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Category: quantum physics – Page 344

Quantum Magic: How “Super Photons” Are Shaping the Future of Physics

Researchers at the University of Bonn have demonstrated that super photons, or photon Bose-Einstein condensates, conform to fundamental physics theorems, enabling insights into properties that are often difficult to observe.

Under suitable conditions, thousands of particles of light can merge into a type of “super photon.” Physicists call such a state a photon Bose-Einstein condensate. Researchers at the University of Bonn have now shown that this exotic quantum state obeys a fundamental theorem of physics. This finding now allows one to measure properties of photon Bose-Einstein condensates which are usually difficult to access. The study was published on June 3 in the journal Nature Communications.

If many atoms are cooled to a very low temperature confined in a small volume, they can become indistinguishable and behave like a single “super particle.” Physicists also call this a Bose-Einstein condensate or quantum gas. Photons condense based on a similar principle and can be cooled using dye molecules. These molecules act like small refrigerators and swallow the “hot” light particles before spitting them out again at the right temperature.

Quantum mechanics and the puzzle of human consciousness

Some scientists speculate that the strange happenings in this microscopic realm may hold the key to understanding consciousness. But scant evidence has left the majority skeptical.

That includes Christof Koch, Ph.D., meritorious investigator at the Allen Institute. As he wrote in his recent book, Then I am myself the world, “the brain is wet and warm, hardly conducive to subtle quantum interactions.”

But despite his skepticism, Koch is collaborating with scientists at Google Quantum AI and universities worldwide to explore the role quantum mechanics might play in shaping consciousness. A paper published in Entropy offers their novel theory on the links between quantum mechanics and consciousness and details a series of experiments to test it.

New theory links quantum geometry to electron-phonon coupling

A new study published in Nature Physics introduces a theory of electron-phonon coupling that is affected by the quantum geometry of the electronic wavefunctions.

The movement of electrons in a lattice and their interactions with the lattice vibrations (or phonons) play a pivotal role in phenomena like superconductivity (resistance-free conductivity).

Electron-phonon coupling (EPC) is the interaction between free electrons and phonons, which are quasiparticles representing the vibrations of a crystal lattice. EPC leads to the formation of Cooper pairs (pairs of electrons), responsible for superconductivity in certain materials.

A route to scalable Majorana qubits

Researchers at QuTech have found a way to make Majorana particles in a two-dimensional plane. This was achieved by creating devices that exploit the combined material properties of superconductors and semiconductors. The inherent flexibility of this new 2D platform should allow one to perform experiments with Majoranas that were previously inaccessible. The results are published in Nature.

Quantum dot based metasurface enables two objects to exist in the same space

In relationships, sharing closer spaces naturally deepens the connection as bonds form and strengthen through increasing shared memories. This principle applies not only to human interactions but also to engineering. Recently, an intriguing study was published demonstrating the use of quantum dots to create metasurfaces, enabling two objects to exist in the same space.

Professor Junsuk Rho from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Department of Chemical Engineering, and the Department of Electrical Engineering, PhD candidates Minsu Jeong, Byoungsu Ko, and Jaekyung Kim from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Chunghwan Jung, a PhD candidate, from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) employed Nanoimprint Lithography (NIL) to fabricate metasurfaces embedded with quantum dots, enhancing their luminescence efficiency. Their research was recently published in Nano Letters (“Printable Light-Emitting Metasurfaces with Enhanced Directional Photoluminescence”).

(Left) Schematic diagram of the fabrication of a luminescence-controlled metasurface using the nanoimprint lithography process. (Right) Experiment evaluating the performance of the metasurface’s luminescence control. (Image: POSTECH)

A Missing Piece in the Big Bang Theory Has Surfaced

In research published earlier this year, physicists from the University of Hyderabad in India say they’re on the path to solving one of the universe’s biggest outstanding problems. Since Edwin Hubble realized the universe is always expanding nearly 100 years ago, scientists have used the “Hubble constant” in calculations on virtually every scale in the universe. But today, estimates for the Hubble constant don’t always align, with a difference of up to 10 percent between calculations made using different methods. (When someone at NASA mixes up meters and yards and loses an entire spacecraft, that’s not even a full 10 percent deviation.)

The paper appears in the peer reviewed journal Classical and Quantum Gravity. The journal has an ongoing, periodically updated “focus issue” specifically about this measurement tension, and the editors explain the problem there—scientists can’t say for sure that the different Hubble constants measured are actually different, rather than just observation or calibration issues.

America is the undisputed world leader in quantum computing even though China spends 8x more on the technology–but an own goal could soon erode U.S. dominance

When it comes to quantum computing, that chilling effect on research and development would enormously jeopardize U.S. national security. Our projects received ample funding from defense and intelligence agencies for good reason. Quantum computing may soon become the https://www.cyberdefensemagazine.com/quantum-security-is-nat...at%20allow, codebreaking%20attacks%20against%20traditional%20encryption" rel="noopener" class="">gold standard technology for codebreaking and defending large computer networks against cyberattacks.

Adopting the proposed march-in framework would also have major implications for our future economic stability. While still a nascent technology today, quantum computing’s ability to rapidly process huge volumes of data is set to revolutionize business in the coming decades. It may be the only way to capture the complexity needed for future AI and machine learning in, say, self-driving vehicles. It may enable companies to hone their supply chains and other logistical operations, such as manufacturing, with unprecedented precision. It may also transform finance by allowing portfolio managers to create new, superior investment algorithms and strategies.

Given the technology’s immense potential, it’s no mystery why China committed what is believed to be more than https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/sustainable-inclu…n-quantum” rel=“noopener” class=””>$15 billion in 2022 to develop its quantum computing capacity–more than double the budget for quantum computing of EU countries and eight times what the U.S. government plans to spend.

From Rice University: “Chemical reactions can scramble quantum information as well as black holes”

From Rice University

4.5.24 Silvia Cernea Clark 713−348−6728 [email protected].

Chris Stipes 713−348−6778 [email protected].

If you were to throw a message in a bottle into a black hole, all of the information in it, down to the quantum level, would become completely scrambled. Because in black holes this scrambling happens as quickly and thoroughly as quantum mechanics allows, they are generally considered nature’s ultimate information scramblers.

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