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First electronic–photonic quantum chip created in commercial foundry

In a milestone for scalable quantum technologies, scientists from Boston University, UC Berkeley, and Northwestern University have reported the world’s first electronic–photonic–quantum system on a chip, according to a study published in Nature Electronics.

Twist To the M-ax(is): New Twist Platform Opens Path to Quantum Simulation of More Exotic States of Matter

Researchers introduce a new class of twistable materials, unlocking unprecedented quantum possibilities. Twisted materials—known as moiré structures—have revolutionized modern physics, emerging as today’s “alchemy” by creating entirely new phases of matter through simple geometric manipulation. The term “moiré” may sound familiar—it describes the st

Energy–speed relationship of quantum particles challenges Bohmian mechanics

The study of the relationship between particle speed and negative kinetic energy, arising in regions in which, according to classical mechanics, particles are not allowed to enter, reveals behaviour that appears to contradict the predictions of Bohmian mechanics.

New System Lets Multiple Users Share a Single Quantum Computer

PRESS RELEASE — Quantum computers have operated under a significant limitation: they can run only one program at a time. These million-dollar machines demand exclusive use even for the smallest tasks, leaving much of their expensive and fast-running hardware idle and forcing researchers to endure long queues.

Columbia Engineering researchers have developed HyperQ, a novel system that enables multiple users to share a single quantum computer simultaneously through isolated quantum virtual machines (qVMs). This key development brings quantum computing closer to real-world usability—more practical, efficient, and broadly accessible.

“HyperQ brings cloud-style virtualization to quantum computing,” said Jason Nieh, professor of computer science at Columbia Engineering and co-director of the Software Systems Laboratory. “It lets a single machine run multiple programs at once—no interference, no waiting in line.”

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.”