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Category: quantum physics

Hydrogen puts quantum wormhole conjecture to the test

A new Physical Review Letters study places constraints on the ER = EPR conjecture, showing that under the authors’ assumptions, the conjecture would imply possible alterations to the hyperfine structure and effective charge of the hydrogen atom—effects that have never been observed.

In 1935, Einstein co-authored two distinct papers. The first proposes the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) paradox describing the quantum entanglement of particles. The second one introduces Einstein-Rosen (ER) bridges connecting distant regions of spacetime, which we today call wormholes.

Nearly a century later, in 2013, physicists Juan Maldacena and Leonard Susskind proposed the ER = EPR conjecture, proposing a link between quantum entanglement and wormholes. This links entanglement, a cornerstone of quantum mechanics, with spacetime connectivity, general relativity. This remains one of the major open questions in modern physics.

‘Butterfly’ molecule spotted at last, completing a 20-year quantum zoo hunt

For two decades, physicists have predicted the existence of a remarkable family of exotic molecules: giant atoms bound to ordinary atoms, with an electron so distant from its nucleus that it sculpts the pair into bizarre and diverse shapes. Reported in Physical Review Letters, the final member of this “quantum zoo” has been spotted. Led by Herwig Ott at RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau in Germany, a team of physicists has created and detected the “butterfly” molecule, completing a 20-year hunt for the elusive structure.

The molecules in this quantum zoo belong to a class known as ultralong-range Rydberg molecules. They form when an ordinary atom becomes bound to a Rydberg atom, whose outermost electron has been excited so far from the nucleus that the atom swells to thousands of times its normal size.

The orbital shapes traced out by these distant electrons give each molecule type its character, and its nickname. Some have elaborate lobed structures reminiscent of trilobites; others spread into the winged outline of a butterfly. These molecules are thousands of times more sensitive to electric fields than ordinary molecules, making them especially useful objects for probing the quantum world.

New three‑dimensional magnetic structure discovered with laser light

Flashes of femtosecond laser light, lasting just a few trillionths of a second, have made it possible to observe new magnetic structures for the first time. By using light as a remote control, researchers were able to switch magnetism into previously unseen three-dimensional states at the nanoscale.

Magnetism is often imagined as something simple, pointing in one direction or another. At very small scales, however, magnetism can behave in far more complex ways. Magnetism originates from a quantum property of electrons known as spin, which can be thought of as a tiny internal compass carried by each electron. When many spins interact inside a solid material, they can organize into stable patterns.

Supercharging solar cells: Quantum dot-molecule hybrid states enable near-maximum efficiency

Solar panels have become more efficient over the years, but even the best designs still lose a large fraction of the energy they absorb. Scientists around the world have been searching for ways to capture more energy from every ray of sunlight and unlock the true potential of solar technology.

In a study published in Nature Photonics, researchers from the University of Osaka and collaborating institutions identified a new mechanism that could help us do exactly that. The study shows how specially designed combinations of molecules and quantum dots can be used to dramatically increase solar cell efficiency beyond currently known limits.

Singlet exciton fission is a photophysical phenomenon in which one particle of light creates two excited energy states instead of one. In theory, this allows solar cells to generate more electricity from the same amount of sunlight. However, the most effective photophysical processes require extra energy and are usually inefficient and difficult to control.

Randomization can improve quantum computer performance in presence of noise

New research led by a graduating Ph.D. student in The University of New Mexico Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has shown that randomization can improve quantum computer performance in the presence of noise.

Ph.D. student Leeseok Kim led the research under the advice of Assistant Professor Milad Marvian, with support from Changhao Yi, a former member of Marvian’s group. Their findings, titled “Faster Randomized Dynamical Decoupling,” are published in the journal Physical Review Letters and were presented at QSim 2025, an international conference in quantum simulation.

Quantum computers have the potential to solve certain problems faster than classical computers, with promising applications in areas such as simulation and discovery of new materials, optimization, and cryptography. However, building quantum computers that can solve practically relevant problems at scale remains difficult because they are susceptible to noise. Reducing noise more effectively is therefore a key challenge.

Tuning into quantum sounds: Acoustic devices simplify quantum sensors

When a singer belts out a tune while a guitar player strums along, sound waves travel through the air, driving collective oscillations of the molecules within. Meanwhile, at the quantum level, something similar is going on. Atoms inside materials, everything from our bodies to metals and more, naturally jiggle around, creating tiny vibrational waves that ripple across the material. These vibrations are known as phonons: the quantum version of sound waves.

Now, physicists at Caltech and Stanford University have developed devices called nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) that allow phonons to exhibit their quantum behavior purely through the intrinsic properties of the material that makes up the device. Previously, it was not possible to observe such behavior without the help of an external quantum device, such as a superconducting qubit.

This means that, through this newly discovered mechanism, a solitary NEMS device can, for example, serve as a greatly simplified and very compact quantum sensor or qubit.

Scientists trained an AI model using an IBM quantum computer — and it answered questions correctly that the base model couldn’t

When running an AI model through a quantum computer, scientists have increased accuracy by only adding a relatively small number of parameters.

Scientists discover strange “narwhal” waves that trap light beyond known limits

Physicists at Peking University have uncovered a new way to confine light far beyond conventional limits — without relying on metals and their inherent energy dissipation. By formulating the singular dispersion equation, the team discovered narwhal-shaped wavefunctions that trap light at deep-subwavelength volumes in purely dielectric materials. The advance, dubbed singulonics, could pave the way for ultra-efficient photonic chips, new quantum technologies, and imaging tools with unprecedented resolution.

Different Flows of Time All Exist at the Same Moment”: Scientists Claim Trapped-Ion Atomic Clocks Can Observe “Quantum Superposition of Time

Scientists claim they can improve the sensitivity of atomic clocks to measure the quantum superposition of time and possibly explain gravity.

Quantum metasurface boosts terahertz detection sensitivity by exploiting in-plane photoelectric effect

Being able to see light and detect radiation is of utmost importance at any frequency. While this challenge has been solved in the visible range, radiation detectors in the far-infrared and terahertz regimes are either not sensitive, slow, or require bulky and expensive, often cryogenically cooled devices, which hinders practical applications.

A recent study reported in Advanced Photonics combines quantum physics with a carefully designed metasurface to develop a compact detector that improves how THz radiation is captured and converted into an electrical signal.

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