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Category: computing – Page 6

Computational trick enables better understanding of exotic state of matter

It can be found inside gas giants such as Jupiter and is briefly created during meteorite impacts or in laser fusion experiments: warm dense matter. This exotic state of matter combines features of solid, liquid and gaseous phases. Until now, simulating warm dense matter accurately has been considered a major challenge.

An international team led by researchers from the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) in Germany and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has succeeded in describing this state of matter much more accurately than before using a new computational method. The approach could advance and help in the synthesis of new high-tech materials.

The team presents its results in the journal Nature Communications.

A new approach to probing Landauer’s principle in the quantum many-body regime

Landauer’s principle is a thermodynamics concept also relevant in information theory, which states that erasing one bit of information from an information system results in the dissipation of at least a specific amount (i.e., kBTln2) of energy. This principle has so far been primarily considered in the context of classical computers and information processing systems.

Yet researchers at TU Vienna, the Freie Universität Berlin, the University of British Columbia, the University of Crete and the Università di Pavia recently extended Landauer’s principle to quantum many-body systems, systems made up of many interacting .

Their paper, published in Nature Physics, introduces a viable approach to experimentally probe this crucial principle in a quantum regime and test rooted in quantum thermodynamics.

Sensitive yet tough photonic devices are now a reality

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have achieved a long-sought milestone in photonics: creating tiny optical devices that are both highly sensitive and durable—two qualities that have long been considered fundamentally incompatible.

This rare coexistence of sensitivity and durability could lead to a new generation of photonic devices that are not only precise and powerful but also much easier and cheaper to produce at scale. This could open the door to advanced sensors and technologies ranging from highly sensitive medical diagnostics and environmental sensors to more secure communication systems, all built into tiny, chip-scale devices.

Achieving both properties has been a challenge because devices that are sensitive enough to detect tiny changes in their environment are often fragile and prone to breaking down if even the smallest imperfections arise during manufacturing. This makes them expensive and difficult to produce at scale. Meanwhile, making such devices more rugged often means compromising their precision.

“We’re Rewiring the Future”: MIT’s Superconducting Chip Breakthrough Could Unlock the True Power of Quantum Computing

IN A NUTSHELL 🔬 MIT researchers have developed a superconducting diode-based rectifier that converts AC to DC on a single chip. 💡 This innovation could streamline power delivery in ultra-cold quantum systems, reducing electromagnetic noise and interference. 🔍 The technology is crucial for enhancing qubit stability and could significantly impact dark matter detection circuits at

Quantum spin currents in graphene without external magnetic fields pave way for ultra-thin spintronics

Scientists from TU Delft (The Netherlands) have observed quantum spin currents in graphene for the first time without using magnetic fields. These currents are vital for spintronics, a faster and more energy-efficient alternative to electronics. This breakthrough, published in Nature Communications, marks an important step towards technologies like quantum computing and advanced memory devices.

Quantum physicist Talieh Ghiasi has demonstrated the quantum Hall (QSH) effect in graphene for the first time without any external magnetic fields. The QSH effect causes electrons to move along the edges of the graphene without any disruption, with all their spins pointing in the same direction.

“Spin is a quantum mechanical property of electrons, which is like a tiny magnet carried by the electrons, pointing up or down,” Ghiasi explains. “We can leverage the spin of electrons to transfer and process information in so-called spintronics devices. Such circuits hold promise for next-generation technologies, including faster and more energy-efficient electronics, quantum computing, and advanced memory devices.”

A new atomistic route to viscosity—even near the glass transition

We rarely think about how liquids flow—why honey is thick, water is thin or how molten plastic moves through machines. But for scientists and engineers, understanding and predicting the viscosity of materials, especially polymers, is essential.

Viscosity governs how substances deform and flow under stress, which in turn affects how they are processed, how they behave in industrial pipelines, in environmental settings, or in consumer products, and how they respond to changing temperatures.

Traditionally, to calculate the of a liquid or polymer melt based on molecular simulations on computers, people rely on a method called the Green–Kubo formalism. It works by tracking how internal stresses fluctuate and decay over time inside a simulated material at thermodynamic equilibrium.

‘ALS on a chip’ model reveals altered motor neuron signaling

Using stem cells from patients with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), Cedars-Sinai has created a lifelike model of the mysterious and fatal disease that could help identify a cause of the illness as well as effective treatments.

In a study published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, investigators detail how they created “ALS on a chip” and the clues the specialized laboratory chip has already produced about nongenetic causes of the disease, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

The work builds on previous studies where adult cells from ALS patients were reverted into . The cells were then pushed forward to produce motor neurons, which die in the disease, causing progressive loss of the ability to move, speak, eat and breathe.