Quantum games aim to demystify heady science

Abstract

In a video game called Quantum Moves, the players’ goal is straightforward: Move an atom from one place to another as quickly and efficiently as possible while a timer counts down the seconds. Atoms in the game aren’t represented as mini solar systems with electron “planets” moving around them, like those you see in a middle-school textbook. Rather, they’re liquid-like waves sloshing in a roughly U-shaped curve. To move the atoms, players have to move the curve. In one level of the game Quantum Moves, called “Bring Home Water,” players must use a laser (round marker on the left) to pick up atoms (light purple areas inside the valleys) and deposit them in the trap (vertical purple strip). Users drag the valleys toward the trap and deposit as much of the atom as possible. Image courtesy of Scienceathome.org. The antagonists in video games tend to be monsters or zombies, but Quantum Moves pits players against the fundamental laws of nature. The waves represent the changing probability distribution of the atom’s location, showing where it’s most likely to be measured. Players get points when they shuffle the waves into a designated location, and the more waves that get there, the more points players earn. But that’s tricky. The atom-waves slosh around, often high enough to splash out of the curve and disappear. As levels advance, the atomic waves become less predictable: It's harder to tell where they'll move. Other quantum phenomena come into play, such as tunneling, which is the probability that a particle will pass through a solid barrier. On screen, that means the waves might vanish from one curve—and show up in another. Quantum mechanics may be among the strangest and most abstruse subject matters in science. Its fundamental ideas are fussy, counterintuitive, and difficult to explain to …