BREAKING NEWS
Tweets by @FQXi
Quantum Properties of Spacetime
May 29, 2020
FQXi's Francesca Vidotto talks in-depth to JSTOR Daily about feminist epistemology, white holes, string theory, and her book (with Carlo Rovelli) on loop quantum gravity.
Gravity Winners
May 29, 2020
The winners of the Gravity Research Foundation essay contest have been announced. Congrats to our members who have won prizes: Eduardo Guendelman (for "Lorentzian Quintessential Inflation" with David Benisty), Craig Hogan (for "Cosmological Constant in Coherent Quantum Gravity"), Thanu Padmanabhan (for "Principle of Equivalence at Planck Scales and the Zero-Point-Length of Spacetime"), and Maulik Parikh & Frank Wilczek (first prize for "The Noise of Gravitons" with George Zhariade).
INSPYRE!
Mar 23, 2020
FQXi is proud to support INSPYRE 2020, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the…Universe’”, which is dedicated to the hottest topics from particle physics to cosmology. This year lectures (in English) are online from 30th March to 3rd April. Open to all, especially students & teachers! The course is organised by FQXi's Catalina Oana Curceanu, senior researcher at the National Laboratory of Frascati (LNF), and you can read more here.
NEW IN BLOGS
Undecidability, Uncomputability, and...
By DAVID SLOAN
FQXi's essay contests are always set up as a challenge for our community to push back on the boundaries of our understanding. This year was no different, as we asked you to decide how something could be undecidable, compute what we would find...
Film Screening: "Infinite Potential: The Life and...
By ZEEYA MERALI
You're invited to a special free film screening and panel discussion event, "Quantum Theories of Consciousness," on July 18th 2020, organized by our friends at The Fetzer Memorial Trust, in partnership with The Center for Consciousness Studies. The...
Searching for Physical Models of the Evolution of...
By ADRIAN KENT
Abstract: The scientific consensus is that, although many important details remain to be elaborated, Darwinian evolution can be understood in principle as a consequence of known physical laws. As William James first pointed out, the development of...
FORUM UPDATES
Ultimate Reality
The Nature of Time
By ZEEYA MERALI
I'm opening up this thread, following requests from users, as a place to discuss general questions and ideas about the nature of time.
Enjoy!
Undecidability, Uncomputability, and Unpredictability Essay Contest (2019-2020)
CAN THE FUTURE CREATE THE PAST? by Gyöngyi Bokor
By GYONGYI BOKOR
Essay Abstract
Is it possible that past, present, and future exist altogether somewhere and sometime, in a hidden structure unperceivable from our world? Can there be a dimension to change our causation rules and transform them into a free...
Undecidability, Uncomputability, and Unpredictability Essay Contest (2019-2020)
Undecidability and indeterminism by Klaas Landsman
By KLAAS LANDSMAN
Essay Abstract
The famous theorem of Bell (1964) left two loopholes for determinism underneath quantum mechanics, viz. non-local deterministic hidden variable theories (like Bohmian mechanics) or theories denying free choice of...
Undecidability, Uncomputability, and...
By DAVID SLOAN
FQXi's essay contests are always set up as a challenge for our community to push back on the boundaries of our understanding. This year was no different, as we asked you to decide how something could be undecidable, compute what we would find...
Film Screening: "Infinite Potential: The Life and...
By ZEEYA MERALI
You're invited to a special free film screening and panel discussion event, "Quantum Theories of Consciousness," on July 18th 2020, organized by our friends at The Fetzer Memorial Trust, in partnership with The Center for Consciousness Studies. The...
Searching for Physical Models of the Evolution of...
By ADRIAN KENT
Abstract: The scientific consensus is that, although many important details remain to be elaborated, Darwinian evolution can be understood in principle as a consequence of known physical laws. As William James first pointed out, the development of...
NEW PODCAST EPISODES
#ShutDownSTEM and the #Strike4BlackLives; Retrocausality Reviewed; Measuring Consciousness in Fruit Flies; Superior -- The Return of Race Science; & the Mystery of the Monster Galaxy.
2019: Year in Physics Review Part 2:
Concluding our countdown of the biggest stories of the year in physics, as chosen by quantum physicist Ian Durham.
2019: Year in Physics Review Part 1
Beginning our countdown of the biggest stories of the year in physics, as chosen by quantum physicist Ian Durham.
Most Recent:
|
"Generalised Integrated Information Theories" Sean Tull |
|
"Structure Invention by Conscious Agents" Chetan Prakash |
|
"Toward a formal model of free will" Ian Durham |
FORUM UPDATES
Ultimate Reality
The Nature of Time
By ZEEYA MERALI
I'm opening up this thread, following requests from users, as a place to discuss general questions and ideas about the nature of time.
Enjoy!
Undecidability, Uncomputability, and Unpredictability Essay Contest (2019-2020)
CAN THE FUTURE CREATE THE PAST? by Gyöngyi Bokor
By GYONGYI BOKOR
Essay Abstract
Is it possible that past, present, and future exist altogether somewhere and sometime, in a hidden structure unperceivable from our world? Can there be a dimension to change our causation rules and transform them into a free...
Undecidability, Uncomputability, and Unpredictability Essay Contest (2019-2020)
Undecidability and indeterminism by Klaas Landsman
By KLAAS LANDSMAN
Essay Abstract
The famous theorem of Bell (1964) left two loopholes for determinism underneath quantum mechanics, viz. non-local deterministic hidden variable theories (like Bohmian mechanics) or theories denying free choice of...
NEW ARTICLES
Lockdown Lab Life
By COLIN STUART • Jun 19, 2020
Grounded physicists are exploring the use of online and virtual-reality conferencing, and AI-controlled experiments, to maintain social distancing. Post-pandemic, these positive innovations could make science more accessible and environmentally-friendly.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(0 posts)
Is Causality Fundamental?
By BRENDAN FOSTER • Jun 18, 2020
Untangling how the human perception of cause-and-effect might arise from quantum physics, may help us understand the limits and the potential of AI.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(18 posts)
Building Agency in the Biology Lab
By MIRIAM FRANKEL • Apr 10, 2020
Physicists are using optogenetics techniques to make a rudimentary agent, from cellular components, which can convert measurements into actions using light.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(3 posts)
Think Quantum to Build Better AI
By COLIN STUART • Mar 6, 2020
Investigating how quantum memory storage could aid machine learning and how quantum interactions with the environment may have played a role in evolution.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(7 posts)
Outside the Box
By COLIN STUART • Mar 5, 2020
A proposed quantum set-up that could predict your game-playing strategy resurrects Newcomb’s classic quiz show paradox.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(4 posts)
The Quantum Agent
By NICOLA JONES • Feb 11, 2020
Investigating how the quantum measurement process might be related to the emergence of intelligence, agency and free will.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(19 posts)
First Things First: The Physics of Causality
By KATE BECKER • Jul 16, 2019
Why do we remember the past and not the future? Untangling the connections between cause and effect, choice, and entropy.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(268 posts)
Can Time Be Saved From Physics?
By JOHN FARRELL • Apr 27, 2019
Philosophers, physicists and neuroscientists discuss how our sense of time’s flow might arise through our interactions with external stimuli—despite suggestions from Einstein's relativity that our perception of the passage of time is an illusion.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(210 posts)
Thermo-Demonics
By M. MITCHELL WALDROP • Mar 4, 2019
A devilish new framework of thermodynamics that focuses on how we observe information could help illuminate our understanding of probability and rewrite quantum theory.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(87 posts)
Gravity's Residue
By GEORGE MUSSER • Feb 15, 2019
An unusual approach to unifying the laws of physics could solve Hawking's black-hole information paradox—and its predicted gravitational "memory effect" could be picked up by LIGO.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(12 posts)
Could Mind Forge the Universe?
By SOPHIE HEBDEN • Jan 18, 2019
Objective reality, and the laws of physics themselves, emerge from our observations, according to a new framework that turns what we think of as fundamental on its head.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(47 posts)
Dissolving Quantum Paradoxes
By KATE BECKER • Aug 31, 2018
The impossibility of building a perfect clock could help explain away microscale weirdness.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(171 posts)
Constructing a Theory of Life
By MIRIAM FRANKEL • Jul 31, 2018
An all-encompassing framework of physics could help to explain the evolution of consciousness, intelligence, and free will.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(149 posts)
Usurping Quantum Theory
By COLIN STUART • Jun 28, 2018
The search is on for a fundamental framework that allows for even stranger links between particles than quantum theory—which could lead us to a theory of everything.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(11 posts)
Fuzzballs v Black Holes
By SOPHIE HEBDEN • May 11, 2018
A radical theory replaces the cosmic crunchers with fuzzy quantum spheres, potentially solving the black-hole information paradox and explaining away the Big Bang and the origin of time.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(21 posts)
Lockdown Lab Life
By COLIN STUART • Jun 19, 2020
Grounded physicists are exploring the use of online and virtual-reality conferencing, and AI-controlled experiments, to maintain social distancing. Post-pandemic, these positive innovations could make science more accessible and environmentally-friendly.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(0 posts)
Is Causality Fundamental?
By BRENDAN FOSTER • Jun 18, 2020
Untangling how the human perception of cause-and-effect might arise from quantum physics, may help us understand the limits and the potential of AI.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(18 posts)
Building Agency in the Biology Lab
By MIRIAM FRANKEL • Apr 10, 2020
Physicists are using optogenetics techniques to make a rudimentary agent, from cellular components, which can convert measurements into actions using light.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(3 posts)
Think Quantum to Build Better AI
By COLIN STUART • Mar 6, 2020
Investigating how quantum memory storage could aid machine learning and how quantum interactions with the environment may have played a role in evolution.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(7 posts)
Outside the Box
By COLIN STUART • Mar 5, 2020
A proposed quantum set-up that could predict your game-playing strategy resurrects Newcomb’s classic quiz show paradox.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(4 posts)
The Quantum Agent
By NICOLA JONES • Feb 11, 2020
Investigating how the quantum measurement process might be related to the emergence of intelligence, agency and free will.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(19 posts)
First Things First: The Physics of Causality
By KATE BECKER • Jul 16, 2019
Why do we remember the past and not the future? Untangling the connections between cause and effect, choice, and entropy.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(268 posts)
Can Time Be Saved From Physics?
By JOHN FARRELL • Apr 27, 2019
Philosophers, physicists and neuroscientists discuss how our sense of time’s flow might arise through our interactions with external stimuli—despite suggestions from Einstein's relativity that our perception of the passage of time is an illusion.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(210 posts)
Thermo-Demonics
By M. MITCHELL WALDROP • Mar 4, 2019
A devilish new framework of thermodynamics that focuses on how we observe information could help illuminate our understanding of probability and rewrite quantum theory.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(87 posts)
Gravity's Residue
By GEORGE MUSSER • Feb 15, 2019
An unusual approach to unifying the laws of physics could solve Hawking's black-hole information paradox—and its predicted gravitational "memory effect" could be picked up by LIGO.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(12 posts)
Could Mind Forge the Universe?
By SOPHIE HEBDEN • Jan 18, 2019
Objective reality, and the laws of physics themselves, emerge from our observations, according to a new framework that turns what we think of as fundamental on its head.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(47 posts)
Dissolving Quantum Paradoxes
By KATE BECKER • Aug 31, 2018
The impossibility of building a perfect clock could help explain away microscale weirdness.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(171 posts)
Constructing a Theory of Life
By MIRIAM FRANKEL • Jul 31, 2018
An all-encompassing framework of physics could help to explain the evolution of consciousness, intelligence, and free will.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(149 posts)
Usurping Quantum Theory
By COLIN STUART • Jun 28, 2018
The search is on for a fundamental framework that allows for even stranger links between particles than quantum theory—which could lead us to a theory of everything.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(11 posts)
Fuzzballs v Black Holes
By SOPHIE HEBDEN • May 11, 2018
A radical theory replaces the cosmic crunchers with fuzzy quantum spheres, potentially solving the black-hole information paradox and explaining away the Big Bang and the origin of time.
Read article
Discuss this article in the FQXi Community Forum
(21 posts)