Using light to perform tasks beyond the reach of classical computers.
Category: particle physics
Quantum friction causes light to slow down nanoworld movements
A research team in Bochum, Germany has unexpectedly found that light can slow down movements in the nanoworld. This is due to quantum friction, a phenomenon that has been poorly understood until now. The findings are published in the journal Nature.
Light is expected to heat particles up or set them in motion. However, the interdisciplinary team at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, has now proven the opposite. In aqueous solution, fluorescent carbon nanotubes move much slower once they are irradiated with light. During this process, the diffusion constant decreases with light intensity, an effect linked to direct coupling between electrons in the solid and the molecules of the liquid.
“This discovery of light-induced quantum friction fundamentally changes our understanding of interfacial processes,” says researcher Sebastian Kruss, who led the work with Marialore Sulpizi and Martina Havenith.
The Big Bang miracle
We think of our accounts of the universe and cosmology as well-founded and value-free. The Big Bang theory is surely one of those. But critics argue this is not the case. It was first put forward by a Catholic priest and physicist, Georges Lemaître, who initially called it the ‘hypothesis of the primeval atom’ — the primeval atom being created by God. As the originator of cosmic inflation theory, Alan Guth, points out the Big Bang says nothing about what banged, why it banged, or what happened before it banged.
One-way quantum synchronization could make quantum computers more reliable
Scientists at RIKEN have proposed a new way to make quantum systems synchronize in only one direction—like a one-way street for sound particles known as phonons. The breakthrough combines two quantum effects to create a form of one-way quantum synchronization that remains surprisingly stable even when exposed to manufacturing flaws and environmental noise, two major obstacles that have long hindered real-world quantum technologies.
Electron matter waves gain ultrafast torque that flips handedness in femtoseconds
Many natural processes, ranging from magnetism to chemical reactions, entail the movement and rotation of particles at very small scales. In quantum mechanics, particles exhibit both particle-like and wave-like behaviors, and their states can be described mathematically using representations known as wavefunctions.
The reliable manipulation of wave-like properties of particles as small as atoms or single electrons could open new possibilities both for studying matter and for engineering materials with desirable characteristics. Notably, controlling the angular momentum, which is the quantum property related to rotational motion, of ultrasmall particles at ultrafast timescales has so far proved very challenging when only using conventional, laser-based approaches.
Researchers at Universität Konstanz recently devised a new approach to create electron beams with an ultrafast internal torque (i.e., twisting motion). Their proposed strategy, outlined in a paper published in Nature Physics, could be a promising tool for exploring material dynamics and quantum phenomena at atomic and subatomic scales.
Diffusion model links foam physics to voting shifts and market behavior
A drop of dye added to a glass of water undergoes ordinary diffusion. However, when placed on the surface of a foam, the dye spreads differently—diffusion becomes anomalous. An example of this is the pattern on the froth of a cup of cappuccino. Interestingly, recent research suggests that diffusion equations in a heterogeneous environment can also describe social phenomena, such as election results or the behavior of stock market traders. The study is published in the Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science.
The movement of particles in complex media—such as porous materials, gels or foams—bears more resemblance to a random journey through an irregular maze than to a leisurely stroll through a homogeneous space. The presence of local “traps” alongside narrow passages or branches causes the transport of matter or energy to be significantly slowed down or accelerated. Such deviations from classical diffusion are referred to as anomalous diffusion. It is also observed in media with a nonuniform structure.
An international team of physicists from Poland, Croatia, Macedonia and Hungary has undertaken a mathematical description of diffusion in such systems; the Polish side was represented by scientists from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ PAN) in Cracow.
From Supernova Physics to Fusion Energy: The Laser Experiments Changing Science — Dr. Mario Manuel
Fusion energy is no longer just science fiction — it’s becoming experimental reality. Dr. Mario Manuel, Ph.D. — General Atomics.
What if we could recreate the inside of a star — not in theory, but inside a laboratory on Earth using the world’s most powerful lasers?
Dr. Mario Manuel, Ph.D. is a plasma physicist and laser-science researcher at whose work sits at the frontier of fusion energy, laboratory astrophysics, high-energy-density physics, and advanced laser diagnostics. Trained in applied plasma physics and aerospace engineering, Dr. Manuel has spent his career developing new ways to visualize and understand the extreme electromagnetic environments created when ultra-powerful lasers interact with matter.
Dr. Manuel’s research has spanned some of the most ambitious scientific efforts underway today — from inertial fusion energy and plasma-instability control to recreating supernova-like shock waves in the laboratory and generating ultra-intense gamma-ray and particle beams using petawatt-class lasers.
Early in his career, Dr. Manuel helped pioneer advanced proton-radiography techniques capable of imaging invisible electric and magnetic fields inside laser-produced plasmas, work that opened new windows into the turbulent physics that can either enable or destroy fusion reactions.
Scientists think they solved the mystery of the Amaterasu particle
The mysterious Amaterasu particle may not be a proton at all. New research suggests that some of the most extreme cosmic rays could be ultraheavy atomic nuclei, heavier than iron, which are better able to retain their energy while traveling through space. This idea could help explain how these rare particles reach Earth and provide new clues about the powerful cosmic explosions that create them.
Collapsing stars could spawn mini-universes, offering new path to gravastars
Stars shine because atoms fuse in their interiors, releasing energy. When a very massive star has exhausted its nuclear fuel, radiation pressure can no longer provide sufficient counterforce to gravity. The star then collapses under its own mass until only a single point remains: the singularity.
While the formation of a black hole appears plausible, black holes themselves continue to pose major challenges for science. How can 10 billion solar masses concentrate at a single tiny point? How can spacetime be curved infinitely at that point, the singularity? At this stage, the laws of physics break down, making it impossible to predict what happens. Moreover, black holes conceal all information from observation: Everything, including light, disappears irretrievably beyond the event horizon.