So a couple of quantum physicists in China got bored recently and decided to play a game with the universe. What would be the quickest way to end all life as we know it everywhere, all at once?
Just supposin' we live in a universe that's a quantum metastable state or a "false vacuum state." This is a hypothetical state that seems stable — but hasn’t actually reached its most stable state yet," according to Futurism.
Now, just supposin' our universe were in this "false vacuum state." Some Chinese scientists decided to test the idea that a strange chain reaction could trigger what’s called a “false vacuum decay” event. That would be very, very bad. It could result in the abrupt and sudden end of the entire universe around us.
Physicists say not to worry (with a twinkle in their eye). It's very unlikely that such a doomsday chain reaction could ever happen. But (there's that twinkle again) it's entirely possible.
Physicists love to scare us unnecessarily.
The Chinese scientists decided to test the false vacuum decay theory. Not in the real world, of course. They tested it using a lab-based “tabletop” experiment. A tabletop experiment allows scientists to simulate massive phenomena that span the entire universe using high-tech, condensed versions of reality. Everything fits within a single room, often using lasers, vacuum chambers, and specialized cooling equipment.
Contrast this experimental method with using the Hadron Collider, with its 17-mile-long underground tunnel, or some other massive device to simulate the universe. The Chinese certainly saved some money anyway.
In a paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the Chinese scientists explained that their experiment lays the groundwork for future investigations into whether the universe could be wiped out in an instant.
What the Chinese scientists did illustrates the absolute necessity of always giving scientists everywhere something to do, every second they're in the lab, so they're not fiddling around with cool new ways to end existence.
Warning: Things get very, very strange at the quantum (extremely tiny) level of reality.
Since the 1970s, scientists have suggested that a false vacuum could use quantum tunneling, a quirky facet of quantum physics, to fall into a “true” vacuum. Put simply, the idea is that particles can cross through energy barriers without actually possessing the required energy.
“While we cannot test this theory on a universal scale, the recent development of highly controllable quantum simulators allows us to recreate and study these dramatic tunneling events in tabletop experiments,” coauthor and Tsinghua University physicist Meng Khoon Tey told Phys.org.
The news comes after researchers used a powerful quantum computer to simulate a false vacuum decay event, as detailed in a 2025 paper.
Here's where the experiment let us know, we weren't in Kansas (or any other normal reality) anymore.
For the latest experiment, the team of Chinese physicists set up a ring of Rydberg atoms, whose outermost electrons are at the highest energy levels they can maintain without leaving.
These atoms were arranged to be mutually repulsive to their respective neighbor, meaning that their spin states ran in opposite directions to each other.
The researchers then used a laser to deliberately break this ring, in an effort to simulate a false vacuum state.
“By illuminating alternating atoms with site-selective laser beams, we engineered a custom energy landscape with distinct ‘false’ and ‘true’ vacuum states, allowing us to watch the quantum tunneling process unfold in real-time,” Tey told Phys.org.
The researchers found that the stronger the laser, the faster the laser caused the simulated vacuum state to decay. The faster the decay, well... Sayonara.
Imagine a future celebration where scientists are able to congratulate each other on finally being able to end existence by simulating false vacuum decay in a lab.
The keynote speaker stands up, raises a glass, and says, "Colleagues, our experiment was a total success! We’ve proven that the universe is metastable and could collapse into a lower energy state at any second, traveling at the speed of light and obliterating all matter instantly."
Amidst the congratulations, one young researcher looks terrified.
"Don't worry, son!" the speaker shouted with a grin. "There’s absolutely no reason to be afraid of the universe ending like that."
The junior researcher gulped and asked, "Because the math says the probability is low?"
"No," the speaker replied. "Because you’ll never even know it happened. One second you're worried about your student loans, and the next—well, there is no next. It’s the only existential threat with a 100% customer satisfaction rating!"
Thank heaven for small favors.
