BREAKING NEWS
Bono Fide Physics
Jan 4, 2010
FQXi’s Anton Zeilinger gets picked out by Bono (yes, Bono) as one to watch for the next decade, in the New York Times.
To Job Vacancies and Beyond
Dec 17, 2009
The Beyond Center at Arizona State University, led by FQXi’s Paul Davies, Director, and Dr. Lawrence Krauss, Associate Director, seeks applications for a tenure-track assistant or associate professor. Full details are available in our job vacancies forum.
Dark Power
Nov 30, 2009
FQXi grant winner Louis Crane’s research on using black holes and dark matter to power starships has been featured in The Telegraph and New Scientist. Now they just have to build one...
FQXi on Twitter
Bono Fide Physics
Jan 4, 2010
FQXi’s Anton Zeilinger gets picked out by Bono (yes, Bono) as one to watch for the next decade, in the New York Times.
To Job Vacancies and Beyond
Dec 17, 2009
The Beyond Center at Arizona State University, led by FQXi’s Paul Davies, Director, and Dr. Lawrence Krauss, Associate Director, seeks applications for a tenure-track assistant or associate professor. Full details are available in our job vacancies forum.
Dark Power
Nov 30, 2009
FQXi grant winner Louis Crane’s research on using black holes and dark matter to power starships has been featured in The Telegraph and New Scientist. Now they just have to build one...
NEW IN BLOGS
Astrotheology: Do Aliens Have Their Own Jesus? Are...
By ZEEYA MERALI
Yesterday I attended a meeting at the Royal Society in London about how the discovery of extra-terrestrial intelligence would affect people and society, and was introduced to a whole new discipline: astrotheology. A big talking point at the meeting...
2180: The Year of the Warp Drive?
By ZEEYA MERALI
The first thing I should say is that I have not yet seen the new Star Trek movie, though I do intend to. (Is it any good?) But I have seen a raft of articles about the science of Star Trek (what should the collective noun for Star Trek stories be? An...
The Beautiful Truth
By WILLIAM OREM
My taste in painting runs toward the abstract. Not everyone’s first choice, I understand, but one that never had to be “sold” to me; I seem to have been born with an intuitive appreciation of large-scale gestural expressionism. I see a quality that I...
FEATURED FQXi MEMBER VIDEOS
FORUM UPDATES
Ultimate Reality
Wave function collapse demystified
By A. GARRETT LISI
There has always been an aura of mystical speculation surrounding quantum mechanics and the role of consciousness. The interpretation of wave function collapse (usually referred to as "the measurement problem") seems to lie at the heart of it. So,...
Ultimate Reality
Does Math Evolve?
By WILLIAM OREM
Here’s what I’m wondering: At Plank Density or greater, distinctions such as “here” and “there” have no operational meaning. When the universe was at this density, were simple arithmetical operations true?
If we say yes, we are agreeing that...
Ultimate Reality
Tegmark's Mathematical Universe
By ANTHONY AGUIRRE
While he would be too modest to toot his own horn, there's nothing stopping me from pointing out that 'mad Max' has recently put out a very interesting paper on whether all possible formal systems (and the 'physical' universes that some subset of...
Astrotheology: Do Aliens Have Their Own Jesus? Are...
By ZEEYA MERALI
Yesterday I attended a meeting at the Royal Society in London about how the discovery of extra-terrestrial intelligence would affect people and society, and was introduced to a whole new discipline: astrotheology. A big talking point at the meeting...
2180: The Year of the Warp Drive?
By ZEEYA MERALI
The first thing I should say is that I have not yet seen the new Star Trek movie, though I do intend to. (Is it any good?) But I have seen a raft of articles about the science of Star Trek (what should the collective noun for Star Trek stories be? An...
The Beautiful Truth
By WILLIAM OREM
My taste in painting runs toward the abstract. Not everyone’s first choice, I understand, but one that never had to be “sold” to me; I seem to have been born with an intuitive appreciation of large-scale gestural expressionism. I see a quality that I...
FEATURED FQXi MEMBER VIDEOS
 |
How are Multiple Universes Generated? - Anthony Aguirre |
 |
How Vast is the Cosmos? - Max Tegmark |
 |
Is the Universe Fine-Tuned for Life and Mind? - Alexander Vilenkin |
FORUM UPDATES
Ultimate Reality
Wave function collapse demystified
By A. GARRETT LISI
There has always been an aura of mystical speculation surrounding quantum mechanics and the role of consciousness. The interpretation of wave function collapse (usually referred to as "the measurement problem") seems to lie at the heart of it. So,...
Ultimate Reality
Does Math Evolve?
By WILLIAM OREM
Here’s what I’m wondering: At Plank Density or greater, distinctions such as “here” and “there” have no operational meaning. When the universe was at this density, were simple arithmetical operations true?
If we say yes, we are agreeing that...
Ultimate Reality
Tegmark's Mathematical Universe
By ANTHONY AGUIRRE
While he would be too modest to toot his own horn, there's nothing stopping me from pointing out that 'mad Max' has recently put out a very interesting paper on whether all possible formal systems (and the 'physical' universes that some subset of...
NEW ARTICLES
Classic Article: Building a Better Black Hole
By SCOTT DODD • Jan 29, 2010
FQXi essay contest winner Louis Crane explains how artificial black holes might have controlled our universe’s past and could direct humanity’s future, in this classic article from 2007.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(16 posts)
Editor's Choice: Taming Infinity
By ANIL ANANTHASWAMY • Jan 10, 2010
General relativity and quantum mechanics could be perfectly compatible—as long as you know how to handle infinity, that is.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(37 posts)
Readers' Choice: True Lies: Why Mathematics is an Illusion
By SCOTT DODD • Nov 30, 2009
To find a theory of quantum gravity we may have to look through a different logical lens, abandoning conceptions of "truth" and "falsehood" and crossing over to a new "mathematical universe."
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(135 posts)
Editor's Choice: The Evolution of Reality
By ANIL ANANTHASWAMY • Nov 10, 2009
How natural selection could explain one of the biggest conundrums of quantum mechanics: The emergence of objective reality.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(25 posts)
Readers' Choice: Time at the Event Horizon
By ANIL ANANTHASWAMY • Oct 29, 2009
Stick a clock next to a black hole to understand quantum gravity and the nature of time itself.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(160 posts)
Editor's Choice: Tying Up the Multiverse with String
By WILLIAM OREM • Oct 11, 2009
Why string theory and cosmology are a marriage made in heaven.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(89 posts)
Readers' Choice: Taking on the 10-D Universe with 8-D Math
By ANIL ANANTHASWAMY • Sep 13, 2009
A bizarre set of of 8-dimensional numbers could explain how to handle string-theory's extra dimensions, why elementary particles come in families of three—and maybe even how spacetime emerges in 4-dimensions.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(64 posts)
Editor's Choice: The Non-Expanding Universe
By KATE BECKER • Aug 25, 2009
Time doesn’t exist. The universe isn’t really expanding. And if you want a theory of quantum gravity, you need to look back to the man who inspired Einstein.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(260 posts)
Readers' Choice: Journeying Through the Quantum Froth
By MARC KAUFMAN • Aug 8, 2009
Are cosmic rays probing the quantum nature of spacetime? The architect of "doubly special relativity" thinks so—and he's on the hunt for "theories of (not) everything" that could help explain how.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(33 posts)
Editor's Choice: The Black Hole and the Babel Fish
By KATE BECKER • Jul 21, 2009
Uniting string theory and condensed matter—with a black hole as a universal translator.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(2 posts)
Readers' Choice: End of the Quantum Road?
By BOB SWARUP • Jul 3, 2009
Have we already found the ultimate theory of nature, without realizing it?
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(9 posts)
Editor's Choice: The Rise of the Anti-Universe
By ANIL ANANTHASWAMY • Jun 20, 2009
How our youthful universe explored the string-theory multiverse in search of home, with help from its anti-universe counterpart. This early odyssey may explain why our cosmos is so well-suited for life.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(1 post)
Readers' Choice: The Quantum Arrow of Time
By SOPHIE HEBDEN • Jun 6, 2009
Can Schrödinger's cat explain the origin of time and why we won't ever be able to turn back the clock and age backwards?
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(15 posts)
The Holographic Universe
By ANIL ANANTHASWAMY • May 22, 2009
Take one universe. Turn it into a hologram. Find its quantum wavefunction. Understand the birth of our cosmos.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(4 posts)
Much Ado About Nothing
By BOB SWARUP • May 8, 2009
Does the vacuum regenerate itself to fill the gaps as spacetime is pulled apart? Could a growing vacuum explain dark energy?
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(6 posts)
Measuring Up the Multiverse
By KATE BECKER • Apr 24, 2009
How (un)usual is our universe in the multiverse? Could it have been dreamt up by a disembodied, hallucinating quantum brain?
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(1 post)
The Many Lives of Hugh Everett III
By GRAEME STEMP-MORLOCK • Apr 10, 2009
Investigating the troubled genius behind parallel worlds.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(12 posts)
Out of the Darkness
By BOB SWARUP • Mar 27, 2009
Deciding the winner as dark matter, dark energy, and general relativity slug it out with rival theories.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(21 posts)
Editor's Choice: Quantum Upsizing
By GRAEME STEMP-MORLOCK • Mar 13, 2009
Pushing the quantum-classical limit by attempting to build the largest ever quantum object.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(11 posts)
Classic Article: Building a Better Black Hole
By SCOTT DODD • Jan 29, 2010
FQXi essay contest winner Louis Crane explains how artificial black holes might have controlled our universe’s past and could direct humanity’s future, in this classic article from 2007.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(16 posts)
Editor's Choice: Taming Infinity
By ANIL ANANTHASWAMY • Jan 10, 2010
General relativity and quantum mechanics could be perfectly compatible—as long as you know how to handle infinity, that is.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(37 posts)
Readers' Choice: True Lies: Why Mathematics is an Illusion
By SCOTT DODD • Nov 30, 2009
To find a theory of quantum gravity we may have to look through a different logical lens, abandoning conceptions of "truth" and "falsehood" and crossing over to a new "mathematical universe."
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(135 posts)
Editor's Choice: The Evolution of Reality
By ANIL ANANTHASWAMY • Nov 10, 2009
How natural selection could explain one of the biggest conundrums of quantum mechanics: The emergence of objective reality.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(25 posts)
Readers' Choice: Time at the Event Horizon
By ANIL ANANTHASWAMY • Oct 29, 2009
Stick a clock next to a black hole to understand quantum gravity and the nature of time itself.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(160 posts)
Editor's Choice: Tying Up the Multiverse with String
By WILLIAM OREM • Oct 11, 2009
Why string theory and cosmology are a marriage made in heaven.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(89 posts)
Readers' Choice: Taking on the 10-D Universe with 8-D Math
By ANIL ANANTHASWAMY • Sep 13, 2009
A bizarre set of of 8-dimensional numbers could explain how to handle string-theory's extra dimensions, why elementary particles come in families of three—and maybe even how spacetime emerges in 4-dimensions.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(64 posts)
Editor's Choice: The Non-Expanding Universe
By KATE BECKER • Aug 25, 2009
Time doesn’t exist. The universe isn’t really expanding. And if you want a theory of quantum gravity, you need to look back to the man who inspired Einstein.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(260 posts)
Readers' Choice: Journeying Through the Quantum Froth
By MARC KAUFMAN • Aug 8, 2009
Are cosmic rays probing the quantum nature of spacetime? The architect of "doubly special relativity" thinks so—and he's on the hunt for "theories of (not) everything" that could help explain how.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(33 posts)
Editor's Choice: The Black Hole and the Babel Fish
By KATE BECKER • Jul 21, 2009
Uniting string theory and condensed matter—with a black hole as a universal translator.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(2 posts)
Readers' Choice: End of the Quantum Road?
By BOB SWARUP • Jul 3, 2009
Have we already found the ultimate theory of nature, without realizing it?
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(9 posts)
Editor's Choice: The Rise of the Anti-Universe
By ANIL ANANTHASWAMY • Jun 20, 2009
How our youthful universe explored the string-theory multiverse in search of home, with help from its anti-universe counterpart. This early odyssey may explain why our cosmos is so well-suited for life.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(1 post)
Readers' Choice: The Quantum Arrow of Time
By SOPHIE HEBDEN • Jun 6, 2009
Can Schrödinger's cat explain the origin of time and why we won't ever be able to turn back the clock and age backwards?
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(15 posts)
The Holographic Universe
By ANIL ANANTHASWAMY • May 22, 2009
Take one universe. Turn it into a hologram. Find its quantum wavefunction. Understand the birth of our cosmos.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(4 posts)
Much Ado About Nothing
By BOB SWARUP • May 8, 2009
Does the vacuum regenerate itself to fill the gaps as spacetime is pulled apart? Could a growing vacuum explain dark energy?
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(6 posts)
Measuring Up the Multiverse
By KATE BECKER • Apr 24, 2009
How (un)usual is our universe in the multiverse? Could it have been dreamt up by a disembodied, hallucinating quantum brain?
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(1 post)
The Many Lives of Hugh Everett III
By GRAEME STEMP-MORLOCK • Apr 10, 2009
Investigating the troubled genius behind parallel worlds.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(12 posts)
Out of the Darkness
By BOB SWARUP • Mar 27, 2009
Deciding the winner as dark matter, dark energy, and general relativity slug it out with rival theories.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(21 posts)
Editor's Choice: Quantum Upsizing
By GRAEME STEMP-MORLOCK • Mar 13, 2009
Pushing the quantum-classical limit by attempting to build the largest ever quantum object.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(11 posts)