New Books Network Vlatko Vedral, "Portals to a New Reality: Five Pathways to the Future of Physics" (Basic Books, 2025)
Oct 31, 2025
Vlatko Vedral, a physics professor at Oxford, dives into the future of physics, driven by quantum information theory. He reveals how we're on the cusp of a revolution, echoing the transformative discoveries of the early 20th century. Vedral discusses intriguing thought experiments, like entangling humans with Schrödinger's cat, and explores how quantum mechanics challenges traditional views of reality. He also proposes radical experiments to test gravity's role in quantum entanglement and examines the potential quantum influences on biological processes.
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Author's Teenaged Muse
- Vedral imagined writing for his curious 16-year-old self when composing the book.
- He believes a major physics breakthrough could arrive within a decade thanks to new experiments.
Reality As Quantum Information
- Quantum information theory reframes reality as processing of Q-numbers rather than classical bits.
- This shift makes measurement a correlation process and opens new experimental routes to unify physics.
Superposition Extends Far Up The Scale
- Superposition lets any tested object exist in multiple states or positions simultaneously, not just microscopic particles.
- Experiments now push superposition to large molecules, blurring the micro/macro divide.
