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Can the Large Hadron Collider snap string theory?

In physics, there are two great pillars of thought that don’t quite fit together. The Standard Model of particle physics describes all known fundamental particles and three forces: electromagnetism, the strong nuclear force, and the weak nuclear force. Meanwhile, Einstein’s general relativity describes gravity and the fabric of spacetime.

However, these frameworks are fundamentally incompatible in many ways, says Jonathan Heckman, a at the University of Pennsylvania. The Standard Model treats forces as dynamic fields of particles, while general relativity treats gravity as the smooth geometry of spacetime, so gravity “doesn’t fit into physics’s Standard Model,” he explains.

In a recent paper in Physical Review Research, Heckman, Rebecca Hicks, a Ph.D. student at Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences, and their collaborators turn that critique on its head. Instead of asking what string theory predicts, the authors ask what it definitively cannot create. Their answer points to a single exotic particle that could show up at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). If that particle appears, the entire string-theory edifice would be, in Heckman’s words, “in enormous trouble.”

“Australia Just Changed Batteries Forever”: Quantum Tech Unleashed With 1,000 Times the Life, Leaving Global Energy Giants Reeling in Shock

A quantum battery operates on the principles of quantum mechanics, diverging from traditional batteries which rely on ion flow for charging and discharging. In quantum batteries, energy is stored by moving electrons into higher energy states with photons acting as charge carriers. During charging, photons transfer their energy to electrons, enabling storage.

Key quantum properties, such as entanglement and superabsorption, are harnessed to enhance the charging rate. Entanglement allows particles to function cohesively during the charging or discharging process, while superabsorption increases the energy storage capacity, leading to higher energy densities. Despite their theoretical potential and scalability, practical quantum batteries have faced challenges, with existing prototypes unable to sustain energy beyond a few nanoseconds.

“This Battery Breaks Every Rule”: Scientists Unveil Groundbreaking Water Battery That Delivers 220 Full Cycles With Zero Capacity Loss or Performance Drop

Quantum objects’ dual nature mapped with new formula for ‘wave-ness’ and ’particle-ness‘

Since its development 100 years ago, quantum mechanics has revolutionized our understanding of nature, revealing a bizarre world in which an object can act like both waves and particles, and behave differently depending on whether it is being watched.

In recent decades, researchers exploring this have learned to measure the relative “wave-ness” and “particle-ness” of quantum objects, helping to explain how and when they veer between wave-like or particle-like behaviors.

Now, in a paper for Physical Review Research, researchers at the Stevens Institute of Technology report an important new breakthrough: a simple but powerful formula that describes the precise closed mathematical relationship between a quantum object’s “wave-ness” and “particle-ness.”

Speed test of ‘tunneling’ electrons challenges alternative interpretation of quantum mechanics

As the traveled along the waveguide and tunneled into the barrier, they also tunneled into the secondary waveguide, jumping back and forth between the two at a consistent rate, allowing the research team to calculate their speed.

By combining this element of time with measurements of the photon’s rate of decay inside the barrier, the researchers were able to calculate dwell time, which was found to be finite.

The researchers write, “Our findings contribute to the ongoing tunneling time debate and can be viewed as a test of Bohmian trajectories in . Regarding the latter, we find that the measured energy–speed relationship does not align with the particle dynamics postulated by the guiding equation in Bohmian mechanics.”

Carefully tuned laser beam protects quantum spins from noise

Researchers have discovered a simple yet powerful way to protect atoms from losing information—a key challenge in developing reliable quantum technologies.

By shining a single, carefully tuned on a gas of atoms, they managed to keep the atoms’ internal spins synchronized, dramatically reducing the rate at which information is lost. In quantum sensors and , atoms often lose their —or “spin”—when they collide with each other or the walls of their container.

This phenomenon, known as spin relaxation, severely limits the performance and stability of such devices. Traditional methods to counteract it have required operating in extremely low magnetic fields and using bulky magnetic shielding.

Quantum Breakthrough Could Make Your Devices 1,000 Times Faster

Your days of being frustrated by a sluggish smartphone or laptop could be coming to an end: scientists have discovered a new technique for controlling electronic states in quantum materials that could eventually make our gadgets up to 1,000 times faster.

Quantum materials are those that display strange behaviors and properties governed by quantum mechanics. They provide a glimpse into a separate realm of physics, where the standard laws don’t apply.

Here, researchers from institutions across the US manipulated the temperature of a layered quantum material called 1T-TaS₂, enabling it to instantly shift between two opposite electronic phases: insulation and conduction. That ability to block or allow the flow of electricity is key to how transistors in computer chips work.

Adding up Feynman diagrams to make predictions about real materials

Caltech scientists have found a fast and efficient way to add up large numbers of Feynman diagrams, the simple drawings physicists use to represent particle interactions. The new method has already enabled the researchers to solve a longstanding problem in the materials science and physics worlds known as the polaron problem, giving scientists and engineers a way to predict how electrons will flow in certain materials, both conventional and quantum.

In the 1940s, physicist Richard Feynman first proposed a way to represent the various interactions that take place between electrons, photons, and other fundamental particles using 2D drawings that involve straight and wavy lines intersecting at vertices. Though they look simple, these Feynman diagrams allow scientists to calculate the probability that a particular collision, or scattering, will take place between particles.

Since particles can interact in many ways, many different diagrams are needed to depict every possible interaction. And each diagram represents a mathematical expression. Therefore, by summing all the possible diagrams, scientists can arrive at quantitative values related to particular interactions and scattering probabilities.

Dr. Thomas Ehmer, Ph.D. — Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Germany — Quantum Computing Innovation In Pharma

Quantum Computing Innovation In Pharma — Dr. Thomas Ehmer, Ph.D. — Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany


Dr. Thomas Ehmer, Ph.D. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tehmer/) is a seasoned technology strategist with over two decades of experience in IT innovation, business development, and R&D within the pharmaceutical industry, and co-founder of the Quantum Interest Group, at Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Germany (https://www.emdgroup.com/en).

Dr. Ehmer currently is in the Sector Data Office — AI Governance and Innovation Incubator at Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Germany, where he scouts emerging and disruptive technologies, demonstrating their potential value for R&D applications, with a focus on quantum technologies.

Throughout his career at Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Germany, Dr. Ehmer has played a pivotal role in shaping IT strategy, business process optimization, and digital transformation across the entire pharmaceutical value chain, currently focusing on transparent AI and how and where emerging technology can help patients live a better life. His expertise spans technology scouting, business analysis, and IT program leadership, having successfully driven major global projects.

Beyond his corporate career, Dr. Ehmer is an active private seed investor and has contributed to quantum computing research and applications in drug discovery, authoring publications on the potential of quantum computing and machine learning in pharmaceutical R&D (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9783527840748.ch26).