Some signs of quantum gravity may be an illusion
Quantum mechanics and Einstein’s theory of gravity explain almost everything we see in nature, yet physicists still do not know how to unite them.
Quantum mechanics and Einstein’s theory of gravity explain almost everything we see in nature, yet physicists still do not know how to unite them.
The short version
- A new theoretical framework suggests that some experiments that appear to show gravity behaving quantum mechanically may have a much more ordinary explanation.
- Researchers found that scenarios involving a supposed “superposition of gravity” can sometimes be described equally well as quantum particles moving through classical spacetime.
- Two remarkably successful theories explain nearly everything we observe in the universe, from tiny atoms and molecules to planets, stars, and galaxies.
What happened
Quantum mechanics describes the behavior of matter at very small scales, while Einstein's theory of gravity explains how stars and black holes move and how the Universe expands. Despite their enormous success, the two theories still do not fit neatly together.
Why it matters
Physicists have spent decades searching for a theory of "quantum gravity" that could combine them into one consistent description of nature.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at ScienceDaily — Top Science via the links above and below.