Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and collaborators have a new way to use data from high-energy particle smashups to peer inside protons. Their approach uses quantum information science to map out how particle tracks streaming from electron-proton collisions are influenced by quantum entanglement inside the proton.

The results reveal that quarks and gluons, the fundamental building blocks that make up a proton’s structure, are subject to so-called quantum entanglement. This quirky phenomenon, famously described by Albert Einstein as “spooky action at a distance,” holds that particles can know one another’s state—for example, their spin direction—even when they are separated by a great distance.

In this case, entanglement occurs over incredibly short distances—less than one quadrillionth of a meter inside individual protons —and the sharing of information extends over the entire group of quarks and gluons in that proton.

Unveiling Quantum Scars: A Window into Chaos in Graphene Quantum Dots.

In the realm of quantum physics, certain phenomena challenge our understanding of chaos and order.

---

Patterns in chaos have been proven, in the incredibly tiny quantum realm, by an international team co-led by UC Santa Cruz physicist Jairo Velasco, Jr. In a new paper published on November 27 in Nature, the researchers detail an experiment that confirms a theory first put forth 40 years ago stating that electrons confined in quantum space would move along common paths rather than producing a chaotic jumble of trajectories.

Electrons exhibit both particle and wave-like properties—they don’t simply roll like a ball. Electrons behave in ways that are often counterintuitive, and under certain conditions, their waves can interfere with each other in a way that concentrates their movement into certain patterns. The physicists call these common paths “unique closed orbits.”

Achieving this in Velasco’s lab required an intricate combination of advanced imaging techniques and precise control over electron behavior within graphene, a material widely used in research because its unique properties and two-dimensional structure make it ideal for observing quantum effects.

This system charges without external fields, advancing energy technology.

---

A research team at the University of Genova has developed the spin quantum battery, an energy storage system that uses the spin degrees of freedom of particles.

The battery utilizes the spin properties of particles for energy storage and release, with a distinctive charging method that eliminates the need for an external field.

Quantum many-body theory and non-equilibrium physics are longstanding research areas within the quantum condensed matter theory group led by Maura Sassetti at the University of Genova, according to senior author Dario Ferraro.