Our Milky Way’s central black hole has a leak. This supermassive black hole looks like it still has the vestiges of a blowtorch-like jet dating back several thousand years. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope hasn’t photographed the phantom jet but has helped find circumstantial evidence that it is still pushing feebly into a huge hydrogen cloud and then splattering, like the narrow stream from a hose aimed into a pile of sand. This is further evidence that the black hole, with a mass…

New ATIQ project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research with a total volume of EUR 44.5 million. Quantum computers promise unprecedented computing power for applications where conventional data processors based on “zeros and ones” fail. In the new Trapped-Ion Quantum Computer for Applications (ATIQ) project, 25 partners from research institutions are now working together with industrial partners to develop quantum computer demonstrators implemented together with users of quantum computers. The partners will tackle major technical…

A 1,000-year-old supernova has been captured in 3D images that reveal yet unseen details of the elements that are ejected when a star explodes. Analysis of data from the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) and X-shooter at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT), offers new insights into how stars self-destruct. The new study authored by Josefin Larsson, an astrophysicist at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, in collaboration with researchers at Stockholm University, the University of Warwick…

Researchers study cosmic expansion using methods from many-body physics / Article published in “Physical Review Letters”. It is almost always assumed in cosmological calculations that there is a even distribution of matter in the universe. This is because the calculations would be much too complicated if the position of every single star were to be included. In reality, the universe is not uniform: in some places there are stars and planets, in others there is just a void. Physicists Michael…

Physicists from Exeter and Trondheim have developed a theory describing how space reflection and time reversal symmetries can be exploited, allowing for greater control of transport and correlations within quantum materials. Two theoretical physicists, from the University of Exeter (United Kingdom) and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (in Trondheim, Norway), have built a quantum theory describing a chain of quantum resonators satisfying space reflection and time reversal symmetries. They have shown how the different quantum phases of such…

For exploring materials right down to the nano-level, researchers often need to construct a complex structure to house the materials – a time-consuming and complicated process. But imagine if there was a way the structure could simply build itself? That is exactly what researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, now present in an article in the journal Nature. Their work opens up new research opportunities. Investigating nano materials can make it possible to study completely new properties and interactions….

An international team of scientists, in which researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) participate together with other institutions from Spain, Italy, Germany, Belgium, UK, and Mexico, has been able to measure the masses of the giant planets of the V1298 Tau system, just 20 million year old. Masses for such young giant planets had not been obtained previously, and this is the first evidence that these objects have already reached their final size at very early stages of…

As far as extrasolar planets go, ‘GJ 367 b’ is a featherweight. With half the mass of Earth, the newly discovered planet is one of the lightest among the nearly 5000 exoplanets known today. It takes the extrasolar planet approximately eight hours to orbit its parent star. With a diameter of just over 9000 kilometres, GJ 367 b is slightly larger than Mars. The planetary system is located just under 31 light years from Earth and is thus ideal for…

Light is an electromagnetic wave: it consists of oscillating electric and magnetic fields propagating through space. Every wave is characterized by its frequency, which refers to the number of oscillations per second, measured in Hertz (Hz). Our eyes can detect frequencies between 400 and 750 trillion Hz (or terahertz, THz), which define the visible spectrum. Light sensors in cell phone cameras can detect frequencies down to 300 THz, while detectors used for internet connections through optical fibers are sensitive to…

Researchers led by the University of Tsukuba present computer simulations that capture the complex dynamics of elusive neutrinos left over from the Big Bang. Current simulations of cosmic structure formation do not accurately reproduce the properties of ghost-like particles called neutrinos that have been present in the Universe since its beginning. But now, a research team from Japan has devised an approach that solves this problem. In a study published this month in SC ’21: Proceedings of the International Conference…

The microspeakers for wireless in-ear headphones from Arioso Systems GmbH, a spin-off of the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS, are up to ten times smaller than conventional microspeakers and are made entirely from silicon. Currently at the prototype stage, the energy-efficient MEMS speakers may in future play a role in expanding the range of functions offered by miniaturized headphones – such as instant translations and health monitoring features. This is made possible by an innovative sound transducer principle that…

Reseachers at MPQ have just demonstrated a new technique for digital holography using two interfering frequency combs. They can now record thousands of holograms in all colours of the rainbow. Everybody has seen holograms, on a bank note, a passport or in Star Wars. Holography is a powerful technique of photography of a light field without a lens for 3D imaging and display. Now, scientists at the Max-Planck Institute of Quantum Optics move holography forward by implementing it with optical…

The quantum world and our everyday world are very different places. In a publication that appeared as the “Editor’s Suggestion” in Physical Review A this week, UvA physicists Jasper van Wezel and Lotte Mertens and their colleagues investigate how the act of measuring a quantum particle transforms it into an everyday object. Quantum mechanics is the theory that describes the tiniest objects in the world around us, ranging from the constituents of single atoms to small dust particles. This microscopic…

Research team with participation of the University of Stuttgart succeeds in integrating color centers into nanophotonic silicon carbide structures. A promising route towards larger quantum computers is to orchestrate multiple task-optimised smaller systems. To dynamically connect and entangle any two systems, photonic interference emerges as a powerful method, due to its compatibility with on-chip devices and long-distance propagation in quantum networks. One of the main obstacles towards the commercialization of quantum photonics remains the nanoscale fabrication and integration of scalable…

Team studied thermal inertia to understand how rock layers were formed. As part of a team of collaborators from Northern Arizona University and Johns Hopkins University, NAU PhD candidate Ari Koeppel recently discovered that water was once present in a region of Mars called Arabia Terra. Arabia Terra is in the northern latitudes of Mars. Named in 1879 by Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli, this ancient land covers an area slightly larger than the European continent. Arabia Terra contains craters, volcanic…

Method combines quantum mechanics with machine learning to accurately predict oxide reactions at high temperatures when no experimental data is available; could be used to design clean carbon-neutral processes for steel production and metal recycling. Extracting metals from oxides at high temperatures is essential not only for producing metals such as steel but also for recycling. Because current extraction processes are very carbon-intensive, emitting large quantities of greenhouse gases, researchers have been exploring new approaches to developing “greener” processes. This…