Unlike the jumble of frequencies produced by the light that surrounds us in daily life, each frequency of light in a specialized light source known as a “soliton” frequency comb oscillates in unison, generating solitary pulses with consistent timing. Each “tooth” of the comb is a different color of light, spaced so precisely that this system is used to measure all manner of phenomena and characteristics. Miniaturized versions of these combs – called microcombs – that are currently in development…
Researchers study the interaction between lithium atoms and barium ion isolated in ultrahigh vacuum and trapped using light traps Externally applied magnetic field allows control of processes at the quantum level “We’re learning a bit more about the possibilities for controlling the quantum mechanical properties of the wave-particle duality.” A team led by Prof. Dr. Tobias Schätz, Professor of Atomic and Quantum Physics at the Institute of Physics at the University of Freiburg, Dr. Pascal Weckesser, Fabian Thielemann and colleagues,…
The Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) announces the completion of a major three-publication survey of one of the richest accessible open star clusters. The final study features a method of deriving the rotation periods of stars from just one observation of the stellar activity rather than repeated observations over several weeks which are needed to directly measure the rotation period. The method has possible implications for the determination of the ages of stars. Open clusters are star clusters that…
A highly unusual movement of light emitting particles in atomically-thin semiconductors was experimentally confirmed by scientists from the Würzburg–Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat–Complexity and Topology in Quantum Matter. Electronic quasiparticles, known as excitons, seemed to move in opposite directions at the same time. Professor Alexey Chernikov–newly appointed physicist at the Technische Universität Dresden–and his team were able to reveal the consequences of this quantum phenomenon by monitoring light emission from mobile excitons using ultrafast microscopy at extremely low temperatures. These…
Four CubeSats – CubIXSS, SunCET, DYNAGLO, and WindCube – have been selected by NASA’s Heliophysics Flight Opportunities in Research and Technology program in cooperation with NASA’s Space Weather Science Application. Together, they will comprise a first-generation testbed for space weather innovation through small satellites. CubeSats are small, cube-shaped satellites built to standardized dimensions that offer many advantages over traditional large space missions. Because they are relatively inexpensive compared to larger satellite missions, they’re usually seen as opportunities to develop new…
For the first time in history, a spacecraft has touched the Sun. NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has now flown through the Sun’s upper atmosphere – the corona – and sampled particles and magnetic fields there. The new milestone marks one major step for Parker Solar Probe and one giant leap for solar science. Just as landing on the Moon allowed scientists to understand how it was formed, touching the very stuff the Sun is made of will help scientists uncover critical information…
Dartmouth research predicts the existence of a previously-unimaginable particle. Nearly a century after Italian physicist Ettore Majorana laid the groundwork for the discovery that electrons could be divided into halves, researchers predict that split photons may also exist, according to a study from Dartmouth and SUNY Polytechnic Institute researchers. The finding that the building blocks of light can exist in a previously-unimaginable split form advances the fundamental understanding of light and how it behaves. The theoretical discovery of the split…
Researchers at the University of East Anglia and the University of Manchester have helped conduct a 16-year long experiment to challenge Einstein’s theory of general relativity. The international team looked to the stars – a pair of extreme stars called pulsars to be precise – through seven radio telescopes across the globe. And they used them to challenge Einstein’s most famous theory with some of the most rigorous tests yet. The study, published today in the journal Physical Review X,…
QUEST researchers overcome a major hurdle on the journey towards even more accurate optical atomic clocks. Laser beams can do more than just heat things up; they can cool them down too. That is nothing new for physicists who have devoted themselves to precision spectroscopy and the development of optical atomic clocks. But what is new is the extremely low temperature that researchers at the QUEST Institute at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) have been able to reach with their highly…
New method to measure spin waves brings us one step closer to spin superfluidity. Spin waves, a change in electron spin that propagates through a material, could fundamentally change how devices store and carry information. These waves, also known as magnons, don’t scatter or couple with other particles. Under the right conditions, they can even act like a superfluid, moving through a material with zero energy loss. But the very properties that make them so powerful also make them nearly…
Standardized methods facilitate the evaluation of Raman spectra. Light-based methods are increasingly used for analytical problems in the fields of health, environment, medicine and safety. Raman spectroscopy is a suitable method in this context. The measurement data collected in this process are complex and extensive molecular fingerprints. Artificial intelligence can help in the analysis of these complex Raman spectra. There are still no established standards for the analysis, which makes it difficult to apply in medical or biological settings. A…
Physicists publish a theoretical framework to explain the recent discovery of superconductivity in trilayer graphene. A single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice makes up the promising nanomaterial called graphene. Research on a setup of three sheets of graphene stacked on top of one another so that their lattices are aligned but shifted — forming rhombohedral trilayer graphene – revealed an unexpected state of superconductivity. In this state electrical resistance vanishes due to the quantum nature of…
Experiment finds evidence for a long-sought particle comprising four neutrons. Understanding of nuclear forces might have to be significantly changed. While all atomic nuclei except hydrogen are composed of protons and neutrons, physicists have been searching for a particle consisting of two, three or four neutrons for over half a century. Experiments by a team of physicists of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) at the accelerator laboratory on the Garching research campus now indicate that a particle comprising four…
Researchers make key steps towards generating quantum states of sound inside a microscopic device using laser light and single-photon measurements. Across the globe, researchers can now generate and control quantum states in a wide variety of different physical systems spanning individual particles of light to complex molecules comprising thousands of atoms. This control is enabling powerful new quantum technologies to be developed, such as quantum computing and quantum communications, and also offers exciting paths to test the foundations of quantum…
Halide perovskites provide a promising platform for nonlinear, low-threshold polaritonic devices that work at room temperature. Optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) have been widely applied in areas ranging from spectroscopy photonics to quantum information. While conventional OPOs typically suffer from weak nonlinearity which leads to high power consumption, exciton polaritons offer a smart alternative. Hybrid quasiparticles composed of light and matter, exciton polaritons possess a nonlinearity that is orders of magnitude stronger than traditional nonlinear photonic systems, promising significantly lower power…
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…
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