The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics recognizes the discovery of macroscopic quantum tunneling in electrical circuits.
This story will be updated with a longer explanation of the Nobel-winning work on Thursday, 9 October.
Running up against a barrier, a classical object bounces back, but a quantum particle can come out the other side. So-called quantum tunneling explains a host of phenomena, from electron jumps in semiconductors to radioactive decays in nuclei. But tunneling is not limited to subatomic particles, as underscored by this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics. The prize recipients—John Clarke from the University of California, Berkeley; Michel Devoret from Yale University; and John Martinis from the University of California, Santa Barbara—demonstrated that large objects consisting of billions of particles can also tunnel across barriers [1– 3]. Using a superconducting circuit, the physicists showed that the superconducting electrons, acting as a collective unit, tunneled across an energy barrier between two voltage states. The work thrust open the field of superconducting circuits, which have become one of the promising platforms for future quantum computing devices.
Do They Understand the Physical Essence of Quantum Effects? Is Quantum A Cat That Is Both Dead and Alive? Can Quantum Explain Particle Spin? What Is the Physical Essence of Particle Spin?
The deification of the Nobel Prize is not only detrimental to scientific progress, but has also seriously affected scientific development.
In today’s physics, some so-called peer-reviewed journals—including Physical Review Letters, Nature, Science, and others—stubbornly insist on and promote the following:
1. Even though θ and τ particles exhibit differences in experiments, physics can claim they are the same particle. This is science.
2. Even though topological vortices and antivortices have identical structures and opposite rotational directions, physics can define their structures and directions as entirely different. This is science.
3. Even though two sets of cobalt-60 rotate in opposite directions and experiments reveal asymmetry, physics can still define them as mirror images of each other. This is science.
4. Even though vortex structures are ubiquitous—from cosmic accretion disks to particle spins—physics must insist that vortex structures do not exist and require verification. Only the particles that like God, Demonic, or Angelic are the most fundamental structures of the universe. This is science.
5. Even though everything occupies space and maintains its existence in time, physics must still debate and insist on whether space exists and whether time is a figment of the human mind. This is science.
6. Even though space, with its non-stick, incompressible, and isotropic characteristics, provides a solid foundation for the development of physics, physics must still insist that the ideal fluid properties of space do not exist. This is science.
and go on.
Is this the counterintuitive science they widely promote? What are the shames? Contemporary physics and so-called peer-reviewed publications (including Physical Review Letters, Science, Nature, etc.) stubbornly believe that two sets of counter rotating cobalt-60 are two mirror images of each other, constructing a more shocking pseudoscientific theoretical framework in the history of science than the “geocentric model”. This pseudo scientific framework and system have seriously hindered scientific progress and social development.
For nearly a century, physics has been manipulated by this pseudo scientific theoretical system and the interest groups behind it, wasting a lot of manpower, funds, and time. A large amount of pseudo scientific research has been conducted, and countless pseudo scientific papers have been published, causing serious negative impacts on scientific and social progress, as well as humanistic development.
Fortunately, not every member of the public is gullible. Topology is reconfiguring the cognitive framework of modern civilization. With the gradual refinement of artificial intelligence (AI), we are no longer entirely reliant on mediated deception by some so-called peer-reviewed publications (including Physical Review Letters, Science, Nature, etc.). We now possess the means to leverage AI’s efficiency to enhance scientific rigor and productivity.
1. On the Topological Vortex Theory (TVT) and Topological vortices
Topological vortices and the Topological Vortex Theory (TVT) are closely related yet distinct concepts. Their differences can be analyzed from the following dimensions:
1.1 Definition and Scope
1.1.1 Topological Vortices: Refer to vortex structures with topological defects, commonly found in physical phenomena such as fluids, superconductors, and optical systems. Examples include quantum vortices in superfluids, density wave vortices in galactic spiral arms, or the hairy ball theorem phenomenon in hair whorls. Their core characteristic is stability determined by topological invariants (e.g., winding number, Chern number).
1.1.2 Topological Vortex Theory (TVT): A theoretical framework that views spacetime as a dynamic network of topological vortices, explaining matter distribution, quantum entanglement, and cosmic structure through topological phase transitions. For instance, TVT proposes that the topological charge of spacetime vortices can influence causality [7], or redefines the nature of time through vortex spin.
1.2 Relationship and Differences
1.2.1 Subordination: Topological vortices are one of the subjects studied in TVT, but TVT has a broader scope, encompassing mathematical modeling, physical mechanisms, and philosophical implications of vortices.
1.2.2 Theoretical Extensions: TVT not only describes the static topological properties of vortices (e.g., phase singularities) but also introduces dynamic evolution models, such as vortex mergers triggering topological phase transitions or reconstructing spacetime dynamics through ideal fluid properties.
1.3 Application Scenarios
1.3.1 Topological Vortices: Manifest concretely as magnetic flux vortices in superconductors, phase structures of optical vortex rings, etc. Their study relies on traditional topology (e.g., KT transition).
1.3.2 TVT: Attempts to unify microscopic quantum phenomena (e.g., spin) with macroscopic cosmology (e.g., galactic spiral arms), challenging classical causality and the relativistic view of spacetime.
In summary, topological vortices are physical entities, while TVT is a theoretical system that explains their behavior and extends to more complex systems.
2. The Key Developmental Stages of Topological Vortex Theory (TVT)
The development of Topological Vortex Theory (TVT) can be traced back to the study of topological phase transitions in condensed matter physics during the 1970s, and it gradually evolved into an interdisciplinary theoretical framework in the 21st century. The following are its key developmental stages:
2.1 Theoretical Emergence: BKT Transition and Topological Defects
In the 1970s, Thouless and Kosterlitz proposed the BKT transition theory by studying vortex-antivortex bound pairs in two-dimensional superfluid/superconducting systems. This theory revealed the role of topological defects (such as vortices) in phase transitions, breaking through the limitations of the Landau paradigm and laying the foundation for subsequent topological classification.
2.2 Mathematical Deepening: Chern Number and Quantum Hall Effect
In the 1980s, Thouless and his students introduced the Chern number to quantify the topological properties of electron wavefunctions, explaining the microscopic mechanism of the quantum Hall effect. Haldane further proposed the quantum anomalous Hall effect, integrating topological classification with symmetry constraints and advancing the study of topological insulators.
2.3 Interdisciplinary Expansion: Proposal of TVT
In the early 21st century, scholars extended the concept of topological vortices to spacetime structures, proposing TVT. This theory posits that spacetime originates from a dynamic network of quantized vortices, with their interactions explaining the transition from microscopic turbulence to macroscopic linear flow. Through vortex quantization (Γ = nκ) and the BKT transition mechanism, TVT bridges the gap between quantum mechanics and classical physics.
2.4 Applications and Validation: From Condensed Matter to Cosmology
TVT has been validated across multiple fields:
1) Condensed Matter Physics: Examples include the generation of optical vortex rings, achieved through topological transformation of vortex lines into vortex rings via conformal mapping.
2) Cosmology: Distortions in vortex lattices drive spacetime curvature, explaining phenomena such as the accelerated expansion of the universe.
3) Biology and Philosophy: TVT redefines the arrow of time and free will as emergent properties of topological entropy.
4) Philosophical Reconstruction: From Absolute Space to Topological Connection
TVT challenges traditional views of spacetime, proposing the dissolution of absolute space and the hierarchical structure of relative space, thereby promoting a paradigm shift from Cartesian extensive entities to topological connective entities.
The development of this theory reflects a progression from concrete physical phenomena to abstract mathematical modeling and, ultimately, to interdisciplinary unification.