This huge shiny cube is just a 1/20th scale model of the planned DUNE neutrino detector. It will be filled with liquid argon to catch these elusive particles.
Category: particle physics – Page 634
Fast-spinning spheres show nanoscale systems’ secrets
Spin a merry-go-round fast enough and the riders fly off in all directions. But the spinning particles in a Rice University lab do just the opposite.
Experiments in the Rice lab of chemical engineer Sibani Lisa Biswal show micron-sized spheres coming together under the influence of a rapidly spinning magnetic field. That’s no surprise because the particles themselves are magnetized.
But how they come together is of interest as the particles first gather into a disorganized aggregated cluster and then into a crystal-like regimen as the magnetic field becomes stronger.
Generalized Hardy’s paradox shows an even stronger conflict between quantum and classical physics
By building the most general framework for the n-particle Hardy’s paradox and Hardy’s inequality, the results of the new paper provide a stronger Hardy’s paradox, and can also detect more quantum entangled states. As the success probability for the three-qubit generalized Hardy’s paradox reaches 0.25, the researchers are very hopeful that it will be observed in future experiments. Credit: Jiang, et al. © 2018 American Physical Society In 1993, physicist Lucien Hardy proposed an experiment showing that there is a small probability (around 6–9%) of observing a particle and its antiparticle in…
Multiverse Thought Experiment Suggests Life Could Still Exist Under Different Laws of Physics
Image: istolethetv/Flickr Perhaps we’re not alone but instead reside in a multiverse stocked with all sorts of fantastical realms. These other universes are somewhat—but not exactly—like our own. Maybe gravity acts differently, or particles come in different shapes and sizes. Could life still exist in any of these bubbles? A team of researchers at the University of Michigan asked these questions but took things a step further. They removed one of the four fundamental forces of nature, the weak nuclear force, from their hypothetical universes. And according to their calculations, these alter…
Diamonds show promise for spintronic devices
Conventional electronics rely on controlling electric charge. Recently, researchers have been exploring the potential for a new technology, called spintronics, that relies on detecting and controlling a particle’s spin. This technology could lead to new types of more efficient and powerful devices.
In a paper published in Applied Physics Letters, researchers measured how strongly a charge carrier’s spin interacts with a magnetic field in diamond. This crucial property shows diamond as a promising material for spintronic devices.
Diamond is attractive because it would be easier to process and fabricate into spintronic devices than typical semiconductor materials, said Golrokh Akhgar, a physicist at La Trobe University in Australia. Conventional quantum devices are based on multiple thin layers of semiconductors, which require an elaborate fabrication process in an ultrahigh vacuum.
Smart Windows Use Iron Nanoparticles to Harvest Heat
Many of the previously dumb devices in our homes are getting smarter with the advent of internet-connected lights, thermostats, and more. Surely the windows can’t be smart, can they? A team of engineers from the German Friedrich-Schiller University Jena have created just that — a smart window that can alter its opacity and harvest energy from the sun’s rays.
There have been a number of “smart” electrochromatic window designs over the years, but these are mostly aimed at changing tint or opacity only. The windows designed by Friedrich-Schiller University researchers are vastly more functional. The so-called Large-Area Fluidic Windows (LaWin) design uses a fluid suspension of iron particles. This fluid is contained within the window in a series of long vertical channels. These “functional fluids” allow the window to change opacity, but also absorb and distribute heat.
The iron-infused fluid remains diffused until you switch the window on — the nanoparticles cloud up the channels and block light. When you flip the switch, magnets drag the nanoparticles out of the liquid to make the window fully transparent. When the magnet is switched off, the nanoparticles are resuspended to darken the panel. In general, the more nanoparticles you add, the darker the window becomes. You can even completely black it out with enough iron.
Better than holograms: A new 3D projection into thin air
One of the enduring sci-fi moments of the big screen—R2-D2 beaming a 3D image of Princess Leia into thin air in “Star Wars”—is closer to reality thanks to the smallest of screens: dust-like particles.
Scientists have figured out how to manipulate nearly unseen specks in the air and use them to create 3D images that are more realistic and clearer than holograms, according to a study in Wednesday’s journal Nature. The study’s lead author, Daniel Smalley, said the new technology is “printing something in space, just erasing it very quickly.”
In this case, scientists created a small butterfly appearing to dance above a finger and an image of a graduate student imitating Leia in the Star Wars scene.
This Breakthrough in Tractor Beam Tech Could Pave The Way to Levitating Humans
In a sci-fi feeling first, engineers at the University of Bristol used the world’s most powerful acoustic tractor beam to demonstrate that it’s possible to stably contain objects larger than the wavelength of sound.
In other words, they were able to levitate objects notably larger than what’s ever been possible before; a feat that theoretically opens up the potential of one day levitating humans.
Acoustic tractor beams use sound, or more specifically soundwaves, to hold particles in mid-air. While magnetic levitation also exists, acoustic levitation tends to work better for handling liquids and solids.