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Frame-dragging observations validate Einstein yet again

More than a century after Albert Einstein first transformed our understanding of gravity, his general theory of relativity continues to withstand ever more demanding experimental tests. Now, an international team led by Ignazio Ciufolini at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has carried out the most precise measurement yet of one of the theory’s most subtle predictions: the dragging of spacetime caused by Earth’s rotation.

Published in Nature, the team’s results provide the strongest confirmation to date that Einstein’s description of gravity remains accurate even under extraordinarily precise scrutiny.

New technique for building ultra-thin material stacks promises quantum breakthrough

Scientists have unveiled a new fabrication technique for the ultra-clean manufacturing of 2D heterostructures—materials just a few atoms thick—that could be used in quantum technology and electronics. Experts from Southampton and Singapore say the method could be used to develop next-generation devices that accelerate research in quantum computing.

The research behind their technique, published in Nature Communications, was developed in collaboration between the Institute for Functional Intelligent Materials at the National University of Singapore and the University of Southampton.

Current manufacturing methods to build two-dimensional materials rely on sticky synthetic polymers to assemble the atomic layers. However, these often leave behind microscopic residues that contaminate the tiny structures and disrupt the performance of electronic devices that use them. The research team instead used the natural mineral muscovite, or mica, to stack the atomically thin materials together.

Physicists confirm 20-year-old theory that could boost quantum technology

Future quantum computing will require correlations between distant modules—a feature known as distributed entanglement. Traditionally, such entanglement has relied on active control and repeated measurements. Now, physicists at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) have realized a fully autonomous method for distributed entanglement using a “quantum bath” of correlated light particles. Published in Physical Review X, their work experimentally confirms a 20-year-old prediction and could provide a new platform for applied quantum technologies.

Entanglement is a central feature of quantum physics in which shared correlations exceed what classical theories can explain. Achieving distributed entanglement between physically separated qubits (quantum bits) could enable future advances, such as scalable quantum computers and quantum networks.

To entangle distant qubits, earlier attempts have relied on two protocols. In one approach, a single, actively controlled photon is sent from one qubit to the other. In the second approach, each qubit emits a photon that must be matched to produce entanglement. While the second method earned the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics, it requires many repeated measurements and post-selection and still does not always yield entanglement.

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.

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