remindigo: Recent Episodes
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Using sophisticated theoretical tools, researchers in Singapore have identified a way to construct topological insulators -- a new class of spin-active materials -- out of planar organic-based complexes rather than toxic inorganic crystals.
Quantum dots have made it possible to substantially increase color quality in LCD displays. However, these cadmium-based nanocrystals have proven to be harmful to the environment. Researchers are now developing a promising alternative: quantum dots based on indium phosphide.
Success of the energy turnaround will depend decisively on the extended use of renewable energy sources. However, their efficiency partly is much smaller than that of conventional energy sources. The efficiency of commercially available photovoltaic cells, for instance, is about 20 percent. Scientists of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have now published an unconventional approach to increasing the efficiency of the panels. Optical invisibility cloaks guide sunlight around objects that cast shadows on the solar panel.
Chinese scientists uncover a novel way of stopping light in a state that stores information encoded in photons, opening the door to applications in quantum information processing.
In a new paper, scientists reviewed the theoretical ideas around quantum teleportation focusing on the main experimental approaches and their attendant advantages and disadvantages. None of the technologies alone provide a perfect solution, so the scientists concluded that a hybridization of the various protocols and underlying structures would offer the most fruitful approach.
Variance spectroscopy lets researchers learn more about mixed batches of fluorescent nanotubes by focusing on small areas of samples and comparing their contents.
In a post-Big Bang world, nature's top quark -- a key component of matter -- is a highly sensitive probe that physicists use to evaluate competing theories about quantum interactions. Now a new precise measurement of the top quark's mass by physicists improves that subatomic tool to help unravel deep mysteries of our universe. The new value confirms recent measurements by other physicists -- but adds growing uncertainty to physics' Standard Model.
A research group has successfully realized in laboratory the world of exotic atoms under extreme state through high -- brightness X-ray sources, typically realized in supernova explosions. A world first research produced highly unusual plasma composed of hollow atoms by utilizing the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) Kansai Advanced Relativistic Engineering Laser (J-KAREN), one of the world’s most powerful compact femtosecond laser facility.
Researchers have simulated a physical phenomenon in an atomic quantum gas that can also be observed at the edge of some condensed matter systems: chiral currents. The scientists have published the experiment, which will open new doors for the study of exotic states in condensed matter.
A 680-ton superconducting magnet is secure in its new home and nearly ready for a new era of discovery in particle physics, scientists report.
The precise structure of atomic nuclei is an old problem that has not been fully solved yet, and it also constitutes a current research focus in the field of natural sciences. Physicists have developed an approach to carry out precision calculations of the forces acting between the particles inside the nucleus.
An experiment shows, for the first time, that a wave property of neutrons, Orbital Angular Momentum, can be controlled.
To find out more about the elusive particles and their potential links to cosmic evolution, invisible dark matter and matter’s dominance over antimatter in the universe, the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is taking on key roles in four neutrino experiments: EXO, DUNE, MicroBooNE and ICARUS.
Neutrons, normally thought of as particles, can also be utilized as waves. These waves should, like many other quantum objects, possess a commodity called orbital angular momentum. A new experiment is able, for the first time, to deliberately alter this quantum variable for neutrons.
Warm dense matter displays characteristics of all other physical states at the same time, in apparent contradiction. Scientists have now developed a new simulation technique which overcomes the inaccuracies of existing theoretical models in describing this state of matter.
Semiconductor nanocrystals, or quantum dots, are tiny, nanometer-sized particles with the ability to absorb light and re-emit it with well-defined colors. With low-cost fabrication, long-term stability and a wide palette of colors, they have become a building blocks of the display technology, improving the image quality of TV-sets, tablets, and mobile phones. Exciting quantum dot applications are also emerging in the fields of green energy, optical sensing, and bio-imaging.
Researchers have 'teleported' or transferred quantum information carried in light particles over 100 kilometers (km) of optical fiber, four times farther than the previous record.
A team of researchers has developed an infrared laser that can be used to identify and quantify molecules in complex mixtures with high specificity and sensitivity.
Scientists have developed a new light source with unprecedented sensitivity to molecular finger prints of cancer cells.
Scientists working with ALICE, a heavy-ion detector on the Large Hadron Collider ring, have made precise measurements of particle mass and electric charge that confirm the existence of a fundamental symmetry in nature. The findings led the researchers to confirm a fundamental symmetry between the nuclei of the particles and their antiparticles in terms of charge, parity and time.
An international research team elucidated a new principle whereby electromagnetic waves including light propagate on the surface of a photonic crystal without being scattered.
Single atoms or molecules imprisoned by laser light in a doughnut-shaped metal cage could unlock the key to advanced storage devices, computers and high-resolution instruments.
Researchers have devised an ultra-thin invisibility 'skin' cloak that can conform to the shape of an object and conceal it from detection with visible light. Although this cloak is only microscopic in size, the principles behind the technology should enable it to be scaled-up to conceal macroscopic items as well.
A virtual laboratory allows, for the first time, to actively engage with topical quantum physics. The novel learning environment was developed in time for the start of the new term, and the virtual quantum lab is freely available online, developers report.
The next time someone accuses you of making an irrational decision, just explain that you're obeying the laws of quantum physics. A new trend taking shape in psychological science not only uses quantum physics to explain humans' (sometimes) paradoxical thinking, but may also help researchers resolve certain contradictions among the results of previous psychological studies.
Telecommunication networks will soon have to exploit the quantum properties of light. A team is paving the way to this technological revolution by removing the technical barriers of quantum photonics through optical chips. Researchers recently generated directly cross-polarized photon pairs on a chip, a first in quantum optics. Polarization will now be among the controllable parameters for harnessing light, helping the creation of low cost, high performance, energy efficient technologies.
Researchers have announced the observation of a dynamic Mott transition in a superconductor. The discovery experimentally connects the worlds of classical and quantum mechanics and illuminates the mysterious nature of the Mott transition. It also could shed light on non-equilibrium physics, which is poorly understood but governs most of what occurs in our world. The finding may also represent a step towards more efficient electronics based on the Mott transition.
Researchers in Finland have developed a scalable and secure cloud computing infrastructure for CMS data analysis at CERN. The solution is a hybrid one combining the advantages and disadvantages of grid and cloud systems. The infrastructure is expected to support also other scientific applications.
Physicists have announced new findings on the measurements of neutrinos, paving the way forward for further neutrino research, and confirming that the Daya Bay neutrino experiment continues to be one to watch.
Mathematicians investigating one of science's great questions -- how to unite the physics of the very big with that of the very small -- have discovered that when the understanding of complex networks such as the brain or the Internet is applied to geometry the results match up with quantum behavior.
Researchers have discovered how to stretch metal films used in flexible electronics to twice their size without breaking. The discovery could lead to dramatic improvements and addresses one of the biggest challenges in flexible electronics, an industry still in its infancy with applications such as bendable batteries, robotic skins, wearable monitoring devices and sensors, and connected fabrics.
Graphene, the ultra-thin, ultra-strong material made from a single layer of carbon atoms, just got a little more extreme. Physicists have been able to create the first ever superconducting graphene sample by coating it with lithium atoms.
Calculation with electron spins in a quantum computer assumes that the spin states last for a sufficient period of time. Physicists have now demonstrated that electron exchange in quantum dots fundamentally limits the stability of this information. Control of this exchange process paves the way for further progress in the coherence of the fragile quantum states.
Researchers have, for the first time, levitated individual nanodiamonds in vacuum. The research team thinks their work will make extremely sensitive instruments for sensing tiny forces and torques possible, as well as a way to physically create larger-scale quantum systems known as macroscopic Schrödinger Cat states.
With the help of a semiconductor quantum dot, physicists have developed a new type of light source that emits single photons. For the first time, the researchers have managed to create a stream of identical photons.
Evidence for a long-sought phenomenon -- first theorized in the 1960s and predicted to be found in crystals in 1983 -- called the 'chiral anomaly' in a metallic compound of sodium and bismuth has been presented by scientists. The researchers also found an increase in conductivity in the material that may suggest ways to improve electrical conductance and minimize energy consumption in future electronic devices.
Researchers have produced quark-gluon plasma -- a state of matter thought to have existed right at the birth of the universe -- with fewer particles than previously thought possible.
A team of scientists have created solar cells that collect higher energy photons at 30 times the concentration of conventional solar cells, the highest luminescent concentration factor ever recorded.
Three years after the announcement of the discovery of a new particle, the so-called Higgs boson, present for the first time combined measurements of many of its properties. By combining their analyses of the data collected in 2011 and 2012, ATLAS and CMS draw the sharpest picture yet of this novel boson. The new results provide in particular the best precision on its production and decay and on how it interacts with other particles.
Physicists have used an X-ray free-electron laser -- one of two in the world -- to induce two X-ray photons to simultaneously collide with an atom, converting them into a single, higher-energy photon.
A team of scientists have measured a bizarre effect in quantum physics, in which individual particles of light are said to have been 'squeezed' -- an achievement which at least one textbook had written off as hopeless.
A suppression of strange quark production relative to up and down quark production had previously been noted; for the first time, the result has been verified when a single pair is produced.
Even large objects obey quantum physics, meaning they are never quite at rest. Researchers have developed a way to detect -- and manipulate -- this underlying quantum motion.
A team of physicists has found new hints of particles -- leptons, to be more precise -- being treated in strange ways not predicted by the Standard Model. The discovery could prove to be a significant lead in the search for non-standard phenomena.
Physicists have found a radical new way confine electromagnetic energy without it leaking away, akin to throwing a pebble into a pond with no splash.The theory could have broad ranging applications from explaining dark matter to combating energy losses in future technologies.
A new study has demonstrated a new, efficient way to accelerate positrons, the antimatter opposites of electrons. The method may help boost the energy and shrink the size of future linear particle colliders -- powerful accelerators that could be used to unravel the properties of nature's fundamental building blocks.
Researchers are using high-performance computing to simulate the processes that take place during the first moments of photosynthesis. Using quantum mechanics as the basis, computer scientists, physicists and chemists are working together to produce simulations of the molecule in which photosynthesis occurs.
Researchers in Japan successfully developed single-crystal phosphors that use a blue LD (laser diode) as an excitation light source, are suitable for ultra-bright, high-power white lighting, and have outstanding temperature characteristics.
Quantum physics tell us that even massive particles can behave like waves, as if they could be in several places at once. This phenomenon is typically proven in the diffraction of a matter wave at a grating. Researchers have now carried this idea to the extreme and observed the delocalization of molecules at the thinnest possible grating, a mask milled into a single layer of atoms.
A team of physicists has taken a step toward making the essential building block of quantum computers out of pure light. Their advance has to do with logic gates that perform operations on input data to create new outputs.
With a new design that sandwiches a polar metallic oxide between insulating materials at the nanoscale, the resulting multiferroic superlattice could open the door for improved electronics.
A professor has made the 'magic' sphere for information transfer. In several years our computers, nanoantennas and other kinds of equipment will operate on the base of photons, rather than electrons. Even now we are practically prepared to accomplish this switch. If it happens, the spheres may become one of the elementary components of new photonic devices.
Results of the XENON100 experiment are a bright spot in the search for dark matter. The team of international scientists involved in the project demonstrated the sensitivity of their detector and recorded results that challenge several dark matter models and a longstanding claim of dark matter detection.
Is dark energy hard to detect because it's hiding from us? According to a recent theory, hypothetical particles called chameleons vary in mass depending on nearby matter: in the vacuum of space, they have a small mass and large reach, pushing space apart. In the lab, surrounded by matter, they have a large mass and small reach, making them difficult to detect. A new experiment seeks to find chameleons by lessening the screening.
Researchers using the IceCube Neutrino Observatory have sorted through the billions of subatomic particles that zip through its frozen cubic-kilometer-sized detector each year to gather powerful new evidence in support of 2013 observations confirming the existence of cosmic neutrinos.
Advances in manufacturing technology for 'quantum dots' may soon lead to a new generation of LED lighting that produces a more user-friendly white light, while using less toxic materials and low-cost manufacturing processes that take advantage of simple microwave heating. It could help the nation cut its lighting bill in half.
Scientists have simulated clusters of neutrons called "neutron drops" to understand their properties better. The ab initio calculations, or calculations based on fundamental forces and principles, were performed on the Titan supercomputer. Leveraging Titan's massive memory and computing power, the team was able to determine the ground-state energies and other properties of systems of up to 40 neutrons.
Researchers have demonstrated for the first time a new laser cooling method, based upon the interference of matter waves, that could be used to cool molecules.
The ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN has made a precise measurement of the difference between ratios of the mass and electric charge of light nuclei and antinuclei. The result confirms a fundamental symmetry of nature to an unprecedented precision for light nuclei. The measurements are based on the ALICE experiment’s abilities to track and identify particles produced in high-energy heavy-ion collisions at the LHC.
Physicists have developed a method using laser-generated X-rays and phase-contrast X-ray tomography to produce three-dimensional images of soft tissue structures in organisms.