According to a recent mathematical analysis by three RIKEN physicists, the existence of a quantum feature known as “magic” may hold the key to understanding how space and time came into existence. Physical Review D is the journal where the study is published.
The fabric of spacetime that supports the cosmos is thought to be the most fundamental element, although theoretical physicists have begun challenging this notion. The concept that space and time are not basic but rather derive from something deeper has long captivated physicists, according to Kanato Goto of the RIKEN Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS).
Theoretical physicist Juan Maldacena’s connection between the gravitational theory that rules spacetime and a theory incorporating quantum particles in the 1990s gave rise to this idea. In particular, he visualised a fictitious region that may be thought of as a “bulk” that is like an unending soup can and contains gravity-active things like black holes. Maldacena also envisioned quantum mechanically controlled particles moving on the can’s surface. He understood that, technically, the black holes and spacetime inside the bulk are described by a gravitational theory, whereas the particles on the border are described by a quantum theory.
“This relationship indicates that spacetime itself does not exist fundamentally, but emerges from some quantum nature,” says Goto. “Physicists are trying to understand the quantum property that is key.”
The first hypothesis was that the most significant component was quantum entanglement, which connects particles no matter how far apart they are. The more entangled the particles on the boundary, the smoother the spacetime within the bulk.
“But just considering the degree of entanglement on the boundary cannot explain all the properties of black holes, for instance, how their interiors can grow,” says Goto.
To better understand black holes, Goto and his iTHEMS colleagues Masahiro Nozaki and Tomoki Nosaka looked for another quantum property that could be mapped to the bulk and apply to the boundary system. They specifically pointed out that black holes have a chaotic quality that needs to be explained.
“When you throw something into a black hole, information about it gets scrambled and cannot be recovered,” says Goto. “This scrambling is a manifestation of chaos.”
The group discovered “magic,” a mathematical indicator of how challenging it is to reproduce a quantum state on a regular conventional (non-quantum) computer. Their calculations demonstrated that practically any condition will develop into the most challenging to model “maximally magical” state in a chaotic system.
This establishes the first connection between the chaotic character of black holes and the quantum attribute of magic. “This finding suggests that magic is strongly involved in the emergence of spacetime,” claims Goto.
