In the 1920s, when quantum mechanics was young, physicists Jane Dewey and Laura Chalk performed some of the first experimental tests of the theory, based on a phenomenon called the Stark effect. Later ...

On May 7, 1981, influential physicist Richard Feynman gave a keynote speech at Caltech. Feynman opened his talk by politely rejecting the very notion of a keynote speech, instead saying that he had ...

Have you ever doubted your knowledge or expertise? Noticed, if you’re a woman, that you receive less recognition than your male colleagues do, that your ideas were unheard in a discussion until they ...

I have been to more scientific conferences than I care to count, but a recent meeting held on the island of Helgoland to celebrate the centenary of quantum mechanics is one of the strangest – in a ...

We’re celebrating 180 years of Scientific American. Explore our legacy of discovery and look ahead to the future. This year is the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, according to ...

In a study by TU Wien and FU Berlin, researchers have measured what happens when quantum physical information is lost. This clarifies important connections between thermodynamics, information theory ...

What is World Quantum Day 2026: World Quantum Day is observed to promote the public understanding of quantum science and technology. It is celebrated anuualy on April 14. It was launched by scientists ...

In the pantheon of modern physics, few figures can match the quiet authority of Gerard ’t Hooft. The theoretical physicist, now a professor emeritus at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, has spent ...

Scientists are harnessing the alternative physics of the quantum realm to create computers of unprecedented power, potentially revolutionizing fields from drug discovery to climate modeling. Quantum ...

To predict when we’ll have a truly useful quantum computer, we need to know precisely what one is. Columnist Karmela Padavic-Callaghan finds that’s harder to pin down than you might think ...