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Archive for the ‘particle physics’ category: Page 65

May 7, 2023

Quantum lidar prototype acquires real-time 3D images while fully submerged underwater

Posted by in categories: engineering, particle physics, quantum physics, security

For the first time, researchers have demonstrated a prototype lidar system that uses quantum detection technology to acquire 3D images while submerged underwater. The high sensitivity of this system could allow it to capture detailed information even in extremely low-light conditions found underwater.

“This technology could be useful for a wide range of applications,” said research team member Aurora Maccarone, a Royal Academy of Engineering research fellow from Heriot-Watt University in the United Kingdom. “For example, it could be used to inspect underwater installations, such as underwater wind farm cables and the submerged structure of the turbines. Underwater can also be used for monitoring or surveying submerged archaeology sites and for security and defense applications.”

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May 7, 2023

Physicists Discovered a Quantum Trick For Reaching Absolute Zero

Posted by in categories: particle physics, quantum physics

The state of perfect stillness known as absolute zero is one of the Universe’s impossible achievements. As close as we can get, the laws of physics will always prevent us from hitting thermal rock bottom.

An international team of researchers has now identified a new theoretical route to reach the mythical mark of zero Kelvin, or-273.15 degrees Celsius (−459.67 degrees Fahrenheit). No, it’s not more likely to break any laws and remove every last shimmer of heat, but the framework could inspire new ways of exploring matter at low temperatures.

As a consequence of the third law of thermodynamics, the removal of increments of heat energy from a group of particles to cool them to absolute zero will always take an infinite number of steps. As such, it requires an infinite amount of energy to achieve. Quite the challenge.

May 7, 2023

Zeroing in on a fundamental property of the proton’s internal dynamics

Posted by in categories: particle physics, quantum physics

Inside the proton are elementary particles called quarks. Quarks and protons have an intrinsic angular momentum called spin. Spin can point in different directions. When it is perpendicular to the proton’s momentum, it is called a transverse spin. Just like the proton carries an electric charge, it also has another fundamental charge called the tensor charge. The tensor charge is the net transverse spin of quarks in a proton with transverse spin.

The only way to obtain the charge from is using the theory of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) to extract the “transversity” function. This universal function encodes the difference between the number of quarks with their spin aligned and anti-aligned to the proton’s spin when it is in a transverse direction. Using state-of-the-art data science techniques, researchers recently made the most precise empirical determination of the tensor charge.

Due to the phenomenon known as confinement, quarks are always bound in the proton or other hadrons (particles with multiple quarks). The challenge is to connect the theory of interactions (QCD) to experimental measurements of high-energy collisions involving hadrons.

May 6, 2023

Exciton Fission Breakthrough Could Revolutionize Photovoltaic Solar Cell Technology

Posted by in categories: particle physics, solar power, sustainability

Researchers have resolved the mechanism of exciton fission, which could increase solar-to-electricity efficiency by one-third, potentially revolutionizing photovoltaic technology.

Photovoltaics, the conversion of light to electricity, is a key technology for sustainable energy. Since the days of Max Planck and Albert Einstein, we know that light as well as electricity are quantized, meaning they come in tiny packets called photons and electrons. In a solar cell, the energy of a single photon.

A photon is a particle of light. It is the basic unit of light and other electromagnetic radiation, and is responsible for the electromagnetic force, one of the four fundamental forces of nature. Photons have no mass, but they do have energy and momentum. They travel at the speed of light in a vacuum, and can have different wavelengths, which correspond to different colors of light. Photons can also have different energies, which correspond to different frequencies of light.

May 6, 2023

The Future of Particle Beam Experimentation — Innovative New Algorithm Improves Our Understanding

Posted by in categories: information science, particle physics, robotics/AI

The algorithm combines classical beam physics equations with machine-learning techniques to reduce the need for extensive data processing.

When the linear accelerator at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is operational, groups of approximately one billion electrons travel through metal pipes at almost the speed of light. These electron groups form the accelerator’s particle beam, which is utilized to investigate the atomic behavior of molecules, innovative materials, and numerous other subjects.

However, determining the actual appearance of a particle beam as it moves through an accelerator is challenging, leaving scientists with only a rough estimate of how the beam will behave during an experiment.

May 6, 2023

Molecular Magic — Researchers Develop Lightweight 2D Material Stronger Than Steel

Posted by in categories: engineering, nanotechnology, particle physics

2D materials, which are finer than even the thinnest onionskin paper, have garnered significant attention due to their remarkable mechanical attributes. However, these properties dissapate when the materials are layered, thus restricting their practical applications.

“Think of a graphite pencil,” says Teng Li, Keystone Professor at the University of Maryland’s (UMD) Department of Mechanical Engineering. “Its core is made of graphite, and graphite is composed of many layers of graphene.

Graphene is an allotrope of carbon in the form of a single layer of atoms in a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice in which one atom forms each vertex. It is the basic structural element of other allotropes of carbon, including graphite, charcoal, carbon nanotubes, and fullerenes. In proportion to its thickness, it is about 100 times stronger than the strongest steel.

May 6, 2023

New self-repairing, bacteria-repelling metallic coating for clothing monitors heart

Posted by in categories: particle physics, robotics/AI, wearables

Scientists have invented a simple metallic coating treatment for clothing or wearable textiles, which can repair itself, repel bacteria, and even monitor a person’s electrocardiogram (ECG) heart signals.

This is according to a press release by Flinders University published last month.

The inventors of the new coating say the conductive circuits created by liquid metal (LM) particles can transform wearable electronics due to the fact that the ‘breathable’ electronic textiles have special connectivity powers to ‘autonomously heal’ themselves even when cut.

May 5, 2023

Chemists find that metal atoms play key role in fine organic synthesis

Posted by in categories: chemistry, information science, nanotechnology, particle physics, robotics/AI

A small team of chemists at the Russian Academy of Sciences, has found that metal atoms, not nanoparticles, play the key role in catalysts used in fine organic synthesis. In the study, reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the group used multiple types of electron microscopy to track a region of a catalyst during a reaction to learn more about how it was proceeding.

Prior research has shown that there are two main methods for studying a reaction. The first is the most basic: As ingredients are added, the reaction is simply observed and/or measured. This can be facilitated through use of high-speed cameras. This approach will not work with nanoscale reactions, of course. In such cases, chemists use a second method: They attempt to capture the state of all the components before and after the reaction and then compare them to learn more about what happened.

This second approach leaves much to be desired, however, as there is no way to prove that the objects under study correspond with one another. In recent years, have been working on a new approach: Following the action of a single particle during the reaction. This new method has proven to have merit but it has limitations as well—it also cannot be used for reactions that occur in the nanoworld. In this new effort, the researchers used multiple types of electron microscopy coupled with .

May 5, 2023

Laser pulses triple transition temperature for ferromagnetism in a rare-earth titanate

Posted by in categories: computing, particle physics

Researchers in Germany and the U.S. have shown for the first time that terahertz (THz) light pulses can stabilize ferromagnetism in a crystal at temperatures more than three times its usual transition temperature. As the team reports in Nature, using pulses just hundreds of femtoseconds long (a millionth of a billionth of a second), a ferromagnetic state was induced at high temperature in the rare-earth titanate YTiO3 which persisted for many nanoseconds after the light exposure. Below the equilibrium transition temperature, the laser pulses still strengthened the existing magnetic state, increasing the magnetization up to its theoretical limit.

Using light to control magnetism in solids is a promising platform for future technologies. Today’s computers mainly rely on the flow of electrical charge to process information. Moreover, digital memory storage devices make use of magnetic bits that must be switched external magnetic fields. Both of these aspects limit the speed and energy efficiency of current computing systems. Using light instead to optically switch memory and computing devices could revolutionize processing speeds and efficiency.

YTiO3 is a transition metal oxide that only becomes ferromagnetic, with properties resembling those of a fridge magnet, below 27 K or −246°C. At these low temperatures, the spins of the electrons on the Ti atoms align in a particular direction. It is this collective ordering of the spins which gives the material as a whole a macroscopic magnetization and turns it ferromagnetic. In contrast, at temperatures above 27 K, the individual spins fluctuate randomly so that no ferromagnetism develops.

May 4, 2023

Scientists find link between photosynthesis and ‘fifth state of matter’

Posted by in categories: materials, particle physics

Inside a lab, scientists marvel at a strange state that forms when they cool down atoms to nearly absolute zero. Outside their window, trees gather sunlight and turn them into new leaves. The two seem unrelated—but a new study from the University of Chicago suggests that these processes aren’t so different as they might appear on the surface.

The study, published in PRX Energy on April 28, found links at the between photosynthesis and exciton condensates—a strange state of physics that allows energy to flow frictionlessly through a material. The finding is scientifically intriguing and may suggest new ways to think about designing electronics, the authors said.

“As far as we know, these areas have never been connected before, so we found this very compelling and exciting,” said study co-author Prof. David Mazziotti.

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