News tagged with theory
Does the quantum wave function represent reality?
(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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Why we've got the cosmological constant all wrong
(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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Physicists propose test for loop quantum gravity
(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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Prediction or cause? Information theory may hold the key
(PhysOrg.com) -- "A perplexing philosophical issue in science is the question of anticipation, or prediction, versus causality," Shawn Pethel tells PhysOrg.com. "Can you tell the difference between something predicting an eve ...
Sep 30, 2011 |
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Don't have all the information? In the quantum world, that doesn't matter
(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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Could the combination of general relativity and quantum mechanics lead to spintronics?
(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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Model shows how scientific paradigms rise and fall
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientific concepts such as climate change, nanotechnology, and chaos theory can sometimes spring up and capture the attention of both the scientific and public communities, only to be replaced ...
Feb 22, 2011 |
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Enhanced efficiency when determining band gap in solids
(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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Origin of magnetic fields may lie in special relativity's spacetime distortions
(PhysOrg.com) -- Magnetic fields play an important role on scales ranging from the sub-atomic to the cosmic, from particle spins to galaxy clusters. Although scientists know how to create and manipulate magnetic ...
Sep 09, 2010 |
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Researchers reveal unseen planet by its gravity
More than a 150 years ago, before Neptune was ever sighted in the night sky, French mathematician Urbain Le Verrier predicted the planet's existence based on small deviations in the motion of Uranus. In a ...
May 10, 2012 |
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Discovery of earliest life forms' operation promises new therapies for key diseases
Bacteria provide a well-known playground for scientists and the evolution of these earliest life forms has shed important perspective on potential therapies for some of the most common, deadly diseases. Researchers at Case ...
Apr 26, 2012 |
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Physicists show standard 'quasiparticle' theory breaks down at 'quantum critical point'
A new study this week finds that "quantum critical points" in exotic electronic materials can act much like polarizing "hot button issues" in an election. Reporting in Nature, researchers from Rice Univer ...
Apr 25, 2012 |
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When dark energy turned on (Update)
(PhysOrg.com) -- Some six billion light years distant, almost halfway from now back to the big bang, the universe was undergoing an elemental change. Held back until then by the mutual gravitational attraction ...
Mar 30, 2012 |
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Looking at quantum gravity in a mirror
Einstein's theory of gravity and quantum physics are expected to merge at the Planck-scale of extremely high energies and on very short distances. At this scale, new phenomena could arise. However, the Planck-scale ...
Mar 18, 2012 |
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The annihilating effects of space travel
Long distance space travel could create the ultimate 'killer entrance', devastating your destination and anything around the arriving spacecraft, according to calculations by Professor Geraint Lewis and two ...
Mar 12, 2012 |
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