quantum gravity tagged posts

Scientists from Trinity believe our brains could use quantum computation after adapting an idea developed to prove the existence of quantum gravity to explore the human brain and its workings. The discovery may shed light on consciousness, the workings of which remain scientifically difficult to understand and explain. Quantum brain processes could also explain why we can still outperform supercomputers when it comes to unforeseen circumstances, decision-making, or learning something new.

The brain functions measured were also correlated to short-term memory performance and conscious awareness, suggesting quantum processes are also part of cognitive and conscious brain functions.

If the team’s results can be confirmed – likely requiring advanced multidisciplinary approaches -the...

Yasha Neiman grapples with complex conundrums in quantum gravity on a daily basis. Credit: OIST

A new perspective bridges two approaches to understanding quantum gravity. “As we learn more, reality becomes ever more subtle; the absolute becomes relative, the fixed becomes dynamical, the definite is laden with uncertainty,” writes physicist Yasha Neiman. A professor and head of the Quantum Gravity Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), he grapples with this conundrum on a daily basis. Quantum gravity, Neiman’s branch of physics, aims to unify quantum mechanics, which describes nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles, with Einstein’s theory of General Relativity – the modern theory of gravitation as curvature of space and time...

Harmonic oscillator device is shown. Credit: LENS. Florence, Italy

Relativity and quantum mechanics: A non-local union? A theoretical study has analyzed a model that saves special relativity and reconciles it with granularity by introducing small-scale deviations from the principle of locality demonstrating that it can be experimentally tested with great precision.

Our experience of space-time is that of a continuous object, without gaps or discontinuities, just as it is described by classical physics. For some quantum gravity models however, the texture of space-time is “granular” at tiny scales (below the so-called Planck scale, 10-33 cm), as if it were a variable mesh of solids and voids (or a complex foam)...

Quantum particles of different energies sense different properties of spacetime. The effect is similar to the dispersion of light in prism: photons of different energies sense the same prism as having slightly different properties. (Source: FUW, jch) Credit: Source: FUW, jch

When white light is passed through a prism, the rainbow on the other side reveals a rich palette of colors. Theorists from University of Warsaw have shown that in models of the Universe using any of the quantum theories of gravity there must also be a ‘rainbow’ of sorts, composed of different versions of spacetime. The mechanism predicts that instead of a single, common spacetime, particles of different energies essentially sense slightly modified versions thereof.

We have probably all seen the experiment: when white l...