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Category: particle physics – Page 41

Harnessing molecular connections: unlocking long-lasting quantum entanglement.

Quantum entanglement—the mysterious connection that links particles no matter the distance between them—is a cornerstone for developing advanced technologies like quantum computing and precision measurement tools. While significant strides have been made in controlling simpler particles such as atoms, extending this control to more complex systems like molecules has remained challenging due to their intricate structures and sensitivity to their surroundings.

In a groundbreaking study, researchers have achieved long-lived quantum entanglement between pairs of ultracold polar molecules using a highly controlled environment known as “magic-wavelength optical tweezers.” These tweezers manipulate molecules with extraordinary precision, stabilizing their complex internal states, such as vibrations and rotations, while enabling detectable, fine-scale interactions.

The team successfully created a “Bell state,” a hallmark of quantum entanglement, with pairs of molecules. While some minor errors reduced the initial fidelity of the entangled state, correcting for these issues revealed that the entanglement could persist for remarkably long times—measured in seconds. This is a significant achievement, as second-scale lifetimes are exceptional in the quantum realm.

This breakthrough has far-reaching implications. Long-lived molecular entanglement could enhance quantum sensing technologies, provide new avenues for exploring chemical reactions at ultracold temperatures, and expand the potential of molecules as quantum bits (qubits) in simulations and memory storage for quantum computing. By unlocking the ability to precisely control and entangle molecules, scientists are paving the way for novel applications across quantum science, leveraging the rich internal dynamics of molecular systems.

Researchers at Durham University have successfully demonstrated long-lasting quantum entanglement between molecules, opening new doors for future advancements in quantum computing, sensing, and fundamental physics. The paper is published in the journal Nature.

Continue reading “‘Magic-wavelength optical tweezers’ achieve quantum entanglement of molecules” | >

A team of researchers has discovered a new way to control the magnetic behavior of quantum materials using applied voltages. Specifically, the material lanthanum strontium manganite (LSMO), which is magnetic and metallic at low temperatures but non-magnetic and insulating when relatively warm, can be influenced by voltage.

The work is published in the journal Nano Letters.

Quantum materials like LSMO are materials that possess special properties because of the rules of quantum mechanics. Researchers discovered that applying voltage to LSMO in its magnetic phase causes the material to split into regions with distinct magnetic properties. The magnetic properties of these regions depend on the applied voltage. This is important because normally, don’t respond to voltage.

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CERN discovers antihyperhelium-4, the heaviest antimatter particle to date.

Scientists at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider have discovered the heaviest antimatter particle ever observed: antihyperhelium-4.

This exotic particle, the antimatter counterpart of hyperhelium-4, contains two antiprotons, an antineutron, and an antilambda particle. The breakthrough offers insights into the extreme conditions of the early universe and sheds light on the baryon asymmetry problem — why our universe is dominated by matter despite matter and antimatter being created in equal amounts during the Big Bang.

The discovery was made using lead-ion collisions at the LHC, recreating the hyper-hot environment of the newborn universe. Machine learning models analyzed the data, identifying antihyperhelium-4 particles and precisely measuring their masses.

While the experiment confirmed that matter and antimatter are created in equal portions, the mystery of what tipped the cosmic balance remains unsolved. With ongoing upgrades to the LHC, more groundbreaking discoveries in antimatter research could be on the horizon.

Illustration of the production of antihyperhelium-4 (a bound state of two antiprotons, an antineutron and an antilambda) in lead–lead collisions. (Image: J. Ditzel with AI-assistance) Collisions between heavy ions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) create quark–gluon plasma, a hot and dense state of matter that is thought to have filled the Universe around one millionth of a second after the Big Bang. Heavy-ion collisions also create suitable conditions for the production of atomic nuclei and exotic hypernuclei, as well as their antimatter counterparts, antinuclei and antihypernuclei. Measurements of these forms of matter are important for various purposes, including helping to understand the formation of hadrons from the plasma’s constituent quarks and gluons and the matter–antimatter asymmetry seen in the present-day Universe.

Continue reading “ALICE finds first ever evidence of the antimatter partner of hyperhelium-4” | >

A new analysis of data from the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) reveals fresh evidence that collisions of even very small nuclei with large ones might create tiny specks of a quark-gluon plasma (QGP). Scientists believe such a substance of free quarks and gluons, the building blocks of protons and neutrons, permeated the universe a fraction of a second after the Big Bang.

RHIC’s energetic smashups of gold ions—the nuclei of gold atoms that have been stripped of their electrons—routinely create a QGP by “melting” these nuclear building blocks so scientists can study the QGP’s properties.

Physicists originally thought that collisions of smaller ions with large ones wouldn’t create a QGP because the small ion wouldn’t deposit enough energy to melt the large ion’s protons and neutrons. But evidence from PHENIX has long suggested that these small collision systems generate particle flow patterns that are consistent with the existence of tiny specks of the primordial soup, the QGP.

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A joint research team from Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has successfully developed a continuous cryogenic pellet injection system for tokamak fueling. This innovative system addresses key technical challenges associated with cryogenic ice formation, pellet cutting, and launching.

Cryogenic pellet injection is a state-of-the-art technique in fusion research. It involves condensing hydrogen isotopic gases into solid ice pellets, which are then accelerated and injected into plasma. This method allows for deep particle and high fueling efficiency, making it crucial for the future of fusion reactors.

It is recognized as a critical fueling technology for next-generation fusion devices, including the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR), and the European Demonstration Fusion Reactor (EU-DEMO).

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Deep down, the particles and forces of the universe are a manifestation of exquisite geometry.

By A. Garrett Lisi & James Owen Weatherall

Modern physics began with a sweeping unification: in 1687 Isaac Newton showed that the existing jumble of disparate theories describing everything from planetary motion to tides to pendulums were all aspects of a universal law of gravitation. Unification has played a central role in physics ever since. In the middle of the 19th century James Clerk Maxwell found that electricity and magnetism were two facets of electromagnetism. One hundred years later electromagnetism was unified with the weak nuclear force governing radioactivity, in what physicists call the electroweak theory.

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At extremely high densities, quarks are expected to form pairs, as electrons do in a superconductor. This high-density quark behavior is called color superconductivity. The strength of pairing inside a color superconductor is difficult to calculate, but scientists have long known the strength’s relationship to the pressure of dense matter. Measuring the size of neutron stars and how they deform during mergers tells us their pressure and confirms that neutron stars are indeed the densest visible matter in the universe.

In a recent study, researchers used neutron star observations to infer the properties of quark matter at even higher densities where it is certain to be a color superconductor. This yields the first empirical upper bound on the strength of color superconducting pairing.

The work is published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

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