Questions tagged [quantum]

For questions about physics at subatomic scales and their corresponding effects on fictional worlds.

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The Wheeler-Feynman Handshake as a mechanism for determining a fictional universal length constant enabling an ansible-like link

I'm writing a science fiction story set in a future where aliens have made contact with us and established interstellar trade. I'm trying to invent a fairly believable universal standard unit of ...
Vogon Poet's user avatar
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2 votes
3 answers
291 views

Is There Any Reason for a High Fantasy civilization to use Stable Higher-Generation Matter

So, in the process of developing a magic system, I have come up with an ability and I don't know why any mage would want to use it. Basically, some mages can control radioactive decay, and what that ...
skout's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
267 views

Can I Achieve Immortality by Controlling Brownian Motion within cells? [closed]

Okay, so I have these beings that are supposed to be able to alter their bodies and do it in such a way that they can make themselves and other practically immortal. But now I am needing to know how ...
skout's user avatar
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6 votes
4 answers
835 views

Developing a Theoretical Quantum Effect and Experimental Methods for 'Heat Death' in a Science Fiction Universe

I am currently crafting a science fiction story in which humanity confronts an unprecedented threat: a novel form of 'heat death' that causes matter to cease to exist when it reaches certain ...
intro's user avatar
  • 846
4 votes
5 answers
965 views

Turning possible a gigantic rock in the sky (sci-fi and magic)

Ok, we have magic to solve all my problems but I want to find if I can solve this "the most cientific possible". I have a world that turns out to be the earth but in a post-apocalyptic ...
RyukeiMidori's user avatar
-4 votes
3 answers
104 views

What would happen if everything in a radius stopped exhibiting quantum properties and acted like if it was constantly being observed? [closed]

Okay here's the lore. In my universe Dark matter is in reality an entity that exists in a higher dimension constantly observing everything that passes through itself. This means that whatever object ...
Venik Hue's user avatar
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7 votes
4 answers
2k views

How would a photon-based intelligence work in regard to relativity?

I want to do something interesting with Caleb Scharf’s speculation that hyper-advanced aliens could make themselves immortal by uploading themselves into the cosmic background radiation. These light ...
Fredrik Hansing's user avatar
3 votes
6 answers
242 views

It it plausible to say my world exists as a result of the many-worlds hypothesis? [closed]

In 1957, Everett and Wheeler put forward the idea that quantum effects such as single-photon interference in the double-slit experiment are the result of the same photon existing in different ...
wokopa's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
116 views

Can an alternate physics system be devised in which the weak force is reduced or eliminated entirely?

Like, is there a modification to the Standard Model you could make, or some sort of alternate gauge theory that only unifies the strong and the electromagnetic interactions? Edit: I am not asking for ...
edzatle's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
148 views

Which numeric base should I use for universal measurement unit prefixes? [closed]

I'm developing a story where Earth is obliterated by an asteroid and the small mars colony collapses into chaos shortly after. The last survivor enters a criogenic chamber for indefinite amount of ...
Paulo Raposo's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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Could a quantum computer be integrated into a biological medium?

I'm working on an idea for an AI in a short story and have been circling around the idea of a biologically-integrated quantum computer — think, diamond qubits suspended in a biological medium (goop?) ...
hwy4's user avatar
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8 votes
8 answers
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Quantum supercomputers in orbit?

I have been wondering if it would be a good idea to exploit the natural coldness of space to create the conditions needed for quantum computation at a large scale. The average temperature of space is ...
JuimyTheHyena's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
170 views

Does Catalyzing Quantum Tunneling Break the Universe?

Say that someone develops a technology that enables you to catalyze/accelerate quantum tunneling within the device, with the purpose of making the kind of quantum tunneling that enables hydrogen ...
FlyingLemmingSoup's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
1k views

Is it possible, at least in theory, to travel between two spots in the universe through an Einstein-Rosen bridge?

I'm using as a means of "long-distance travel" the generation and exploitation of Einstein-Rosen bridges, through quantum entanglement of black matter in different points of the galaxy, as a ...
th0bard's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
337 views

Hacking the simulation to do time travel (with quantum computers?)

I am trying to come up with a plausible speculative physics explanation for a story I am writing where the conceit is that phsyicists discover the universe is a simulation. The idea is that the ...
Mandrake_The_Magician's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
113 views

Realistic sensor array capabilities?

This is a follow-up to an as of yet unanswered question: What would the local effects/affects be of a ring spinning near luminal velocity? If you can, please take a look at this question as well! ...
Gillgamesh's user avatar
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4 answers
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What would the local effects/affects be of a ring spinning near luminal velocity?

To better solicit more inline with what I'm trying to imagine, I'm editing my question, the original question is left below and removing the hard science tag, as that just seemed to cause issues, ...
Gillgamesh's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
316 views

How would plugging in a USB universal connector in a quantum world work?

Most people by now have experienced that USB flat connectors are quantum devices. That is, it takes three times in order for the plug and socket to be defined (decohered?). You have to try to plug it ...
Justin Thyme the Second's user avatar
-5 votes
3 answers
225 views

Can we use shrink rays to go back in time? [closed]

I researched muons, the Higgs boson, and quarks, and at least one of them can be used for a shrink ray. I'm not asking if we could build a shrink ray, I know it is possible to build one. I'm asking if ...
Tardy's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
188 views

How might a person summon the devil from its prison? [closed]

A society of prophets live according to middle-age superstitions. They abide by a lunar calendar, put a strong emphasis on star signs, and believe they possess psychic powers such as palm reading and ...
Theresa Kay's user avatar
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9 votes
11 answers
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What would be some ways to balance energy/mass from a parallel universe to another when someone - or something - travels through a wormhole into it?

Conservation of energy is a "universal" law, and would be counterintuitive to have someone travelling from a universe like ours - with our physics framework - into another universe that ...
Inquirer's user avatar
  • 807
4 votes
1 answer
510 views

Incorporating the fundamental forces as superhuman abilities

I'm trying to develop a story with super-humans where powers are evoked through the person's emotion during the trigger. I would like to give the lead the power over electromagnetism. Now, I was ...
GenuinelyLethargic's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
93 views

Features of a tricorder from 2060 [closed]

The tricorder (in the generic, non-trademarked sense) is a vital companion for any colonist to the outer Solar System. But what does it detect, and how? Passive imaging. Using superlens/hyperlens/...
Mike Serfas's user avatar
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2 votes
3 answers
203 views

Rites of the Church of Quantum Immortality [closed]

Somewhere in the far present there is a Church of Quantum Immortality, whose members believe that they do not die. The idea is generally expressed in terms of the Wheeler multiple-worlds concept: ...
Mike Serfas's user avatar
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13 votes
6 answers
8k views

Would anything bad happen to humanity if quantum tunneling stopped working overnight?

First let's discuss what the heck is quantum tunneling? We know the story of Einstein the Great, his award winning paper on light as particle had received universal acclaims and was plagiarized too ...
user6760's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
331 views

How can you create non-centripetal artificial gravity and apply it to propel a spacecraft by riding the gravitational space time warp?

I like the idea that it is possible to use the warping of spacetime as a propelling force to move spacecraft through an independent non-centripetal artificial gravity drive. This drive uses the ...
I8myweedie5's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
517 views

Total Disintegration: Aftermath

Suppose some sci-fi doomsday device was able to generate a chain reaction that interrupts gluon interactions in matter. Once triggered, it expands through all matter in range, disintegrating atoms ...
Kronimiciad's user avatar
  • 2,611
8 votes
1 answer
236 views

How fast could a Path Optimization Drive travel through Non-Euclidean/Discrete Space?

I have an idea is for an FTL drive based on the theory that our universe is both Non-Euclidean and Discrete at the Planck Scale, but is instead better represented as a series of interconnected nodes. ...
Nosajimiki's user avatar
-4 votes
3 answers
253 views

Can quantum computer fixes the trolley problem?

Set in the immediate future. Trolley problem happens when the decision we are making turns into a nightmare situation, we are forced into considering the lesser of the evils but should we justify how ...
user6760's user avatar
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16 votes
6 answers
7k views

Could negative kelvin be achieved?

What the title says I guess. I'm looking into ways to make a plausible exotic matter source for a story with an Alcubierre drive and I think recall that I saw that there was a possibility to use ...
Nierninwa's user avatar
  • 2,034
2 votes
1 answer
262 views

Bridge universe, is it possible naturally?

In our universe today, we do not know if it is possible to contact or even perceive other universes or realities, but just like out of nothingness our reality was born, certainly out of nothing other -...
Open's user avatar
  • 21
6 votes
2 answers
233 views

Quantum History. What mechanisms are there for a newly discovered past to effect the more general past? [closed]

Let's say we start the simulation on Earth in 1900. And we use classical physics unless the participants start looking at tiny objects. This allows us to reduce the amount of memory needed to run the ...
Tobe's user avatar
  • 421
4 votes
4 answers
564 views

Converting Matter To Antimatter And Vice Versa

Okay, I would like to know if there is a safe way of converting matter into antimatter, in the theoretical case of say, an manned expedition to a planet made of antimatter. How would I be able to turn ...
TysonDennis's user avatar
  • 2,380
4 votes
3 answers
201 views

What might be the negative effects of researching or implementing the Searl Effect, Moray Generators, Perendev Generators, et al.?

A morally questionable organization is developing a power source based on quantum fluctuations (zero-point energy), citing the Moray generator, freedom particles, the Searl effect, and so forth as ...
CeliaFate's user avatar
  • 860
4 votes
2 answers
267 views

Could a universe with different wavefunctions for elementary particles from those of our universe be self-consistent?

I was thinking of a universe that has the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, and in which there are elementary particles which cannot be subdivided into smaller particles. In this universe the equation ...
Anders Gustafson's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
199 views

Could a universe with 3 or more $U(1)$ charges that are all equivalent to each other be self consistent?

In alternate universe there are at least 3 $U(1)$ charges. An elementary fermion can have a value of $±1$, or $0$ for any of these types of charge. The value an elementary fermion has for one of ...
Anders Gustafson's user avatar
3 votes
4 answers
202 views

Is it possible to make up a self consistent quantum gravity for a fictional universe?

I understand that for real world physics the current Theory of Quantum Mechanics, and current Theory of General Relativity are incompatible. I'm thinking about how one thing different about ...
Anders Gustafson's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
134 views

Possible future uses of Bose-Einstein condensates? [closed]

Using future technology what possible uses are there for matter in the form of Bose-Einstein condensates? I have heard possibilities of using it for communication and even weaponizing it, using the ...
user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
211 views

In the Orthogonal series, would the weak nuclear force have infinite range?

I read about the universe described in the Orthogonal series. It has 4 fundamentally similar dimensions, rather than 3 dimensions of space and one dimension of time as is the case with our universe. ...
Anders Gustafson's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
831 views

Could a charge with more than 3 types be self consistent?

I know color charge has three types: red, green, and blue. There is also just one type of electric charge, with there being negative and positive electric charges. I was thinking of a universe, in ...
Anders Gustafson's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
213 views

Can you exist in a scaled up universe?

In this multiverse system, scaled down universes can be created by confining energy into a space with scaled down physical constants in proportion to the energy put in. Miniature universes of ...
user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
248 views

Possibility of Using Quantum Teleportation Technology To Give People Telepathy

After reading about physicists achieving 'teleportation'of subatomic particles using quantum teleportation. It made me consider having a story where a technology advanced, futuristic society using ...
user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
257 views

Could it be possible to quantum entangle particles on a mass scale?

So in the world I'm building, I'm considering to give one of my characters the ability to quantum entangle specific particles on demand. Now although for many years we thought quantum entanglement was ...
Strivs's user avatar
  • 395
2 votes
2 answers
234 views

Harnessing energy directly from the sun via quantum tunneling

In the universe of my story, the Earth is ridden with metahumans with uncanny powers that do all sorts of different things. Of course, to do all this, they would require a tremendous amount of energy, ...
Strivs's user avatar
  • 395
4 votes
2 answers
2k views

Telekinesis via electromagnetism and its energy requirements

Alright, so I've got a superhero story in mind that I'm trying to get the worldbuilding down with. With that being said, I am open to some handwaving but I'd like to keep it to a minimum. First of all,...
Strivs's user avatar
  • 395
0 votes
4 answers
334 views

Semi-FTL quantum communications

I'm trying to come up with idea's that have some plausibility of sending information FTL. So we can entangle particles together. When you measure them you influence them. If you measure one up the ...
Demigan's user avatar
  • 45.3k
5 votes
1 answer
829 views

How fast would strange matter conversion go?

Background: So this Kurzgesagt video talks about quark stars, and how two of them colliding could send strangelets flying towards Earth or the Sun. Now it's been said that since, theoretically (as ...
Nierninwa's user avatar
  • 2,034
4 votes
4 answers
1k views

Can a crystal grow or propagate faster than 'c'?

We have, perhaps, all experienced those 'heat' packs wherein a local disturbance causes a crystal structure to rapidly dissipate through the medium, releasing heat in the process. Nothing really '...
Justin Thyme the Second's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
147 views

what is the maximum theoretical density for qubits?

What is the maximum amount of qubits that could be put in a cubed centimeter and still function? The technology level is near future, within the next 50 years. bonus question: how much computing ...
meaninglessname's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
409 views

Feasibility of making a quantum destabilizer

In an advanced dystopian future, humanity has made a weapon that is capable of destabilizing quantum particles. This has resulted in the mass death of civilians and has caused massive destruction to ...
RotNDecay's user avatar
  • 2,504