Interactions between atoms and light rule the behavior of our physical world, but at the same time, can be extremely complex. Understanding and harnessing them is one of the major challenges for the development of quantum technologies.

To understand light-mediated interactions between atoms, it is common to isolate only two atomic levels, a ground level and an excited level, and view the atoms as tiny antennas with two poles that talk to each other. So, when an atom in a crystal lattice array is prepared in the excited state, it relaxes back to the ground state after some time by emitting a photon.

The emitted photon does not necessarily escape from the array, but instead, it can become absorbed by another ground-state atom, which then gets excited. Such an exchange of excitations, also referred to as dipole-dipole interaction, is key for making atoms interact, even when they cannot bump into each other.

A collaborative team of researchers from GSI/FAIR, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and the Helmholtz Institute Mainz has advanced our understanding of the “island of stability” in superheavy nuclides. They achieved this by precisely measuring the superheavy rutherfordium-252 nucleus, now identified as the shortest-lived superheavy nucleus on record. Their findings were published in Physical Review Letters

<em> Physical Review Letters (PRL)</em> is a prestigious peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Physical Society. Launched in 1958, it is renowned for its swift publication of short reports on significant fundamental research in all fields of physics. PRL serves as a venue for researchers to quickly share groundbreaking and innovative findings that can potentially shift or enhance understanding in areas such as particle physics, quantum mechanics, relativity, and condensed matter physics. The journal is highly regarded in the scientific community for its rigorous peer review process and its focus on high-impact papers that often provide foundational insights within the field of physics.

Experiments conducted at Montana State University in collaboration with Columbia University and the Honda Research Institute have resulted in the emission of single photons of light in a new type of quantum material—a feat that could lead to the development of controllable light sources for use in quantum technologies.

A comprehensive article about the breakthrough was published in the journal Nature Communications. It describes ultra small, two-dimensional, ribbon-shaped materials measuring one atom thick and tens of atoms wide—about a thousand times narrower than the width of a human hair.

The nanoribbons were grown by the Honda Research Institute, stretched over specialized surfaces developed by Columbia to stimulate photon emission, then manipulated and tested by the MSU team, which analyzed and described the nanoribbons’ characteristics, including their ability to emit single photons.

In a landmark achievement, an international team of researchers has successfully engineered the world’s first ideal Weyl semimetal, a quantum crystal that exhibits exotic electromagnetic properties. This innovative material, synthesized from a topological semiconductor, hosts a single pair of Weyl fermions without any irrelevant electronic states, paving the way for potential applications in terahertz devices, high-performance sensors, and low-power electronics.

The discovery, published in Nature, marks a major milestone in the decade-long pursuit of quantum materials, where researchers have been hindered by the presence of undesired electrons that obscure the unique properties of Weyl fermions. By revisiting a theoretically proposed strategy from 2011, the team has created a semimetal with a vanishing energy gap, enabling it to absorb low-frequency light and unlocking new possibilities for optoelectronics and quantum technology.