LAUSR

How does our predictable everyday world emerge from the hazy, probabilistic rules of quantum mechanics? That puzzle has vexed physicists since quantum theory emerged in the 1920s to explain the behavior of atoms and other infinitesimal things. Now, researchers fiddling with an electron trapped in a diamond have confirmed an essential prediction of a theory that strives to explain this transition from the quantum to classical realm. Called "quantum Darwinism," the theory argues that classical states are simply the quantum ones that are most fit to survive interactions with their environment to imprint themselves over and over on their surroundings. In the experiment, researchers observe the electron imprinting its quantum state on surrounding atomic nuclei, as predicted by the theory. However, physicists caution that the experiment is far from the final word on the matter.