For the first time, a framework shows Einstein’s relativity aligns with quantum physics.
Scientists have finally figured out a way to connect the dots between the macroscopic and the microscopic worlds. Their magical equation might provide us answers to questions like why black holes don’t collapse and how quantum gravity works.
Scientists at EPFL achieved a breakthrough by synchronizing six mechanical oscillators into a collective quantum state, enabling observations of unique phenomena like quantum sideband asymmetry. This advance paves the way for innovations in quantum computing and sensing.
Quantum technologies are revolutionizing our understanding of the universe, and one promising area involves macroscopic mechanical oscillators. These devices, already integral to quartz watches, mobile phones, and telecommunications lasers, could play a transformative role in the quantum realm. At the quantum scale, macroscopic oscillators have the potential to enable ultra-sensitive sensors and advanced components for quantum computing, unlocking groundbreaking innovations across multiple industries.
Achieving control over mechanical oscillators at the quantum level is a critical step toward realizing these future technologies. However, managing them collectively poses significant challenges, as it demands nearly identical units with exceptional precision.
Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity has revolutionized our understanding of gravity and the universe. However, it leaves some unanswered questions, particularly about singularities and black holes.
Recent studies suggest quantum mechanics could help resolve these mysteries and offer new insights into the fundamental nature of space-time and black holes.
General relativity is a theory developed by Albert Einstein to explain how gravity works.
Quantum walks, leveraging quantum phenomena such as superposition and entanglement, offer remarkable computational capabilities beyond classical methods.
These versatile models excel in diverse tasks, from database searches to simulating complex quantum systems. With implementations spanning analog and digital methods, they promise innovations in fields like quantum computing, simulation, and graph theory.
Harnessing Quantum Phenomena for Computation.
It’s time to stop doubting quantum information technology.
Are we there yet? No. Not by a long shot. But the progress on a number of key challenges, the sheer number of organizations fighting to succeed (and make a buck), the no-turning-back public investment, and nasty international rivalry are all good guarantors.
It feels like quantum computing is turning an important corner, maybe not the corner leading to the home stretch, but likely the corner beyond the turning back point. We now have quantum computers able to perform tasks beyond the reach of classical systems. Google’s latest break-through benchmark demonstrated that. These aren’t error corrected machines yet, but progress in error correction is one of 2024’s highlights.
A groundbreaking technique using time-resolved electron microscopy and multi-polarization lasers has allowed scientists to analyze plasmonic waves with great precision.
This method helped uncover the stable and dynamic nature of meron pairs’ spin textures, opening new avenues in nanoscale technology.
Advancing Plasmonics with Multi-Polarization Laser Techniques.
The “expansion protocol” would be a lot more invasive than you’d enjoy.
Entire atoms have been put through a classic quantum experiment for the first time and the breakthrough could lead to better detectors for picking up the gravitational waves that ripple across the universe.
By Alex Wilkins
When quantum electrodynamics, the quantum field theory of electrons and photons, was being developed after World War II, one of the major challenges for theorists was calculating a value for the Lamb shift, the energy of a photon resulting from an electron transitioning from one hydrogen hyperfine energy level to another.
The effect was first detected by Willis Lamb and Robert Retherford in 1947, with the emitted photon having a frequency of 1,000 megahertz, corresponding to a photon wavelength of 30 cm and an energy of 4 millionths of an electronvolt—right on the lower edge of the microwave spectrum. It came when the one electron of the hydrogen atom transitioned from the 2P1/2 energy level to the 2S1/2 level. (The leftmost number is the principal quantum number, much like the discrete but increasing circular orbits of the Bohr atom.)
Conventional quantum mechanics didn’t have such transitions, and Dirac’s relativistic Schrödinger equation (naturally called the Dirac equation) did not have such a hyperfine transition either, because the shift is a consequence of interactions with the vacuum, and Dirac’s vacuum was a “sea” that did not interact with real particles.