Quantum Physics, features and articles | Educational Science

Dec 15, 2021

Weird quantum objects known as Q balls could explain why we exist

One of the biggest cosmological mysteries is why the universe is made up of way more matter than antimatter, essentially why we exist. Now, a team of theoretical physicists says they know how to find the answer. All they need to do is detect the gravitational waves produced by bizarre...

Mar 1, 2022

Physicists create bizarre quantum 'domain walls' in new experiment

Scientists can now reliably create a strange quantum object called a domain wall. The discovery could lead to new quantum technology and to a better understanding of quantum particles in general. Domain walls form when groups of atoms at very low temperatures segregate into different clumps, or domains. Between those...

Mar 4, 2022

What is quantum mechanics?

Quantum mechanics is a subfield of physics that describes the behavior of particles — atoms, electrons, photons and almost everything in the molecular and submolecular realm. Developed during the first half of the 20th century, the results of quantum mechanics are often extremely strange and counterintuitive. How is quantum mechanics...

Mar 18, 2022

Quantum computing: Definition, facts & uses

Quantum computing is a new generation of technology that involves a type of computer 158 million times faster than the most sophisticated supercomputer we have in the world today. It is a device so powerful that it could do in four minutes what it would take a traditional supercomputer 10,000...

Mar 21, 2022

Weird quantum boomerang predicted 60 years ago spotted for the first time

For the first time, physicists have confirmed a weird quantum phenomenon in which tiny particles, when nudged out of place, will snap right back to where they came from. The strange behavior, called the quantum boomerang effect, had been predicted for more than 60 years. Now, a new experiment published...

Mar 21, 2022

Black holes may grow quantum 'hair'

What falls into a black hole, stays in a black hole, at least according to the laws of general relativity. But now, new research suggests that the material inside the black hole may leave a quantum imprint on the gravitational field outside of it. If true, this finding would resolve...

Apr 12, 2022

How It Works issue 163: Your nervous system explained

Explore you nervous system in issue 163 of How It Works magazine, the electrically charged network composed of billions of cells that co-ordinates your thoughts, feelings, and actions from head to toe. Human beings are wonderfully complex. Relative to the numerous single-celled organisms on our planet, humans are gargantuan super...

Aug 19, 2022

Weird quantum experiment shows protons have more 'charm' than we thought

Protons may have more charm than we thought, new research suggests. A proton is one of the subatomic particles that make up the nucleus of an atom. As small as protons are, they are composed of even tinier elementary particles known as quarks, which come in a variety of flavors,...

Sep 20, 2022

The Quantum World May Have a Favorite Flavor, Tantalizing Results Suggest

The world of the teensy-tiny, the quantum realm, could have a favorite flavor. We're not talking about itty-bitty ice cream cones, of course. The world of particles is split into three camps, called flavors (don't ask why). For example, the electrons represent one flavor, and there are two other particles...

Dec 7, 2022

'Quantum time flip' makes light move simultaneously forward and backward in time

For the first time, physicists have made light appear to move simultaneously forward and backward in time. The new technique could help scientists improve quantum computing and understand quantum gravity. By splitting a photon, or packet of light, using a special optical crystal, two independent teams of physicists have achieved...

Dec 27, 2022

Is all matter made up of both particles and waves?

Wave-particle duality is a cornerstone of quantum mechanics, which is our modern theory of how subatomic particles behave. The duality states that all particles (in fact, all objects) have a wave-like property associated with them. While most standard interpretations of quantum mechanics treat this wave-like property as a neat mathematical...

Dec 29, 2022

Does consciousness explain quantum mechanics?

One of the most perplexing aspects of quantum mechanics is that tiny subatomic particles don't seem to choose a state until an outside observer measures it. The act of measurement converts all the vague possibilities of what could happen into a definite, concrete outcome. While the mathematics of quantum mechanics...

Jan 2, 2023

Do quantum universes really exist?

It's the stuff of science fiction — parallel worlds that fan out in time and space. But do such parallel worlds exist? It turns out that at least some physics theories do allow for the existence of parallel universes — at least on the quantum level. In several interpretations of...

Jan 4, 2023

Does reality exist when we're not looking?

The standard interpretation of quantum mechanics places a lot of emphasis on the act of measurement. Before measurement, quantum systems exist in many states at once. After measurement, the system collapses into a specific value, so it's natural to ask what's really going on when measurements don't take place. There...

Mar 22, 2023

There may have been a second Big Bang, new research suggests

The Big Bang may have been accompanied by a shadow, Dark Big Bang that flooded our cosmos with mysterious dark matter, cosmologists have proposed in a new study. And we may be able to see the evidence for that event by studying ripples in the fabric of space-time. After the...