Matt Strassler

Theoretical physicist studying particles (mainly at LHC) and strings; interpreting science for the public. Author of "Waves in an Impossible Sea".

[Matt Strassler @MattStrassler]

@n_equals_42 So what? Does that justify destroying the science departments in those institutions?

[Matt Strassler @MattStrassler]

@lalanruski @WitchCelebrity If you can't recognize quality, then you will soon have a has-been-power instead of a superpower.

[Matt Strassler @MattStrassler]

@WitchCelebrity And here you are, defending the destruction of science in America.

[Matt Strassler @MattStrassler]

@WitchCelebrity This is completely irrelevant to what the president is doing. He wants to control the university. The intifada and antisemitism claims are spurious, just like the claim that we should annex Canada because of the fentanyl problem.

[Matt Strassler @MattStrassler]

@WitchCelebrity Then why is he threatening to destroy the university? Why is he calling it a "JOKE". Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Biology, other fields. That is what he is *actually* damaging. People's research is being cancelled. Excellent people are making plans to leave.

[Matt Strassler @MattStrassler]

@Kartaphilus The problem with this view is that measurement involves a change from one superposition to another via entanglement; and also, measurement can be slow, incomplete, or imperfect. This leaves the claim that "AND becomes OR through measurement" ill-defined.

[Matt Strassler @MattStrassler]

Is Superposition Really an "OR"? If a quantum system is in a superposition state "A+B", does it mean that "A AND B" are true, or that "A OR B " is true, or something else? An example of why ordinary language is not easily applied to #quantum physics. https://t.co/3KTsyhnyGS

[Chayanka_42 @42_gravity]

@MattStrassler has some fantastic (highly pedagogical) physics articles.

https://t.co/4itSQheGyF

[Matt Strassler @MattStrassler]

@TheApe_Theist But I didn't write a book about *this* subject. I carefully, delicately avoided it.

[Matt Strassler @MattStrassler]

@catalystmic Quantum logic gates of course include the "OR" of superposition, but classical logic gates do not. And our distant ancestors were talking about "AND" and "OR" and "NOT" and "XOR" long before there were gates of any sort.

[Paul Butcher @paulrabutcher]

Have you ever wondered about what's going on with the double slit experiment? If so, you owe it to yourself to read @MattStrassler's brilliant series of blog posts on the topic.

I recommend starting here: https://t.co/UngfjVul54

[Matt Strassler @MattStrassler]

@AniRhythm @roydherbert Most current AI have learned well from humans; they are excellent BS artists. I have had students who sound just like them. Someday this may improve... or it may get worse. Hard to know.

[Matt Strassler @MattStrassler]

@AniRhythm @roydherbert True "theory", in science, is math- and logic-based. It is not the same as speculation, despite the word's meaning in colloquial English. "Mostly theory after all" does not cut mustard with a professional physicist; I expect AI to show me the math and get the logic straight.

[Matt Strassler @MattStrassler]

@AniRhythm Unfortunately, the AI is, as is almost always the case with advanced physics, completely wrong. See today's post; you'll see it contradicts almost every statement made by the AI, which learned what it knows from people who don't think about it correctly. https://t.co/F5HYJ2kzGW

[Matt Strassler @MattStrassler]

The interference of water waves happens somewhere -- wherever the waves are, obviously. But #quantum interference happens... nowhere. If you try to say exactly where two #entangled particles interfere, you will find yourself lost in space. https://t.co/Udg6b5dTP6

[Matt Strassler @MattStrassler]

@VergaraLautaro Even more precisely: waves in the wave functions are interfering --- "parts" or "peaks" of a wave function are interfering with each other --- and of course, that depends on which basis you are in. So it is quite tricky.

[Matt Strassler @MattStrassler]

In the #quantum double slit experiment, the famous #interference pattern disappears if we measure which slit the particle went through. Why does it disappear? It's often described in vague, mystical terms, but in fact it's conceptually straightforward: https://t.co/F5HYJ2kzGW

[Matt Strassler @MattStrassler]

@SJ_Powers #Quantum interference is very strange. Interference of water waves isn't strange at all... But quantum interference is something quite different, even though at first glance it seems similar.

[Matt Strassler @MattStrassler]

@VergaraLautaro No, it doesn't. It has measurable consequences in spacetime. But you can't localize the interference to a place in space. Today's post gives very simple examples of why this is impossible.