together gives us a new way to think about loving others: If there was no love connecting us as individuals, connecting individuals into communities, andconnectingcommunities into a larger and larger whole, then our spiritual universe would fall apart. Loving everybody might seem like a difficult goal, but loving the people closest to you just might be the first step in the process of bringing all of creation a little bit closer together.

***

For even more parallels between quantum mechanics and Swedenborgs writings, watch Spiritual Physics andHow to Travel in the Afterlife,two episodes of our weekly webcast Swedenborg and Life on the offTheLeftEye YouTube channel.

You can also download all of Swedenborgs writings, including the two works mentioned above, fromour bookstore.

[1] Philip Ball, Entangled diamonds vibrate together, Nature, December 1, 2011,http://www.nature.com/news/entangled-diamonds-vibrate-together-1.9532

[2] Jennifer Ouellette, How Quantum Pairs Stitch Space-Time, Quanta Magazine,April 28, 2015, https://www.quantamagazine.org/20150428-how-quantum-pairs-stitch-space-time

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What Quantum Physics Can Tell Us about the Afterlife ...

Physics (from AncientGreek: ()phusik (epistm)"knowledge of nature", from phsis "nature"[1][2][3]) is the natural science that involves the study of matter[4] and its motion and behavior through space and time, along with related concepts such as energy and force.[5] One of the most fundamental scientific disciplines, the main goal of physics is to understand how the universe behaves.[a][6][7][8]

Physics is one of the oldest academic disciplines, perhaps the oldest through its inclusion of astronomy.[9] Over the last two millennia, physics was a part of natural philosophy along with chemistry, biology, and certain branches of mathematics, but during the scientific revolution in the 17th century, the natural sciences emerged as unique research programs in their own right.[b] Physics intersects with many interdisciplinary areas of research, such as biophysics and quantum chemistry, and the boundaries of physics are not rigidly defined. New ideas in physics often explain the fundamental mechanisms of other sciences[6] while opening new avenues of research in areas such as mathematics and philosophy.

Physics also makes significant contributions through advances in new technologies that arise from theoretical breakthroughs. For example, advances in the understanding of electromagnetism or nuclear physics led directly to the development of new products that have dramatically transformed modern-day society, such as television, computers, domestic appliances, and nuclear weapons;[6] advances in thermodynamics led to the development of industrialization, and advances in mechanics inspired the development of calculus.

The United Nations named 2005 the World Year of Physics.

Astronomy is the oldest of the natural sciences. The earliest civilizations dating back to beyond 3000BCE, such as the Sumerians, ancient Egyptians, and the Indus Valley Civilization, all had a predictive knowledge and a basic understanding of the motions of the Sun, Moon, and stars. The stars and planets were often a target of worship, believed to represent their gods. While the explanations for these phenomena were often unscientific and lacking in evidence, these early observations laid the foundation for later astronomy.[9]

According to Asger Aaboe, the origins of Western astronomy can be found in Mesopotamia, and all Western efforts in the exact sciences are descended from late Babylonian astronomy.[11]Egyptian astronomers left monuments showing knowledge of the constellations and the motions of the celestial bodies,[12] while Greek poet Homer wrote of various celestial objects in his Iliad and Odyssey; later Greek astronomers provided names, which are still used today, for most constellations visible from the northern hemisphere.[13]

Natural philosophy has its origins in Greece during the Archaic period, (650 BCE 480 BCE), when pre-Socratic philosophers like Thales rejected non-naturalistic explanations for natural phenomena and proclaimed that every event had a natural cause.[14] They proposed ideas verified by reason and observation, and many of their hypotheses proved successful in experiment;[15] for example, atomism was found to be correct approximately 2000 years after it was first proposed by Leucippus and his pupil Democritus.[16]

Islamic scholarship had inherited Aristotelian physics from the Greeks and during the Islamic Golden Age developed it further, especially placing emphasis on observation and a priori reasoning, developing early forms of the scientific method.

The most notable innovations were in the field of optics and vision, which came from the works of many scientists like Ibn Sahl, Al-Kindi, Ibn al-Haytham, Al-Farisi and Avicenna. The most notable work was The Book of Optics (also known as Kitb al-Manir), written by Ibn Al-Haitham, in which he was not only the first to disprove the ancient Greek idea about vision, but also came up with a new theory. In the book, he was also the first to study the phenomenon of the pinhole camera and delved further into the way the eye itself works. Using dissections and the knowledge of previous scholars, he was able to begin to explain how light enters the eye, is focused, and is projected to the back of the eye: and built then the world's first camera obscura hundreds of years before the modern development of photography.[17]

The seven-volume Book of Optics (Kitab al-Manathir) hugely influenced thinking across disciplines from the theory of visual perception to the nature of perspective in medieval art, in both the East and the West, for more than 600 years. Many later European scholars and fellow polymaths, from Robert Grosseteste and Leonardo da Vinci to Ren Descartes, Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton, were in his debt. Indeed, the influence of Ibn al-Haytham's Optics ranks alongside that of Newton's work of the same title, published 700 years later.

The translation of The Book of Optics had a huge impact on Europe. From it, later European scholars were able to build the same devices as what Ibn al-Haytham did, and understand the way light works. From this, such important things as eyeglasses, magnifying glasses, telescopes, and cameras were developed.

Physics became a separate science when early modern Europeans used experimental and quantitative methods to discover what are now considered to be the laws of physics.[18][pageneeded]

Major developments in this period include the replacement of the geocentric model of the solar system with the heliocentric Copernican model, the laws governing the motion of planetary bodies determined by Johannes Kepler between 1609 and 1619, pioneering work on telescopes and observational astronomy by Galileo Galilei in the 16th and 17th Centuries, and Isaac Newton's discovery and unification of the laws of motion and universal gravitation that would come to bear his name.[19] Newton also developed calculus,[c] the mathematical study of change, which provided new mathematical methods for solving physical problems.[20]

The discovery of new laws in thermodynamics, chemistry, and electromagnetics resulted from greater research efforts during the Industrial Revolution as energy needs increased.[21] The laws comprising classical physics remain very widely used for objects on everyday scales travelling at non-relativistic speeds, since they provide a very close approximation in such situations, and theories such as quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity simplify to their classical equivalents at such scales. However, inaccuracies in classical mechanics for very small objects and very high velocities led to the development of modern physics in the 20th century.

Modern physics began in the early 20th century with the work of Max Planck in quantum theory and Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. Both of these theories came about due to inaccuracies in classical mechanics in certain situations. Classical mechanics predicted a varying speed of light, which could not be resolved with the constant speed predicted by Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism; this discrepancy was corrected by Einstein's theory of special relativity, which replaced classical mechanics for fast-moving bodies and allowed for a constant speed of light.[22]Black body radiation provided another problem for classical physics, which was corrected when Planck proposed that the excitation of material oscillators is possible only in discrete steps proportional to their frequency; this, along with the photoelectric effect and a complete theory predicting discrete energy levels of electron orbitals, led to the theory of quantum mechanics taking over from classical physics at very small scales.[23]

Quantum mechanics would come to be pioneered by Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrdinger and Paul Dirac.[23] From this early work, and work in related fields, the Standard Model of particle physics was derived.[24] Following the discovery of a particle with properties consistent with the Higgs boson at CERN in 2012,[25] all fundamental particles predicted by the standard model, and no others, appear to exist; however, physics beyond the Standard Model, with theories such as supersymmetry, is an active area of research.[26] Areas of mathematics in general are important to this field, such as the study of probabilities and groups.

In many ways, physics stems from ancient Greek philosophy. From Thales' first attempt to characterise matter, to Democritus' deduction that matter ought to reduce to an invariant state, the Ptolemaic astronomy of a crystalline firmament, and Aristotle's book Physics (an early book on physics, which attempted to analyze and define motion from a philosophical point of view), various Greek philosophers advanced their own theories of nature. Physics was known as natural philosophy until the late 18th century.[27]

By the 19th century, physics was realised as a discipline distinct from philosophy and the other sciences. Physics, as with the rest of science, relies on philosophy of science and its "scientific method" to advance our knowledge of the physical world.[28] The scientific method employs a priori reasoning as well as a posteriori reasoning and the use of Bayesian inference to measure the validity of a given theory.[29]

The development of physics has answered many questions of early philosophers, but has also raised new questions. Study of the philosophical issues surrounding physics, the philosophy of physics, involves issues such as the nature of space and time, determinism, and metaphysical outlooks such as empiricism, naturalism and realism.[30]

Many physicists have written about the philosophical implications of their work, for instance Laplace, who championed causal determinism,[31] and Erwin Schrdinger, who wrote on quantum mechanics.[32][33] The mathematical physicist Roger Penrose has been called a Platonist by Stephen Hawking,[34] a view Penrose discusses in his book, The Road to Reality.[35] Hawking refers to himself as an "unashamed reductionist" and takes issue with Penrose's views.[36]

Though physics deals with a wide variety of systems, certain theories are used by all physicists. Each of these theories were experimentally tested numerous times and found to be an adequate approximation of nature. For instance, the theory of classical mechanics accurately describes the motion of objects, provided they are much larger than atoms and moving at much less than the speed of light. These theories continue to be areas of active research today. Chaos theory, a remarkable aspect of classical mechanics was discovered in the 20th century, three centuries after the original formulation of classical mechanics by Isaac Newton (16421727).

These central theories are important tools for research into more specialised topics, and any physicist, regardless of their specialisation, is expected to be literate in them. These include classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, electromagnetism, and special relativity.

Classical physics includes the traditional branches and topics that were recognised and well-developed before the beginning of the 20th centuryclassical mechanics, acoustics, optics, thermodynamics, and electromagnetism. Classical mechanics is concerned with bodies acted on by forces and bodies in motion and may be divided into statics (study of the forces on a body or bodies not subject to an acceleration), kinematics (study of motion without regard to its causes), and dynamics (study of motion and the forces that affect it); mechanics may also be divided into solid mechanics and fluid mechanics (known together as continuum mechanics), the latter include such branches as hydrostatics, hydrodynamics, aerodynamics, and pneumatics. Acoustics is the study of how sound is produced, controlled, transmitted and received.[37] Important modern branches of acoustics include ultrasonics, the study of sound waves of very high frequency beyond the range of human hearing; bioacoustics, the physics of animal calls and hearing,[38] and electroacoustics, the manipulation of audible sound waves using electronics.[39]

Optics, the study of light, is concerned not only with visible light but also with infrared and ultraviolet radiation, which exhibit all of the phenomena of visible light except visibility, e.g., reflection, refraction, interference, diffraction, dispersion, and polarization of light. Heat is a form of energy, the internal energy possessed by the particles of which a substance is composed; thermodynamics deals with the relationships between heat and other forms of energy. Electricity and magnetism have been studied as a single branch of physics since the intimate connection between them was discovered in the early 19th century; an electric current gives rise to a magnetic field, and a changing magnetic field induces an electric current. Electrostatics deals with electric charges at rest, electrodynamics with moving charges, and magnetostatics with magnetic poles at rest.

Classical physics is generally concerned with matter and energy on the normal scale of observation, while much of modern physics is concerned with the behavior of matter and energy under extreme conditions or on a very large or very small scale. For example, atomic and nuclear physics studies matter on the smallest scale at which chemical elements can be identified. The physics of elementary particles is on an even smaller scale since it is concerned with the most basic units of matter; this branch of physics is also known as high-energy physics because of the extremely high energies necessary to produce many types of particles in particle accelerators. On this scale, ordinary, commonsense notions of space, time, matter, and energy are no longer valid.[40]

The two chief theories of modern physics present a different picture of the concepts of space, time, and matter from that presented by classical physics. Classical mechanics approximates nature as continuous, while quantum theory is concerned with the discrete nature of many phenomena at the atomic and subatomic level and with the complementary aspects of particles and waves in the description of such phenomena. The theory of relativity is concerned with the description of phenomena that take place in a frame of reference that is in motion with respect to an observer; the special theory of relativity is concerned with relative uniform motion in a straight line and the general theory of relativity with accelerated motion and its connection with gravitation. Both quantum theory and the theory of relativity find applications in all areas of modern physics.[41]

While physics aims to discover universal laws, its theories lie in explicit domains of applicability. Loosely speaking, the laws of classical physics accurately describe systems whose important length scales are greater than the atomic scale and whose motions are much slower than the speed of light. Outside of this domain, observations do not match predictions provided by classical mechanics. Albert Einstein contributed the framework of special relativity, which replaced notions of absolute time and space with spacetime and allowed an accurate description of systems whose components have speeds approaching the speed of light. Max Planck, Erwin Schrdinger, and others introduced quantum mechanics, a probabilistic notion of particles and interactions that allowed an accurate description of atomic and subatomic scales. Later, quantum field theory unified quantum mechanics and special relativity. General relativity allowed for a dynamical, curved spacetime, with which highly massive systems and the large-scale structure of the universe can be well-described. General relativity has not yet been unified with the other fundamental descriptions; several candidate theories of quantum gravity are being developed.

Mathematics provides a compact and exact language used to describe of the order in nature. This was noted and advocated by Pythagoras,[42]Plato,[43]Galileo,[44] and Newton.

Physics uses mathematics[45] to organise and formulate experimental results. From those results, precise or estimated solutions, quantitative results from which new predictions can be made and experimentally confirmed or negated. The results from physics experiments are numerical measurements. Technologies based on mathematics, like computation have made computational physics an active area of research.

Ontology is a prerequisite for physics, but not for mathematics. It means physics is ultimately concerned with descriptions of the real world, while mathematics is concerned with abstract patterns, even beyond the real world. Thus physics statements are synthetic, while mathematical statements are analytic. Mathematics contains hypotheses, while physics contains theories. Mathematics statements have to be only logically true, while predictions of physics statements must match observed and experimental data.

The distinction is clear-cut, but not always obvious. For example, mathematical physics is the application of mathematics in physics. Its methods are mathematical, but its subject is physical.[46] The problems in this field start with a "mathematical model of a physical situation" (system) and a "mathematical description of a physical law" that will be applied to that system. Every mathematical statement used for solving has a hard-to-find physical meaning. The final mathematical solution has an easier-to-find meaning, because it is what the solver is looking for.[clarification needed]

Physics is a branch of fundamental science, not practical science. Physics is also called "the fundamental science" because the subject of study of all branches of natural science like chemistry, astronomy, geology, and biology are constrained by laws of physics,[47] similar to how chemistry is often called the central science because of its role in linking the physical sciences. For example, chemistry studies properties, structures, and reactions of matter (chemistry's focus on the atomic scale distinguishes it from physics). Structures are formed because particles exert electrical forces on each other, properties include physical characteristics of given substances, and reactions are bound by laws of physics, like conservation of energy, mass, and charge.

Physics is applied in industries like engineering and medicine.

Applied physics is a general term for physics research which is intended for a particular use. An applied physics curriculum usually contains a few classes in an applied discipline, like geology or electrical engineering. It usually differs from engineering in that an applied physicist may not be designing something in particular, but rather is using physics or conducting physics research with the aim of developing new technologies or solving a problem.

The approach is similar to that of applied mathematics. Applied physicists use physics in scientific research. For instance, people working on accelerator physics might seek to build better particle detectors for research in theoretical physics.

Physics is used heavily in engineering. For example, statics, a subfield of mechanics, is used in the building of bridges and other static structures. The understanding and use of acoustics results in sound control and better concert halls; similarly, the use of optics creates better optical devices. An understanding of physics makes for more realistic flight simulators, video games, and movies, and is often critical in forensic investigations.

With the standard consensus that the laws of physics are universal and do not change with time, physics can be used to study things that would ordinarily be mired in uncertainty. For example, in the study of the origin of the earth, one can reasonably model earth's mass, temperature, and rate of rotation, as a function of time allowing one to extrapolate forward or backward in time and so predict future or prior events. It also allows for simulations in engineering which drastically speed up the development of a new technology.

But there is also considerable interdisciplinarity in the physicist's methods, so many other important fields are influenced by physics (e.g., the fields of econophysics and sociophysics).

Physicists use the scientific method to test the validity of a physical theory. By using a methodical approach to compare the implications of a theory with the conclusions drawn from its related experiments and observations, physicists are better able to test the validity of a theory in a logical, unbiased, and repeatable way. To that end, experiments are performed and observations are made in order to determine the validity or invalidity of the theory.[48]

A scientific law is a concise verbal or mathematical statement of a relation which expresses a fundamental principle of some theory, such as Newton's law of universal gravitation.[49]

Theorists seek to develop mathematical models that both agree with existing experiments and successfully predict future experimental results, while experimentalists devise and perform experiments to test theoretical predictions and explore new phenomena. Although theory and experiment are developed separately, they are strongly dependent upon each other. Progress in physics frequently comes about when experimentalists make a discovery that existing theories cannot explain, or when new theories generate experimentally testable predictions, which inspire new experiments.[50]

Physicists who work at the interplay of theory and experiment are called phenomenologists, who study complex phenomena observed in experiment and work to relate them to a fundamental theory.[51]

Theoretical physics has historically taken inspiration from philosophy; electromagnetism was unified this way.[d] Beyond the known universe, the field of theoretical physics also deals with hypothetical issues,[e] such as parallel universes, a multiverse, and higher dimensions. Theorists invoke these ideas in hopes of solving particular problems with existing theories. They then explore the consequences of these ideas and work toward making testable predictions.

Experimental physics expands, and is expanded by, engineering and technology. Experimental physicists involved in basic research design and perform experiments with equipment such as particle accelerators and lasers, whereas those involved in applied research often work in industry developing technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and transistors. Feynman has noted that experimentalists may seek areas which are not well-explored by theorists.[52]

Physics covers a wide range of phenomena, from elementary particles (such as quarks, neutrinos, and electrons) to the largest superclusters of galaxies. Included in these phenomena are the most basic objects composing all other things. Therefore, physics is sometimes called the "fundamental science".[47] Physics aims to describe the various phenomena that occur in nature in terms of simpler phenomena. Thus, physics aims to both connect the things observable to humans to root causes, and then connect these causes together.

For example, the ancient Chinese observed that certain rocks (lodestone and magnetite) were attracted to one another by an invisible force. This effect was later called magnetism, which was first rigorously studied in the 17th century. But even before the Chinese discovered magnetism, the ancient Greeks knew of other objects such as amber, that when rubbed with fur would cause a similar invisible attraction between the two.[53] This was also first studied rigorously in the 17th century and came to be called electricity. Thus, physics had come to understand two observations of nature in terms of some root cause (electricity and magnetism). However, further work in the 19th century revealed that these two forces were just two different aspects of one forceelectromagnetism. This process of "unifying" forces continues today, and electromagnetism and the weak nuclear force are now considered to be two aspects of the electroweak interaction. Physics hopes to find an ultimate reason (Theory of Everything) for why nature is as it is (see section Current research below for more information).[54]

Contemporary research in physics can be broadly divided into nuclear and particle physics; condensed matter physics; atomic, molecular, and optical physics; astrophysics; and applied physics. Some physics departments also support physics education research and physics outreach.[55]

Since the 20th century, the individual fields of physics have become increasingly specialised, and today most physicists work in a single field for their entire careers. "Universalists" such as Albert Einstein (18791955) and Lev Landau (19081968), who worked in multiple fields of physics, are now very rare.[f]

The major fields of physics, along with their subfields and the theories and concepts they employ, are shown in the following table.

Particle physics is the study of the elementary constituents of matter and energy and the interactions between them.[56] In addition, particle physicists design and develop the high energy accelerators,[57]detectors,[58] and computer programs[59] necessary for this research. The field is also called "high-energy physics" because many elementary particles do not occur naturally but are created only during high-energy collisions of other particles.[60]

Currently, the interactions of elementary particles and fields are described by the Standard Model.[61] The model accounts for the 12 known particles of matter (quarks and leptons) that interact via the strong, weak, and electromagnetic fundamental forces.[61] Dynamics are described in terms of matter particles exchanging gauge bosons (gluons, W and Z bosons, and photons, respectively).[62] The Standard Model also predicts a particle known as the Higgs boson.[61] In July 2012 CERN, the European laboratory for particle physics, announced the detection of a particle consistent with the Higgs boson,[63] an integral part of a Higgs mechanism.

Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies the constituents and interactions of atomic nuclei. The most commonly known applications of nuclear physics are nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons technology, but the research has provided application in many fields, including those in nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging, ion implantation in materials engineering, and radiocarbon dating in geology and archaeology.

Atomic, molecular, and optical physics (AMO) is the study of mattermatter and lightmatter interactions on the scale of single atoms and molecules. The three areas are grouped together because of their interrelationships, the similarity of methods used, and the commonality of their relevant energy scales. All three areas include both classical, semi-classical and quantum treatments; they can treat their subject from a microscopic view (in contrast to a macroscopic view).

Atomic physics studies the electron shells of atoms. Current research focuses on activities in quantum control, cooling and trapping of atoms and ions,[64][65][66] low-temperature collision dynamics and the effects of electron correlation on structure and dynamics. Atomic physics is influenced by the nucleus (see, e.g., hyperfine splitting), but intra-nuclear phenomena such as fission and fusion are considered part of nuclear physics.

Molecular physics focuses on multi-atomic structures and their internal and external interactions with matter and light. Optical physics is distinct from optics in that it tends to focus not on the control of classical light fields by macroscopic objects but on the fundamental properties of optical fields and their interactions with matter in the microscopic realm.

Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic physical properties of matter.[67] In particular, it is concerned with the "condensed" phases that appear whenever the number of particles in a system is extremely large and the interactions between them are strong.[68]

The most familiar examples of condensed phases are solids and liquids, which arise from the bonding by way of the electromagnetic force between atoms.[69] More exotic condensed phases include the superfluid[70] and the BoseEinstein condensate[71] found in certain atomic systems at very low temperature, the superconducting phase exhibited by conduction electrons in certain materials,[72] and the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases of spins on atomic lattices.[73]

Condensed matter physics is the largest field of contemporary physics. Historically, condensed matter physics grew out of solid-state physics, which is now considered one of its main subfields.[74] The term condensed matter physics was apparently coined by Philip Anderson when he renamed his research grouppreviously solid-state theoryin 1967.[75] In 1978, the Division of Solid State Physics of the American Physical Society was renamed as the Division of Condensed Matter Physics.[74] Condensed matter physics has a large overlap with chemistry, materials science, nanotechnology and engineering.[68]

Astrophysics and astronomy are the application of the theories and methods of physics to the study of stellar structure, stellar evolution, the origin of the Solar System, and related problems of cosmology. Because astrophysics is a broad subject, astrophysicists typically apply many disciplines of physics, including mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, relativity, nuclear and particle physics, and atomic and molecular physics.[76]

The discovery by Karl Jansky in 1931 that radio signals were emitted by celestial bodies initiated the science of radio astronomy. Most recently, the frontiers of astronomy have been expanded by space exploration. Perturbations and interference from the earth's atmosphere make space-based observations necessary for infrared, ultraviolet, gamma-ray, and X-ray astronomy.

Physical cosmology is the study of the formation and evolution of the universe on its largest scales. Albert Einstein's theory of relativity plays a central role in all modern cosmological theories. In the early 20th century, Hubble's discovery that the universe is expanding, as shown by the Hubble diagram, prompted rival explanations known as the steady state universe and the Big Bang.

The Big Bang was confirmed by the success of Big Bang nucleosynthesis and the discovery of the cosmic microwave background in 1964. The Big Bang model rests on two theoretical pillars: Albert Einstein's general relativity and the cosmological principle. Cosmologists have recently established the CDM model of the evolution of the universe, which includes cosmic inflation, dark energy, and dark matter.

Numerous possibilities and discoveries are anticipated to emerge from new data from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope over the upcoming decade and vastly revise or clarify existing models of the universe.[77][78] In particular, the potential for a tremendous discovery surrounding dark matter is possible over the next several years.[79] Fermi will search for evidence that dark matter is composed of weakly interacting massive particles, complementing similar experiments with the Large Hadron Collider and other underground detectors.

IBEX is already yielding new astrophysical discoveries: "No one knows what is creating the ENA (energetic neutral atoms) ribbon" along the termination shock of the solar wind, "but everyone agrees that it means the textbook picture of the heliospherein which the Solar System's enveloping pocket filled with the solar wind's charged particles is plowing through the onrushing 'galactic wind' of the interstellar medium in the shape of a cometis wrong."[80]

Research in physics is continually progressing on a large number of fronts.

In condensed matter physics, an important unsolved theoretical problem is that of high-temperature superconductivity.[81] Many condensed matter experiments are aiming to fabricate workable spintronics and quantum computers.[68][82]

In particle physics, the first pieces of experimental evidence for physics beyond the Standard Model have begun to appear. Foremost among these are indications that neutrinos have non-zero mass. These experimental results appear to have solved the long-standing solar neutrino problem, and the physics of massive neutrinos remains an area of active theoretical and experimental research. Large Hadron Collider had already found the Higgs Boson. Future research aims to prove or disprove the supersymmetry, which extends the Standard Model of particle physics. The research on dark matter and dark energy is also on the agenda.[83]

Theoretical attempts to unify quantum mechanics and general relativity into a single theory of quantum gravity, a program ongoing for over half a century, have not yet been decisively resolved. The current leading candidates are M-theory, superstring theory and loop quantum gravity.

Many astronomical and cosmological phenomena have yet to be satisfactorily explained, including the existence of ultra-high energy cosmic rays, the baryon asymmetry, the acceleration of the universe and the anomalous rotation rates of galaxies.

Although much progress has been made in high-energy, quantum, and astronomical physics, many everyday phenomena involving complexity,[84]chaos,[85] or turbulence[86] are still poorly understood. Complex problems that seem like they could be solved by a clever application of dynamics and mechanics remain unsolved; examples include the formation of sandpiles, nodes in trickling water, the shape of water droplets, mechanisms of surface tension catastrophes, and self-sorting in shaken heterogeneous collections.[87]

These complex phenomena have received growing attention since the 1970s for several reasons, including the availability of modern mathematical methods and computers, which enabled complex systems to be modeled in new ways. Complex physics has become part of increasingly interdisciplinary research, as exemplified by the study of turbulence in aerodynamics and the observation of pattern formation in biological systems. In the 1932 Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, Horace Lamb said:[88]

I am an old man now, and when I die and go to heaven there are two matters on which I hope for enlightenment. One is quantum electrodynamics, and the other is the turbulent motion of fluids. And about the former I am rather optimistic.

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