Scientists Uncover Hidden Pattern in Quantum Chaos

Chaos doesn’t exist in the world of quantum physics, as quantum physics is a linear theory. So how come we observe chaos all around us? Researchers have now come one step closer to understanding how it happens. They have for the first time measured a “quantum scar”, that is a quantum effect which deviates from chaos. Why does this matter and what could it be good for? Let’s take a look.

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#science #sciencenews #physics #quantumphysics

[MrMctastics]

“Quantum Caustics” seems like a better description in my amateur opinion (because they resemble optical caustics, not caustic chemicals). They are areas of higher probability formed from paths converging in the same way that light paths converging creates areas of extra brightness

Edit: So apparently the name has already been taken by “quantum catastrophe theory” or whatever. That’s too bad

[tompaine]

We all have that one friend with a P=3.5 of being late...

[chongli]

There's nothing in the mathematical definition of chaos that says you must have density of periodic orbits over the entire space. Many chaotic systems exhibit this property only over a subset of the space, as in the case of strange attractors

[MrRolnicek]

We are truly entering a magical realm of engineering.
In RF engineering people have started making physical waveguides or other physical features of the assembly to replace computing and these look like ancient runes of summoning that you'd see in a fantasy setting.
Now we'll have the same arcane designs etched on nanoscale devices to similarly guide the wave but this time the wave of a single electron and then remove the uncertainty that would otherwise be found in such miniature devices.

All of this by etching arcane runes into the material itself.

[lobabobloblaw]

I really wish they’d gone with a different term than ‘scar’. It just reminds me of when I’m shaving and happen to notice a quantum pimple on my chin

[charlottesimonin]

In classical mechanics it is recognized that chaotic systems often oscillate around points that are labeled "strange attractors" When the system is disturbed the new paths will follow and new pattern oscillating around a new point. The butterfly effect is a typical feature of chaotic systems. Weather is a chaotic system that is currently transitioning to a new pattern.

[sikliztailbunch]

Our informatics teacher descibed chaos as following: IN a recursive system, you cannot predict a state more than one iteration ahead, hence the outcome can not be predicted with a shortcut solution but instead has to be iterated through each recursive step. The conclusion: Recursive solver operation logic is by definition chaotic.
Fractals would be a practical example. Or fluid simulations.

[RolfWRasmussen]

0:09: A slight clarification, Quantum physics as a whole includes both linear frameworks (like Hilbert spaces and quantum mechanics) and non-linear dynamics (like those in QCD). But the argument holds true for the parts of quantum physics most people are familiar with.

[fatsquirrel]

Chaos theory doesnt mean things keep growing indefinitely. The weather is chaotic, but that doesnt mean the temperture will run away to infinity. It simply means its harder to predict as time goes on. It is sunny today, so it is likely sunny tomorrow, but next week's weather is likely unrelated to today's.

Chaos is still probabilistic. Whether or not it rains next week is still going to be between 0 and 1. So "washed out by quantum uncertainky" sure matches with chaotic models to me, as predictions become more uncertain with time.

Chaos models may be deterministic, but we can never measure with the precison needed for accurate longer term predixtions. So I dont see how its incompatible at all honestly.

[thorstenbeuth]

In my master thesis, I calculated propabilities of multi state in laser traps. The particles had a higher likelihood to go into certain combination of states just by the amount of combinatorics to achieve these states. It was never chaotic, dynamic yes, but not chaotic.

[__christopher__]

I never bought the argument from linearity. The Liouville equation is also linear, as it operates on probability density, and yet it entails the complete classical Hamiltonian physics, including chaos. What's different in quantum mechanics are the discrete energy levels and the uncertainty relation.

[little_forest]

Well, my „quantum chaos“ lecture at university was exactly about what this paper addresses - lots of billiards and the question what happens in the mesoskopic realm where you have a mixture of classical/chaotic and quantum mechanical behavior. A fellow PhD student of mine measured the conductivity of a small superconducting billard to see if the DOS looks more qm or more chaotic. So to me this topic never seemed neglected. At my old university, there was always also a small group of theoreticians who used bohmian mechanics, which provides a more „natural“ approach to quantum chaos.

[green-coder-clj]

At 5:20 Sabine says that quantum chaos in physics doesn't exist, then1 second later she has a different haircut. Isn't this a kind of chaos in physics? 🙂

[sulaco]

I love it when Sabine explains deep scientific concepts. She is a great scientific educator, even when sometimes she goes out of scope trying to explain human behavior and sociopolitical issues, which most of his followers, like me, don't care about for being transient and trendy. Thanks, Sabine, for teaching us the wonders of science!

[zdzislawmeglicki]

QM is a linear theory because we choose it to be so, if only because non-linear theories, like GR, are too hard. But non-linear formulations of the Schrödinger equation do exist, both on classical and quantum levels, and have been found to be applicable to many situations, e.g., fibre optics, water waves, vortex filaments, etc.

[AyiAyi-oyrc]

It always struck me when i'd go to conferences and see people talk about quantum chaos only to say that there isnt any chaos, just funny looking energy level diagrams. Though the measurement problem feels like it would definitelly be part of the solution since a measurement doesnt change the wavefunction in a linear fashion. Anyway, cool to see this being talked about

[gagiotter]

The real chaos in quantum physics is the argument between the scientists about what's the next hypothetical particle going to be.

[PabloMayrgundter]

I think Sabine may be mistaken here. QM encompasses QED, which is linear, but also QCD is non-linear (gluon self-interaction) and therefore would possibly yield QM effects that exhibit chaos

[arctic_haze]

The research is really interesting but the (real) typo in the Julia Roberts headline made my day. Obviously, the intended word was "Roles" 😀

[adoniscirillo]

Even in 'Chaos' there are Patterns - Because even in chaos there are boundries/limits - Once those boundries/limits are identified, Patterns can then be identified and/or predicted..