Researchers encode a metasurface to generate time-varying OAM beams, for a higher order twist on structured light. The orbital angular momentum (OAM) of electromagnetic waves — a kind of “structured light” — is associated with a helical or twisted wavefront. The helical modes are characterized by a topological charge. OAM beams with distinct topological charges are mutually orthogonal, which allows them to carry information and to be multiplexed. OAM multiplexing affords increased channel capacity and spectral efficiency — highly useful in fiber-based and…

UIUC physicists first to analyze noise in Lambda-type quantum memory. In the future, communications networks and computers will use information stored in objects governed by the microscopic laws of quantum mechanics. This capability can potentially underpin communication with greatly enhanced security and computers with unprecedented power. A vital component of these technologies will be memory devices capable of storing quantum information to be retrieved at will. Virginia Lorenz, a professor of physics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, studies Lambda-type…

New insights from Jefferson Lab reveal details of how strange matter forms in ordinary matter. In a unique analysis of experimental data, nuclear physicists have made the first-ever observations of how lambda particles, so-called “strange matter,” are produced by a specific process called semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering (SIDIS). What’s more, these data hint that the building blocks of protons, quarks and gluons, are capable of marching through the atomic nucleus in pairs called diquarks, at least part of the time….

KyotoU probes the computing potential of ecological networks. Development of neural networks or AI tools for data analysis is increasing exponentially. However, networks existing in natural ecosystems, such as webs of interspecies relationships, have information processing potential that has largely remained untapped. Now, a study conducted at Kyoto University has demonstrated the computational power of ecosystems, providing a new direction for rapidly developing AI technologies. Simulations have confirmed that ecological networks, such as prey-predator interactions, can efficiently process information and…

Solids can be melted by heating, but in the quantum world it can also be the other way around: In a joint effort, an experimental team led by Francesca Ferlaino in Innsbruck, Austria, and a theoretical team led by Thomas Pohl in Aarhus, Denmark, show in Nature Communications how a quantum liquid forms supersolid structures by heating. The scientists obtained a first phase diagram for a supersolid at finite temperature. Supersolids are a relatively new and exciting area of research….

… bringing scalability to the quantum cloud. The new development is scalable and suitable for use in photonic quantum computers. An international team of researchers from Leibniz University Hannover (Germany), the University of Twente (Netherlands), and the start-up company QuiX Quantum has presented an entangled quantum light source fully integrated for the first time on a chip. “Our breakthrough allowed us to shrink the source size by a factor of more than 1000, allowing reproducibility, stability over a longer time,…

University of Illinois to develop diamond sensors for neutron experiment and quantum information science. The nuclear physics group at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is looking for evidence of new physics in neutrons, electrically neutral particles that hold atomic nuclei together with an interaction called the strong force. Faculty and researchers are participating in the nEDM experiment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory which will measure the neutron’s electric dipole moment, a property that allows neutrons to interact with electric fields…

A team of physicists watches electrons getting dressed with light. Since ancient times, mankind has tried to tailor materials by combining different substances. Imagine a world where materials properties could be flexibly changed on demand by simply shining light onto them. A group of physicists from across Europe has now made a decisive step towards this goal by dressing electrons moving in a solid with light. The team, which includes researchers from the Universities of Regensburg and Marburg, the Max…

In order to achieve optimum product quality, precise control of the production process is necessary. For this purpose, the relevant parameters must be continuously recorded. In this context, the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST from Braunschweig will be presenting its most recent developments for the optimization of cotter rolling processes at this year’s Hannover Messe: Thin-film sensor inserts which enable precise in-situ detection of the temperature distribution on the tool surface. In collaboration with the Institut…

… is impossible with existing technologies. DTU researchers raise fundamental questions about the proposed value of topological protection against backscattering in integrated photonics. The field of integrated photonics has taken off in recent years. These microchips utilise light particles (photons) in their circuitry as opposed to the electronic circuits that, in many ways, form the backbone of our modern age. Offering improved performance, reliability, energy efficiency, and novel functionalities, integrated photonics has immense potential and is fast becoming a part…

Optical detection of ultrasonic signals eliminates the need for ultrasonic transducers, enabling effective remote sensing of photoacoustic signals for label-free, bond-selective imaging of biological tissue. Photoacoustic imaging is a cutting-edge technology that uses light and sound to create images of the inside of the body. When a pulsed laser illuminates the surface of biological tissue, part of the photon energy is absorbed by the tissue to generate heat. The increase of the heat causes thermoelastic expansion of the tissue, releasing…

Machine learning reconstructs new image from EHT data. The iconic image of the supermassive black hole at the center of M87—sometimes referred to as the “fuzzy, orange donut”—has gotten its first official makeover with the help of machine learning. The new image further exposes a central region that is larger and darker, surrounded by the bright accreting gas shaped like a “skinny donut.” The team used the data obtained by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration in 2017 and achieved,…

The Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT will present a novel monitoring method for industrial production at the most important international industrial trade fair from April 17 to 21, 2023 in Hannover. At the booth of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Hall 16, Booth A12), the Ilmenau-based research institute invites all visitors to test the reliability of the acoustic monitoring method for themselves at an interactive demonstrator. Based on artificial intelligence (AI), acoustic monitoring can be used for the quality assurance of…

Researchers from the University of Liège with collaborators from University of Cambridge show that moiré polar domains in bilayer hBN give rise to a topologically non-trivial winding of the polarization field, forming networks of merons and antimerons. Sliding and twisting of van der Waals layers can produce fascinating physical phenomena. In a recent publication in Nature Communications, Daniel Bennett, Eric Bousquet and Philippe Ghosez, from the group of Theoretical Materials Physics (Q-MAT, CESAM Research Unit) at the University of Liège…

Students of the University of Stuttgart launch self-built rocket into space. The Hybrid Engine Development (HyEnD) student team at the University of Stuttgart spent around three years developing, manufacturing, and testing its hybrid rocket. In mid-April, the rocket will be launched into space from the Esrange rocket launch site near Kiruna in Sweden. If all goes well, the students will set a new world altitude record for student-built rockets. The hybrid rocket is 7.80 m long and weighs around 70…

A magnetic cage keeps the more than 100 million degree Celsius hot plasmas in nuclear fusion devices at a distance from the vessel wall so that they do not melt. Now researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) have found a way to significantly reduce this distance. This could make it possible to build smaller and cheaper fusion reactors for energy production. The work was published in the journal “Physical Review Letters”. The international experimental reactor ITER,…