URL: Quantum Physics

Quantum Physics News

Thursday, May 7, 2026

• Quantum metallurgy: Electron crystals deform and melt
  In a process analogous to how solids melt into liquids, the electrons in many different metals form crystal-like patterns that can deform and melt, opening new pathways for neuromorphic computing and superconductors, University of Michigan Engineering researchers have found.
  
• Mobile qubits on a chip move us a step closer to everyday quantum computers
  For years, quantum computers have lived under a huge bubble of hype, promising to revolutionize numerous fields, from medicine and battery design to materials science and cybersecurity. But realizing their potential on any serious practical level will only be possible if large numbers of qubits (the basic units of information) can interact with each other with high precision and flexibility.
  
• Testing quantum collapse theory with the XENONnT dark matter detector
  Theories of quantum mechanics predict that some particles can exist in superpositions, which essentially means that they can be in more than one state at once. When a particle's state is measured, however, this superposition appears to "collapse" into a single outcome; a phenomenon often referred to as the "measurement problem."
  

Wednesday, May 6, 2026

• Quantum geometry applied to light-based systems expands toolkit for topological photonics
  Quantum geometry describes quantum states in systems with changing system parameters, such as an electron spinning in a magnetic field whose direction is slowly changing. The state of the electron evolves, and this change is quantified by what is known as the quantum geometric distance.
  
• A persistent quantum computing error finally explained
  Scientists have discovered the cause of a persistent glitch that continues to disrupt superconducting quantum computers, even when they have built-in defenses. For all their advanced hardware, superconducting quantum computers are vulnerable to errors caused by ionizing radiation from space or the environment. Radiation particles interfere with the chip substrate (the silicon base the processor is built on), which leads to the creation of rogue particles (quasiparticles) that disrupt the qubits, the basic units of quantum computers.
  

Monday, May 4, 2026

• Symmetry says these crystal vibrations can never mix, but an exotic quantum phase rewrites the rules
  Symmetry is one of the most fundamental principles in nature. It describes the rules that make an object look unchanged after a rotation, reflection, or other transformations. In materials, symmetry governs how atoms and electrons are arranged, and how they move together. Crucially, symmetry can even prevent certain collective atomic motions (vibrations) from interacting at all: some are simply forbidden to talk to each other. But what if those symmetry restrictions are not as rigid as they seem?
  
• Magnon lifetime extended 100x paves the way for mini quantum computers
  Magnons are tiny waves in magnetization that travel through solid magnetic materials, much like the ripples that spread across a pond when a stone is thrown into it. Unlike photons, which travel through empty space or optical fibers, magnons propagate within a magnetic solid. Their wavelengths can be reduced to the nanometer range, meaning that magnonic circuits could, in principle, fit onto a chip no larger than those found in today's smartphones. Furthermore, as an excitation of a solid, a magnon naturally couples to numerous other fundamental quasi-particles—phonons, photons and others—making it an ideal building block for hybrid quantum systems and quantum metrology.
  
• Time-varying magnetic fields can engineer exotic quantum matter
  Quantum technology has promising potential to revolutionize how large and complex amounts of information are processed. While already in use primarily in laboratory and research settings globally, quantum technologies are in a transition phase for broader industry applications across many economic sectors.
  

Friday, May 1, 2026

• Physicists achieve first-ever 'quadsqueezing' quantum interaction
  Researchers at the University of Oxford have demonstrated a new type of quantum interaction using a single trapped ion. By creating and controlling increasingly complex forms of "squeezing" – including a fourth-order effect known as quadsqueezing – the team has, for the first time, made previously unreachable quantum effects experimentally accessible.
  
• Physicists have measured 'negative time' in the lab
  As Homer tells us, Odysseus made an epic journey, against the odds, from Troy to his home in Ithaca. He visited many lands, but mostly dwelt with the nymph Calypso on her island. We can imagine that his wife, Penelope, would have asked him about that particular time. Odysseus might have replied, "It was nothing. In fact, it was less than nothing. Negative five years I dwelt with Calypso. How else could I have arrived home after only ten years? If you don't believe me, ask her."
  

Thursday, April 30, 2026

• A longstanding quantum roadblock just fell, opening existing fiber networks to ultra-secure light signals
  Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute have broken a longstanding barrier by managing to send single photons—that can't be copied or split and thus are secure—in the network of optical fibers we already have. This opens up a broad range of applications relying on secure quantum information. The research is published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
  
• Sudden quantum jolts may not break adiabatic behavior after all
  In thermodynamics, an "adiabatic process" is a system change that transfers no heat in or out of the system. Any and all energy change in that system are therefore accomplished by doing work on the system, work being action that moves matter over a distance. (An example is a bicycle tire pump or lifting a box from the floor.)
  
• Quantum computing's next dark horse emerges from a frozen surface, where almost nothing behaves as expected
  Quantum bits (qubits) are the fundamental building blocks of quantum information processing. A novel qubit platform invented at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory exhibits noise levels thousands of times lower than those of most traditional qubits. "Noise" refers to disturbances in the environment that diminish a qubit's performance. The platform was built by trapping single electrons on the surface of frozen neon gas. The recent finding positions Argonne's platform as a strong contender in the field of high-performance quantum technologies.
  

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

• A flower-like pattern exposes chiral superconductivity's long-sought fingerprint
  With a carefully designed experiment and a handful of tin atoms, University of Tennessee, Knoxville's physicists have found a long-sought form of superconductivity, taking one more step toward creating custom quantum materials.
  
• Frozen in dry ice, hydrogen reveals a surprisingly simple way to control quantum behavior
  A new study by University of Maryland chemical physicists demonstrates how to control the nuclear spin of molecular hydrogen (H2) by simply freezing it in dry ice. This new technique, published in the journal Physical Review Letters, could improve energy storage for hydrogen fuel, memory for quantum computing and the ability to measure comet temperatures in outer space.
  
• Physicists reveal universal speed limit on quantum information scrambling
  Theoretical physicists in the US have discovered a "speed limit" on the time taken for quantum information to spread through larger systems. Publishing their results in Physical Review Letters, Amit Vikram and colleagues at the University of Maryland have proved for the first time that this minimum time is closely linked with a system's entropy and temperature, perhaps paving the way for a deeper understanding of quantum information across a wide range of physical settings.
  

Tuesday, April 28, 2026

• Light can now be shaped in empty space, and it could simplify sensing and boost data links
  Scientists at the University of East Anglia have uncovered a hidden property of light that allows it to twist, spin and behave differently—without mirrors, materials or special lenses. In a breakthrough that could transform medical testing, data transmission and future quantum technologies, researchers from the UK and South Africa have shown that light can be "programmed" simply by exploiting its natural geometry.
  

Monday, April 27, 2026

• This ultracold quantum device turns electricity into something far stranger that could unlock sound-based lasers
  Researchers at McGill University have developed a novel device that generates sound-like particles known as phonons at extremely cold temperatures. The technology could be used to create phonon lasers, with possible applications in communications and medical diagnostics.
  
• Single X-ray photons reveal hidden light-matter interactions in 50-nanometer double slits
  A rainbow reveals with colors what otherwise remains hidden: light is "refracted" by transparent matter, in this case water droplets. This same physical effect underlies many everyday technologies, like LCD screens and broadband connections based on fiber-optic cables. Light refraction is caused by an interaction between light and the atoms of matter. This brings the light waves slightly out of sync, so to speak. "X-ray light" is "refracted," too. But the effect is difficult to measure here.
  

Friday, April 24, 2026

• Quantum 'dark modes' no longer block phonon control, opening new paths for scalable devices
  Three RIKEN researchers have demonstrated a way to stop problematic "dark modes" from squelching intriguing effects in quantum systems. This advance could help with the development of more versatile quantum devices that can be used to control the storage and transmission of quantum information. The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.
  
• One-way phonon synchronization could survive noise and defects, theoretical physicists suggest
  A novel approach for realizing the one-way quantum synchronization of phonons has been proposed by three theoretical physicists at RIKEN. Importantly, this method is remarkably resilient against practical challenges such as imperfections and environmental noise. Their paper, "Nonreciprocal quantum synchronization," is published in Nature Communications.
  

Thursday, April 23, 2026

• AI accelerators deliver accurate models for challenging quantum chemistry calculations
  The most demanding calculations in quantum chemistry can now be solved with graphics processing unit (GPU) supercomputers. A recently published study shows that software adapted to use GPU hardware can provide not just speed, but also the accuracy needed to solve complex chemistry problems. The work solved the two chemical structures often seen as too complex and expensive to tackle. The advance, published in the Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation, could allow researchers to make meaningful progress in designing new catalysts and improve predicted behaviors of magnetic and electronic materials.
  
• AI automates quantum dot voltage tuning for scaling up quantum computing
  Semiconductor spin qubits are a promising candidate for the building blocks of next-generation quantum computers due to their high potential for integration and compatibility with existing semiconductor technologies. Qubits—like the 0s and 1s of a traditional computer—serve as a basic unit of information for quantum computers. However, the practical realization of these computers requires a massive number of qubits, making the development of more efficient adjustment methods a critical challenge for the field.
  
• Quantum chips could scale faster with new spin-qubit readout that reduces sensors and wiring
  Quantum computers, devices that process information leveraging quantum mechanical effects, could tackle some tasks that are difficult or impossible to solve using classical computers. These systems represent data as qubits, units of information that can exist in multiple states at once, unlike the bits used by classical computers that represent data using binary values ("0" or "1").
  
• Physicists revive 1990s laser concept to propose a next-generation atomic clock
  Researchers in the US and Germany have unveiled a theoretical blueprint for an atomic clock driven by a highly synchronized laser, where atoms work in concert rather than independently. Publishing their results in Physical Review Letters, Jarrod Reilly at the University of Colorado, Simon Jäger at the University of Bonn, and their colleagues in the US and Germany revived an idea first proposed in the 1990s—possibly charting a course toward the narrowest-linewidth lasers ever achieved.
  

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

• Soundwaves settle debate about elusive quantum particle
  It was a head-spinning discovery. In 2018, researchers in Japan claimed to find concrete evidence of an elusive particle, a Majorana fermion, in a quantum spin liquid called ruthenium trichloride. Majoranas are highly sought-after by quantum materials scientists because when a pair are localized, or trapped, they can securely encode information and form a stable qubit—the building block of quantum computing.
  
• Quantum simulations that bypass resolution limits offer insights into high-temperature superconductivity
  A new method developed at LMU overcomes fundamental resolution limits and may provide insights into high-temperature superconductivity. Physicist Dr. Sebastian Paeckel has developed a method that can be used to calculate spectral functions of complex quantum systems much more precisely than was possible previously. His approach reconstructs precise energy spectra without requiring lengthy calculations.
  
• Classical physics can explain quantum weirdness, study shows
  When you throw a ball in the air, the equations of classical physics will tell you exactly what path the ball will take as it falls, and when and where it will land. But if you were to squeeze that same ball down to the size of an atom or smaller, it would behave in ways beyond anything that classical physics can predict.
  
• Particle thought to break physics followed rules all along, research reveals
  A tiny discrepancy in particle physics has loomed for decades as an exciting possible crack in one of science's most successful theories, hinting at unknown forces or quantum objects. Now, an international team led by a Penn State physicist has published the most precise study yet to reveal the discrepancy was a fluke in calculation, not nature.
  
• Do decoherence, gravity, dark matter and dark energy all originate from quantum corrections?
  Only about 5% of the universe is composed of normal matter that we can directly observe, while the remaining 95% is widely believed to consist of dark matter and dark energy. Paradoxically, however, the nature of these dark components remains unknown. Is this due to limitations in our observational capabilities, or does it reflect a more fundamental incompleteness in the classical laws of physics that have long underpinned our understanding of the universe?