https://phys.org/physics-news/ en-us The latest news in physics, materials science, quantum physics, optics and photonics, superconductivity science and technology. Updated Daily. A WashU team launched the Dilution Refrigerator Transition Edge Sensor (DR-TES) mission on Sept. 24 from NASA's scientific balloon facility in Fort Sumner, N.M. The mission is testing a sophisticated cooling system and a novel gamma-ray detector array in near-space conditions. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-balloon-mission-quantum-sensor-technology.html General Physics Thu, 26 Sep 2024 12:40:02 EDT news646572678 Deep-learning models are being used in many fields, from health care diagnostics to financial forecasting. However, these models are so computationally intensive that they require the use of powerful cloud-based servers. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-protocol-leverages-quantum-mechanics-shield.html General Physics Quantum Physics Thu, 26 Sep 2024 10:32:58 EDT news646565567 A new study conducted at the University of Vienna, the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, and the Helmholtz Centers in Berlin and Dresden takes an important step in the challenge to miniaturize computing devices and to make them more energy-efficient. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-alternating-currents-alternative-magnets.html Condensed Matter Thu, 26 Sep 2024 09:33:04 EDT news646561982 Topological protection provides unprecedented robustness of physical phenomena against all kinds of perturbations; but in doing so, it exercises topological censorship by hiding all kinds of interesting and important microscopic information. Recent experiments have collected microscopic information precisely of the kind hidden by such topological censorship. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-microscopic-theory-veil-topological-censorship.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Wed, 25 Sep 2024 15:27:51 EDT news646496866 In nature, photosynthesis powers plants and bacteria; within solar panels, photovoltaics transform light into electric energy. These processes are driven by electronic motion and imply charge transfer at the molecular level. The redistribution of electronic density in molecules after they absorb light is an ultrafast phenomenon of great importance involving quantum effects and molecular dynamics. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-ultra-high-camera-molecules-attosecond.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 25 Sep 2024 13:16:45 EDT news646489002 In an article recently published in Physical Review X, the ALICE collaboration presented its studies of correlations in the kaon–deuteron and proton–deuteron systems, opening the door to precise studies of the forces in three-body nuclear systems. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-alice-probes-strong-interaction-body.html General Physics Wed, 25 Sep 2024 12:45:39 EDT news646487132 Augmented reality (AR) takes digital images and superimposes them onto real-world views. But AR is more than a new way to play video games; it could transform surgery and self-driving cars. To make the technology easier to integrate into common personal devices, researchers report in ACS Photonics how to combine two optical technologies into a single, high-resolution AR display. In an eyeglasses prototype, the researchers enhanced image quality with a computer algorithm that removed distortions. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-augmented-reality-displays-eyeglasses.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 25 Sep 2024 11:29:02 EDT news646482541 A joint research group from China recently achieved the first observation of intrinsic magnetic structures in a kagome lattice by using the highly sensitive magnetic force microscopy (MFM) system of the Steady High Magnetic Field Facility (SHMFF) as well as electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy and micromagnetic simulations. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-intrinsic-magnetic-kagome-lattice.html Condensed Matter Wed, 25 Sep 2024 11:01:04 EDT news646480861 The collecting of highly precise measurements can enable research developments and technological advancements in numerous fields. In physics, high-precision measurements can unveil new phenomena and experimentally validate theories. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-versatile-approach-quantum-metrology-large.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Physics Wed, 25 Sep 2024 09:42:57 EDT news646476172 Hot carrier solar cells, a concept introduced several decades ago, have long been seen as a potential breakthrough in solar energy technology. These cells could surpass the Shockley–Queisser efficiency limit, which is a theoretical maximum efficiency for single-junction solar cells. Despite their promise, practical implementation has faced significant challenges, particularly in managing the rapid extraction of hot electrons across material interfaces. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-insights-hot-carrier-solar-cells.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Tue, 24 Sep 2024 17:06:03 EDT news646416362 Spintronics—devices that use microscopic magnetism in conjunction with electric current—could lead to computing technology as fast as conventional electronics but much more energy efficient. As such devices are developed and studied, an important unresolved question is how device operation is affected by heating. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-thermal-effects-spintronics-systematically.html Condensed Matter Tue, 24 Sep 2024 16:17:03 EDT news646413421 Scientists are conducting experiments in search of evidence of a possible critical point in the Quantum Chromodynamics phase diagram. Quantum chromodynamics describes how the strong force binds quarks and antiquarks together to form protons, neutrons, and other particles known as hadrons. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-simulating-critical-quark-gluon-fluid.html General Physics Tue, 24 Sep 2024 16:08:47 EDT news646412924 Since the late 1960s, the Laboratoire Aimé Cotton (LAC) in Orsay, France, has made significant progress in the classification of complex atomic spectra. These advances have been driven both by the development of Fourier transform spectroscopy, and through novel theoretical interpretations of atomic spectra. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-energy-atomic-hyperfine.html General Physics Tue, 24 Sep 2024 12:33:52 EDT news646400023 Researchers at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST) and the University of Massachusetts recently carried out a study investigating the equilibrium fluctuations in large quantum systems. Their paper, published in Nature Physics, outlines the results of large-scale quantum simulations performed using a quantum gas microscope, an experimental tool used to image and manipulate individual atoms in ultracold atomic gases. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-team-emergence-fluctuating-hydrodynamics-chaotic.html Quantum Physics Tue, 24 Sep 2024 07:30:01 EDT news646326741 Scientists at CERN have discovered an ultra-rare particle decay process, opening a new path to find physics beyond our understanding of how the building blocks of matter interact. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-ultra-rare-particle-decay-uncover.html General Physics Tue, 24 Sep 2024 06:00:01 EDT news646303120 An unexpected finding about how our universe formed is again raising the question: do we need new physics? The answer could fundamentally change what physics students are taught in classes around the world. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-physics-experts-possibility-fundamental-concepts.html General Physics Mon, 23 Sep 2024 12:15:36 EDT news646312532 Quantum information is fragile and often difficult to protect during experiments. Protecting qubits from accidental measurements is essential for controlled quantum operations, especially during state-destroying measurements or resets on adjacent qubits in protocols like quantum error correction. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-ion-qubits.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Physics Mon, 23 Sep 2024 10:27:54 EDT news646306071 What if you could hide an image in plain sight—so well that even the most advanced cameras couldn't detect it? Imagine encoding visual information using the properties of quantum optics, rendering it invisible to normal imaging technology. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-physicists-quantum-photon-pairs-images.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Physics Mon, 23 Sep 2024 10:00:01 EDT news646303531 After an unexpected measurement by the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) experiment in 2022, physicists on the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment (CMS) at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) announced today a new mass measurement of the W boson, one of nature's force-carrying particles. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-results-cms-boson-mass-mystery.html General Physics Sun, 22 Sep 2024 10:50:01 EDT news646048221 Antiferromagnets are materials in which the magnetic moments of neighboring atoms are aligned in an alternating pattern, resulting in no net macroscopic magnetism. These materials have interesting properties that could be favorable for the development of spintronic and electronic devices. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-antiferromagnetic-diode-effect-layered-mnbite.html Condensed Matter Sun, 22 Sep 2024 07:30:01 EDT news646053501 One of the most surprising predictions of physics is entanglement, a phenomenon where objects can be some distance apart but still linked together. The best-known examples of entanglement involve tiny chunks of light (photons), and low energies. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-heaviest-particles-usual-quantum-weirdness.html Quantum Physics Sat, 21 Sep 2024 12:10:02 EDT news645966635 In the early morning of 13 September, the LHC reached a significant milestone, surpassing 100 fb-1 of integrated luminosity delivered to ATLAS and CMS in a single year—a record—and the figure is still rising. Then, LHCb's integrated luminosity target of 8.5 fb-1 was reached one day later. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-lhc-injector-complex-ion.html General Physics Fri, 20 Sep 2024 13:04:07 EDT news646056244 Within the cycling realm, "to Everest" involves riding up and down the same mountain until your ascents total the elevation of Mt. Everest—8,848 meters. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-physicist-reveals-tailwind-negligible-effect.html General Physics Fri, 20 Sep 2024 11:00:01 EDT news645979922 A new study published in Physical Review Letters (PRL) proposes using gravitational wave detectors like LIGO to search for scalar field dark matter. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-scientists-method-dark-ligo.html General Physics Optics & Photonics Fri, 20 Sep 2024 09:00:01 EDT news646041421 MIT physicists and colleagues have created a new material with unusual superconducting and metallic properties, thanks to wavy layers of atoms only billionths of a meter thick that repeat themselves over and over to create a macroscopic sample that can be manipulated by hand. The large size of the sample makes it much easier to explore its quantum behavior, or interactions at the atomic scale that give rise to its properties. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-material-wavy-layers-atoms-unusual.html Condensed Matter Superconductivity Thu, 19 Sep 2024 16:52:03 EDT news645983521 A study led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory details how artificial intelligence researchers have created an AI model to help identify new alloys used as shielding for housing fusion applications components in a nuclear fusion reactor. The findings mark a major step towards improving nuclear fusion facilities. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-ai-database-alloys-nuclear-fusion.html General Physics Plasma Physics Thu, 19 Sep 2024 16:40:34 EDT news645982822 By cleverly applying a computational technique, scientists have made a breakthrough in understanding the "pseudogap," a long-standing puzzle in quantum physics with close ties to superconductivity. The discovery, presented in Science, will help scientists in their quest for room-temperature superconductivity, a holy grail of condensed matter physics that would enable lossless power transmission, faster MRI machines and superfast levitating trains. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-mysteries-bizarre-pseudogap-quantum-physics.html Superconductivity Quantum Physics Thu, 19 Sep 2024 14:55:04 EDT news645976501 The topological quantum computer still exists only in theory but, if possible, would be the most stable and powerful computing machine in the world. However, it requires a special type of qubit (quantum bit) that has yet to be realized and manipulated. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-topological-quantum-closer-method-electrons.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Thu, 19 Sep 2024 11:37:04 EDT news645964622 A new technique may make it easier for researchers to create real-time images of microscopic samples by considering the waves that propagate through sample surfaces as light interacts with them. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-tunability-optical-differentiation.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 19 Sep 2024 09:30:03 EDT news645957001 Analysis suggests that the two pioneers of quantum mechanics, Niels Bohr and John von Neumann, may have had more similar views than previously thought regarding the nature of quantum systems, and the classical apparatus used to measure them. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-bohr-von-neumann-conflict-quantum.html Quantum Physics Thu, 19 Sep 2024 09:18:03 EDT news645956279