… into the world of super small things. Physicists at The Australian National University (ANU) are using nanoparticles to develop new sources of light that will allow us to “peel back the curtain” into the world of extremely small objects – thousands of times smaller than a human hair – with major gains for medical and other technologies. The findings, published in Science Advances, could have major implications for medical science by offering an affordable and effective solution to analyse…
Revolutionary design could combine superconductor levitation, lossless electricity transmission, and liquid hydrogen transportation into one system. Superconductors can conduct electricity without any resistance or power loss, and they can effortlessly cause magnets to levitate above them. These properties would make superconductors useful for high-speed trains or long-distance power transmission, except for one glaring problem: superconductors only work at low temperatures, more than a hundred degrees below zero. This one requirement makes building a hyperefficient electrical grid or high-speed rail network…
KIT researchers develop first two-dimensional photonic time crystal – Application promises enhancements in wireless communication and laser technology. Photonic time crystals, whose properties change periodically, promise significant enhancements in microwave engineering, optics, and photonics. Researchers from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and partners from Aalto University and Stanford University have unveiled a groundbreaking 2D photonic time crystal and demonstrated important applications. Their approach simplifies the realisation of photonic time crystals and may improve the efficiency of future communication systems. The…
A new study has uncovered intriguing insights into the liquid core at the centre of Mars, furthering understanding of the planet’s formation and evolution. The research, led by the University of Bristol and published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the US, reveals the first-ever detections of sound waves travelling into the Martian core. Measurements from this acoustic energy, called seismic waves, indicate its liquid core is slightly denser and smaller than previously thought, and…
New research, using ultracold atoms, reveals particular properties of quantum systems. A team of physicists has illuminated certain properties of quantum systems by observing how their fluctuations spread over time. The research offers an intricate understanding of a complex phenomenon that is foundational to quantum computing—a method that can perform certain calculations significantly more efficiently than conventional computing. “In an era of quantum computing it’s vital to generate a precise characterization of the systems we are building,” explains Dries Sels,…
Even if you are not a quantum physicist, you will most likely have heard of Schrödinger’s famous cat. Erwin Schrödinger came up with the feline that can be alive and dead at the same time in a thought experiment in 1935. The obvious contradiction – after all, in everyday life we only ever see cats that are either alive or dead – has prompted scientists to try to realize analogous situations in the laboratory. So far, they have managed to…
Human-like intelligence could be physical. An international team led by scientists at the University of Sydney has demonstrated nanowire networks can exhibit both short- and long-term memory like the human brain. The research has been published today in the journal Science Advances, led by Dr Alon Loeffler, who received his PhD in the School of Physics, with collaborators in Japan. “In this research we found higher-order cognitive function, which we normally associate with the human brain, can be emulated in…
Using an ultrafast laser direct writing method, researchers arrange 3D voxels in glass to precisely direct light for various applications. Modern-day technologies like optical computing, integrated photonics, and digital holography require light signals to be manipulated in three dimensions. To achieve this, it is necessary to be able to shape and guide the flow of light according to its desired application. Given that light flow within a medium is governed by the refractive index, specific tailoring of the refractive index…
Collaboration between TRUMPF, Fraunhofer ILT and DESY provides the most detailed of insights into laser welding processes to date thanks to the particle accelerator // Fraunhofer expert Marc Hummel: “We have now been able to clearly prove for the first time that raw materials can be saved in the welding high-performance electronics by using lasers with green wavelength.” Lots of raw materials can be saved in the welding of high-performance electronics. This is the result of an investigation at the…
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….
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….
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…
… 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…
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