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Category: quantum physics – Page 342

This Cryptographer Helps Quantum-Proof the Internet

Users of Google’s Chrome browser can rest easy knowing that their surfing is secure, thanks in part to cryptographer Joppe Bos. He’s coauthor of a quantum-secure encryption algorithm that was adopted as a standard by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in August and is already being implemented in a wide range of technology products, including Chrome.

Rapid advances in quantum computing have stoked fears that future devices may be able to break the encryption used by most modern technology. These approaches to encryption typically rely on mathematical puzzles that are too complex for classical computers to crack. But quantum computers can exploit quantum phenomena like superposition and entanglement to compute these problems much faster, and a powerful enough machine should be able to break current encryption.

Scientists Unveil World’s Smallest Molecular Machine

Researchers have successfully stabilized ferrocene molecules on a flat substrate for the first time, enabling the creation of an electronically controllable sliding molecular machine.

Artificial molecular machines, composed of only a few molecules, hold transformative potential across diverse fields, including catalysis, molecular electronics, medicine, and quantum materials. These nanoscale devices function by converting external stimuli, such as electrical signals, into controlled mechanical motion at the molecular level.

Ferrocene—a unique drum-shaped molecule featuring an iron (Fe) atom sandwiched between two five-membered carbon rings—is a standout candidate for molecular machinery. Its discovery, which earned the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1973, has positioned it as a foundational molecule in this area of study.

Can Classical Worlds Emerge from Parallel Quantum Universes?

Simulations deliver hints on how the multiverse produced according to the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics might be compatible with our stable, classical Universe.

We understand quantum mechanics well enough to make stunningly accurate predictions, ranging from atomic spectra to the structure of neutron stars, and to successfully exploit these predictions in devices such as lasers, MRI machines, and tunneling microscopes. Yet there is no generally accepted explanation of how the solid reality of such devices—or of objects such as cats, moons, and people—arise from a nebulous quantum wave in an abstract mathematical space. Some physicists prefer to ignore the problem, suggesting that we should just “shut up and calculate!” Others seek answers by modifying quantum theory in various ways or by searching for ways to explain how stable structures can emerge from quantum theory itself.

Physicists Have Found a Radical New Way to Entangle Light And Sound

The quantum entanglement of particles is now an established art. You take two or more unmeasured particles and correlate them in such a way that their properties blur and mirror each other. Measure one and the other’s corresponding properties lock into place, instantaneously, even when separated by a wide distance.

In new research, physicists have theorized a bold way to change it up by entangling two particles of very different kinds – a unit of light, or a photon, with a phonon, the quantum equivalent of a wave of sound.

Physicists Changlong Zhu, Claudiu Genes, and Birgit Stiller of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Germany have called their proposed new system optoacoustic entanglement.

Quantum miracle: High-quality nanodiamonds created in a first

The study authors successfully developed quantum-grade bright fluorescent nanodiamonds. Now in order to use them for quantum sensing or bioimaging, one is required to study their spin states using optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR).

ODMR is a method that combines light and microwaves to examine magnetic fields. Scientists first shine a light on materials like nanodiamonds and then apply microwaves, to see how the material reacts. By studying this interaction, they can detect tiny magnetic signals and understand the material’s magnetic properties such as spin.

To test the capabilities of their nanodiamonds, they introduced them into HeLa cells (human cells widely used by scientists for lab research experiments) and then employed ODMR to examine the spin. The NDs successfully detected slight temperature changes, which are nearly impossible to detect with existing technologies.

Numerical simulations show how the classical world might emerge from the many-worlds universes of quantum mechanics

Students learning quantum mechanics are taught the Schrodinger equation and how to solve it to obtain a wave function. But a crucial step is skipped because it has puzzled scientists since the earliest days—how does the real, classical world emerge from, often, a large number of solutions for the wave functions?

Each of these wave functions has its individual shape and associated , but how does the “collapse” into what we see as the classical world—atoms, cats and the pool noodles floating in the tepid swimming pool of a seedy hotel in Las Vegas hosting a convention of hungover businessmen trying to sell the world a better mousetrap?

At a high level, this is handled by the “Born rule”—the postulate that the probability density for finding an object at a particular location is proportional to the square of the wave function at that position.

Quantum Leap: Scientists Successfully Control New Energy Range States

An international team of scientists, led by Dr. Lukas Bruder, a junior research group leader at the University of Freiburg’s Institute of Physics, has successfully created and controlled hybrid electron-photon quantum states in helium atoms.

The team accomplished this by generating specially designed, highly intense extreme ultraviolet light pulses using the FERMI free electron laser in Trieste, Italy. By employing an innovative laser pulse-shaping technique, they were able to precisely control these hybrid quantum states. The groundbreaking findings have been published in Nature.

Advancing unidirectional heat flow: The next era of quantum thermal diodes

Heat management at the nanoscale has long been a cornerstone of advanced technological applications, ranging from high-performance electronics to quantum computing. Addressing this critical challenge, we have been deeply intrigued by the emerging field of thermotronics, which focuses on manipulating heat flux in ways analogous to how electronics control electric energy. Among its most promising advancements are quantum thermal diodes, which enable directional heat control, and quantum thermal transistors, which regulate heat flow with precision.

Thermal diodes, much like their electrical counterparts, provide unidirectional heat transfer, allowing heat to flow in one direction while blocking it in the reverse. We find this capability revolutionary for heat management, as it has the potential to transform numerous fields.

For instance, thermal diodes can significantly improve the cooling of high-performance electronics, where is a major bottleneck. They could also enable more efficient energy harvesting by converting into usable energy, contributing to sustainability efforts.

Scientists Unveil Shape of a Single Photon for the First Time!

A team of researchers at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom has made a significant breakthrough in physics by visualizing the shape of a single photon for the first time. This achievement was facilitated by an innovative computer model that simplifies the complex interaction between light and matter, a major challenge in the fields of physics and quantum mechanics.

Photons, the particles of light, have long captivated scientists. Since their discovery, it has been proven that light behaves both as a wave and a particle, a phenomenon known as wave-particle duality. This concept, which took centuries to be accepted, has been pivotal for the advancement of quantum mechanics, the branch of physics that studies subatomic interactions.

Photons are central to many phenomena, including lighting, telecommunications, and even touchscreen technology. However, despite their significance, the precise nature of their shape remained unknown until this team of researchers discovered a new way to visualize them.

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