Categories

Evidence of a quantum spin liquid ground state in a kagome material

Quantum spin liquids are exotic states of matter in which spins (i.e., the intrinsic angular momentum of electrons) do not settle into an ordered pattern and continue to fluctuate, even at extremely low temperatures. This state is characterized by high entanglement, a quantum effect that causes particles to become linked so that the state of […]

Detecting the hidden magnetism of altermagnets

Altermagnets are a newly recognized class of antiferromagnets whose magnetic structure behaves very differently from what is found in conventional systems. In conventional antiferromagnets, the sublattices are linked by simple inversion or translation, resulting in spin-degenerate electronic bands. In altermagnets, however, they are connected by unconventional symmetries such as rotations or screw axes. This shift […]

Ultracold atoms observed climbing a quantum staircase

For the first time, scientists have observed the iconic Shapiro steps, a staircase-like quantum effect, in ultracold atoms.

Go to Source

Research uncovers the telltale tail of black hole collisions

When black holes collide, the impact radiates into space like the sound of a bell in the form of gravitational waves. But after the waves, there comes a second reverberation—a murmur that physicists have theorized but never observed.

Go to Source

New image sensor breaks optical limits

Imaging technology has transformed how we observe the universe—from mapping distant galaxies with radio telescope arrays to unlocking microscopic details inside living cells. Yet despite decades of innovation, a fundamental barrier has persisted: capturing high-resolution, wide-field images at optical wavelengths without cumbersome lenses or strict alignment constraints.

Go to Source

Ultrafast fluorescence pulse technique enables imaging of individual trapped atoms

Researchers at the ArQuS Laboratory of the University of Trieste (Italy) and the National Institute of Optics of the Italian National Research Council (CNR-INO) have achieved the first imaging of individual trapped cold atoms in Italy, introducing techniques that push single-atom detection into new performance regimes.

Go to Source

Journey to the center of a quantized vortex: How microscopic mutual friction governs superfluid dissipation

Step inside the strange world of a superfluid, a liquid that can flow endlessly without friction, defying the common-sense rules we experience every day, where water pours, syrup sticks and coffee swirls and slows under the effect of viscosity. In these extraordinary fluids, motion often organizes itself into quantized vortices: tiny, long-lived whirlpools that act […]

New reactor produces clean energy and carbon nanotubes from natural gas

Scientists from the University of Cambridge have developed a new reactor that converts natural gas (a common energy source primarily composed of methane) into two highly valuable resources: clean hydrogen fuel and carbon nanotubes, which are ultralight and much stronger than steel.

Go to Source

Raindrops form ‘sandballs’ as they roll downhill, contributing more to erosion than previously thought

What happens as a raindrop impacts bare soil has been fairly well-studied, but what happens to raindrops afterward is poorly understood. We know that the initial splash of raindrops on soil contributes to erosion, but a new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that the journey of the raindrop […]

Promising new superconducting material discovered with the help of AI

Tohoku University and Fujitsu Limited have successfully used AI to derive new insights into the superconductivity mechanism of a new superconducting material.

Go to Source

Rare Hall effect reveals design pathways for advanced spintronic materials

Scientists at Ames National Laboratory, in collaboration with Indranil Das’s group at the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (India), have found a surprising electronic feature in transitional metal-based compounds that could pave the way for a new class of spintronic materials for computing and memory technologies.

Go to Source

Why a chiral magnet is a direction-dependent street for electrons

RIKEN physicists have discovered for the first time why the magnitude of the electron flow depends on direction in a special kind of magnet. This finding could help to realize future low-energy devices.

Go to Source

How does Santa do it all? Quantum physics, that’s how, says scientist

Every year, Santa Claus races around the globe in a matter of hours to bring presents to children all over the world.

Go to Source

Anything-goes ‘anyons’ may be at the root of surprising quantum experiments

In the past year, two separate experiments in two different materials captured the same confounding scenario: the coexistence of superconductivity and magnetism. Scientists had assumed that these two quantum states are mutually exclusive; the presence of one should inherently destroy the other.

Go to Source

Kolmogorov-Arnold networks bridge AI and scientific discovery by increasing interpretability

AI has successfully been applied in many areas of science, advancing technologies like weather prediction and protein folding. However, there have been limitations for the world of scientific discovery involving more curiosity-driven research. But that may soon change, thanks to Kolmogorov-Arnold networks (KANs).

Go to Source