A survey of Scientific American’s century of quantum coverage helps explain the enduring popularity of strange physics ...

Quantum computation requires controlled engineering of quantum states to perform tasks that go beyond those possible with classical computers. Topological quantum computation aims to achieve this goal ...

Quantum mechanics is simultaneously beautiful and frustrating. Its explanatory power is unmatched. Armed with the machinery of quantum theory, we have unlocked the secrets of atomic power, divined the ...

At long last, a unified theory combining gravity with the other fundamental forces—electromagnetism and the strong and weak nuclear forces—is within reach. Bringing gravity into the fold has been the ...

The concept of time travel, filled with magic, has long danced on the boundary between science and science fiction. From ...

THE pleasure and pain of quantum theory began when an “or” became an “and”. Are the fundamental components of material reality – the things that make up light, matter, heat and so on – particles or ...

Researchers have developed a new quantum version of a 150-year-old thermodynamical thought experiment that could pave the way for the development of quantum heat engines. Mathematicians from the ...

Scientists are like prospectors, excavating the natural world seeking gems of knowledge about physical reality. And in the century just past, scientists have dug deep enough to discover that reality’s ...

A new definition of time suggests that what we once thought was a fundamental element of our physical reality could actually just be an illusion created by quantum entanglement. That's a very bold ...

Scientists believe that spacetime may have emerged, in part, from a quantum property called “magic.” “Magic” describes how hard a quantum state is to simulate on a regular computer. According to a ...