![]() Musser begins with an introduction describing how the concept of emergence in science has become increasingly critical. The new hardcopy book and online resource was published by Springer on 10th August 2022, and grew from an in-depth report that Musser prepared for the John Templeton Foundation, JTF, and the Foundational Questions Institute, FQXi, which was published in December 2021. In his new book, Musser provides an introduction to this fascinating area, reviewing the scientific literature in a way that is accessible for novices, while highlighting newer work that keeps experts up to date. It is one of the most important concepts in science, yet also the most fraught. This is the subject of emergence: the way that lots of molecules, particles, or other basic units work together collectively to achieve something greater than any of them. How do all those billions upon billions of molecules come to behave so simply to our eyes? How, for that matter, do all the molecules in a snowflake or a crystal of salt achieve such beautiful forms, without any guiding hand-just their own mutual interactions? It obeys very simple laws of pressure and temperature, but imagine zooming into the molecular level, and the molecules bounce and spin and carom at such a pace and in such vast numbers that it blows the mind. ![]() “In physics, boring means interesting,” says Musser, a member of the Foundational Questions Institute, FQXi, a physics think tank. Musser’s Emergence in Condensed Matter and Quantum Gravity, published by Springer, is now available to purchase. As for quantum gravity, theorists are coming around to the idea that space and, perhaps, time are not fundamental, but emerge from a deeper level of physics. These so-called quantum and topological phases were recognized by the Nobel Prize in physics, in 2016. In condensed matter, physicists have realized that nature is replete with states of matter beyond the usual solid, liquid, and gas. Both areas have gone through a mini-revolution over the past two decades. © FQXiĪ new short volume by veteran science writer George Musser covers the concept of emergence in two domains of physics: the physics of materials (known as condensed matter) and the physics of space and time (known as quantum gravity). view moreĬredit: Created by Elfy Chiang for the Foundational Questions Institute, FQXi. The quantum version is an emergent property of vast numbers of electrons, which underlies the bizarre condensed-matter phenomena seen in many topological materials, such as topological insulators. Image: The Hall effect can come in classical or quantum forms.
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