Topological photonics can force propagating light to travel in a single direction—allowing researchers to route optical signals around corners and past defects without any of it scattering backward. So far, however, this one-way flow has only been found at the boundary between two specially engineered “topological insulator” regions, leaving most of the material unavailable for […]

In mathematics and getting dressed, some processes are commutative, while others are noncommutative. Commutative means the order doesn’t matter (3 + 2 is the same as 2 + 3, and it doesn’t matter which sock goes on first). Noncommutative means the order does matter.

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Semiconductor spin qubits are one of the most promising building blocks for future quantum computers, but turning them into a working, large-scale quantum computer has so far proven difficult. For now, two big questions remain open: how to connect qubits that aren’t sitting right next to each other, and how to control huge numbers of […]

An international team of researchers from École Polytechnique, Collège de France and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) has achieved a world first: the experimental realization of an all-optical photonic time crystal (PTC), a material whose optical properties can be strongly and periodically modulated over ultrafast timescales.

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Quantum fluctuations influence direction-dependent electrical transport in chiral magnets, researchers from Science Tokyo report. In chiral magnetic systems, electric current flows differently depending on its direction, but the role of quantum effects in this behavior has remained unclear. Through theoretical analysis, the researchers showed that chiral magnetic systems exhibit logarithmic temperature dependence at low temperatures, […]

Researchers have developed and tested an infrared spectroscopy system that can rapidly detect chemical aerosols from a distance by using light reflected from common surfaces such as traffic signs, tree trunks or painted surfaces. The new method could make it possible to detect hazards without complicated instruments, helping improve safety and ease operations at industrial […]

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have demonstrated a new way of switching a material between two fundamentally different magnetic states using an electric current. The discovery could pave the way for compact, energy-efficient electronic devices that store information, perform logic operations and even interface with future quantum computers.

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