Density functional theory is the workhorse of quantum chemistry. Now machine learning may be taking it to the next level.

Math and Science News from Quanta Magazine View this email in your browser QUANTUM PHYSICS | ALL TOPICS   Quantum Complexity Tamed by Machine Learning By CHARLIE WOOD If scientists understood exactly how electrons act in molecules, they could predict the behavior of everything from experimental drugs to high-temperature superconductors. Following decades of physics-based insights, artificial intelligence systems are taking the next leap. Read the article NEUROSCIENCE   New Map of Meaning in the Brain Changes Ideas About Memory By JORDANA CEPELEWICZ Researchers have mapped hundreds of semantic categories to the tiny bits of the cortex that represent them in our thoughts and perceptions. What they discovered might change our view of memory. Read the article Related:  Neural Noise Shows the Uncertainty of Our Memories by Veronique Greenwood GEOMETRY   An Ancient Geometry Problem Falls to New Techniques By STEVE NADIS Three mathematicians show, for the first time, how to form a square with the same area as a circle by cutting the figures into interchangeable pieces that can be visualized. Read the explainer Related:  In Mathematics, It Often Takes a Good Map to Find Answers by Kevin Hartnett (2020) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE   Computer Scientists Prove Why Bigger Neural Networks Do Better By MORDECHAI RORVIG Two researchers show that for neural networks to be able to remember better, they need far more parameters than previously thought. Read the blog Related:  Researchers Build AI That Builds AI by Anil Ananthaswamy Around the Web Earth's Inner Secrets Earth's solid inner core might be far more exotic than geophysicists had thought. For Science News, Emily Conover reports on new evidence that the innermost core is "superionic." The superionic phase of matter has previously been studied in water. Planetary scientists suspect that superionic ice might compose the bulk of large, icy worlds like Uranus and Neptune, Joshua Sokol reported for Quanta in 2019. 100 Years of Quantum Spin A century ago Otto Stern and Walther Gerlach performed an experiment that proved the existence of quantum spin, as Davide Castelvecchi describes for Scientific American on the centennial of the Stern-Gerlach experiment. Even after 100 years, we're still trying to understand the implications of Stern-Gerlach and other quantum experiments. Sean Carroll wrote for Quanta in 2019 about various interpretations of quantum mechanics, including the Many Worlds hypothesis. Follow Quanta Simons Foundation 160 5th Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10010 Unsubscribe | About Quanta Privacy Policy | Terms | Contact Us   Copyright © 2022 Quanta Magazine, an editorially independent division of the Simons Foundation