URL: Quantum Physics

Quantum Physics News

Friday, April 4, 2025

• Hot Schrödinger cat states created
  Quantum states can only be prepared and observed under highly controlled conditions. A research team from Innsbruck, Austria, has now succeeded in creating so-called hot Schrödinger cat states in a superconducting microwave resonator. The study, published in Science Advances, shows that quantum phenomena can also be observed and used in less perfect, warmer conditions.
  

Thursday, April 3, 2025

• Infrared heavy-metal-free quantum dots deliver sensitive and fast sensors for eye-safe LIDAR applications
  The frequency regime lying in the shortwave infrared (SWIR) has very unique properties that make it ideal for several applications, such as being less affected by atmospheric scattering as well as being "eye-safe." These include Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), a method for determining ranges and distances using lasers, space localization and mapping, adverse weather imaging for surveillance and automotive safety, environmental monitoring, and many others.
  
• Physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves
  Research by physicists at The City College of New York is being credited for a novel discovery regarding the interaction of electronic excitations via spin waves. The finding by the Laboratory for Nano and Micro Photonics (LaNMP) team headed by physicist Vinod Menon could open the door to future technologies and advanced applications such as optical modulators, all-optical logic gates, and quantum transducers. The work is reported in the journal Nature Materials.
  
• Error correction method reduces photon requirements for quantum computing
  An invention from Twente improves the quality of light particles (photons) to such an extent that building quantum computers based on light becomes cheaper and more practical. The researchers published their research in the journal Physical Review Applied.
  
• Microwave pulses can control ion-molecule reactions at near absolute zero
  A key objective of ongoing research rooted in molecular physics is to understand and precisely control chemical reactions at very low temperatures. At low temperatures, the chemical reactions between charged particles (i.e., ions) and molecules unfold with highly rotational-state-specific rate coefficients, meaning that the speed at which they proceed strongly depends on the rotational states of the involved molecules.
  

Wednesday, April 2, 2025

• Scientists unveil new way to electrically control spin for ultra-compact devices using altermagnetic quantum materials
  Spintronics, an emerging field of technology, exploits the spin of electrons rather than their charge to process and store information. Spintronics could lead to faster, more power-efficient computers and memory devices. However, most spintronic systems require magnetic fields to control spin, which is challenging in ultracompact device integration due to unwanted interference between components. This new research provides a way to overcome this limitation.
  
• Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations
  Researchers at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) and at Florida International University report in the journal Science their insights on the emerging field of complex frequency excitations, a recently introduced scheme to control light, sound and other wave phenomena beyond conventional limits.
  
• A router for photons: Transducer could enable superconducting quantum networks
  Applied physicists at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have created a photon router that could plug into quantum networks to create robust optical interfaces for noise-sensitive microwave quantum computers.
  

Tuesday, April 1, 2025

• Hidden side channels in quantum sources could compromise secure communication
  A team of researchers from University of Toronto Engineering has discovered hidden multi-dimensional side channels in existing quantum communication protocols.
  

Monday, March 31, 2025

• A quantum superhighway for ultrafast NOON states
  Until now, creating quantum superpositions of ultra-cold atoms has been a real headache, too slow to be realistic in the laboratory. Researchers at the University of Liège have now developed an innovative new approach combining geometry and "quantum control," which drastically speeds up the process, paving the way for practical applications in quantum technologies.
  

Sunday, March 30, 2025

• Study proposes new mechanism underpinning intrinsic strange metal behavior
  Quantum critical points are thresholds that mark the transition of materials between different electronic phases at absolute zero temperatures, around which they often exhibit exotic physical properties.
  

Saturday, March 29, 2025

• Scientists develop method to speed up quantum measurements using space-time trade-off
  In an attempt to speed up quantum measurements, a new Physical Review Letters study proposes a space-time trade-off scheme that could be highly beneficial for quantum computing applications.
  
• Quantum entanglement reveals strange metals' unique electron behavior at critical point
  Scientists have long sought to unravel the mysteries of strange metals—materials that defy conventional rules of electricity and magnetism. Now, a team of physicists at Rice University has made a breakthrough in this area using a tool from quantum information science. Their study, published recently in Nature Communications, reveals that electrons in strange metals become more entangled at a crucial tipping point, shedding new light on the behavior of these enigmatic materials. The discovery could pave the way for advances in superconductors with the potential to transform energy use in the future.
  

Friday, March 28, 2025

• Quantum imaging method developed for enhanced image clarity
  For decades, quantum imaging has promised sharper images and greater light sensitivity than classical methods by exploiting the unique properties of quantum light, such as photon entanglement. But the approaches to do so rely on delicate, specially engineered light sources that are easily overwhelmed by real-world noise, and it is difficult to generate quantum light bright enough for practical use.
  
• Physicist revisits the computational limits of life and Schrödinger's essential question in the era of quantum computing
  More than 80 years ago, Erwin Schrödinger, a theoretical physicist steeped in the philosophy of Schopenhauer and the Upanishads, delivered a series of public lectures at Trinity College, Dublin, which eventually came to be published in 1944 under the title "What is Life?"
  
• Thermopower-based technique can detect fractional quantum Hall states
  If one side of a conducting or semiconducting material is heated while the other remains cool, charge carriers move from the hot side to the cold side, generating an electrical voltage known as thermopower.
  
• The first comprehensive characterization of unconventional superconductivity arising from multipolar moments
  Superconductivity is a quantum phenomenon, observed in some materials, that entails the ability to conduct electricity with no resistance below a critical temperature. Over the past few years, physicists and material scientists have been trying to identify materials exhibiting this property (i.e., superconductors), while also gathering new insights about its underlying physical processes.
  

Thursday, March 27, 2025

• Liquid-crystal platform overcomes optical losses in photonic circuits
  Photonic circuits, which manipulate light to perform various computational tasks, have become essential tools for a range of advanced technologies—from quantum simulations to artificial intelligence. These circuits offer a promising way to process information with minimal energy loss, especially in fields like quantum computing where complex systems are simulated to test theories of quantum mechanics.
  
• Newly developed waveguide device protects photonic quantum computers from errors
  Together with an international team of researchers from the Universities of Southern California, Central Florida, Pennsylvania State and Saint Louis, physicists from the University of Rostock have developed a novel mechanism to safeguard a key resource in quantum photonics: optical entanglement. Their discovery is published in Science.
  
• Topology-based quantum states resist noise, promising more stable networks
  Researchers have discovered a way to protect quantum information from environmental disruptions, offering hope for more reliable future technologies.
  

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

• Theoretical physicists completely determine the statistics of quantum entanglement
  For the first time, theoretical physicists from the Institute of Theoretical Physics (IPhT) in Paris-Saclay have completely determined the statistics that can be generated by a system using quantum entanglement. This achievement paves the way for exhaustive test procedures for quantum devices.
  
• Quantum randomness and nonlocality: New insights from MIMO systems
  Researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences revealed that not all forms of quantum nonlocality guarantee intrinsic randomness. They demonstrated that violating two-input Bell inequalities is both necessary and sufficient for certifying randomness, but this equivalence breaks down in scenarios involving multiple inputs. The study is published in Physical Review Letters.
  
• Elusive electronic rotons, detected for first time, reveal formation of Wigner crystallites in 2D electron liquid
  For decades, researchers have explored how electrons behave in quantum materials. Under certain conditions, electrons interact strongly with each other instead of moving independently, leading to exotic quantum states. One such state, first proposed by Nobel laureate Eugene Wigner, is the Wigner crystal—a structured electron arrangement caused by their mutual repulsion. Although widely theorized, experimental proof has been rare.
  
• Quantum computing milestone: 56-qubit computer provides truly random number generation
  In a new paper in Nature, a team of researchers from JPMorganChase, Quantinuum, Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and The University of Texas at Austin describe a milestone in the field of quantum computing, with potential applications in cryptography, fairness and privacy.
  
• Novel protocol enables photon entanglement without quantum measurement
  Georgia Tech researchers recently proposed a method for generating quantum entanglement between photons. This method constitutes a breakthrough that has potentially transformative consequences for the future of photonics-based quantum computing.
  
• Entangled in self-discovery: Quantum computers analyze their own entanglement
  Similar to humans going on journeys of self-discovery, quantum computers are also capable of deepening their understanding of their own foundations.
  
• A new benchmark for quantum electrodynamics in atoms: Precision measurement of boron-like tin ion's g factor
  Highly charged heavy ions form a very suitable experimental field for investigating quantum electrodynamics (QED), the best-tested theory in physics describing all electrical and magnetic interactions of light and matter. A crucial property of the electron within QED is the so-called g factor, which precisely characterizes how the particle behaves in a magnetic field.
  

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

• Listening to quantum atoms talk together thanks to acoustics
  What happens when a quantum physicist is frustrated by the limitations of quantum mechanics when trying to study densely packed atoms? At EPFL, you get a metamaterial, an engineered material that exhibits exotic properties.
  
• How an unconventional type of quantum computer opens a new door to the world of elementary particles
  The standard model of particle physics is our best theory of the elementary particles and forces that make up our world: particles and antiparticles, such as electrons and positrons, are described as quantum fields. They interact through other force fields, such as the electromagnetic force that binds charged particles.
  

Monday, March 24, 2025

• OQTOPUS: Researchers launch open-source quantum computer operating system
  The University of Osaka, Fujitsu Limited, Systems Engineering Consultants Co., LTD. (SEC), and TIS Inc. (TIS) today announced the launch of an open-source operating system (OS) for quantum computers on GitHub, in what is one of the largest open-source initiatives of its kind globally. The Open Quantum Toolchain for Operators and Users (OQTOPUS) OS can be customized to meet individual user needs and is expected to help make practical quantum computing a reality.