University of Liverpool researchers are part of an international research collaboration that has shed light on what happens at the extremes of neutron and proton numbers, in search of where the periodic table of chemical elements ends. In a study published in the journal Nature, the research team provide insight into the structure of atomic nuclei of fermium (element 100) and nobelium (element 102) with different numbers of neutrons. Elements at the end of the periodic table do not occur naturally and must…

AI-enhanced metalenses achieve high-resolution, full-color imaging for compact optical systems. Modern imaging systems, such as those used in smartphones, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) devices, are constantly evolving to become more compact, efficient, and high-performing. Traditional optical systems rely on bulky glass lenses, which have limitations like chromatic aberrations, low efficiency at multiple wavelengths, and large physical sizes. These drawbacks present challenges when designing smaller, lighter systems that still produce high-quality images. To overcome these issues, researchers have…

For a wide variety of emerging quantum technologies, such as secure quantum communications and quantum computing, quantum entanglement is a prerequisite. Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) have now demonstrated a particularly efficient way in which photons can be entangled with acoustic phonons. The researchers were able to demonstrate that this entanglement is resilient to external noise, the usual pitfall of any quantum technology to date. They recently published their research in ›Physical Review Letters‹. Quantum…

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is one giant step closer to unlocking the mysteries of the universe. The mission has now received its final major delivery: the Optical Telescope Assembly, which includes a 7.9-foot (2.4-meter) primary mirror, nine additional mirrors, and supporting structures and electronics. The assembly was delivered Nov. 7. to the largest clean room at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where the observatory is being built. The telescope will focus cosmic light and send…

…quieting all sounds more than a few feet away. Imagine this: You’re at an office job, wearing noise-canceling headphones to dampen the ambient chatter. A co-worker arrives at your desk and asks a question, but rather than needing to remove the headphones and say, “What?”, you hear the question clearly. Meanwhile the water-cooler chat across the room remains muted. Or imagine being in a busy restaurant and hearing everyone at your table, but reducing the other speakers and noise in…

Carnegie Mellon University’s EgoTouch creates simple interfaces for virtual and augmented reality. The new generation of augmented and virtual reality controllers may not just fit in the palm of your hand. They could be the palm of your hand. A recent paper by researchers in Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute introduces EgoTouch, a tool that uses AI to control AR/VR interfaces by touching your skin with a finger. The team wanted to ultimately design a control that would provide tactile feedback using only…

An international team that includes the University of Bath has discovered three ultra-massive galaxies (‘Red Monsters’) in the early Universe forming at unexpected speeds, challenging current models of galaxy formation. An international team that was led by the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and includes Professor Stijn Wuyts from the University of Bath in the UK has identified three ultra-massive galaxies – each nearly as massive as the Milky Way – that had already assembled within the first billion years after the Big…

An international team of researchers led by scientists from the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams uncovered evidence that astrophysics models of massive stars and supernovae are inconsistent with observational gamma-ray astronomy. Artemis Spyrou, professor of physics at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) and in the Michigan State University (MSU) Department of Physics and Astronomy, led an international research team to investigate iron-60, an unstable isotope, by using a new experimental method. The team—which included Sean Liddick, associate professor…

… could change how we use and control light. The new discovery could dramatically enhance technologies like lasers, sensors and optical computing in the near future. An international research team has for the first time designed realistic photonic time crystals –– exotic materials that exponentially amplify light. The breakthrough opens up exciting possibilities across fields such as communication, imaging and sensing by laying the foundations for faster and more compact lasers, sensors and other optical devices. “This work could lead…

Researchers at the Technion Faculty of Physics have demonstrated controlled transfer of atoms using coherent tunneling between “optical tweezers”. An experimental setup built at the Technion Faculty of Physics demonstrates the transfer of atoms from one place to another through quantum tunneling between optical tweezers. Led by Prof. Yoav Sagi and doctoral student Yanay Florshaim from the Solid State Institute, the research was published in Science Advances. The experiment is based on optical tweezers — an experimental tool for capturing…

Physicists create “light hurricanes” that could transport huge amounts of data. Much of modern life depends on the coding of information onto means of delivering it. A common method is to encode data in laser light and send it through optic cables. The increasing demand for more information capacity demands that we constantly find better ways of encoding it. Researchers at Aalto University’s Department of Applied Physics found a new way to create tiny hurricanes of light — known to…

Researchers investigate nuclear properties of element 100 with laser light. Where does the periodic table of chemical elements end and which processes lead to the existence of heavy elements? An international research team reports on experiments performed at the GSI/FAIR accelerator facility and at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz to come closer to an answer. They gained insight into the structure of atomic nuclei of fermium (element 100) with different numbers of neutrons. Using forefront laser spectroscopy techniques, they traced the…

Supersolids are a new form of quantum matter that has only recently been demonstrated. The state of matter can be produced artificially in ultracold, dipolar quantum gases. A team led by Innsbruck physicist Francesca Ferlaino has now demonstrated a missing hallmark of superfluidity, namely the existence of quantized vortices as system’s response to rotation. They have observed tiny quantum vortices in the supersolid, which also behave differently than previously assumed. Matter that behaves like both a solid and a superfluid…

A new approach to beam shaping will soon make additive manufacturing more flexible and efficient: Fraunhofer ILT has developed a new platform that can be used to individually optimize laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) processes. Customized beam profiles improve component quality, reduce material losses and enable previously impossible scaling of the build-up rate of the single beam process. Fraunhofer ILT will be presenting the test system, which is currently under construction, at Formnext in Frankfurt am Main from November 19…

… could revolutionize data storage. The atoms of amorphous solids like glass have no ordered structure; they arrange themselves randomly, like scattered grains of sand on a beach. Normally, making materials amorphous — a process known as amorphization — requires considerable amounts of energy. The most common technique is the melt-quench process, which involves heating a material until it liquifies, then rapidly cooling it so the atoms don’t have time to order themselves in a crystal lattice. Now, researchers at…

Scientists use high-energy heavy ion collisions as a new tool to reveal subtleties of nuclear structure with implications for many areas of physics. Scientists have demonstrated a new way to use high-energy particle smashups at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) — a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility for nuclear physics research at DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory — to reveal subtle details about the shapes of atomic nuclei. The method, described in a paper just published in Nature, is…