New quantum theory heats up thermodynamic research

Researchers have developed a new quantum version of a 150-year-old thermodynamical thought experiment that could pave the way for the development of quantum heat engines.

The paradox of dormancy: Why sleep when you can eat?

Why do predators sometimes lay dormant eggs, which are hardy, but take a long time to hatch and are expensive to produce? That is the question that researchers from Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) set ...

Deconstructing Schrödinger's cat

The paradox of Schrödinger's cat—the feline that is, famously, both alive and dead until its box is opened—is the most widely known example of a recurrent problem in quantum mechanics: its dynamics seem to predict that ...

Are we looking for happiness in all the wrong places?

If only we could win millions on the lottery—or failing that, at least convince our boss to give us a massive raise. And then, if we could just meet the love of our life on that new dating app, we could Instagram our perfect, ...

Quantum gas turns supersolid

Researchers led by Francesca Ferlaino from the University of Innsbruck and the Austrian Academy of Sciences report in Physical Review X on the observation of supersolid behavior in dipolar quantum gases of erbium and dysprosium. ...

Searching for errors in the quantum world

The theory of quantum mechanics is well supported by experiments. Now, however, a thought experiment by ETH physicists yields unexpected contradictions. These findings raise some fundamental questions—and they're polarising ...

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