Vortices may conjure a mental image of whirlpools and tornadoes—spinning bodies of water and air—but they can also exist on much smaller scales. In a new study published in Science, researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science, together with collaborators from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and Tel Aviv University, have created, for the first time, vortices made of a single atom. These vortices could help answer fundamental questions about the inner workings of the subatomic world and be used to enhance a variety of technologies—for example, by providing new capabilities for atomic microscopes.
Biomedical engineers at Duke University have engineered a holographic system capable of imaging and analyzing tens of thousands of cells per minute to both discover and recognize signs of disease.
There is a huge global effort to engineer a computer capable of harnessing the power of quantum physics to carry out computations of unprecedented complexity. While formidable technological obstacles still stand in the way of creating such a quantum computer, today's early prototypes are still capable of remarkable feats.
In a new publication from Opto-Electronic Advances the research group of Professor Xiong Wei, from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, discuss recent advances in optical dynamic meta-holography.
In a new publication from Opto-Electronic Advances the research group of Professor Xiaoyong Hu and Professor Qihuang Gong from School of Physics, Peking University, China, propose a new strategy to realize ultrafast and ultralow-energy-consumption all-optical computing chip scheme based on convolutional neural network (CNN), which supports the execution of multiple computing tasks.
A promising route towards larger quantum computers is to orchestrate multiple task-optimized smaller systems. To dynamically connect and entangle any two systems, photonic interference emerges as a powerful method, due to its compatibility with on-chip devices and long-distance propagation in quantum networks.
The quantum world and our everyday world are very different places. In a publication that appeared as the "Editor's Suggestion" in Physical Review A this week, UvA physicists Jasper van Wezel and Lotte Mertens and their colleagues investigate how the act of measuring a quantum particle transforms it into an everyday object.
Researchers from the Institute of Laser Physics at Universit?t Hamburg have developed a new technique for quantum gas microscopy that now allows imaging of three-dimensional quantum systems. In the journal Nature, they report on the new method, which can be used to explore entirely new regimes.
An international team led by EPFL scientists, has unveiled a unique quantum-mechanical interaction between electrons and topological defects in layered materials that has only been observed in engineered atomic thin layers. The phenomenon can be reproduced by the native defects of lab grown large crystals, making future investigation of Kondo systems and quantum electronic devices more accessible.
A research team from Heinrich Heine University D?sseldorf (HHU) has worked together with TU Darmstadt and an MPI based in Garching to examine the group dynamics of communicating active particles. These particles are consistently focused on self-optimisation. By always endeavoring to maintain their own personal comfort, they also help the other group members. As the researchers describe in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, such self-optimisation is a common multi-body phenomenon which can occur for penguins and bacteria.
Have you ever thought about not voting because your preferred candidate's victory seems assured? New Cornell research uses mathematical modeling to show that type of thinking can have the opposite effect, resulting in the election of politicians who do not represent the preferences of the electorate as a whole.
Lasers in conventional laser printers for paper printouts are very small. 3D laser printers for 3-dimensional microstructures and nanostructures, by contrast, have required big and expensive laser systems so far. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Heidelberg University now use another process for this purpose. Two-step absorption works with inexpensive and small, blue laser diodes. As a result, much smaller printers can be used. The work is reported in Nature Photonics.
Microplastics are released into the environment by cosmetics, clothing, and industrial processes or from larger plastic products as they break down naturally.
Today's quantum computers are complicated to build, difficult to scale up, and require temperatures colder than interstellar space to operate. These challenges have led researchers to explore the possibility of building quantum computers that work using photons—particles of light. Photons can easily carry information from one place to another, and photonic quantum computers can operate at room temperature, so this approach is promising. However, although people have successfully created individual quantum "logic gates" for photons, it's challenging to construct large numbers of gates and connect them in a reliable fashion to perform complex calculations.
Quantum physicists at the University of Warsaw have discovered new applications for quantum catalysis—the quantum equivalent of chemical catalysis used in industry—revealing that quantum catalysts are useful in many more setups than previously known. The breakthrough could prove pivotal in future quantum key distribution networks or distributed quantum computing.
Severe irradiation environment would bring damage to the microstructure of the materials and affect the stable operation and tritium recovery of fusion reactor. Therefore, the efficient tritium production from tritium breeding materials is the guarantee for the realization of tritium self-sufficiency in fusion reactor.
Jiming Bao, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Houston, has developed a new fluid that can be cut open by light and demonstrated macroscopic depression of ferrofluid, the kind of fluid that can be moved around with a magnet.
Micro-sized cameras have great potential to spot problems in the human body and enable sensing for super-small robots, but past approaches captured fuzzy, distorted images with limited fields of view.
Research undertaken by the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) has concluded that sound can be directed to a certain place if the sound waves' symmetry is broken. In order to carry out this work, recently published in the journal Nature, researchers used the whispering gallery phenomenon, a circular, vaulted room in which you can hear what is being said in a specific part of the room from anywhere, even if it is being whispered.
The increased use of optical fiber has seen a greater focus on the precise control and measurement of its diameter. That is due to the diameter being vital for a wide range of fields, from high-speed optical communication to ultra-high sensitivity sensing. Handling optical fiber before measurement can damage the fiber permanently, particularly when multiple-point measurements are needed.
Photonics is a branch of technology development that specializes in the creation of devices that can generate, detect or manipulate light. Recently, researchers at Universit? Paris-Saclay coined a new term for a new photonics sub-field called non-Euclidean photonics.
The forces between particles, atoms, molecules, or even macroscopic objects like magnets are determined by the interactions of nature. For example, two closely lying bar magnets realign themselves under the influence of magnetic forces. A team led by Prof. Dr. Matthias Weidem?ller and Dr. Gerhard Z?rn at the Center for Quantum Dynamics of Heidelberg University has now succeeded in its aim to change not only the strength but also the nature of the interaction between microscopic quantum magnets, known as spins. Instead of falling into a state of complete disorder, the especially prepared magnets can maintain their original orientation for a long period. With these findings, the Heidelberg physicists have successfully demonstrated a programmable control of spin interactions in isolated quantum systems.
In a recent theoretical work published in Physical Review Letters, researchers at the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and their collaborators suggested probing helium dimer by relativistic highly charged projectiles.
Solid-solution organic crystals have been brought into the quest for superior photon upconversion materials, which transform presently wasted long-wavelength light into more useful shorter wavelength light. Scientists from Tokyo Institute of Technology have revisited a materials approach previously deemed lackluster—using a molecule originally developed for organic LEDs—and have achieved outstanding performance and efficiency. Their findings pave the way for many novel photonic technologies, such as better solar cells and photocatalysts for hydrogen and hydrocarbon productions.
In a continuing effort to improve upon previous work, a research team at the Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, has applied its recently developed Bayesian phase difference estimation quantum algorithm to perform full configuration interaction (full-CI) calculations of atoms and molecules without simulating the time evolution of the wave function conditional on an ancillary qubit. Superior to conventional methods in terms of parallel execution of quantum gates during quantum computing, this new algorithm is expected to be much easier to implement in actual quantum computers.
Within spin-based electronics (spintronics), a novel approach promising ultrafast and stable magnetic memory is based on antiferromagnets as active elements. These materials without macroscopic magnetization but with a staggered orientation of their microscopic magnetic moments display intrinsic dynamics in the Terahertz (THz) range and are robust against magnetic fields.
A team of researchers at Stanford University has developed a way to conduct the famous double-slit experiment at the molecular level. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their technique and suggest that it could be used to assist with other molecular experiments.
Receivers combining a superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) with a reference oscillator are the work horses of supra-terahertz astronomy, observing for example star formation and galaxy evolution. Until now, mainly niobium nitride HEBs—that have to be operated at low temperatures of 4 Kelvin—have been selected for space and balloon borne telescopes. A team of scientists at SRON, TU Delft, Chalmers University and RUG have now demonstrated a HEB based on magnesium diboride, a new superconducting material, which not only can simultaneously detect more spectral lines, but can also be operated around 20 Kelvin. The latter can significantly reduce the cost, weight, volume, and required electrical power of space instruments. The study is published in Applied Physics Letters.
A team of physicists at the Universities of Bristol, Vienna, the Balearic Islands and the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI-Vienna) has shown how quantum systems can simultaneously evolve along two opposite time arrows—both forward and backward in time.
The international Forward Search Experiment team, led by physicists at the University of California, Irvine, has achieved the first-ever detection of neutrino candidates produced by the Large Hadron Collider at the CERN facility near Geneva, Switzerland.
