The technique opens possibilities for exploring exotic states of matter and building new quantum materials. Proximity is key for many quantum phenomena, as interactions between atoms are stronger when the particles are close. In many quantum simulators, scientists arrange atoms as close together as possible to explore exotic states of matter and build new quantum materials. They typically do this by cooling the atoms to a stand-still, then using laser light to position the particles as close as 500 nanometers…
Research at the south pole studied the mysterious quantum structure of space and time. Einstein’s theory of general relativity explains that gravity is caused by a curvature of the directions of space and time. The most familiar manifestation of this is the Earth’s gravity, which keeps us on the ground and explains why balls fall to the floor and individuals have weight when stepping on a scale. In the field of high-energy physics, on the other hand, scientists study tiny…
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured the sharpest infrared images to date of a zoomed-in portion of one of the most distinctive objects in our skies, the Horsehead Nebula. These observations show the top of the “horse’s mane” or edge of this iconic nebula in a whole new light, capturing the region’s complexity with unprecedented spatial resolution. Webb’s new images show part of the sky in the constellation Orion (The Hunter), in the western side of a dense region…
An international team of researchers has successfully used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to map the weather on the hot gas-giant exoplanet WASP-43 b. Precise brightness measurements over a broad spectrum of mid-infrared light, combined with 3D climate models and previous observations from other telescopes, suggest the presence of thick, high clouds covering the nightside, clear skies on the dayside, and equatorial winds upwards of 5,000 miles per hour mixing atmospheric gases around the planet. The investigation is just the…
A team of international scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT, and the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) collaborated on an experiment to optimise high-intensity high-repetition rate laser technology using machine learning. The experiment represents a significant leap forward in the study, understanding, and practical application of high-intensity lasers. “Our goal was to demonstrate robust diagnosis of laser-accelerated ions and electrons from solid targets at a high intensity and repetition rate,” explains Matthew Hill of…
The TAO telescope in Chile aims to reveal origins of planets, galaxies and more. How do planets form? How do galaxies evolve? And ultimately, how did the universe itself begin? A unique astronomical observatory that researchers hope will unravel some of the biggest mysteries out there marks its opening on April 30, 2024. At an altitude of 5,640 meters, the University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO), built on the summit of a desert mountain in northern Chile, is the highest…
Some materials are transparent to light of a certain frequency. When such light is shone on them, electrical currents can still be generated, contrary to previous assumptions. Scientists from Leipzig University and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have managed to prove this. “This opens new paradigms for constructing opto-electronic and photovoltaic devices, such as light amplifiers, sensors and solar cells,” says Inti Sodemann Villadiego, Professor at the Institute of Theoretical Physics at Leipzig University. The scientists have published their findings…
A long-awaited breakthrough opens the door to a new type of atomic clock and the investigation of fundamental questions in physics. After decades of investigation, researchers made an extraordinary quantum leap – both figuratively and literally: They have identified the exact laser frequency that excites the atomic nucleus of the element thorium-229 to make a quantum leap from one energy level to a closely adjacent one. This kind of laser nuclear excitations opens the door to new types of atomic…
Samples reveal evidence of changes experienced by the surface of asteroid Ryugu, some probably due to micrometeoroid bombardment. Analyzing samples retrieved from the asteroid Ryugu by the Japanese Space Agency’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft has revealed new insights into the magnetic and physical bombardment environment of interplanetary space. The results of the study, carried out by Professor Yuki Kimura at Hokkaido University and co-workers at 13 other institutions in Japan, are published in the journal Nature Communications. The investigations used electron waves…
…to control valley polarization in bulk materials. An international team of researchers reports in Nature a new method that achieves valley polarization in centrosymmetric bulk materials in a non-material-specific way for the first time. This “universal technique” may have major applications linked to the control and analysis of different properties for 2D and 3D materials, which can in turn enable the advancement of cutting-edge fields such us information processing and quantum computing. The project was realised in collaboration between ICFO…
Ultrafast laser spectroscopy allows the ascertainment of dynamics over extremely short time scales, making it a very useful tool in many scientific and industrial applications. A major disadvantage is the considerable measuring time this technique usually requires, which often leads to lengthy acquisition times spanning minutes to hours. Researchers have developed a technique to speed up spectroscopic analysis. The results of the project led by Hanieh Fattahi, Research group leader at the Max-Planck-Institute of the Science of Light, in collaboration…
Thanks to ESA satellites, an international team including UNIGE researchers has detected a giant eruption coming from a magnetar, an extremely magnetic neutron star. While ESA’s satellite INTEGRAL was observing the sky, it spotted a burst of gamma-rays – high-energy photons – coming from the nearby galaxy M82. Only a few hours later, ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray space telescope searched for an afterglow from the explosion but found none. An international team, including researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), realised…
Superradiant atoms can help us measure time more precisely than ever. In a new study, researchers from the University of Copenhagen present a new method for measuring the time interval, the second, mitigating some of the limitations that today’s most advanced atomic clocks encounter. The result could have broad implications in areas such as space travel, volcanic eruptions and GPS systems. The second is the most precisely-defined unit of measurement, compared to other base units such as the kilogram, meter,…
New publication reports record electron temperatures for a small-scale, sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch fusion device. In the nine decades since humans first produced fusion reactions, only a few fusion technologies have demonstrated the ability to make a thermal fusion plasma with electron temperatures hotter than 10 million degrees Celsius, roughly the temperature of the core of the sun. Zap Energy’s unique approach, known as a sheared-flow-stabilized Z pinch, has now joined those rarefied ranks, far exceeding this plasma temperature milestone in a…
Quantum physics needs high-precision sensing techniques to delve deeper into the microscopic properties of materials. From the analog quantum processors that have emerged recently, the so-called quantum-gas microscopes have proven to be powerful tools for understanding quantum systems at the atomic level. These devices produce images of quantum gases with very high resolution: they allow individual atoms to be detected. Now, ICFO researchers (Barcelona, Spain) Sandra Buob, Jonatan Höschele, Dr. Vasiliy Makhalov and Dr. Antonio Rubio-Abadal, led by ICREA Professor…
On April 18, 2024, a large-scale experiment to detect dark matter will be inaugurated in Italy. COSINUS is an international research project in which a team from the Max Planck Institute for Physics (MPP) is also involved. The nature of dark matter is still one of the great questions of modern physics. According to current knowledge, invisible dark matter accounts for 85 percent of the total mass in the universe. The COSINUS* experiment goes into operation today at the Italian…
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