quantum field theory
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10 Years After the Higgs Boson, What’s the Next Big Thing for Physics?
On July 4, 2012, scientists at CERN confirmed the observation of the Higgs boson, an elementary particle first proposed in the 1960s. The boson’s discovery was a momentous occasion, as it meant physicists were a step closer to probing the field associated with the boson, which gives particles mass.
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How Microsoft’s Quantum Boast Went Bust
Microsoft is an outlier among the companies investing in quantum computing research. Unlike Google, IBM, or the handful of startups that have built noisy experimental prototypes out of superconducting circuits, ions, or photons, the company is trying to build a quantum computer by using objects known as Majorana particles — distinctive patterns of electrons in…