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Category: particle physics

Physicists made atoms behave like a quantum circuit

Using ultracold atoms and laser light, researchers recreated the behavior of a Josephson junction—an essential component of quantum computers and voltage standards. The appearance of Shapiro steps in this atomic system reveals a deep universality in quantum physics and makes elusive microscopic effects visible for the first time.

Josephson junctions play a central role in modern physics and technology. They enable extremely precise measurements, define the international standard for electrical voltage, and serve as essential components inside many quantum computers. Despite their importance, the quantum-scale processes occurring inside superconductors are notoriously difficult to observe directly.

To overcome this challenge, researchers at the RPTU University of Kaiserslautern-Landau turned to quantum simulation. Instead of studying electrons inside a solid material, they recreated the Josephson effect using ultracold atoms. Their approach involved separating two Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) with an exceptionally thin optical barrier created by a focused laser beam that was moved in a controlled, periodic way. Even in this atomic system, the defining signatures of Josephson junctions emerged. The experiment revealed Shapiro steps, which are distinct voltage plateaus that appear at multiples of a driving frequency, just as they do in superconducting devices. Published in the journal Science, the work stands as a clear example of how quantum simulation can uncover hidden physics.

Entanglement enhances the speed of quantum simulations, transforming long-standing obstacles into a powerful advantage

Researchers from the Faculty of Engineering at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) have made a significant discovery regarding quantum entanglement. This phenomenon, which has long been viewed as a significant obstacle in classical quantum simulations, actually enhances the speed of quantum simulations. The findings are published in Nature Physics in an article titled “Entanglement accelerates quantum simulation.”

Simulating the dynamic evolution of matter is fundamental to understanding the universe, yet it remains one of the most challenging tasks in physics and chemistry. For decades, “entanglement”—the complex correlation between quantum particles—has been viewed as a formidable barrier. In classical computing, high entanglement makes simulations exponentially harder to perform, often acting as a bottleneck for studying complex quantum systems.

Led by Professor Qi Zhao from the School of Computing and Data Science at HKU, the research team collaborated with Professor You Zhou from Fudan University and Professor Andrew M. Childs from the University of Maryland, and overturned this long-held belief. They discovered that while entanglement hinders classical computers, it actually accelerates quantum simulations, turning a former obstacle into a powerful resource.

Unexpected oscillation states in magnetic vortices could enable coupling across different physical systems

Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) have uncovered previously unobserved oscillation states—so-called Floquet states—in tiny magnetic vortices. Unlike earlier experiments, which required energy-intensive laser pulses to create such states, the team in Dresden discovered that a subtle excitation with magnetic waves is sufficient.

This finding not only raises fundamental questions in basic physics but could also eventually serve as a universal adapter bridging electronics, spintronics, and quantum devices. The team reports the results in the journal Science.

Magnetic vortices can form in ultrathin, micron-sized disks of magnetic materials such as nickel–iron. Within these vortices, the elementary magnetic moments—tiny compass needles—arrange themselves in circular patterns.

Behind nature’s blueprints: Physicists create ‘theoretical rulebook’ of self-assembly

Inspired by biological systems, materials scientists have long sought to harness self-assembly to build nanomaterials. The challenge: the process seemed random and notoriously difficult to predict.

Now, researchers from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and Brandeis University have uncovered geometric rules that act as a master control panel for self-assembling particles.

The results, which could find applications ranging from protein design to synthetic nanomachines, were published in Nature Physics.

No AI Has Impressed Me

Stephen Wolfram, a physicist, computer scientist and founder of Wolfram Research, has been hunting for a theory of everything since his first days as a particle physicist at Caltech. Wolfram put that mission to the side to focus on his business, but the success of artificial intelligence and computational science has encouraged Wolfram to pick up the quest to understand the universe once again, with renewed vigour.

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Astronomers discover a region of space that defies everything we thought we knew

Deep in the early Universe, scientists have identified an extraordinary stellar nursery—a place where stars are forming at a breathtaking rate. In this region, activity is up to 180 times greater than in our own galaxy, offering a rare glimpse into how matter behaves in an environment far denser than anything we experience today.

The Milky Way may feel relatively calm now, but the young Universe was anything but. According to a study published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, researchers have pinpointed an extremely hot and active zone dating back to the Universe’s earliest epochs, where conditions were far more intense than those around us today.

This area functions as a massive stellar nursery. Packed with dust and gas and flooded with radiation that generates heat, it creates the perfect conditions for particles to collide, stick together, and eventually form new stars.

Making the invisible visible: Space particles become observable through handheld invention

You can’t see, feel, hear, taste or smell them, but tiny particles from space are constantly raining down on us.

They come from cosmic rays—high-energy particles that can originate from exploding stars and other extreme astrophysical events far beyond our solar system. When the rays collide with atoms high in Earth’s protective atmosphere, they trigger a cascade of secondary particles. Among the most important of these new particles are muons, which can pass through the atmosphere and even penetrate into the ground.

An invention by University of Delaware physics professor Spencer Axani called CosmicWatch is putting the science of muons in the palms of experienced scientists and high school students alike.

New evidence for a particle system that ‘remembers’ its previous quantum states

In the future, quantum computers are anticipated to solve problems once thought unsolvable, from predicting the course of chemical reactions to producing highly reliable weather forecasts. For now, however, they remain extremely sensitive to environmental disturbances and prone to information loss.

A new study from the lab of Dr. Yuval Ronen at the Weizmann Institute of Science, published in Nature, presents fresh evidence for the existence of non-Abelian anyons—exotic particles considered prime candidates for building a fault-tolerant quantum computer. This evidence was produced within bilayer graphene, an ultrathin carbon crystal with unusual electronic behavior.

In quantum mechanics, particles also behave like waves, and their properties are described by a wave function, which can represent the state of a single particle or a system of particles. Physicists classify particles according to how the wave function of two identical particles changes when they exchange places. Until the 1980s, only two types of particles were known: bosons (such as photons), whose wave function remains unchanged when they exchange places, and fermions (such as electrons), whose wave function becomes inverted.

Antiferromagnetic metal exhibits diode-like behavior without external magnetic field

Antiferromagnetic (AF) materials are made up of atoms or molecules with atomic spins that align in antiparallel directions of their neighbors. The magnetism of each individual atom or molecule is canceled out by the one next to it to produce zero net magnetization.

Researchers in Japan have now discovered that an AF material, NdRu2Al10, has the ability to produce a diode-like effect, meaning electrical current can flow in one direction but not the other (nonreciprocal), similar to the junction of two semiconductors. Their research is published in Physical Review Letters.

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