Portals to a New Reality: Five Pathways to the Future of Physics
Why five revolutionary experiments in quantum physics promise to open the gates separating us from a true understanding of the universe
For the last century, physics has been treading along the paths set by the same two theories—quantum theory and general relativity—and, let’s face it, it’s getting pretty boring. Most scientists are simply chasing decimal points in laboratories, unable to explore the theories at large scales, where serious discrepancies could emerge.
The situation is a lot like the one physics was in in 1890, right before Planck, Einstein, and Bohr blew the roof off Newtonian physics. As Vlatko Vedral argues in Portals to a New Reality, that means we are on the brink of a revolution. Vedral shows how quantum information theory has opened radically new avenues for experiments that could upend physics. They can sound very strange—one essentially involves entangling a human with Schrödinger’s cat—but they lay bare elements of our theories that are particularly problematic, such as the widespread belief that nothing truly exists unless it is observed.
At present these experiments are thought experiments, albeit fascinating ones. But nothing, save inertia and a lack of ambition, stands in our way. Now is the time to rewrite the understanding of the universe.
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From entangled cats to quantum gravity and the nature of time, Vedral explores how understanding quantum information could unify physics—and transform our view of life, the universe, and everything. A bold manifesto for those who believe real progress begins with asking better questions.
Vlatko Vedral is a revolutionary in the best sense: where others see stagnation and impasse, he sees signposts – or “portals”, as he calls them – to a future in which our very conception of reality will be overturned. In this stimulating and provocative book, Vedral seeks to shatter complacency by identifying five portals to a radically new understanding of reality.
A typically fearless contribution from Vlatko Vedral: a lucid, compellingly argued collection of bold ideas that defy the standard ways of thinking. At a time when the field feels like it is stuck for ideas, Portals to A New Reality opens the door on what could prove an exciting future for fundamental physics.
No, not magic mushrooms; something far more reliable and compelling: a lucid, unflinching, and undeflected commitment to the pursuit of a quantum theory of reality.
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