Lifeboat Foundation

Ontic structural realism argues that structure is all there is. In (French, 2014) I argued for an ‘eliminativist’ version of this view, according to which the world should be conceived, metaphysically, as structure, and objects, at both the fundamental and ‘everyday’ levels, should be eliminated. This paper is a response to a number of profound concerns that have been raised, such as how we might distinguish between the kind of structure invoked by this view and mathematical structure in general, how we should choose between eliminativist ontic structural realism and alternative metaphysical accounts such as dispositionalism, and how we should capture, in metaphysical terms, the relationship between structures and particles. In developing my response I shall touch on a number of broad issues, including the applicability of mathematics, the nature of representation and the relationship between metaphysics and science in general.

Keywords: Causation; Dependence; Disposition; Metaphysics; Object; Representation; Structure.

Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

While solid-state spin qubits show promise as quantum information platforms, their qubit-to-qubit interactions extend over too short a distance to connect many of them together, posing a problem for complex computations. Now Frankie Fung and colleagues from Harvard University have devised a mechanical method—involving a vibrating nanobeam—to connect distant spin qubits, potentially overcoming this issue [1].

A popular solid-state spin qubit is the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center, a single-atom defect in a diamond crystal. This system is attractive for quantum information applications, as it has both a light-sensitive electron spin state (which offers a knob for controlling the qubit) and a long-lived nuclear spin state (which acts as memory). But direct interactions between NV centers are limited to a few nanometers.

To lengthen the connections, Fung and his colleagues propose using a nanobeam fitted with a micromagnet as an intermediary between distant NV centers. The idea is then to place a line of NV centers along the length of a scanning-probe-microscope tip and move the tip over the micromagnet. When a particular NV center comes close to the micromagnet, the magnetic-field interaction should entangle the vibrational state of the nanobeam with the spin state of that NV center. This quantum information is then shared with the next NV center along the line.

Dark energy—a mysterious force pushing the universe apart at an ever-increasing rate—was discovered 26 years ago, and ever since, scientists have been searching for a new and exotic particle causing the expansion.

Pushing the boundaries of this search, University of California, Berkeley physicists have now built the most precise experiment yet to look for minor deviations from the accepted theory of gravity that could be evidence for such a particle, which theorists have dubbed a chameleon or symmetron. The results are published in the June 11, 2024, issue of Nature Physics.

The experiment, which combines an atom interferometer for precise gravity measurements with an optical lattice to hold the atoms in place, allowed the researchers to immobilize free-falling atoms for seconds instead of milliseconds to look for gravitational effects, besting the current most precise measurement by a factor of five.

Scientists at the University of Konstanz in Germany have advanced ultrafast electron microscopy to unprecedented time resolution. Reporting in Science Advances, the research team presents a method for the all-optical control, compression, and characterization of electron pulses within a transmission electron microscope using terahertz light. Additionally, the researchers have discovered substantial anti-correlations in the time domain for two-electron and three-electron states, providing deeper insight into the quantum physics of free electrons.

Ultrafast electron microscopy is a cutting-edge technique that combines the spatial resolution of traditional electron microscopy with the temporal resolution of ultrafast femtosecond laser pulses. This powerful combination allows researchers to observe atoms and electrons in motion, capturing dynamic processes in materials with unparalleled clarity. By visualizing these rapid events in space and time, scientists can gain deeper insights into the fundamental mechanisms that govern material properties and transitions, helping to create advancements in research fields such as nanotechnology, optics, materials science, and quantum physics.

Although ultrafast electron microscopy enables, in principle, the observation of atomic and electronic motions on fundamental spatial and temporal scales, capturing these rapid dynamics has remained challenging due to the limitations in electron pulse duration. The current standard electron pulses, lasting about 200 femtoseconds, are too long to resolve many fundamental reaction processes in materials and molecules. Pulses ten times shorter would be required to observe basic reaction paths and collective atomic motions, so-called phonon modes, in real time.

During electron-impact ionization (EII), high-energy electrons collide with atoms, knocking away one or more of their outer electrons. To calculate the probability that ionization will occur during these impacts, researchers use a quantity named the “ionization cross-section.” EII is among the main processes affecting the balance of charges in hot plasma, but so far, its cross-section has proven incredibly difficult to study through theoretical calculations.

Through new research published in The European Physical Journal D, Stefan Schippers and colleagues at Justus-Liebig University of Giessen, Germany, present new calculations for the EII cross-section, which closely match with their experimental results. Their discoveries could provide useful new insights in many fields of research where hot plasma is studied, including astrophysics and controlled nuclear fusion.

So far, EII cross-sections have proven especially challenging to calculate for two key reasons: the complex interactions that can emerge between the electrons involved in the process, and the wide array of possible electron configurations in the atoms being impacted.

Abstract We have analytically determined the refractive index for the mechanical refraction of a relativistic particle for its all possible speeds. We have critically analysed the importance of Descartes’ metaphysical theory and extended it in this regard. We have considered the conservation of the tangential component of the relativistic momentum and the relativistic energy of the particle in the process of the mechanical refraction within the optical-mechanical analogy. Our result for the mechanical refractive index exactly matches with the forms of both the Fermat’s result on Snell’s law of optical refraction at the ultra-relativistic limit and the Descartes’ metaphysical result on the pseudo-Snell law of optical refraction at the non-relativistic limit. Graphic abstract Mechanical refraction from medium-1 to medium-2 for $$U2U1$$ U 2 U 1.

Researchers have identified new characteristics of layered low-dimensional materials that enable rapid transfers of electrons and thermal energy, pointing to potential improvements in ultrafast optical technologies and various other applications.

In a collaborative work in the Dynacom framework (French Japanese Laboratory), recent studies have highlighted that materials composed of layered tubes, which are atomically thick and classified as low-dimensional materials, exhibit new properties. Although the static properties of these structures, such as electrical conduction, are well documented, their dynamic properties, including electron transfer between layers and atomic motion triggered by light exposure, have received less attention.

In this study, scientists constructed nested cylindrical structures by wrapping carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in boron nitride nanotubes. They then examined the motion of electrons and atoms induced by ultrashort light pulses on a one-dimensional (1D) material. Electron motion was monitored using broadband ultrafast optical spectroscopy, which captures instantaneous changes in molecular and electronic structures due to light irradiation with a precision of ten trillionths of a second (10⁻¹³ s). Atomic motion was observed through ultrafast time-resolved electron diffraction, which similarly achieved monitoring of structural dynamics with ten-trillionth-of-a-second accuracy.

The study suggests these primordial black holes could have absorbed free quarks and gluons, making them different from typical black holes formed by collapsing stars. They would be incredibly small, yet could account for much of the universe’s dark matter.

For decades, scientists have struggled to explain the lack of visible matter in the universe.

Watch more interviews on the deep laws of nature: https://shorturl.at/P6tIr Does information work at the deep levels of physics, including quantum theory, undergirding the fundamental forces and particles? But what is the essence of information—describing how the world works or being how the world works. There is a huge difference. Could information be the most basic building block of reality? Support the show with Closer To Truth merchandise: https://bit.ly/3P2ogje Follow us on Instagram for news, giveaways, announcements, and more: https://shorturl.at/dnA39 Raphael Bousso is a theoretical physicist and string theorist. He is a professor at Department of Physics, UC Berkeley. He is known for the proposal of Bousso’s holographic bound, also known as the covariant entropy bound. For members-only benefits, register for a free CTT account today: https://shorturl.at/ajRZ8 Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.