The infinity illusion

• Autores: Amanda Gefter
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 2930, 2013, págs. 32-35
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Gefter talks about abandoning the idea of infinity. Studies of the quantum properties of black holes by Stephen Hawking and Jacob Bekenstein in the 19705 led to the development of the holographic principle, which makes the maximum amount of information that can fit into any volume of space-time proportional to roughly one quarter the area of its horizon. The largest number of informational bits a universe of our size can hold is about 10^sup 122^. If the universe is indeed governed by the holographic principle, there is simply not enough room for infinity. David Wineland, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, shared last year's Nobel prize in physics for the world's most accurate measuring device, an atomic clock that can measure increments of time out to 17 decimal places. The electron's anomalous magnetic moment, a measure of tiny quantum effects on the particle's spin, has been measured out to 14 decimal places.