Ken Wharton
@kenwharton.bsky.social
Physics professor at San Jose State. Quantum Foundations. Big fan of space and time, and also many things therein.
It’s really too bad that my sub-field of quantum foundations research doesn’t have any Halloween-related or spooky aspects, no way that anyone could ever use the season to drum up any... any fake-quoted, overdramatic…
Oh.
Oh dear.
molotovsunsets.substack.com/p/the-univer...
Oh.
Oh dear.
molotovsunsets.substack.com/p/the-univer...
The Universe Knows How You Die
Retrocausality and the Backward Reach of Time
molotovsunsets.substack.com
October 30, 2025 at 4:10 PM
It’s really too bad that my sub-field of quantum foundations research doesn’t have any Halloween-related or spooky aspects, no way that anyone could ever use the season to drum up any... any fake-quoted, overdramatic…
Oh.
Oh dear.
molotovsunsets.substack.com/p/the-univer...
Oh.
Oh dear.
molotovsunsets.substack.com/p/the-univer...
Reposted by Ken Wharton
Great news for Michael Berry who has received the Isaac Newton medal of the IOP. What I absolutely love about his work is that it cuts across so many different areas of physics - from the foundations of quantum physics to understanding the rainbow. physicsworld.com/a/theoretica...
Theoretical physicist Michael Berry wins 2025 Isaac Newton Medal and Prize – Physics World
Berry recognized for his contributions in mathematics and theoretical physics over a 60-year career
physicsworld.com
October 15, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Great news for Michael Berry who has received the Isaac Newton medal of the IOP. What I absolutely love about his work is that it cuts across so many different areas of physics - from the foundations of quantum physics to understanding the rainbow. physicsworld.com/a/theoretica...
Reposted by Ken Wharton
Let me try to explain why it's important to study the foundations of quantum mechanics. (1/n)
(Have to do some breathing exercises, b/c to me it's blindingly obvious that "understanding the most important theory in physics" is something physicists should care about, but apparently opinions differ.)
(Have to do some breathing exercises, b/c to me it's blindingly obvious that "understanding the most important theory in physics" is something physicists should care about, but apparently opinions differ.)
Nature (and @lizziegibney.bsky.social) take a more-than-usually systematic look at the greatest failure of modern physics: the fact that we can't even agree on what quantum mechanics says.
And the leader is an approach that is notoriously not well-defined. Ugh.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
And the leader is an approach that is notoriously not well-defined. Ugh.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
July 30, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Let me try to explain why it's important to study the foundations of quantum mechanics. (1/n)
(Have to do some breathing exercises, b/c to me it's blindingly obvious that "understanding the most important theory in physics" is something physicists should care about, but apparently opinions differ.)
(Have to do some breathing exercises, b/c to me it's blindingly obvious that "understanding the most important theory in physics" is something physicists should care about, but apparently opinions differ.)
Reposted by Ken Wharton
Why The Quantum State Only Exists In Our Mind
A metaphysical shift that’s happening in the foundations of physics: the wave function is no longer regarded as something real, but just as a description of what we know about the world.
youtu.be/SgQdDD3SY84
A metaphysical shift that’s happening in the foundations of physics: the wave function is no longer regarded as something real, but just as a description of what we know about the world.
youtu.be/SgQdDD3SY84
Why The Quantum State Only Exists In Our Mind
YouTube video by Essentia Foundation
youtu.be
June 7, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Why The Quantum State Only Exists In Our Mind
A metaphysical shift that’s happening in the foundations of physics: the wave function is no longer regarded as something real, but just as a description of what we know about the world.
youtu.be/SgQdDD3SY84
A metaphysical shift that’s happening in the foundations of physics: the wave function is no longer regarded as something real, but just as a description of what we know about the world.
youtu.be/SgQdDD3SY84
Uhoh – looks like a few people on Reddit have started playing around with the central ideas in my latest arXiv preprint. Must be time to polish it up and actually submit the damn thing.
(But still, always nice to read "it's kind of blown me away"...)
www.reddit.com/r/QuantumPhy...
(But still, always nice to read "it's kind of blown me away"...)
www.reddit.com/r/QuantumPhy...
"A Localized Reality Appears To Underpin Quantum Circuits" (with consequences for entanglement)
www.reddit.com
May 19, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Uhoh – looks like a few people on Reddit have started playing around with the central ideas in my latest arXiv preprint. Must be time to polish it up and actually submit the damn thing.
(But still, always nice to read "it's kind of blown me away"...)
www.reddit.com/r/QuantumPhy...
(But still, always nice to read "it's kind of blown me away"...)
www.reddit.com/r/QuantumPhy...
Heading to Alaska soon, where apparently even the landslides are beautiful.
May 11, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Heading to Alaska soon, where apparently even the landslides are beautiful.
Reposted by Ken Wharton
Thanks to @mercurynews.com for covering the $55.9M in NIH cuts to Bay Area research funding. I appreciate that they didn't just focus on the elite institutions (a colleague and I are quoted) & want to share some key takeaways 🧪 1/ www.mercurynews.com/2025/05/05/b...
Bay Area universities in chaos amid research funding cuts
The Trump administration has canceled hundreds of research grants.
www.mercurynews.com
May 7, 2025 at 2:59 AM
Thanks to @mercurynews.com for covering the $55.9M in NIH cuts to Bay Area research funding. I appreciate that they didn't just focus on the elite institutions (a colleague and I are quoted) & want to share some key takeaways 🧪 1/ www.mercurynews.com/2025/05/05/b...
Unsolicited advice for making progress in quantum foundations:
1) If there were a gentle tweak or simple idea that would make clear sense of quantum theory, beyond the for-all-practical-purposes-level, it would certainly have been found by now.
1) If there were a gentle tweak or simple idea that would make clear sense of quantum theory, beyond the for-all-practical-purposes-level, it would certainly have been found by now.
May 6, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Unsolicited advice for making progress in quantum foundations:
1) If there were a gentle tweak or simple idea that would make clear sense of quantum theory, beyond the for-all-practical-purposes-level, it would certainly have been found by now.
1) If there were a gentle tweak or simple idea that would make clear sense of quantum theory, beyond the for-all-practical-purposes-level, it would certainly have been found by now.
A very good, wide-ranging interview with Emily Adlam -- most of it on quantum foundations, along with a strong case for retrocausal/all-at-once approaches. youtu.be/6I2OhmVWLMs?...
The "All At Once" Universe Shatters Our View of Time
YouTube video by Curt Jaimungal
youtu.be
April 13, 2025 at 11:22 PM
A very good, wide-ranging interview with Emily Adlam -- most of it on quantum foundations, along with a strong case for retrocausal/all-at-once approaches. youtu.be/6I2OhmVWLMs?...
Reposted by Ken Wharton
Latest version of my work on entanglement with @kenwharton.bsky.social. We propose that entanglement is a kind of selection artefact. This was a talk at @griffith.edu.au, and the slides are accessible here: bit.ly/4h9dMeo
#philsky #PhilSci #quantum #entanglement
#philsky #PhilSci #quantum #entanglement
A Mechanism for Entanglement?
YouTube video by The Quietist
www.youtube.com
March 6, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Latest version of my work on entanglement with @kenwharton.bsky.social. We propose that entanglement is a kind of selection artefact. This was a talk at @griffith.edu.au, and the slides are accessible here: bit.ly/4h9dMeo
#philsky #PhilSci #quantum #entanglement
#philsky #PhilSci #quantum #entanglement
A little fun news for me... Apparently the last science fiction story I ever wrote, 20 years ago, is now being discussed in at least one Philosophy course! The story is called "Aloha", originally published in the magazine Analog.
Today in our course on the philosophy of space and time: subsystems with opposite arrows of time interacting; does a lone champagne bottle in an empty universe pop or unpop?; and Ken Wharton's tragic scifi love story on retrocausation
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6rV...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6rV...
Entropic Time (Backwards Billy Joel Parody) | A Capella Science
YouTube video by acapellascience
www.youtube.com
March 3, 2025 at 5:21 PM
A little fun news for me... Apparently the last science fiction story I ever wrote, 20 years ago, is now being discussed in at least one Philosophy course! The story is called "Aloha", originally published in the magazine Analog.
Tonight I got to see the first-ever spacecraft image of Mars, from Mariner 4's flyby. Apparently, before the raw image was processed, people at JPL printed out paper strips of numerical pixel values and -- coloring by hand! -- used pastels to distinguish different brightness levels.
March 2, 2025 at 7:11 AM
Tonight I got to see the first-ever spacecraft image of Mars, from Mariner 4's flyby. Apparently, before the raw image was processed, people at JPL printed out paper strips of numerical pixel values and -- coloring by hand! -- used pastels to distinguish different brightness levels.
I actually shelled out 4 bucks so I could peek behind the Popular Mechanics paywall and see what they are saying about retrocausality in quantum foundations. Maybe I got about 40 cents worth? www.popularmechanics.com/science/a637...
Your Consciousness Can Reach Back in Time to Shape the Past, a New Theory Suggests
In the quantum realm, the past, present, and future blur into a boundless structure. But consciousness may operate on a plane beyond this timeless mist.
www.popularmechanics.com
February 14, 2025 at 5:08 AM
I actually shelled out 4 bucks so I could peek behind the Popular Mechanics paywall and see what they are saying about retrocausality in quantum foundations. Maybe I got about 40 cents worth? www.popularmechanics.com/science/a637...
Richard Feynman’s former house in Altadena burned to the ground last week in the Eaton Fire. So did thousands and thousands of others -- including mine.
1/
1/
January 18, 2025 at 3:42 AM
Richard Feynman’s former house in Altadena burned to the ground last week in the Eaton Fire. So did thousands and thousands of others -- including mine.
1/
1/
Why is it always "Last but not least"?
Surely, every now and then, it should be:
"Last, and -- coincidentally -- also least".
Surely, every now and then, it should be:
"Last, and -- coincidentally -- also least".
January 5, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Why is it always "Last but not least"?
Surely, every now and then, it should be:
"Last, and -- coincidentally -- also least".
Surely, every now and then, it should be:
"Last, and -- coincidentally -- also least".
Reposted by Ken Wharton
December 4, 2024 at 3:54 PM
We’ve started a tradition in our department where the faculty give 5-minute “silly talks” for the last physics seminar of the semester. Here was my contribution:
The Hidden Tragedy of Back to the Future
1/7
The Hidden Tragedy of Back to the Future
1/7
December 24, 2024 at 6:51 PM
We’ve started a tradition in our department where the faculty give 5-minute “silly talks” for the last physics seminar of the semester. Here was my contribution:
The Hidden Tragedy of Back to the Future
1/7
The Hidden Tragedy of Back to the Future
1/7
Pro Tip: When you use ChatGPT to compose an email to your professor, it's a good idea to proofread it first...
December 22, 2024 at 9:17 PM
Pro Tip: When you use ChatGPT to compose an email to your professor, it's a good idea to proofread it first...
Reposted by Ken Wharton
Ok, #quantum #physics Bluesky people: how do you like your quantum foundations? Are states ontic, epistemic or a secret, more complex third thing?
#philosophy #science #debate
#philosophy #science #debate
November 14, 2024 at 4:52 AM
Ok, #quantum #physics Bluesky people: how do you like your quantum foundations? Are states ontic, epistemic or a secret, more complex third thing?
#philosophy #science #debate
#philosophy #science #debate
Reposted by Ken Wharton
CONGRATULATIONS TO GUKESH, THE NEW WORLD CHAMPION 🏆
The 18-year-old Indian star has defeated the reigning champion, Ding Liren, to become the youngest-ever undisputed classical chess world champion. Wow! 🇮🇳
The 18-year-old Indian star has defeated the reigning champion, Ding Liren, to become the youngest-ever undisputed classical chess world champion. Wow! 🇮🇳
December 12, 2024 at 1:04 PM
CONGRATULATIONS TO GUKESH, THE NEW WORLD CHAMPION 🏆
The 18-year-old Indian star has defeated the reigning champion, Ding Liren, to become the youngest-ever undisputed classical chess world champion. Wow! 🇮🇳
The 18-year-old Indian star has defeated the reigning champion, Ding Liren, to become the youngest-ever undisputed classical chess world champion. Wow! 🇮🇳
Reposted by Ken Wharton
🌟🚀 Calling all California Community College and California State University #STEM majors, this is your moment! The Cal-Bridge Summer Program application is OPEN! Spend your summer conducting groundbreaking #research at top institutions nationwide. Apply by January 31 at calbridge.org.
December 11, 2024 at 7:39 PM
🌟🚀 Calling all California Community College and California State University #STEM majors, this is your moment! The Cal-Bridge Summer Program application is OPEN! Spend your summer conducting groundbreaking #research at top institutions nationwide. Apply by January 31 at calbridge.org.
Sometimes, when I see how much popular attention and interest is given to quantum foundations (as in the below link), I wonder why more people don't go into the field. Even given all the obvious downsides, it still doesn't quite make sense to me. physics.stackexchange.com/questions/83...
What does it mean when folks say that universe is not "Locally real"?
I've read somewhat about the matter but can't quite picture it. Is this a property that only applies at the quantum level and not the classical level like us?
So far I've seen some rather strange t...
physics.stackexchange.com
December 11, 2024 at 5:55 PM
Sometimes, when I see how much popular attention and interest is given to quantum foundations (as in the below link), I wonder why more people don't go into the field. Even given all the obvious downsides, it still doesn't quite make sense to me. physics.stackexchange.com/questions/83...
Getting very close to a universal hidden variable model... Very promising results here in our new preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2412.05456 . Local weak values have been the key stepping stone, but don’t seem to be quite enough to wrangle quantum systems back into spacetime.
A Localized Reality Appears To Underpin Quantum Circuits
Although entangled state vectors cannot be described in terms of classically realistic variables, localized in space and time, any given entanglement experiment can be built from basic quantum circuit...
arxiv.org
December 10, 2024 at 4:08 PM
Getting very close to a universal hidden variable model... Very promising results here in our new preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2412.05456 . Local weak values have been the key stepping stone, but don’t seem to be quite enough to wrangle quantum systems back into spacetime.