His main characters include G, the strength of gravity, h, Planck's constant, which governs the quantum nature of reality at small scales, e, the charge of the electron, and c, the speed of light itself.

ECONOMIST: Modern physics

Yet despite its immense capabilities, practical quantum computing is still a long way from reality, says Steven Koonin, provost at Caltech and a quantum-computing researcher.

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On such a view, quantum physics does not describe reality as it is in itself, but as it appears to observers: and they or their observings and enquiries have much influence in determining its nature.

ECONOMIST: But can we really explain it all? | The

Extra dimensions are of interest because string theory, a class of mathematical models based on quantum theory that seeks to describe reality in the most fundamental way, requires that there be at least six of them, maybe more.

ECONOMIST: Cosmology