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Category: quantum physics – Page 24

Scientists Who Uncovered Altermagnetism Win Major Physics Honor

A previously overlooked set of spin symmetries has revealed that magnetism does not fit neatly into just two categories.

For more than a century, physicists divided collinear magnets into two basic types. The discovery of altermagnetism has added a third, earning Professor Jairo Sinova of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Dr. Libor Šmejkal and Professor Tomas Jungwirth the 2026 Europhysics Prize from the European Physical Society (EPS) Condensed Matter Division.

One of Europe’s leading honors in condensed matter physics, the prize recognizes their work establishing altermagnetism as a previously unknown fundamental form of magnetic order alongside ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism. The finding has challenged a long-accepted picture of magnetism and created a research field with potential consequences for quantum materials, condensed matter physics and future information technologies.

Quantum Computers Could Freeze Like Ordinary PCs

How even small but frequent disruptions can cause quantum computers to fail.

Quantum computers are expected to tackle difficult tasks more quickly and with less energy than current supercomputers, including molecular simulations and complex logistics planning.

Progress toward that goal depends partly on increasing the number of qubits, the basic units that store and process quantum information. Yet scaling up may introduce a problem that has received far less attention.

Quantum randomness helps neural network recognize troublesome handwritten digits

Quantum computing and AI are among the most rapidly developing modern technologies. AI, in the form of machine learning, has been deployed for decades to recommend movies and TV shows and make it easier to search for images. Over the past several years, large language models have permeated even more facets of daily life, from writing emails to producing images, videos and songs in response to requests expressed in a few written lines.

Quantum computers, on the other hand, have remained almost exclusively in labs at universities and a handful of companies. Nevertheless, many researchers and engineers developing them are already looking for the earliest applications and predict a bright future in which quantum computers excel at certain tasks, like drug development and enabling new cryptographic techniques.

Despite machine learning and quantum computing both being heralded as revolutionary technologies, neither is a magic solution to every problem. They are each the products of a long line of research advances and are both still under active study.

Scientists have found a new way molecules can cooperate at room temperature

What if glowing molecules could synchronize, much like fireflies flashing in unison? Researchers have discovered that molecules confined within tiny gold nanostructures can behave collectively, coordinating their interactions even under conditions where this was previously thought impossible. The finding challenges long standing assumptions about how optical coherence forms and opens new possibilities for highly sensitive sensors, molecular photonics, and future quantum technologies capable of operating at room temperature.

Optical coherence describes a state in which light—or the molecules producing it—behaves in a highly coordinated way. It is the principle behind technologies such as lasers, advanced imaging systems and quantum communication. Traditionally, scientists believed this kind of coordinated behavior required specially designed optical cavities that trap light for relatively long periods.

Cesium atoms and quantum dots generate indistinguishable photons for modular quantum networks

Large-scale quantum communication networks require both reliable quantum memories and coherent single-photon sources that can exchange quantum information efficiently. A coherent source of single photons with narrow linewidth, high brightness, spectral uniformity and compatibility with quantum memories is necessary. While a variety of single-photon sources, such as quantum dots (QDs) and atoms in warm vapor cells, have been developed in recent years, each has inherent limitations, making a scalable and functional quantum network challenging to achieve.

Hybrid quantum architectures that combine different quantum light sources can address these challenges. For example, QDs, which suffer from spectral randomness and are not well suited for photon storage, can be paired with atomic systems that provide reliable frequency standards and quantum memories. In such architectures, QDs can serve as bright, high-rate photon sources, while atomic systems handle photon storage and synchronization.

However, a key challenge in realizing such hybrid quantum architectures is interfacing different quantum light sources. Single photons emitted from different sources exhibit distinct spatial and temporal properties, necessitating modifications and synchronization that introduce losses and increase resource needs.

Physicists create Bose–Einstein condensate from ultracold polar molecules

Bose–Einstein condensates are states of matter that form when particles called bosons are cooled to temperatures that are only a fraction of a degree above absolute zero (i.e., 0 Kelvin [-460°F]). In these states, particles occupy the same quantum state and exhibit interesting collective behaviors, essentially behaving as if they were a single “super-particle.”

So far, physicists have primarily created Bose–Einstein condensates using atoms. The first realization of these states with molecules was just over two decades ago, in 2003.

Producing Bose–Einstein condensates with ultracold polar molecules, cooled molecules in which positive and negative charges are separate, has proved particularly challenging. This is partly due to chemical reactions that can cause a loss of these molecules while they are being cooled.

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