A team of researchers has analyzed more than one million galaxies to explore the origin of the present-day cosmic structures, reports a recent study published in Physical Review D as an Editors’ Suggestion.
Until today, precise observations and analyses of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and large-scale structure (LSS) have led to the establishment of the standard framework of the universe, the so-called ΛCDM model, where cold dark matter (CDM) and dark energy (the cosmological constant, Λ) are significant characteristics.
This model suggests that primordial fluctuations were generated at the beginning of the universe, or in the early universe, which acted as triggers, leading to the creation of all things in the universe including stars, galaxies, galaxy clusters, and their spatial distribution throughout space. Although they are very small when generated, fluctuations grow with time due to the gravitational pulling force, eventually forming a dense region of dark matter, or a halo. Then, different halos repeatedly collided and merged with one another, leading to the formation of celestial objects such as galaxies.
In a public lecture titled “The Meaning of Spacetime,” renowned physicist Juan Maldacena outlined ideas that arose from the study of quantum aspects of black holes.
Matter inside neutron stars can have different forms: a dense liquid of nucleons or a dense liquid of quarks.
Recent studies reveal that in neutron stars, quark liquids are fundamentally different from nucleon liquids, as evidenced by the unique color-magnetic field in their vortices. This finding challenges previous beliefs in quantum chromodynamics and offers new insights into the nature of confinement.
A nice talk. At 18 minutes dude says healthspan is way more important than lifespan. Never mind that large sign behind him that says lifespan. But, not to knock it too much, yes healthspan is important too.
A quantum state of matter comprising molecules with opposite charges at each end has been made for the first time. It could help probe our understanding of the quantum properties of exotic materials.
An extension of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, which places limits on how precisely you can measure the properties of quantum objects, has found that it really isn’t possible to cheat the laws of quantum physics.
When Google launched its Hypercomputer earlier this month (December 2023), the first reaction was, “Say what?” It turns out that the Hypercomputer is Google’s take on a modular supercomputer with a healthy dose of its homegrown TPU v5p AI accelerators, which were also announced this month.
The modular design also allows workloads to be sliced up between TPUs and GPUs, with Google’s software tools doing the provisioning and orchestration in the background. Theoretically, if Google were to add a quantum computer to the Google Cloud, it could also be plugged into the Hypercomputer.
While the Hypercomputer was advertised as an AI supercomputer, the good news is that the system also runs scientific computing applications.
In a recent leap forward for quantum computing and optical technologies, researchers have uncovered an important aspect of photon detection. Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs), pivotal in quantum communication and advanced optical systems, have long been hindered by a phenomenon known as intrinsic dark counts (iDCs). These spurious signals, occurring without any real photon trigger, significantly impact the accuracy and reliability of these detectors.
Understanding and mitigating iDCs are crucial for enhancing the performance of SNSPDs, which are integral to a wide range of applications, from secure communication to sensitive astronomical observations.
A team headed by Prof. Lixing You and Prof. Hao Li from Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology (SIMIT), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) employed a novel differential readout method to investigate the spatial distribution of iDCs in SNSPDs with and without artificial geometric constrictions. This approach allowed for a precise characterization of the spatial origins of iDCs, revealing the significant influence of minute geometric constrictions within the detectors.
A groundbreaking discovery in metamaterial design reveals materials with built-in deformation resistance and mechanical memory, promising advancements in robotics and computing.
Researchers from the University of Amsterdam Institute of Physics and ENS de Lyon have discovered how to design materials that necessarily have a point or line where the material doesn’t deform under stress, and that even remember how they have been poked or squeezed in the past. These results could be used in robotics and mechanical computers, while similar design principles could be used in quantum computers.
The outcome is a breakthrough in the field of metamaterials: designer materials whose responses are determined by their structure rather than their chemical composition. To construct a metamaterial with mechanical memory, physicists Xiaofei Guo, Marcelo Guzmán, David Carpentier, Denis Bartolo, and Corentin Coulais realized that its design needs to be “frustrated,” and that this frustration corresponds to a new type of order, which they call non-orientable order.
