Although it is not the most elegant thought, the idea of holographic realities has undergone applications outside the Elon Twitter feed – That is to say, in the use of quantum calculation to explore a theory known as holographic duality.
It is an idea that suggests that particle theory & gravity, although conventionally incompatible, are mathematically equivalent. Gravity describes things in 3 dimensions, where the 2 dimensional fabric of space time curves or “bends” up or down to represent its force. But particle theory describes things in only 2 dimensions.
However, in the cases of an extreme gravitational force, like a black hole, Holographic duality’s aim of the envisioning the universe as a holographic projection of particles could potentially reveal the interior of a black hole as a projection of particles mapped on curved fabric of space time.
And a team of researchers analyzed holographic duality via quantum computing, as well as deep learning, to uncover quantum matrix model – the lowest energy state of the mathematical problems surrounding the idea – bringing us closer little more than revealing the interior of black holes, according to a recent study published in the journal PRX Quantum.
And, for some scientists, this research could be a step towards the expansion of a holographic projection of particles in a quantum field of gravity – which suggests the first unified theory of the world of everything.
It’s a lot to hold your breath, but worth a try.
Quantum computing can help us solve particle theories
Tokyo-based researcher Enrico Rinaldi, hosted by the Theoretical Quantum Physics Laboratory within Cluster for Pioneering Research, at RIKEN, in Wako, says in a press release that the research is closer to answer an eternal question.
“In the theory of Einstein’s general relativity, there are no particles – There is just spacetime. And in the standard model of particle physics, there is no gravity, there are only particles. Connecting both different theories is a long-standing problem of physics – something that people have tried to do since last century.
If Scientists Could Solve This Kind of Quantum Matrix Model, They Could Uncover Information About Gravity
The quantum matrix models in the study are sophisticated representations of particle theory. And, since holographic duality implies that gravitational theory & particle theory are mathematical equivalents, if scientists could solve this type of quantum matrix model, they could uncover information about gravity, which has remained an impenetrable black box for almost a century.
In the study, Rinaldi & his colleagues used 2 matrix models that could be resolved by conventional procedures, but still retained key characteristics of the most involved matrix models describing black holes, in holographic duality.
“We hope that by understanding the properties of this particle theory through numerical experiments, we can understand something about gravity,” says Rinaldi, who is also a researcher in the Department of Physics at the University of Michigan. Unfortunately, it is still not easy to solve the problem of particle theory. And this is where computers can help us.
Unlock a Unified Theory of Physics
Essentially, matrix models are group of numbers representing objects in string theory, made up of particles existing as one-dimensional strings. By solving matrix models that-use these, scientists are looking for a way to represent the lowest energy state of the system, called the “ground state”. In this state, a system will retain its initial conditions until someone or something adds a force to disturb it.
“It’s really important to understand what that ground state is like, because then you can create things out of it,” adds Rinaldi. “So for a material, knowing the ground state is like knowing, for example, whether it’s a conductor or a superconductor, or whether it’s really strong or weak. But finding this ground state among all possible states is quite difficult, so we use these numerical methods.
Ultimately, the researchers managed to discover the ground state of both matrix models examined, but emphasized the prohibitive cost of current quantum computing technology and how further advances are needed to take their work to the next step: advancing a theory of quantum gravity through the notion of holographic duality
A light in dark: If the quantum computers continue to advance and make more calculations due to less pronounced costs, Rinaldi & his team could reveal, what happens in black holes, beyond the event horizon, a region immediately surrounding a black hole singularity where not even light, or perhaps time itself, can escape the immense force of gravity.
In practice, the event horizon prevents all conventional, light-based observations. But, and perhaps even more compellingly, the team hopes that further more advances in this line of research will do more than peek inside a black hole & unleash what physicists have always dreamed of. The days of Einstein: a unified theory of physics.
