Exploring 'compellingness' in mechanism design

Consider an auction. You have two types of main protagonists or agents: a seller (or auctioneer) and many potential buyers. There are, of course, certain ground rules. For instance, one objective may be to design the auction ...

Uncovering universal physics in the dynamics of a quantum system

New experiments using one-dimensional gases of ultra-cold atoms reveal a universality in how quantum systems composed of many particles change over time following a large influx of energy that throws the system out of equilibrium. ...

Curved spacetime in a quantum simulator

The theory of relativity works well when you want to explain cosmic-scale phenomena—such as the gravitational waves created when black holes collide. Quantum theory works well when describing particle-scale phenomena—such ...

Black holes might be defects in spacetime

A team of theoretical physicists have discovered a strange structure in space-time that to an outside observer would look exactly like a black hole, but upon closer inspection would be anything but: they would be defects ...

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