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Quantum mechanics

Quantum mechanics

A grasshopper’s quantum leap, mentoring medical physicists, extremely brilliant synchrotron

27 Aug 2020 Hamish Johnston

A grasshopper lands at a random location on a patch of lawn and then jumps a fixed distance in a random direction. What shape of lawn has the highest probability of retaining the grasshopper after its jump?

In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast, we talk to a quartet of physicists and mathematicians that have made a remarkable connection between this “grasshopper problem” and Bell’s theorem of quantum physics.

We also chat about an international programme for mentoring medical physicists and the recent €150 million upgrade to the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility.

This week’s guests are quantum grasshopper experts Olga GoulkoAdrian KentDmitry Chistikov and Mike Paterson.

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