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Category: quantum physics – Page 38
Why physicists keep trying to get rid of space-time entirely
Physicists are trying to ditch the concept of space-time – the supposed fabric of physical reality. Quantum columnist Karmela Padavic-Callaghan explains why.
New microwave-to-optical transducer uses rare-earth ions for efficient quantum signal conversion
Quantum technologies, which leverage quantum mechanical effects to process information, could outperform their classical counterparts in some complex and advanced tasks. The development and real-world deployment of these technologies partly relies on the ability to transfer information between different types of quantum systems effectively.
A long-standing challenge in the field of quantum technology is converting quantum signals carried by microwave photons (i.e., particles of electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range) into optical photons (i.e., visible or near visible light particles). Devices designed to perform this conversion are known as microwave-to-optical transducers.
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology recently developed a new microwave-to-optical transducer based on rare-earth ion-doped crystals. Their on-chip transducer, outlined in a paper published in Nature Physics, was implemented using ytterbium-171 ions doped in a YVO4 crystal.
Bridging worlds: Physicists develop novel test of the holographic principle
Exactly 100 years ago, famed Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger (yes, the cat guy) postulated his eponymous equation that explains how particles in quantum physics behave. A key component of quantum mechanics, Schrödinger’s Equation provides a way to calculate the wave function of a system and how it changes dynamically in time.
“Quantum mechanics, along with Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity are the two pillars of modern physics,” says Utah State University physicist Abhay Katyal. “The challenge is, for more than half a century, scientists have struggled to reconcile these two theories.”
Quantum mechanics, says Katyal, a doctoral student and Howard L. Blood Graduate Fellow in the Department of Physics, describes the behavior of matter and forces at the subatomic level, while general relativity explains gravity on a large scale.
Quantum sensing via matter-wave interferometry aboard the ISS could broaden our knowledge of the universe
Future space missions could use quantum technologies to help us understand the physical laws that govern the universe, explore the composition of other planets and their moons, gain insights into unexplained cosmological phenomena, or monitor ice sheet thickness and the amount of water in underground aquifers on Earth.
NASA’s Cold Atom Lab (CAL), a first-of-its-kind facility aboard the International Space Station, has performed a series of trailblazing experiments based on the quantum properties of ultracold atoms. The tool used to perform these experiments is called an atom interferometer, and it can precisely measure gravity, magnetic fields, and other forces.
Atom interferometers are currently being used on Earth to study the fundamental nature of gravity and are also being developed to aid aircraft and ship navigation, but use of an atom interferometer in space will enable innovative science capabilities.
Physicists use machine learning to find out how layered gases and metals melt
In physics, a phase transition is a transformation of a substance from one form to another. They happen everywhere, from beneath the Earth’s crust to the cores of distant stars, but the classic example is water transitioning from liquid to gas by boiling.
Things get much more complex when physicists zoom in on the minuscule quantum realm or work with exotic matter. Understanding phase transitions rewards both increased knowledge of fundamental physics and future technological applications.
Now researchers have found out how thin layers of noble gases like helium and metals like aluminum melt in confined spaces by topological excitations. In the study, the layers were confined between two graphene sheets at high pressures.
Breakthrough Gravity Explanation Is a Step Closer to ‘Theory of Everything’
A new way of explaining gravity could bring us a step closer to resolving the heretofore irresolvable differences it has with quantum mechanics.
Physicists Mikko Partanen and Jukka Tulkki at Aalto University in Finland have devised a new way of thinking about gravity that they say is compatible with the Standard Model of particle physics, the theory describing the other three fundamental forces in the Universe – strong, weak, and electromagnetic.
It’s not quite a theory of quantum gravity… but it could help us get there.
