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Category: quantum physics – Page 4

Metal clumps in a quantum state: Physicists place thousands of sodium atoms in a ‘Schrödinger’s cat state’

Can a small lump of metal be in a quantum state that extends over distant locations? A research team at the University of Vienna answers this question with a resounding yes. In the journal Nature, physicists from the University of Vienna and the University of Duisburg-Essen show that even massive nanoparticles consisting of thousands of sodium atoms follow the rules of quantum mechanics. The experiment is currently one of the best tests of quantum mechanics on a macroscopic scale.

In quantum mechanics, not only light but also matter can behave both as a particle and as a wave. This has been proven many times for electrons, atoms, and small molecules through double-slit diffraction or interference experiments. However, we do not see this in everyday life: marbles, stones, and dust particles have a well-defined location and a predictable trajectory; they follow the rules of classical physics.

At the University of Vienna, the team led by Markus Arndt and Stefan Gerlich has now demonstrated for the first time that the wave nature of matter is also preserved in massive metallic nanoparticles. The scale of the particles is impressive: the clusters have a diameter of around 8 nanometers, which is comparable to the size of modern transistor structures.

Scientists Discover a New Quantum State of Matter Once Considered Impossible

A quantum state of matter has appeared in a material where physicists thought it would be impossible, forcing a rethink on the conditions that govern the behaviors of electrons in certain materials.

The discovery, made by an international team of researchers, could inform advances in quantum computing, improve electronic efficiencies, and deliver enhanced sensing and imaging technologies.

The state, described as a topological semimetal phase, was theoretically predicted to appear at low temperatures in a material composed of cerium, ruthenium, and tin (CeRu4Sn6), before experiments verified its existence.

Chinese military says it is developing over 10 quantum warfare weapons

China’s military says it is using quantum technology to gather high-value military intelligence from public cyberspace.

The People’s Liberation Army said more than 10 experimental quantum cyber warfare tools were “under development”, many of which were being “tested in front-line missions”, according to the official newspaper Science and Technology Daily.

The project is being led by a supercomputing laboratory at the National University of Defence Technology, according to the report, with a focus on cloud computing, artificial intelligence and quantum technology.

Video: Why ‘basic science’ is the foundation of innovation

At first glance, some scientific research can seem, well, impractical. When physicists began exploring the strange, subatomic world of quantum mechanics a century ago, they weren’t trying to build better medical tools or high-speed internet. They were simply curious about how the universe worked at its most fundamental level.

Yet without that “curiosity-driven” research—often called basic science—the modern world would look unrecognizable.

“Basic science drives the really big discoveries,” says Steve Kahn, UC Berkeley’s dean of mathematical and physical sciences. “Those paradigm changes are what really drive innovation.”

A twitch in time? Quantum collapse models hint at tiny time fluctuations

Quantum mechanics is rich with paradoxes and contradictions. It describes a microscopic world in which particles exist in a superposition of states—being in multiple places and configurations all at once, defined mathematically by what physicists call a “wavefunction.” But this runs counter to our everyday experience of objects that are either here or there, never both at the same time.

Typically, physicists manage this conflict by arguing that, when a quantum system comes into contact with a measuring device or an experimental observer, the system’s wavefunction “collapses” into a single, definite state. Now, with support from the Foundational Questions Institute, FQxI, an international team of physicists has shown that a family of unconventional solutions to this measurement problem—called “quantum collapse models”—has far-reaching implications for the nature of time and for clock precision.

They published their results suggesting a new way to distinguish these rival models from standard quantum theory, in Physical Review Research, in November 2025.

It started with a cat: How 100 years of quantum weirdness powers today’s tech

A hundred years ago, quantum mechanics was a radical theory that baffled even the brightest minds. Today, it’s the backbone of technologies that shape our lives, from lasers and microchips to quantum computers and secure communications.

In a sweeping new perspective published in Science, Dr. Marlan Scully, a university distinguished professor at Texas A&M University, traces the journey of quantum mechanics from its quirky beginnings to its role in solving some of science’s toughest challenges.

“Quantum mechanics started as a way to explain the behavior of tiny particles,” said Scully, who is also affiliated with Princeton University. “Now it’s driving innovations that were unimaginable just a generation ago.”

Physicists bridge worlds of quantum matter

A new unified theory connects two fundamental domains of modern quantum physics: It joins two opposite views of how a single exotic particle behaves in a many-body system, namely as a mobile or static impurity among a large number of fermions, a so-called Fermi sea.

This new theoretical framework was developed at the Institute for Theoretical Physics of Heidelberg University. It describes the emergence of what is known as quasiparticles and furnishes a connection between two different quantum states that, according to the Heidelberg researchers, will have far-reaching implications for current quantum matter experiments.

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