Speedy quantum bubbles mimic the early universe ⚡ экспресс
Imagine a ball stuck in a small dip on a slope: sooner or later it'll roll down into the valley. Using a 4,000-qubit quantum computer, scientists created a “false vacuum” and watched as bubbles of a more stable state expanded almost unimpeded—like a fire spreading rapidly. This allows us to simulate processes that shaped the early Universe. What else might quantum transitions be hiding?
After the Big Bang, the universe may have been stuck in a false vacuum — a temporary state like a soap bubble ready to pop. A rare true vacuum bubble could then erupt, stretching space in the blink of an eye. This snap, proposed by [scientist:Alan Guth], drove a cosmic inflation — a massive expansion of the very fabric of space.
Physicists recreated this on a chip with over 4000 qubits — tiny magnets that flip between states. They set all to ‘up’, creating a false vacuum, then flipped one to start a true-vacuum bubble. By tuning a magnetic field, they made the bubble’s boundary glide without drag, expanding as if friction didn’t exist. The edge became fuzzy, following the universal shape of spreading ink or a wildfire front.
The twist: one bubble raced so fast, no others could form. This runaway flips the usual script on order from chaos, linked to rising entropy. Such simulations offer glimpses of the early universe and help design materials like exotic superconductors.
🎯 The physicist [scientist:Stephen Hawking] once explored how a false vacuum decay could spawn a whole new baby universe inside a black hole.
🎬 Science fiction envisions a stray bubble of true vacuum as reality's off switch, instantly erasing everything — a terrifying notion from 'The Three-Body Problem'.