Giant fluctuations of focused light reveal hidden correlations in opaque materials

When light travels through a strongly scattering material, such as biological tissue or other disordered opaque media, it follows many different paths and produces a seemingly random speckle pattern. Wavefront shaping makes it possible to control this complex interference and focus light through such materials.

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Reading hidden topology in light, even when energy leaks away

When I explain topology to students, I start with a knot in a rope. You can stretch it, twist it or shake it, but the knot stays until you cut the rope. Physicists have found that some materials and devices carry similar “knots” in how waves move through them. These are topological properties, labeled by […]

Visible light does not speed up water evaporation, rigorous experiments suggest

In recent experiments involving hydrogels and water droplets, researchers have proposed that exposure to visible light could make water evaporate faster without heating it. However, direct evidence that light acts on water itself has proven elusive.

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Cooper pairs found above superconducting critical temperature in pair density waves

Physicists with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Grainger College of Engineering have identified a new form of superconducting behavior. Experiments on the metal uranium ditelluride reveal that Cooper pairs, the composite electron units responsible for superconductivity, can organize into nonuniform patterns that exist even when the main superconducting phase is absent.

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Scientists discover first type I superconductor that breaks time-reversal symmetry

Superconductors are materials that conduct electricity with no resistance and expel magnetic fields when cooled to ultralow temperatures. And depending on their quantum structure, they can also showcase strange properties like magnetic levitation. But now things are getting a little weirder.

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Q&A: How will quantum computers change society?

Once called a “pipe dream,” quantum computers are now approaching practical use. Companies and research institutes around the world are in fierce competition to develop this technology, which has the potential to rapidly perform some calculations that are extremely difficult even for conventional supercomputers.

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Physicists who uncovered the first particle accelerator were honored with a Nobel Prize 75 years ago

While scientists are known for their dedication to their research, crawling on the floor to avoid electrocution for the sake of a measurement seems a little excessive. But this is what British physicist John Cockcroft and Irish physicist Ernest T.S. Walton had to do in the early 1930s while studying the structure of atomic nuclei. […]

Protons ride moving waves to reach record energy with long-pulse lasers

Imagine a proton catching a wave and surfing it to gain speed. While the imagery may seem wild, the premise of laser-driven ion acceleration has promise as an alternative to conventional accelerators. However, the ultrathin targets used to drive this increase in ion energy are vulnerable to the weak prepulse that precedes the main high-intensity […]

A laser that stays locked without active control

EPFL researchers have developed a chip-based laser that keeps a very stable frequency across its tested operating range, without needing active electronic control. Their research is published in the journal Nature Photonics.

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New method generates nearly indistinguishable photons for quantum communication

Working in close collaboration, researchers from Paderborn University, the University of Basel and Ruhr University Bochum have made a breakthrough in quantum communication. In their recently published paper in the journal Physical Review Letters, they demonstrate how special semiconductor nanostructures can be used to generate individual photons and pairs of photons that are almost perfectly […]

Hidden ‘funnels’ let complex systems slip between stable states

Many systems in nature can settle into several different stable states, with the final state depending on their starting conditions. However, the boundaries separating these states are often far more complicated than they first appear.

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Exploring the shapes of exotic nuclei

In the conventional diagram of an atom, the center depicts a nucleus—a spherical cluster of protons and neutrons. But that sphere is a simplification: nuclei can deform into exotic shapes that appear more like a pear, football or Frisbee. Understanding why and when nuclei distort is crucial for predicting and modeling how they will behave. […]

Letting light wander through milk—a surprising approach to better imaging

Light scattered in tissue usually ceases to be a useful source of information. But what if, instead of forcing it to travel along a single path, we allowed it to wander a little differently each time? Scientists from ICTER tested this seemingly risky idea and showed that a series of measurements that differ from one […]

Why do pickles glow? Researcher investigates explosive answer

If you mount a pickle on two metal forks and plug it into a socket, one end will light up in a brilliant orange glow. It’s a classic K–12 science demonstration, but the exact physics behind the illumination has long remained a mystery.

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New parallel gate entangles diamond qubits 10 times faster at room temperature

Quantum technologies rely on qubits, units of information that can exist in combinations of the states 0 and 1 instead of being limited to one or the other like conventional bits. Qubits can become entangled, which means their states become linked in ways that cannot be explained by considering each qubit separately.

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