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Category: particle physics

Hunting for dark matter axions with a quantum-powered haloscope

Axions are hypothetical light particles that could solve two different physics problems, as they could explain why some nuclear interactions don’t violate time symmetry and are also promising dark matter candidates. Dark matter is a type of matter that does not emit, reflect or absorb light, and has never been directly observed before.

Axions are very light particles theorized to have been produced in the early universe but that would still be present today. These particles are expected to interact very weakly with ordinary matter and sometimes convert into photons (i.e., light particles), particularly in the presence of a strong magnetic field.

The QUAX (Quest for Axions/QUaerere AXion) collaboration is a large group of researchers based at different institutes in Italy, which was established to search for axions using two haloscopes located in Italy at Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro (LNL) and Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati (LNF), respectively.

This Quantum Gas Refuses To Follow the Rules of Classical Physics

Researchers at TU Wien have developed a one-dimensional “quantum wire” using a gas of ultracold atoms. In this system, both mass and energy can move freely without friction or energy loss. In everyday physics, transport refers to the movement of something from one place to another. This can inclu

Sharp Diffraction Pattern Produced by Atoms Passing Through Graphene

Researchers have generated high-quality atom diffraction data from graphene, which could lead to new ways to measure surface interactions.

A beam of neutral atoms striking a material can produce a diffraction pattern that is sensitive to short-range interactions between the atoms and the surface. Building on recent developments, Pierre Guichard from the University of Strasbourg in France and collaborators have now used a fast hydrogen beam to probe single-layer graphene, producing the sharpest graphene diffraction patterns to date [1].

Early atom diffraction experiments predominantly looked at reflection, because atoms transmitted through a material tend to lose their wave-like coherence. Recently, however, transmitted atoms were shown to produce a diffraction pattern from single-layer graphene [2]. The trick was to use fast atoms that traverse the target quickly, minimizing coherence-destroying interactions.

Twisted light-matter systems unlock unusual topological phenomena

Properties that remain unchanged when materials are stretched or bent, which are broadly referred to as topological properties, can contribute to the emergence of unusual physical effects in specific systems.

Over the past few years, many physicists have been investigating the physical effects emerging from the topology of non-Hermitian systems, open systems that exchange energy with their surroundings.

Researchers at Nanyang Technological University and the Australian National University set out to probe non-Hermitian topological phenomena in systems comprised of light and matter particles that strongly interact with each other.

Researchers discover a new superfluid phase in non-Hermitian quantum systems

A stable “exceptional fermionic superfluid,” a new quantum phase that intrinsically hosts singularities known as exceptional points, has been discovered by researchers at the Institute of Science Tokyo.

Their analysis of a non-Hermitian quantum model with spin depairing shows that dissipation can actively stabilize a superfluid with these singularities embedded within it. The work reveals how lattice geometry dictates the phase’s stability and provides a path to realizing it in experiments with ultracold atoms.

In the quantum world, open quantum systems are those where particle loss and directional asymmetry are fundamental features. These systems can no longer be described by conventional mathematics.

Evidence of a quantum spin liquid ground state in a kagome material

Quantum spin liquids are exotic states of matter in which spins (i.e., the intrinsic angular momentum of electrons) do not settle into an ordered pattern and continue to fluctuate, even at extremely low temperatures. This state is characterized by high entanglement, a quantum effect that causes particles to become linked so that the state of one affects the others’ states, even over long distances.

Researchers at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University recently gathered evidence of intrinsic quantum spin liquid behavior in a kagome material, a magnetic material in which atoms are arranged in a particular pattern known as a kagome lattice. Their findings, published in Nature Physics, could help to further delineate the fundamental principles underpinning quantum spin liquid states.

“I’ve been interested in understanding quantum spin liquids for the past 20+ years,” Young S. Lee, senior author of the paper, told Phys.org. “These are fascinating new states of quantum matter. In principle, their ground states may possess long-range quantum entanglement, which is extremely rare in real materials.

Science history: Richard Feynman gives a fun little lecture — and dreams up an entirely new field of physics — Dec. 29, 1959

In a short talk at Caltech, physicist Richard Feynman laid out a vision of manipulating and controlling atoms at the tiniest scale. It would precede the field of nanotechnology by decades.

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