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+--- Thread: Article How a single atom contains the entire quantum Universe (/thread-20671.html)
How a single atom contains the entire quantum Universe - C C - Jun 19, 2026
https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/entire-quantum-universe-inside-single-atom/
EXCERPT: Quite surprisingly, everything that we know about the Universe can, in some way, be traced back to the most humble of all the entities we know of: an atom. An atom remains the smallest unit of matter we know of that still retains the unique characteristics and properties that apply to the macroscopic world, including what we observe as physical and chemical properties of matter. And yet, an atom is a fundamentally quantum entity inherently, with its own energy levels, allowable and forbidden transitions, and conservation laws. Moreover, even the humble atom couples to all four of the known fundamental forces, and also, importantly, possesses a non-zero mass. In a very real way, all of physics is on display, even inside a single atom. Here’s what the humble atom, all on its own, can tell us about the Universe... (MORE - details)
RE: How a single atom contains the entire quantum Universe - stryder - Jun 19, 2026
In simpler timer, it's almost like you can view the entire universe through the refraction of a raindrop. (albeit the information you actually receive is lossy)
RE: How a single atom contains the entire quantum Universe - Magical Realist - Jun 23, 2026
Alas, I was expecting something along the lines of what I was just pondering--the self-similar nature of and scale invariance of fractals. In the case of the universe, maybe we have a 3 dimensional fractal that replicates its own structures from the smallest all the way to the largest. A mathematical metaphor of how the order of the whole is reproduced in each of its parts--providing a vast hierarchal edifice requiring different sciences and models for each of its levels. There is endless creativity hardwired into this structure, as well as what I call a persistent scale symmetry that preserves itself up and down thru the whole range of phenomena. The holographic metaphor comes to mind. "As above, so below."
"Line in nature is not found
Unit and universe are round.
In vain produced, all rays return.
Evil will bless, and ice will burn."
Emerson