Exactly a century ago, Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger laid the foundations of an equation that would mark the history of quantum physics. This equation, bearing his name, describes the behavior of particles at the subatomic scale.
Quantum physics and Einstein's theory of general relativity form the foundations of modern physics. Yet their reconciliation remains an unsolved problem for decades, as explained by Abhay Katyal, a physicist at Utah State University.
Quantum mechanics deals with phenomena at the scale of atoms and particles, while general relativity describes gravity on a large scale. Associate professor Oscar Varela highlights the frequent incompatibility between these two theories.
The search for a theory of quantum gravity is at the heart of theoretical physicists' concerns. The team at Utah State University is exploring the holographic principle as a promising avenue to unify these two pillars of physics.
Their work, published in
Physical Review Letters, represents a significant advance in understanding quantum gravity using the holographic principle. This principle serves as a model for making predictions in this field, an important step toward validating a theory.
The holographic approach thus offers a new perspective for testing quantum gravity theories. It enables verifiable predictions, paving the way for future discoveries.
The holographic principle is a theory suggesting that all the information contained in a volume of space can be represented as a theory on the boundary of that space. This innovative idea emerged from work on black holes and string theory.
It implies that our three-dimensional perception of the Universe might actually be a projection of information stored on a two-dimensional surface. This concept challenges our traditional understanding of space and matter.
The implications of the holographic principle are vast, touching on both cosmology and particle physics. It provides a theoretical framework for exploring fundamental questions about the nature of reality.
Although still speculative, this approach has already inspired numerous research efforts and could lead to major breakthroughs in our understanding of the Universe.