A scientific breakthrough on the tiniest scale could soon help us answer the universe’s greatest mysteries.
Researchers from the University of Twente in the Netherlands have gained important insights into photons, the elementary particles that make up light. They ‘behave’ in an amazingly greater variety than electrons surrounding atoms, while also being much easier to control.
These new insights have broad applications from smart LED lighting to new photonic bits of information controlled with quantum circuits, to sensitive nanosensors. Their results are published in Physical Review B.
In atoms, minuscule elementary particles called electrons occupy regions around the nucleus in shapes called orbitals. These orbitals give the probability of finding an electron in a particular region of space. Quantum mechanics determines the shape and energy of these orbitals. Similarly to electrons, researchers describe the region of space where a photon is most likely found with orbitals too.
The power of quantum computing drives a desperate need for quantum encryption. This megatrend is creating a multi-billion-dollar security market.
A research team has constructed a coherent superposition of quantum evolution with two opposite directions in a photonic system and confirmed its advantage in characterizing input-output indefiniteness. The study was published in Physical Review Letters.
The notion that time flows inexorably from the past to the future is deeply rooted in people’s mind. However, the laws of physics that govern the motion of objects in the microscopic world do not deliberately distinguish the direction of time.
To be more specific, the basic equations of motion of both classical and quantum mechanics are reversible, and changing the direction of the time coordinate system of a dynamical process (possibly along with the direction of some other parameters) still constitutes a valid evolution process.
Longtime readers know that I’ve made a bit of an effort to help people understand, and perhaps even grow to respect, the Everett or Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (MWI). I’ve even written papers about it. It’s a controversial idea and far from firmly established, but it’s a serious one, and deserves serious discussion.
Mechanical systems are highly suitable for realizing applications such as quantum information processing, quantum sensing and bosonic quantum simulation. The effective use of these systems for these applications, however, relies on the ability to manipulate them in unique ways, specifically by ‘squeezing’ their states and introducing nonlinear effects in the quantum regime.
A research team at ETH Zurich led by Dr. Matteo Fadel recently introduced a new approach to realize quantum squeezing in a nonlinear mechanical oscillator. This approach, outlined in a paper published in Nature Physics, could have interesting implications for the development of quantum metrology and sensing technologies.
“Initially, our goal was to prepare a mechanical squeezed state, namely a quantum state of motion with reduced quantum fluctuations along one phase-space direction,” Fadel told Phys.org. “Such states are important for quantum sensing and quantum simulation applications. They are one of the gates in the universal gate set for quantum computing with continuous-variable systems—meaning mechanical degrees of freedom, electromagnetic fields, etc., as opposed to qubits that are discrete-variable systems.”
Researchers have developed a breakthrough method for quantum information transmission using light particles called qudits, which utilize the spatial mode and polarization properties to enable faster, more secure data transfer and increased resistance to errors.
This technology could greatly enhance the capabilities of a quantum internet, providing long-distance, secure communication, and leading to the development of powerful quantum computers and unbreakable encryption.
Scientists have made a significant breakthrough in creating a new method for transmitting quantum information using particles of light called qudits. These qudits promise a future quantum internet that is both secure and powerful.
As predicted by the theory of general relativity, the passage of gravitational waves can leave a measurable change in the relative positions of objects. This physical phenomenon, known as gravitational wave memory, could potentially be leveraged to study both gravitational waves and spacetime.
Researchers at Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI) and the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) recently carried out a study exploring the possibility of using gravitational wave memory to measure spacetime symmetries, fundamental properties of spacetime that remain the same following specific transformations. Their paper, published in Physical Review Letters, suggests that these symmetries could be probed via the observation of displacement and spin memory.
“For a long time, I was curious about the phenomenon of gravitational wave memory and the connection of the associated low energy physics with quantum mechanics,” Boris Goncharov, co-author of the paper, told Phys.org. “I first heard about Weinberg’s soft graviton theorem from Prof. Paul Lasky at Monash University in Australia, during my Ph.D, when discussing gravitational wave memory. Then I learned about the so-called ” Infrared Triangle’ that connects the soft theorem with gravitational wave memory and symmetries of spacetime at infinity from gravitational wave sources.”
Why it matters: Moore’s Law might not be dead after all. A new technique using nanomaterials can further miniaturize transistors, allowing fab plants to pack more of them on each chip. This research opens up new possibilities for creating advanced semiconductor devices with features smaller than current lithography techniques allow.
A South Korean research team led by Director Jo Moon-Ho of the Center for Van der Waals Quantum Solids within South Korea’s Institute for Basic Science has made a significant advancement in semiconductor and nanomaterial technology that could lead to the development of much smaller, more efficient, and more powerful electronic devices. The new technique can grow “one-dimentional” metallic nanaomaterials with widths as narrow as 0.4 nanometers for use as gate electrodes on 2D substrates. The technique promises to overcome the limitations of traditional lithography.
Integrated devices based on two-dimensional semiconductors exhibit excellent electrical properties even when thinned to atomic-scale thickness, making them promising candidates for creating ultra-thin, high-performance electronic devices. A separate study indicates that these 2D logic circuits are promising candidates for the post-Moore’s Law era.
