The protons and neutrons making up atomic nuclei are made up of a trio of even smaller fundamental particles known as quarks.
A new study has now mapped out in unprecedented detail the distribution of the different kinds of quark inside a proton, expanding on our understanding of this all-important part of an atom.
Although the quantum landscape within protons is a seething mess of quarks and their opposing antiquarks popping in and out of existence, there is a general dominance of two ‘flavors’ over the others; two up-flavor quarks and a single down-flavor quark.
Physicist Michio Kaku explains how quantum computing works and why it will outpace artificial intelligence as the next frontier in technological breakthroughs. #CNN #News
Individual graphene nanoribbons synthesized by an on-surface approach can be contacted with carbon nanotubes—with diameters as small as 1 nm—and used to make multigate devices that exhibit quantum transport effects such as Coulomb blockade and single-electron tunnelling.
“Not only is the universe stranger than we think. It is stranger than we can think.” So argued Niels Bohr, one of the founders of quantum theory. We imagine our theories uncover how things are but, from quantum particles to dark matter, at fundamental levels the closer we get to what we imagine to be reality the stranger and more incomprehensible it appears to become.
Might science, and philosophy one day stretch to meet the universe’s strangeness? Or is the universe not so strange after all? Or should we give up the idea that we can uncover the essential character of the world, and with Bohr conclude that the strangeness of the universe and the quantum world transcend the limits of the human mind?
#DarkMatter #RupertSheldrake #SabineHossenfelder.
Influential scientist Rupert Sheldrake, prominent physicist Sabine Hossenfelder and esteemed philosopher Bjørn Ekeberg get to grips with whether the universe is stranger than we can imagine. Johnjoe McFadden hosts.
After appearing for decades in science fiction, then moving into an actual theory, a new patent for an updated warp drive was published last year to no fanfare. Like many other false starts in cutting-edge research, the patent may represent the next step in the expanding theory, or it could mean the practical, real-world design of a functioning warp drive is on the horizon.
Background: How to Bend Space-Time with A Warp Drive
After first publishing his groundbreaking 1994 warp drive concept in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity, Mexican Mathematician and Physicist Miguel Alcubierre received significant positive and negative feedback. Most applauded his solution, which did indeed appear to create a working theory on how a warp drive might allow faster than light travel without violating the laws of physics. In contrast, others zeroed in on the incredible amount of energy needed to propel his theoretical spacecraft.
Scientists at EPFL have developed a superconducting circuit optomechanical platform that demonstrates ultra-low quantum decoherence and high-fidelity quantum control. Their groundbreaking work with a “vacuum-gap drumhead capacitor” has led to the longest quantum state lifetime in a mechanical oscillator ever achieved, paving the way for new applications in quantum computing.
Performing computation using quantum-mechanical phenomena such as superposition and entanglement.
New Study Solves Mystery on Insulator-to-Metal Transition
A study explored insulator-to-metal transitions, uncovering discrepancies in the traditional Landau-Zener formula and offering new insights into resistive switching. By using computer simulations, the research highlights the quantum mechanics involved and suggests that electronic and thermal switching can arise simultaneously, with potential applications in microelectronics and neuromorphic computing.
Looking only at their subatomic particles, most materials can be placed into one of two categories.
Over the past decade, scientists have made tremendous progress in generating quantum phenomena in mechanical systems. What seemed impossible only fifteen years ago has now become a reality, as researchers successfully create quantum states in macroscopic mechanical objects.
By coupling these mechanical oscillators to light photons—known as “optomechanical systems”—scientists have been able to cool them down to their lowest energy level close to the quantum limit, “squeeze them” to reduce their vibrations even further, and entangle them with each other. These advancements have opened up new opportunities in quantum sensing, compact storage in quantum computing, fundamental tests of quantum gravity, and even in the search for dark matter.
In order to efficiently operate optomechanical systems in the quantum regime, scientists face a dilemma. On one hand, the mechanical oscillators must be properly isolated from their environment to minimize energy loss; on the other hand, they must be well-coupled to other physical systems such as electromagnetic resonators to control them.
