What is this website?

Quantum Quack makes a random choice in a list of options you provide. The choice is made using quantum random numbers, which are truly random, as opposed to ordinary random numbers.

Truly random? What is this?

Randomness is the incapacity of predicting the output of a process. For example, a dice roll is random because its result cannot be predicted in advance. However, a dice follows the laws of mechanics, and we could in principle predict the output of the dice roll if we had a precise enough knowledge of the initial conditions of the dice roll, and the necessary computing power. A dice roll is therefore not fundamentally random, the randomness only emerges from the fact that the output is highly sensitive to the initial conditions. In physics, the phenomena whose evolution follows precise laws, such as a dice roll, are said to be “deterministic”.

Determinism was famously formulated by Laplace in the following way: if an intelligence knew the precise state of the universe at a given instant, and had the knowledge of the laws of nature and the necessary computing power, that intelligence would automatically know all the future and past of the universe. In other words, everything we do in life is already determined by the initial conditions of the universe, even you reading this text right now.

Later on, physicists discovered a new type of phenomena which are fundamentally random: quantum phenomena. Those are processes that involve elementary particles, such as electrons or photons. The output of those processes cannot be predicted, whatever the amount of knowledge we have on the initial conditions. Randomness is present in the laws themselves.

Unfortunately, quantum phenomena don't save us from determinism, because they are restricted to the microscopic scale. This is because they “average out” at a larger scale. The smallest scale of phenomena relevant to human thought is about that of a neuron (removing just one neuron won't change your thought process or the output of a choice). However, quantum phenomena already average out at the scale of an atom, which is about a million times smaller. Therefore, the randomness of quantum phenomena can never influence things at the human scale.

Why should you care about Quantum Quack?

Technology allows us now to manipulate individual quantum processes. By doing so, we can promote quantum randomness from the microscopic to the macroscopic scale, which it can never reach under ordinary circumstances. By basing a personal choice on such a quantum process, we escape the determinism inherent to the human condition.

Making a quantum choice or an ordinary random choice is essentially the same in practice, but they are entirely different in nature. Whether this appeals to you or not very much depends on your philosophical sensibility. It matters a lot to us at Quantum Quack and we want you to think the same!

Example of Quantum Quacking

Generally speaking, we recommend not putting your destiny in the hands of chance and making choices after rational considerations. However, if you're facing some unimportant choice, or if you just can't make up your mind, it's a good occasion to introduce indeterminism in your life.

For example, if you can't make up your mind between two restaurants, Quantum Quack it! And you'll enjoy an experience and memory that are authentically free from determinism. With the combined efforts of all Quantum Quakers in the world, we may even free all humanity from it!

How does it work?

The choice is made using a chain of binary numbers generated using quantum fluctuations in a laser beam, in a setup of the Quantum Optics Group of the Australian National University. Streams of live random numbers are freely accessible on their website.

Why a duck?

This shall remain a secret. All we can say about it is that… it is quite random.

Caveat

The fundamental randomness of quantum processes is the most natural view suggested by the mathematical structure of the theory, as well as a few experimental results (see Bell inequalities and Aspect’s experiment), and is the most accepted view in the scientific community. However, other interpretations exist that may explain the apparent randomness of quantum processes while preserving determinism (see non-local hidden variables or superdeterminism). Those views however are less likely to be correct given the current data. If indeterminism does exist, Quantum Quack is your only chance!