(Phys.org) —One of the more controversial theories of quantum gravity, which attempts to unify quantum mechanics and general relativity, is semiclassical gravity, which was proposed in the 1960s. As its name suggests, semiclassical ...
May 08, 2013
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(Phys.org) —Mathematics is, in essence, an artificial language for precisely articulating theories about the physical world. Unlike natural language, however, translating different classes of mathematics ...
Apr 29, 2013
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(Phys.org) —In the strange world of quantum mechanics, the vacuum state (sometimes referred to as the quantum vacuum, simply as the vacuum) is a quantum system's lowest possible energy state. While not ...
Mar 08, 2013
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(Phys.org)—If you've read about how modern cosmology may imply that, in an infinite universe, the existence of planets and the life forms that live on them must be repeated an infinite number of times, ...
Jan 25, 2013
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(Phys.org)—While hypothesized dark energy can explain observations of the universe expanding at an accelerating rate, the specific properties of dark energy are still an enigma. Scientists think that dark energy could take ...
Nov 12, 2012
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(Phys.org)—Although quantum theory can explain three of the four forces in nature, scientists currently rely on general relativity to explain the fourth force, gravity. However, no one is quite sure of ...
Oct 15, 2012
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(Phys.org)—When Einstein described the interaction between two distant objects as "spooky interaction at a distance," he was referring to the quantum phenomenon called steering. Steering can occur in strongly ...
Sep 17, 2012
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(Phys.org) -- Typically, for two particles to become entangled, they must first physically interact. Then when the particles are physically separated and still share the same quantum state, they are considered ...
Jul 30, 2012
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(Phys.org) -- Being correct 50% of the time when calling heads or tails on a coin toss won’t impress anyone. So when quantum theory predicts that an entangled particle will reach one of two detectors ...
Jul 23, 2012
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(Phys.org) -- At the heart of quantum mechanics lies the wave function, a probability function used by physicists to understand the nanoscale world. Using the wave function, physicists can calculate a system's ...
Apr 25, 2012
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Some scientists call the cosmological constant the "worst prediction of physics." And when today’s theories give an estimated value that is about 120 orders of magnitude larger than the ...
Mar 05, 2012
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(PhysOrg.com) -- As a quantum theory of gravity, loop quantum gravity could potentially solve one of the biggest problems in physics: reconciling general relativity and quantum mechanics. But like all tentative ...
Jan 03, 2012
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(PhysOrg.com) -- When it comes to the rules of the quantum world, it seems that almost everything goes against intuition. In the case of the way ignorance of the whole implies ignorance of at least one of its parts, the situation ...
Jul 26, 2011
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In the early 20th century, two famous discoveries about spin were made. One of them, discovered by Albert Einstein and Wander Johannes de Haas, explains a relationship between the spin of elementary particles. ...
Mar 03, 2011
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(PhysOrg.com) -- "With density functional theory, we are able to put different elements in a computer simulation and do calculations based on quantum mechanics to find out about their different properties," Maria Chan tells ...
Nov 23, 2010
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