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Category: quantum physics – Page 18

Anomalous quantum oscillations reveal new physics in a topological insulator

A study has been published in Nature Communications that identifies an unusual regime of quantum oscillations in a three-dimensional topological insulator. The results show that, when subjected to temperatures near absolute zero and extreme magnetic fields, electrons in the material zirconium pentatelluride (ZrTe₅) exhibit behavior that deviates from the pattern predicted by conventional theory.

The study, led by researchers from the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of Washington, among other U.S. institutions, combines electrical transport experiments conducted in magnetic fields of up to 60 tesla and at temperatures around 0.7 kelvin (−272.45 °C) with detailed theoretical modeling.

“This work expands our understanding of electron transport in exotic phases of matter and suggests that topological insulators support the transport of not only electric charge, but also another fundamental degree of freedom: electron spin,” says Julio Larrea Jiménez, a professor at USP’s Physics Institute (IF) and co-founder and director of the Laboratory for Quantum Matter under Extreme Conditions (LQMEC).

Gluons may play a central role in baryon number conservation—and matter’s stability

New results from the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) suggest that gluons, the glue-like particles that hold quarks together inside protons, play a central role in the conservation of baryon number—an essential part of a particle’s quantum identity.

Light Reveals the Hidden Quantum Motion Inside an Exotic Crystal

Optical measurements can reveal the hidden collective motion and quantum dynamics of electrons inside a Wigner crystal.

In a Wigner crystal, electrons behave in an unusual way. Rather than moving independently, strongly interacting electrons confined to a two-dimensional plane can arrange themselves into a repeating lattice similar to the atoms in an ordinary crystal. Researchers at the University of Basel and the Technical University of Munich have now found a way to use light to examine the collective motion hidden within this fragile quantum state.

Unlike an ordinary crystal, the ordering of a Wigner crystal does not come from the structure of the surrounding material. Instead, it emerges from interactions among the electrons themselves, a property that has made this state of matter an important subject of research for decades.

Quantum Computer Solves a Problem in 15 Minutes That Classical Methods Can’t Practically Compute

Researchers have demonstrated a quantum computation that appears to exceed the practical capabilities of leading classical simulation methods while also addressing a longstanding problem: how to verify the result.

A quantum computer completed a difficult calculation in about 15 minutes, while leading classical simulation methods would require prohibitive amounts of time. Just as importantly, the experiment included a way to establish confidence that the quantum result was accurate.

IBM and University of Chicago researchers announced the demonstration on July 30, 2026, presenting it as evidence that quantum computing has met the central requirements for quantum advantage. This means completing a task beyond the practical reach of leading classical methods while providing a reliable measure of how faithfully the quantum computation was performed.

Quantum computer completes verified task beyond practical reach of classical simulations

IBM and researchers from the University of Chicago announced a demonstration in quantum computing that meets the fundamental criteria for “quantum advantage”—the point where quantum computers can be confirmed to have outperformed classical computers on trusted computations.

The collaboration said its system had performed computations beyond the reach of leading classical simulation methods while providing confidence that the computation returned accurate results.

In their new paper, the researchers showed that these two goals could be achieved through a novel construction of encoded quantum circuits—one of the largest demonstrations of logical quantum computing to date. The paper is published on the arXiv preprint server.

How the Department of War Is Rebuilding Its Innovation Edge

Chuck Brooks is the president of Brooks Consulting International and one of Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Experts.

The United States is about to enter a new age of technical competitiveness where the rate of innovation and invention could have just as much of an impact on national security as the technology itself. Emerging technologies such as directed energy, biotechnology, autonomous systems, robotics, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence and quantum computing are developing concurrently and rapidly converging.

This convergence is posing a fundamental dilemma for the Department of War: Can the government organize itself to find, develop, buy and field new technology at the same rate as the business sector and America’s adversaries? A major reorganization of the Department’s research, technology and innovation ecosystem is starting to reveal the solution.

Miniaturized Laser System Enables Record Flux in Microgravity

Scientists produce atomic quantum gas mixtures with unprecedented particle flux to test fundamental physics in space.

Researchers Map the Hidden 3D Geometry of a Quantum Wavefunction

Physicists at Göttingen University imaged three-dimensional wave functions using a tabletop soft X-ray laser.

An electron inside a molecule does not occupy one fixed point. Quantum mechanics instead describes it through a “wavefunction,” a mathematical map that gives the probabilities of properties such as position and momentum.

Within molecules, these electron wavefunctions are known as “molecular orbitals.” Their shapes contain information about how a molecule may absorb light, interact with its surroundings, or undergo a chemical reaction.

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