Remove definition quantum-mechanics
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Complex numbers are essential in quantum theory, experiments reveal

Physics World

Complex numbers are essential to achieve the most accurate quantum-mechanical description of nature, according to experiments done by two independent teams of physicists. While the mathematics of complex numbers underlies modern quantum theory, it is also possible to describe the quantum world purely in terms of real numbers.

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Why we need to stop gaslighting minority physics students

Physics World

As a PhD student and teaching assistant at the University of Waterloo in the late 2000s, I was asked to proctor a final exam in first-year mechanics that was being taken by a diverse student group. Typically, this breakdown was along the lines of classical mechanics versus quantum mechanics. Culturally bound.

Waste 133
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The unsung theory: why thermodynamics is as important as quantum mechanics and general relativity

Physics World

Like many science writers, I have often adopted the conceit that quantum mechanics and general relativity are our two principal (if incompatible) theories of the physical world. It undergirds the theories of information and computation, for example via mathematician Claude Shannon ’s definition of information entropy.

Law 145
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Quantum Cheshire cats could have a travelling grin

Physics World

Since its inception, quantum theory has presented us with many strange and seemingly paradoxical phenomena. One of the oddest examples is the quantum Cheshire cat effect, in which properties of quantum objects become disembodied from the objects themselves. A new spin on the quantum Cheshire cat.

2013 133
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Supersolidity enters a second dimension

Physics World

Subsequent studies have produced nothing definitive. BECs (ultracold gases of trapped atoms all cooled to the quantum ground state of the trap) of highly magnetic atoms can spontaneously form regular, ordered clusters in an applied magnetic field, showing the emergence of supersolidity from a completely isotropic superfluid state. “The

2019 131
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Conquering the challenge of quantum optimization

Physics World

Quantum computers are often touted as the solution to all our problems. Fuelled by this enthusiasm, a number of quantum computing firms have started joining established markets. However, despite this interest, there is still a lot of uncertainty around the near-term uses of quantum computers. Optimization is hard.

2014 132
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‘Science is a measure of our ignorance: the more we know, the more we realize how little we know’

Frontiers

As a member of the LISA and Einstein Telescope consortia, his research areas are gravitational waves, nonlocal quantum gravity, multifractal spacetimes, cosmologies beyond the standard model, and string theory. I mainly work on two theories of gravitation: multifractional spacetimes and nonlocal quantum gravity.

2003 98