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Category: computing – Page 73

Quantum technologies are radically transforming our understanding of the universe. One emerging technology is macroscopic mechanical oscillators, devices that are vital in quartz watches, mobile phones, and lasers used in telecommunications. In the quantum realm, macroscopic oscillators could enable ultra-sensitive sensors and components for quantum computing, opening new possibilities for innovation in various industries.

Controlling mechanical oscillators at the quantum level is essential for developing future technologies in and ultra-precise sensing. But controlling them collectively is challenging, as it requires near-perfect units, i.e., identical.

Most research in quantum optomechanics has centered on single oscillators, demonstrating like ground-state cooling and quantum squeezing. But this hasn’t been the case for collective quantum behavior, where many oscillators act as one. Although these collective dynamics are key to creating more powerful quantum systems, they demand exceptionally over multiple oscillators with nearly identical properties.

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Queen Mary University of London physicist Professor Chris White, along with his twin brother Professor Martin White from the University of Adelaide, have discovered a surprising connection between the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the future of quantum computing.

For decades, scientists have been striving to build quantum computers that leverage the bizarre laws of quantum mechanics to achieve far greater processing power than traditional computers. A recently identified property—amusingly called “magic”—is critical for building these machines, but its generation and enhancement remain a mystery.

For any given quantum system, magic is a measure that tells us how hard it is to calculate on a non-quantum computer. The higher the magic, the more we need quantum computers to describe the behavior. Studying the magic properties of quantum systems generates profound insights into the development and use of quantum computers.

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Altermagnetism, a newly imaged class of magnetism, offers potential for the development of faster and more efficient magnetic memory devices, increasing operation speeds by up to a thousand times.

Researchers from the University of Nottingham have demonstrated that this third class of magnetism, combining properties of ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism, could revolutionize computer memory and reduce environmental impact by decreasing reliance on rare elements.

Altermagnetism’s Unique Properties

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A new computer model can be used to detect and measure interior oceans on the ice covered moons of Uranus. The model works by analyzing orbital wobbles that would be visible from a passing spacecraft. The research gives engineers and scientists a slide-rule to help them design NASA’s upcoming Uranus Orbiter and Probe mission.

When NASA’s Voyager 2 flew by Uranus in 1986, it captured grainy photographs of large ice-covered moons. Now nearly 40 years later, NASA plans to send another spacecraft to Uranus, this time equipped to see if those icy moons are hiding liquid water oceans.

The mission is still in an early planning stage. But researchers at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG) are preparing for it by building a new computer model that could be used to detect oceans beneath the ice using just the spacecraft’s cameras.

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Physicists have created a new and long-lasting magnetic state in a material, using only light. They used a terahertz laser to stimulate atoms in antiferromagnetic materials, which could advance information processing and memory chip technology.

Lighting Up Hidden Magnetism with Terahertz Pulses: A New Frontier in Quantum Materials.

Imagine being able to control the magnetic properties of materials with flashes of light, unlocking states that last long after the light disappears. This groundbreaking approach to quantum materials is at the forefront of condensed-matter physics, offering tantalizing possibilities for future technologies.

In a recent study, researchers discovered a way to create a long-lived magnetic state in the layered material FePS₃ using terahertz light pulses. Typically, materials return to their original state almost immediately after light-induced changes. However, in this case, the induced magnetization persists for over 2.5 milliseconds—an eternity in the quantum world.

The key lies in the material’s proximity to a critical point—its antiferromagnetic transition temperature, where the usual magnetic order starts to fluctuate dramatically. These fluctuations, akin to a system in delicate balance, seem to amplify the material’s response to light, stabilizing the new magnetic state.

By combining advanced computational methods with experiments, the researchers identified that terahertz light excites specific atomic vibrations, subtly shifting interactions between magnetic atoms. Near the critical temperature, these shifts create conditions favoring a stable, magnetized state.

This discovery isn’t just about extending magnetism’s lifespan; it opens the door to manipulating quantum materials in entirely new ways. Regions near critical points, where order teeters on the edge of chaos, could harbor hidden “metastable” states—potentially leading to breakthroughs in memory devices, sensors, and beyond.

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While companies like Neuralink have recently provided some flashy demos of what could be achieved by hooking brains up to computers, the technology still has serious limitations preventing wider use.

Non-invasive approaches like electroencephalograms (EEGs) provide only coarse readings of neural signals, limiting their functionality. Directly implanting electrodes in the brain can provide a much clearer connection, but such risky medical procedures are hard to justify for all but the most serious conditions.

California-based startup Science Corporation thinks that an implant using living neurons to connect to the brain could better balance safety and precision. In recent non-peer-reviewed research posted on bioarXiv, the group showed a prototype device could connect with the brains of mice and even let them detect simple light signals.

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As astronauts venture further into space, their exposure to harmful radiation rises. Researchers from Columbia University are simulating the effects of space radiation here on Earth to determine its impact on human physiology using multi-organ tissue chips. Their work documents the differential effects seen in tissues after acute and prolonged radiation exposure and identifies multiple genes of interest that could help inform the development of future radioprotective agents.

Their study appears in Advanced Science.

“As deep space exploration continues to unfold, it is vital to understand the physiological damage caused by space radiation to better mitigate its effects. By exposing multi-organ models to simulated cosmic radiation, this study has laid the groundwork to aid in this effort,” commented Jermont Chen, Ph.D., a program director in the Division of Discovery Science and Technology at NIBIB.

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Caltech researchers have developed a new method to map the positions of hundreds of DNA-associated proteins within cell nuclei all at the same time. The method, called ChIP–DIP (Chromatin ImmunoPrecipitation Done In Parallel), is a versatile tool for understanding the inner workings of the nucleus during different contexts, such as disease or development.

The research was conducted in the laboratory of Mitchell Guttman, professor of biology, and is described in a paper that appears in the journal Nature Genetics.

Nearly all cells in the human body contain the same DNA, which encodes the blueprint for creating every cell type in the body and directing their activities. Despite having the same , different cell types express unique sets of proteins, allowing for the various cells to perform their specialized functions and to adapt to conditions within their environments. This is possible because of careful regulation within the nucleus of each cell and involves thousands of regulatory proteins that localize to precise places in the nucleus.

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A team of researchers has identified a unique phenomenon, a “skin effect,” in the nonlinear optical responses of antiferromagnetic materials. The research, published in Physical Review Letters, provides new insights into the properties of these materials and their potential applications in advanced technologies.

Nonlinear optical effects occur when light interacts with materials that lack inversion symmetry. It was previously thought that these effects were uniformly distributed throughout the material. However, the research team discovered that in antiferromagnets, the can be concentrated on the surfaces, similar to the “skin effect” seen in conductors, where currents flow primarily on the surface.

In this study, the team developed a self-designed to investigate the nonlinear optical responses in antiferromagnets, using the bulk photovoltaic effect as a representative example. Their results showed that, while the global inversion symmetry was broken, the local deep inside the antiferromagnet was almost untouched.

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MIT physicists have created a new and long-lasting magnetic state in a material, using only light.

In a study that appears in Nature, the researchers report using a —a light source that oscillates more than a trillion times per second—to directly stimulate atoms in an antiferromagnetic material. The laser’s oscillations are tuned to the natural vibrations among the material’s atoms, in a way that shifts the balance of atomic spins toward a new magnetic state.

The results provide a new way to control and switch , which are of interest for their potential to advance information processing and memory chip technology.

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