Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: quantum physics – Page 8

New atomic trap boosts quantum performance by using surface forces

Researchers at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin have developed a new method for trapping and controlling atoms near an ultrathin glass fiber. This has significantly improved the atoms’ ability to store quantum information—an important step forward for future quantum technologies.

Trapping and controlling atoms is one of the technical foundations for using their quantum-mechanical properties—for example, for secure communication in quantum networks or quantum computing. Many novel quantum devices rely on interconnecting atoms using light. For example, atoms are trapped and held near tiny light-guiding structures to enable efficient communication between quantum particles. Until now, multiple laser beams were required to keep the atoms in place within such nanophotonic systems.

Researchers define new frontier in quantum materials

Researchers at City College of New York physicist Vinod M. Menon’s Laboratory for Nano and Micro Photonics (LaNMP) have outlined an emerging frontier in quantum materials: atomically thin systems in which light, magnetism and electric charge are strongly intertwined. This rapidly evolving field could enable next-generation optoelectronic and quantum technologies leveraging the coupled dynamics of light, charge and spin.

A review article in Nature Materials titled “Excitons in van der Waals magnetic materials” surveys recent advances by the CCNY team in layered magnetic semiconductors, where light-generated electronic excitations known as excitons interact with magnetic order and spin waves known as magnons.

Excitons form when light excites an electron within a material, leaving behind a positively charged “hole.” The electron and hole remain bound together as a neutral but optically active particle. Magnons, by contrast, are collective ripples in a material’s magnetic order.

Direct observation of spontaneous magnon coherence at room temperature

Researchers at RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau have achieved a key experimental breakthrough: For the first time, the spontaneous macroscopic coherence of magnons—the quantized excitations of magnetic materials—has been directly observed. These experiments confirm a central prediction of the theory of magnon Bose-Einstein condensates. Eventually, these findings could open new avenues for signal processing, sensing technologies and information processing. The study has been published in Nature Physics.

The three classical states of matter—solid, liquid and gas—are everyday phenomena. However, additional states exist, including plasma and the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). In a BEC, a large number of quantum particles no longer behave independently but instead collectively occupy a single macroscopic quantum state.

BECs were originally observed in ultracold atomic gases near absolute zero temperature. Twenty years ago, however, researchers demonstrated that a comparable phase transition can also occur in magnetic solids—notably at room temperature. The corresponding study was carried out by the Department of Physics of TU Kaiserslautern (now RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau), in collaboration with researchers from the Universities of Münster, Oakland and Kyiv.

Is Modern Physics Hideously Incoherent? Just the Opposite is True per Quantum Information Theory!

Quantum entanglement leads many researchers to believe that special relativity and quantum mechanics are in tension or outright conflict with each other. In this talk at the 2026 International Quantum Structures Association’s biennial conference, I explain why just the opposite is true.

Prof Coecke’s video demo of his quantum guitar whence the intro music for this video series: • A Quantum Guitar demo by Prof Bob Coecke /.…

Here are some relevant publications:

“Unifying Special Relativity and Quantum Mechanics via Adynamical Global Constraints,” W.M. Stuckey and Michael Silberstein. Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2,948, 012009 (2025).
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10…

“No Preferred Reference Frame at the Foundation of Quantum Mechanics,” W.M. Stuckey, Timothy McDevitt, and Michael Silberstein. Entropy 24, 12 (2022).
https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/24/1/12

The Universe Isn’t Made of Matter… It’s Made of Information

*Description*
What if everything you know about reality is incomplete?

For centuries, scientists believed matter was the foundation of the universe. But modern physics is raising a far more profound question: *What if information is more fundamental than matter itself?*

In this video, we explore the revolutionary ideas behind quantum physics, the Black Hole Information Paradox, consciousness, and the groundbreaking theories of **Sir Roger Penrose**. From empty atoms to the mysterious nature of reality, discover why some physicists believe the universe may be built from information rather than physical objects.

⚠️ *Important:* This video explores scientific theories and ongoing debates. Some ideas discussed—such as Orch-OR and consciousness—remain controversial and are not established scientific consensus.

If you’re fascinated by quantum physics, cosmology, consciousness, and the mysteries of the universe, this journey is for you.

*Don’t forget to Like 👍, Subscribe 🔔, and Share* if you enjoy thought-provoking science content.

Continue reading “The Universe Isn’t Made of Matter… It’s Made of Information” | >

DNA origami turns secret messages into nano–Morse code that acts as multiplayer molecular encryption

Mathematics has always been at the core of securing information. From online banking to government communications, modern society relies on cryptography, in which complex mathematical algorithms transform readable information into an unreadable form to keep it secure. But as computing power grows and quantum technology advances, these mathematical safeguards are increasingly vulnerable to being broken. That’s where biology stepped in.

Choosing DNA as their information protector, researchers from China developed a multilayer encryption device that takes advantage of the double-helix molecule’s programmable nature to create an origami structure that can store information with high security.

This new system used tiny, custom-built rectangular structures made of DNA, in which researchers stored the message as dots and dashes, creating a nanoscale version of Morse code. To hide the message further, they turned the flat DNA origami surfaces into tubes, physically blocking the patterns from being read or imaged. With the help of a matching unlocking key, the recipient can trigger a reaction that unrolls the DNA back to its flat form, allowing them to read and verify the message.

World’s first superconducting quantum heat engine offers path to larger quantum computers

Recent improvements in our understanding of how the principles of thermodynamics apply in the quantum realm could give a boost to quantum technology, and a clearer picture of quantum thermodynamics could in turn enhance our understanding of classical thermodynamics. Now, Aalto University researchers have demonstrated the first cyclic quantum heat engine inside a superconducting circuit.

Physicists have become increasingly fascinated with the idea that classical thermodynamics could be combined with quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics captures the behavior of particles on tiny scales—smaller than atoms—while thermodynamics is about large systems, from molecules up to the entire universe. How do strange quantum phenomena like tunneling, entanglement and superposition mix with the stolid familiarity of the heat engines that kick-started the Industrial Revolution?

Heat engines, like James Watt’s famous steam engine, convert heat into useful energy, or work. They power our cars, ships and planes, and heat engines are how most power plants generate electricity. Now, the world’s first superconducting quantum heat engine has been built: a tiny device consisting of a transmon qubit, a resonator and a quantum refrigerator.

White-beam neutron device unlocks precise control of twisted quantum waves

CANISIUS is the official name of the new spin-echo neutron interferometer developed at Atominstitut, TU Wien. It enables precise control of neutron waves, something that was previously impossible.

Neutrons cannot be imagined as tiny spheres; they have wave properties similar to light. This was spectacularly demonstrated in 1974 at the nuclear reactor of the Atominstitut—and it was precisely here that researchers succeeded in exploiting this wave nature of neutrons in a novel way: A measuring device was developed that can use the angular momentum of neutrons in a particularly clever way for experiments. Not only the intrinsic angular momentum—the spin—but also the orbital angular momentum, which is related to the waveform of the neutron, can be adjusted.

The research is published in the journal Review of Scientific Instruments.

/* */