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Streamlined method to directly generate photons in optical fiber could secure future quantum internet

With the rise of quantum computers, the security of our existing communication systems is at risk. Quantum computers will be able to break many of the encryption methods used in current communication systems. To counter this, scientists are developing quantum communication systems, which utilize quantum mechanics to offer stronger security. A crucial building block of […]

Record spin waves thanks to flux quanta

Spin waves are considered to be promising candidates for a new form of electronics. Instead of electrons, the focus here is on magnons. These quantized units of spin waves describe how spin precession propagates. Similar to electrons, magnons can transmit information in a conductor. However, they do so with much lower resistance and thus a […]

Twice around to return home: A hidden reset button for spins and qubits

The world is filled with rotating objects—gyroscopes, magnetic spins, and more recently, qubits in quantum computers. For example, the atomic nuclei in our bodies precess at megahertz frequencies inside NMR machines. In practice, it is often desirable to return such a rotating system precisely to its starting point. At first glance, this seems impossible: after […]

Quantum mechanics trumps the second law of thermodynamics at the atomic scale

Two physicists at the University of Stuttgart have proven that the Carnot principle, a central law of thermodynamics, does not apply to objects on the atomic scale whose physical properties are linked (so-called correlated objects). This discovery could, for example, advance the development of tiny, energy-efficient quantum motors. The derivation has been published in the […]

Time crystals could power future quantum computers

A glittering hunk of crystal gets its iridescence from a highly regular atomic structure. Frank Wilczek, the 2012 Nobel Laureate in Physics, proposed quantum systems––like groups of particles––could construct themselves in the same way, but in time instead of space. He dubbed such systems time crystals, defining them by their lowest possible energy state, which […]

G7 and Australia sign deal on quantum tech benchmarks

Scientists from the G7 nations and Australia signed an “unprecedented agreement” regarding quantum technology on Wednesday, France’s national metrology lab told AFP.

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Framework models light-matter interactions in nonlinear optical microscopy to determine atomic structure

Materials scientists can learn a lot about a sample material by shooting lasers at it. With nonlinear optical microscopy—a specialized imaging technique that looks for a change in the color of intense laser light—researchers can collect data on how the light interacts with the sample, and through time-consuming and sometimes expensive analyses, characterize the material’s […]

Our team of physicists inadvertently generated the shortest X-ray pulses ever observed

X-ray beams aren’t used just by doctors to see inside your body and tell whether you have a broken bone. More powerful beams made up of very short flashes of X-rays can help scientists peer into the structure of individual atoms and molecules and differentiate types of elements.

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Amplifying collective light emission with atomic interactions

A team of physicists from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw, the Center for New Technologies at the University of Warsaw and Emory University (Atlanta, U.S.) analyzed how atoms’ mutual interactions change the way they collectively interact with light.

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Researchers pioneer fluid-based laser scanning for brain imaging

When Darwin Quiroz first started working with optics as an undergraduate, he was developing atomic magnetometers. That experience sparked a growing curiosity about how light interacts with matter, an interest that has now led him to a new technique in optical imaging.

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Physicists probe quark‑gluon plasma temperatures, helping paint more detailed picture of Big Bang

A research team led by Rice University physicist Frank Geurts has successfully measured the temperature of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) at various stages of its evolution, providing critical insights into a state of matter believed to have existed just microseconds after the Big Bang, a scientific theory describing the origin and evolution of the universe.

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Why some quantum materials stall while others scale

People tend to think of quantum materials—whose properties arise from quantum mechanical effects—as exotic curiosities. But some quantum materials have become a ubiquitous part of our computer hard drives, TV screens, and medical devices. Still, the vast majority of quantum materials never accomplish much outside of the lab.

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Rigorous approach quantifies and verifies almost all quantum states

Quantum information systems, systems that process, store or transmit information leveraging quantum mechanical effects, could, in principle, outperform classical systems in some optimization, computational, sensing, and learning tasks. An important aspect of quantum information science is the reliable quantification of quantum states in a system, to verify that they match desired (i.e., target) states.

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3D-printed metamaterials harness complex geometry to dampen mechanical vibrations

In science and engineering, it’s unusual for innovation to come in one fell swoop. It’s more often a painstaking plod through which the extraordinary gradually becomes ordinary.

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Anomalous metal sheds light on ‘impossible’ state between superconductivity and insulation

Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, steered very thin conductors from superconductivity to insulation—creating an “impossible,” strange state between the two mutually exclusive states.

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