A New Map of All the Particles and Forces | Quanta Magazine
WEBOct 22, 2020 · We’ve created a new way to explore the fundamental constituents of the universe. 68. Ashley Mackenzie for Quanta Magazine. [Editor’s note: The full, interactive map is available below.] All of nature springs from a handful of components — the fundamental particles — that interact with one another in only a few different ways.
Math News, Interviews and Columns From Quanta Magazine
WEBBy Janna Levin. August 1, 2024. Cryptography is the thread that connects Julius Caesar, World War II and quantum computing, and it now lies under nearly every part of modern life. In this week’s episode, computer scientist Boaz Barak and co-host Janna Levin discuss the past and future of secrecy. Langlands program.
Mathematician Proves Huge Result on ‘Dangerous’ Problem
WEBDec 11, 2019 · Lothar Collatz likely posed the eponymous conjecture in the 1930s. The problem sounds like a party trick. Pick a number, any number. If it’s odd, multiply it by 3 and add 1. If it’s even, divide it by 2. Now you have a new number. Apply the same rules to the new number. The conjecture is about what happens as you keep repeating the process.
How Bell’s Theorem Proved ‘Spooky Action at a Distance’ Is Real
WEBJul 20, 2021 · The root of today’s quantum revolution was John Stewart Bell’s 1964 theorem showing that quantum mechanics really permits instantaneous connections between far-apart locations. 122. Samuel Velasco/Quanta Magazine. We take for granted that an event in one part of the world cannot instantly affect what happens far away.
Why Extraterrestrial Life May Not Seem Entirely Alien
WEBMar 18, 2021 · Arik Kershenbaum, a zoologist and animal communications researcher at the University of Cambridge, thinks that the evolutionary forces that shape life on Earth will produce many similar features in extraterrestrial life. Luke Wolagiewicz for Quanta Magazine. On the website for the department of zoology …
Why Are Plants Green? To Reduce the Noise in Photosynthesis.
WEBJul 30, 2020 · Plants ignore the most energy-rich part of sunlight because stability matters more than efficiency, according to a new model of photosynthesis. Land plants are green because their photosynthetic pigments reflect green light, even though those wavelengths hold the most energy. Scientists finally understand why. …
The Mystery at the Heart of Physics That Only Math Can Solve
WEBJun 10, 2021 · The accelerating effort to understand the mathematics of quantum field theory will have profound consequences for both math and physics. Olena Shmahalo/Quanta Magazine. Over the past century, quantum field theory has proved to be the single most sweeping and successful physical theory ever invented. It is an umbrella term that encompasses many ...
Why Gravity Is Not Like the Other Forces | Quanta Magazine
WEBJun 15, 2020 · According to Einstein, gravity is a feature of the space-time medium; the other forces of nature play out on that stage. But near the center of a black hole or in the first moments of the universe, Einstein’s equations break. Physicists need a truer picture of gravity to accurately describe these extremes. This truer theory must make the same ...
What Is a Particle? - Quanta Magazine
WEBNov 12, 2020 · A Particle Is a ‘Collapsed Wave Function’ 1. The quest to understand nature’s fundamental building blocks began with the ancient Greek philosopher Democritus’s assertion that such things exist. Two millennia later, Isaac Newton and Christiaan Huygens debated whether light is made of particles or waves.
How the Physics of Resonance Shapes Reality | Quanta Magazine
WEBJan 26, 2022 · Here’s how the same effect manifests in such varied settings, from everyday life down to the smallest scales. In its simplest form, resonance occurs when an object experiences an oscillating force that’s close to one of its “natural” frequencies, at which it easily oscillates. That objects have natural frequencies “is one of the ...