Category Archives: Quantum Physics
New telescopes to study the aftermath of the Big Bang – Phys.org
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Astronomers are currently pushing the frontiers of astronomy. At this very moment, observatories like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are visualizing the earliest stars and galaxies in the universe, which formed during a period known as the "Cosmic Dark Ages." This period was previously inaccessible to telescopes because the universe was permeated by clouds of neutral hydrogen.
As a result, the only light is visible today as relic radiation from the Big Bangthe cosmic microwave background (CMB)or as the 21 cm spectral line created by the reionization of hydrogen (aka the Hydrogen Line).
Now that the veil of the Dark Ages is being slowly pulled away, scientists are contemplating the next frontier in astronomy and cosmology by observing "primordial gravitational waves" created by the Big Bang. In recent news, it was announced that the National Science Foundation (NSF) had awarded $3.7 million to the University of Chicago, the first part of a grant that could reach up to $21.4 million. The purpose of this grant is to fund the development of next-generation telescopes that will map the CMB and the gravitational waves created in the immediate aftermath of the Big Bang.
Gravitational waves (GW), originally predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity, are ripples in spacetime caused by the merger of massive objectslike black holes and neutron stars. Scientists have also theorized that there are GWs formed during the Big Bang that could still be visible today as vibrations in the background. In collaboration with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), researchers from the CMB-S4 project University of Chicago seek to build telescopes and infrastructure in Antarctica and Chile to search for these waves.
The collaboration currently involves 450 scientists from more than 100 institutions in 20 countries. The entire project is proposed to be jointly funded by the NSG and the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE), with the NSF's portion being led by the University of Chicago, while Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will lead the DoE portion. The project is expected to cost a total of about $800 million and become operational by the early 2030s. In addition to searching for primordial GWs, these telescopes could also map the CMB in incredible detail and reveal how the universe has changed over time.
These telescopes could also help search for the elusive "dark universe" and validate our current cosmological models. John Carlstrom is the Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Distinguished Service Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Physics at UChicago and the project scientist for CMB-S4. "With these telescopes, we will be testing our theory of how our entire universe came to be, but also looking at physics at the most extreme scales in a way we simply cannot do with particle physics experiments on Earth," he said in a UChicago News statement.
Because the CMB carries information about the birth of the universe, scientists have been mapping it for decades. These include space-based telescopes like the Soviet RELIKT-1, NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE), the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), and the ESA's Planck satellite. These missions have measured small temperature anisotropies (fluctuation) in the CMB with increasing detail, providing hints about how the universe began. What is needed, however, are telescopes sensitive enough to answer the deeper cosmological questions, like whether the universe began with a burst of inflation.
To this end, the CMB-S4 will build incredibly complex instruments to map the first light of the universe from spacecraft and the ground. The array will include two new telescopes in the Chilean Atacama Plateau and nine smaller ones at the NSF's South Pole Station (SPS). The project will also rely on the South Pole Telescope, which has been operational at the SPS since 2007. Each site will play an essential role, with the telescopes in Chile conducting a wide survey of the sky to capture a more detailed picture of the CMB. Meanwhile, the telescopes at the NSF's South Pole Station would take a deep, continuous look at a smaller part of the sky.
The observations from Chile will help improve our understanding of the evolution and distribution of matter and look for relic light particles that may have existed in the early universe. Meanwhile, the telescopes in Antarctica will offer a unique look at the universe since it is here that the rest of the Earth spins around, permitting continuous observations of one section of the sky. Their combined efforts will allow astronomers to look for the ripples in spacetime that could only emerge from a space smaller than a subatomic particle suddenly expanding into a much larger volume.
Said Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory physicist Jim Strait (the project director for CMB-S4), this is an ambitious but worthwhile goal. "In many ways, the theory of inflation looks good, but most of the experimental evidence is somewhat circumstantial," he said. "Finding primordial gravitational waves would be what some people have called 'the smoking gun' for inflation."
Since these ripples would interact with the CMB and leave a distinct (but extremely faint) signature, large-scale and continuous mapping of the CMB should provide indications of their existence. The CMB-S4 should also provide clues about the nature of dark matter and dark energy. Whereas the former is theorized to account for the majority of the mass in the universe (about 69%), the latter is responsible for its accelerating rate of expansion. Furthermore, mapping primordial gravitational waves would also help scientists find the connection between the forces of gravity and quantum mechanics.
Microwave detectors are already so sensitive that measurements are dominated by background noise and local interference. Therefore, the plan is to outfit the combined CMB-S4 experiment with nearly 500,000 superconducting detectors, more than all previous experiments combined, and to greatly increase the number of measurements to provide a precise measurement of the signal level and reduce the noise. The new grant from the NSF will help fund the design of the new telescopes and site infrastructure, which will be the most complex ever built.
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New telescopes to study the aftermath of the Big Bang - Phys.org
How can queering research methods improve physics education? – Astrobites
Title: Queering methodologies in physics education research
Author: Madison Swirtz (they/them) and Ramn Barthelemy (he/him)
First Authors Institution: University of Utah, Salt Lake City
Status: Presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2022 [open access]
Physics education research (PER) is the study of how physics is taught and how to make its teaching effective for all physics students. A lot of this research involves either quantitative, i.e. counting statistics from surveys, or qualitative work, i.e. interviewing participants about their experiences. With more and more people looking into how to make physics education more equitable, diverse, and inclusive, recent research has focussed on studying underrepresented groups experiences in physics learning environments. But are the questions we are asking in PER the right questions we really need to make physics education better for minoritised students? Todays paper looks at how ideas from queer theory can be used in PER to improve the reality of physics education.
The paper defines to queer as:
to make strange, to frustrate, to counteract, to delegitimize, to camp up heteronormative knowledges and institutions.
In other words, queering encompasses both the definitions of the unexpected and non-conforming, and of resisting societys traditional ideas about gender or sexuality. Queering research methods specifically means breaking into (and apart) the approach to a research question: as being queer is existing and thinking outside mainstream heteronormative society, queering research methods means approaching a research problem from a completely different angle. Additionally, queer methods look at deconstructing how research methods yield to the heteronormative status quo prevailing in institutional academia.
This definition highlights some of the contradictions between queer theory and current methods in PER:
To count is to agree that there is a well-bounded definition.
Lived identities and experiences are often obscure and nebulous, and its hard to create finite categories to encompass all identities. How do you count everyone in a survey without leaving someone out and diminishing their experience?
To summarise and analyse is to impose your own values onto your research participants.
Understanding results from studies often requires relating these back to the perspective of the researcher. How can we empower the participants of PER studies?
To report on your findings is an attempt to assimilate yourself into the heteronormative culture of the academy.
When dealing with funding sources and institutional goals, how can researchers resist institutional status quo? How much of the structure of the academy can truly be changed to help minoritised students?
This doesnt just have to relate to research methods in PER, the paper also highlights how special relativity has queered kinematics by requiring a reconceptualisation of physics as it was known previously. Playing around, making physics strange, twisting and breaking it apart has revolutionised modern physics. Queering physics is essential for understanding our universe.
Some quantitative research can have a positive impact on diversity issues, for example a survey of the demographics of introductory physics students found that these students did not fit typically assumed categories of white men learning calculus-based physics at high-ranking universities. However, qualitative research can also cause trouble when assigning participants into categories. For example, non-binary people are often overlooked in surveys only referring to binary gender.
In queer theory, gender can be better understood as a wider combination of peoples experiences. Quantitative studies can reduce a persons whole experience to one dimension, leaving out the important intersection between identities such as how race and gender combined affect a persons experience in STEM spaces. Todays paper quotes an example of how nerd culture is often associated with a certain image restricted to white and Asian men, while it is gatekept from people who dont fit that stereotype. These are the types of identities that typical surveys do not consider but that a queer research framework can highlight.
Additionally, because physics environments are overwhelmingly male, white, heterosexual, and cisgender, a survey that averages over all identities other than gender will be biased towards white, heterosexual, and cisgender populations. This quantitative research would then, when looking at the experience of a woman in physics, result in only understanding the experience of cisgender straight white women. This leaves women of colour and transgender womens experiences unaccounted for when suggesting improvements to make in physics education.
The paper makes some suggestions that quantitative surveys need to consider: make sure surveys dont reinforce binary categories and allow self-identification so no-one is excluded; the methods should be chosen based on research goals; and the pool of participants should be sufficiently diverse and include gender non-conforming participants. In general, just as should be done in other areas of physics and astronomy research, queering quantitative research means questioning the limitations and the assumptions of the data you are studying.
In terms of qualitative research, the paper outlines some innovative research methods from previous studies. These methods particularly emphasise the effectiveness of empowering participants and giving them more control of their story, opening up the walls beyond question and response into something more expressive and personal.
These methods include basing research off of the researchers personal experiences in a reflective autoethnography, and inviting queer students of colour to photograph the places, people, and things that made them feel a sense of belonging. Other studies hold pre-interviews with participants so that the participants can understand the researchers goals, methods, and biases, while the researcher can learn to improve their own study.
Breaking down the researcher/participant binary in turn allows breaking down of power structures, allows for more honesty in qualitative research, and adds richness and complexity to these studies. The creative approach of making qualitative research fun for participants will hopefully give a new level of understanding to how students enjoy learning in physics, in turn pointing out the next improvements to make to physics education.
The paper introduces queering methods as something paradoxical; methods which are rigid, well defined, and require conformity cause tension with the definition of queering, seemingly the opposite, undefined, fluid and expansive. But when thinking of queering methods as breaking apart existing methods and exposing contradictions, new innovative discoveries can grow from these paradoxes, just like special relativity from kinematics. The queer contradiction continues in modern physics with the paradox between quantum mechanics and general relativity. Working with these contradictions both in queering physics education and queering physics concepts will pioneer the road for future research and for the experiences of future researchers.
Astrobite edited by Yoni Brande
Featured Image Credit: Art by Storm Colloms
About Storm CollomsStorm is a postgraduate researcher at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. They work on understanding populations of binary black holes and neutron stars from the gravitational wave signals emitted when they merge, and what that tells us about the lives and deaths of massive stars. Outwith astrophysics they spend their time taking digital and film photos, and making fun doodles of their research.
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How can queering research methods improve physics education? - Astrobites
Breaking the Quantum Limit: From Einstein-Bohr Debates to … – SciTechDaily
In the Barz groups experiment with a two-stage interferometer auxiliary photons are used to generate distinct measurement patterns for all four Bell states, increasing the efficiency beyond the traditional limit of 50%. Credit: Jon Heras, Cambridge Illustrators
Researchers at the University of Stuttgart have demonstrated that a key ingredient for many quantum computation and communication schemes can be performed with an efficiency that exceeds the commonly assumed upper theoretical limit thereby opening up new perspectives for a wide range of photonic quantum technologies.
Quantum science not only has revolutionized our understanding of nature, but is also inspiring groundbreaking new computing, communication, and sensor devices. Exploiting quantum effects in such quantum technologies typically requires a combination of deep insight into the underlying quantum-physical principles, systematic methodological advances, and clever engineering. And it is precisely this combination that researchers in the group of Prof. Stefanie Barz at the University of Stuttgart and the Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology (IQST) have delivered in recent study, in which they have improved the efficiency of an essential building block of many quantum devices beyond a seemingly inherent limit.
One of the protagonists in the field of quantum technologies is a property known as quantum entanglement. The first step in the development of this concept involved a passionate debate between Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr. In a nutshell, their argument was about how information can be shared across several quantum systems. Importantly, this can happen in ways that have no analog in classical physics.
The discussion that Einstein and Bohr started remained largely philosophical until the 1960s, when the physicist John Stewart Bell devised a way to resolve the disagreement experimentally. Bells framework was first explored in experiments with photons, the quanta of light. Three pioneers in this field Alain Aspect, John Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger were jointly awarded last years Nobel Prize in Physics for their groundbreaking works toward quantum technologies.
Bell himself died in 1990, but his name is immortalized not least in the so-called Bell states. These describe the quantum states of two particles that are as strongly entangled as is possible. There are four Bell states in all, and Bell-state measurements which determine which of the four states a quantum system is in are an essential tool for putting quantum entanglement to practical use. Perhaps most famously, Bell-state measurements are the central component in quantum teleportation, which in turn makes most quantum communication and quantum computation possible.
The experimental setup consists exclusively of so-called linear components, such as mirrors, beam splitters, and waveplates, which ensures scalability. Credit: La Rici Photography
But there is a problem: when experiments are performed using conventional optical elements, such as mirrors, beam splitters, and waveplates, then two of the four Bell states have identical experimental signatures and are therefore indistinguishable from each other. This means that the overall probability of success (and thus the success rate of, say, a quantum-teleportation experiment) is inherently limited to 50 percent if only such linear optical components are used. Or is it?
This is where the work of the Barz group comes in. As they recently reported in the journal Science Advances, doctoral researchers Matthias Bayerbach and Simone DAurelio carried out Bell-state measurements in which they achieved a success rate of 57.9 percent. But how did they reach an efficiency that should have been unattainable with the tools available?
Their outstanding result was made possible by using two additional photons in tandem with the entangled photon pair. It has been known in theory that such auxiliary photons offer a way to perform Bell-state measurements with an efficiency beyond 50 percent. However, experimental realization has remained elusive. One reason for this is that sophisticated detectors are needed that resolve the number of photons impinging on them.
Bayerbach and DAurelio overcame this challenge by using 48 single-photon detectors operating in near-perfect synchrony to detect the precise states of up to four photons arriving at the detector array. With this capability, the team was able to detect distinct photon-number distributions for each Bell state albeit with some overlap for the two originally indistinguishable states, which is why the efficiency could not exceed 62.5 percent, even in theory. But the 50-percent barrier has been busted. Furthermore, the probability of success can, in principle, be arbitrarily close to 100 percent, at the cost of having to add a higher number of ancilla photons.
Also, the most sophisticated experiment is plagued by imperfections, and this reality has to be taken into account when analyzing the data and predicting how the technique would work for larger systems. The Stuttgart researchers therefore teamed up with Prof. Dr. Peter van Loock, a theorist at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz and one of the architects of the ancilla-assisted Bell-state measurement scheme. Van Loock and Barz are both members of the BMBF-funded PhotonQ collaboration, which brings together academic and industrial partners from across Germany working towards the realization of a specific type of photonic quantum computer. The improved Bell-state measurement scheme is now one of the first fruits of this collaborative endeavor.
Although the increase in efficiency from 50 to 57.9 percent may seem modest, it provides an enormous advantage in scenarios where a number of sequential measurements need to be made, for example in long-distance quantum communication. For such upscaling, it is essential that the linear-optics platform has a relatively low instrumental complexity compared to other approaches.
Methods such as those now established by the Barz group extend our toolset to make good use of quantum entanglement in practice opportunities that are being explored extensively within the local quantum community in Stuttgart and in Baden-Wrttemberg, under the umbrella of initiatives such as the long-standing research partnership IQST and the recently inaugurated network QuantumBW.
Reference: Bell-state measurement exceeding 50% success probability with linear optics by Matthias J. Bayerbach, Simone E. DAurelio, Peter van Loock and Stefanie Barz, 9 August 2023, Science Advances.DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adf4080
The work was supported by the Carl Zeiss Foundation, the Centre for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology (IQST), the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, projects SiSiQ and PhotonQ), and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK, project PlanQK).
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Breaking the Quantum Limit: From Einstein-Bohr Debates to ... - SciTechDaily
A deep look into the dipolar quantum world – Phys.org
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In a new collaboration, two research groups, one led by Francesca Ferlaino and one by Markus Greiner, have joined force to develop an advanced quantum gas microscope for magnetic quantum matter. This state-of-the-art instrument reveals intricate dipolar quantum phases shaped by the interactions as reported in Nature.
Magnetic atoms are central to Ferlaino's research on unexplored quantum matter. At both the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Department of Experimental Physics at the University of Innsbruck, the experimental physicist and her team achieved the first Bose-Einstein condensate of erbium in 2012. In 2019, she led one of the teams observing for the first time supersolid states in ultracold quantum gases of magnetic atoms.
At Harvard University, German experimental physicist Markus Greiner is the pioneer of optical techniques allowing for the direct observation of individual atoms. Using high-resolution microscopy, the Harvard team has unveiled many exotic phenomena in strongly correlated ultracold atoms, as anti-ferromagnetic phases in 2017.
A few years ago, Ferlaino and Greiner combined their expertise to construct a quantum gas microscope tailored for magnetic atoms, aiming to access yet new phenomena. "Owing to their pronounced magnetic nature, these particles exert influence over greater distances compared to their non-magnetic counterparts, and their effects are consistently directional," Ferlaino notes. "The unique properties of these particles open up interaction regime in quantum gases unobservable in traditional experiments, granting fresh perspectives on solid-state behavior."
The research teams collaborated for years to develop and build two new experiments, one in Austria and one in the U.S. Presently, both Harvard and Innsbruck are equipped with quantum gas microscopes tailored for dipolar quantum gases.
This technology is combined with laser beams to create a light crystal where erbium atoms, cooled to near absolute zero, nest. Magnetic fields reorient these particles, providing control over their long-range, dipolar interactions. With the microscope's lens nested within the glass vacuum cell, the entire arrangement evokes the imagery of a ship inside a bottle.
In Nature, Greiner's group now presents the first results of experimental work on the new platform. The researchers have demonstrated the ability to produce varied dipolar quantum solids from superfluid phases by adjusting the interactions between particles. Distinct patterns manifest in the microscope, ranging from stripes and checkerboards to diagonal lines. "In this context, the long-range dipolar interactions among particles determine the phase of the quantum matter, with the light crystal's organizing power being broken," says Ferlaino.
At the heart of this breakthrough was many years of close collaboration between two experimental research groups across an ocean. The joint work now facilitates simulations of quantum systems with long-range, dipolar interactions, laying the groundwork for a novel understanding of quantum matter. "Such simulations offer intriguing perspectives on phenomena governed by these interactions, like ferromagnetism," notes Ferlaino.
More information: Lin Su et al, Dipolar quantum solids emerging in a Hubbard quantum simulator, Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06614-3
Maximilian Sohmen et al, A ship-in-a-bottle quantum gas microscope for magnetic mixtures, arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2306.05404
Journal information: Nature , arXiv
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Scientists demonstrate the existence of a universal lower bound on topological entanglement entropy – Phys.org
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In a new study, scientists from the US and Taiwan have theoretically demonstrated the existence of a universal lower bound on topological entanglement entropy, which is always non-negative. The findings are published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
Quantum systems are bizarre and follow their own rules, with quantum states telling us everything we know about that system. Topological entanglement entropy (TEE) is a measure that provides insights into emergent non-local phenomena and entanglement in quantum systems with topological properties.
Given the fundamental role of quantum entanglement in quantum computing and various information applications, understanding TEE becomes essential for gaining insights into the behavior of quantum systems.
In quantum systems, it's often observed that the entanglement entropies follow an area law. This means that the entanglement between particles or regions is related to the area of the boundary that separates them. TEE is a specific term within the entanglement entropy that provides additional information. It's like a correction term that characterizes the topological phase of the system.
In condensed matter physics, a topological phase refers to a specific state of matter characterized by unique topological properties. These properties are associated with the behavior of particles within the material, such as anyons, and can be distinguished by their TEE values.
"TEE is a fascinating thing. By computing the entanglement entropy from a single ground state, we can learn the number of species of anyons (emergent particles that are neither boson nor fermion) of the phase of matter. It came out 18 years ago. I believe many people got inspiration from it. The research area I work on may not exist without these early works," Dr. Bowen Shi, lead author of the study, told Phys.org.
In many models, TEE is thought to have a universal value that characterizes the properties of the underlying topological phase. However, this is not always the case. TEE can differ between two states that are related by constant-depth circuits. These circuits are a specific type of quantum circuit operation that performs a series of quantum gates or transformations in a way that restricts their depth, meaning the number of sequential operations.
The key idea is that these circuits manipulate quantum states, and according to the theory, states related by such circuits should be in the same phase because the operations don't significantly alter the underlying physics.
However, this isn't always the case, and the variations in TEE between such states are often referred to as spurious TEE.
Dr. Shi underscores the transformative power of TEE, saying, "The first time I read the original TEE papers, I was in graduate school studying particle physics. Now, I study emergent particles, where certain properties naturally emerge with large degrees of freedom. My collaborators and I argued that we can now use a single wave function and the entanglement area law to predict the emergence of anyons and the correct TEE value."
Essentially, they have a tool for understanding and predicting the behavior of emergent particles and their entanglement characteristics.
The researchers wanted to understand the reliability of extracting universal properties from a ground-state wave function. To explore this, they focused on two-dimensional (2D) gapped ground states.
These states exist in 2D systems, such as thin films or 2D materials, and are characterized by an energy gap that separates the ground state from higher-energy excited states. This energy gap ensures the stability and well-defined nature of the ground state, making it an ideal platform for investigating TEE.
Following this, they introduced noise to the gapped ground states using a constant-depth circuit. This noise is akin to perturbations or disturbances in the system. They aimed to observe how the spurious TEE changed when the gapped ground state was perturbed. What they found was truly remarkable.
"We found that the new state must extract a larger value of TEE than the state without noise. In other words, the so-called spurious topological entanglement entropy is always non-negative," explained Dr. Shi.
This basically means there is a universal lower bound on TEE, which is consistently non-negative. In simple terms, the entanglement entropy within these 2D gapped ground states remains non-negative, regardless of the perturbations introduced by the constant-depth circuit.
Dr. Shi compared this to a glass being always lighter once we wipe away the dust on its surface. Wiping away dust from a glass doesn't make it heavier but rather reveals its true weight. Similarly, adding noise doesn't decrease the TEE but reveals an additional, non-negative TEE in the system.
Furthermore, the researchers made an important observation: TEE is invariant under constant-depth quantum circuits. This makes it a useful tool for understanding the underlying topological phase of the ground state.
Speaking of the potential practical implications of their research, Dr. Shi said, "TEE computation is essential for identifying a material's underlying phase. Previous studies revealed that TEE formula failure in noisy states introduced uncertainty in results. Our lower bound reduces half of this uncertainty, offering practical value. With the rise of quantum computing and preparation of quantum states, our findings may also aid in these states."
The discovery of a universal lower bound on TEE, which is always non-negative, underscores the robustness of this entanglement measure even in the presence of perturbations introduced by constant-depth circuits.
There are still uncharted territories in this field. The researchers have laid the foundation for further investigations, such as exploring the generality of noise's impact on spurious TEE, specifically the role of constant-depth circuits, and delving into the behavior of TEE at finite temperatures.
These open questions promise exciting prospects for future research in the study of quantum systems.
More information: Isaac H. Kim et al, Universal Lower Bound on Topological Entanglement Entropy, Physical Review Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.166601
Journal information: Physical Review Letters
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Distorted crystals: A revolution in 6G, quantum gravity research – IndiaTimes
NEW DELHI: A new type of crystal has been found to manipulate light in a manner reminiscent of the gravitational forces exerted by black holes. This phenomenon, termed "pseudogravity," opens the door to potential applications in 6G communication technology and offers new possibilities for exploring quantum gravity, reported Space.com The findings of this study were recently published in the prestigious journal Physical Review A.The research team, led by Kyoko Kitamura, a professor in the graduate school of engineering at Tohoku University in Japan, embarked on this study by working with photonic crystals which are crystals with a regular, grid-like structure composed of two or more arrangements, capable of slowing down the speed of light passing through them. The team initiated their experimentation by deliberately distorting these photonic crystals, disrupting their crystalline lattice, and then directed beams of light through the crystals, closely monitoring the light's deflection.Kitamura elaborated on the significance of their findings, explaining, "Much like gravity bends the trajectory of objects, we came up with a means to bend light within certain materials."The ability to manipulate light in this manner offers a potential pathway for the development of next-generation communication technology, specifically for 6G networks. These networks demand the transmission of information wirelessly at ultrahigh speeds, operating in the terahertz range (above 100 gigahertz). This is a significant leap beyond the capabilities of current 5G technology, which maxes out at 71 gigahertz. Researchers anticipate that creative manipulation of light is a key approach to achieving these frequencies, thereby revolutionising wireless communication.The applications of this newfound crystal are not limited to telecommunications. Study co-author Masayuki Fujita, an associate professor at Osaka University in Japan, highlighted the academic significance of the research. He said that these photonic crystals could potentially harness gravitational effects, opening up fresh opportunities within the field of graviton physics.Gravitons, hypothetical quantum particles that mediate the force of gravity, remain elusive to observation. Scientists have yet to fully conceptualise the properties and characteristics of these theoretical particles. Nonetheless, this research takes a step toward unravelling the mysteries of quantum gravity, potentially uniting quantum mechanics with Albert Einstein's theory of relativity.
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Distorted crystals: A revolution in 6G, quantum gravity research - IndiaTimes
How These Nobel-Winning Physicists Explored Tiny Glimpses of Time – WIRED
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine.
To catch a glimpse of the subatomic worlds unimaginably fleet-footed particles, you need to produce unimaginably brief flashes of light. Anne LHuillier, Pierre Agostini, and Ferenc Krausz have shared the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics for their pioneering work in developing the ability to illuminate reality on almost inconceivably brief timescales.
Between the 1980s and the early 2000s, the three physicists developed techniques for producing laser pulses lasting mere attosecondsperiods billions of billions of times briefer than a second. When viewed in such short flashes, the world slows down. The beat of a hummingbirds wings becomes an eternity. Even the incessant buzzing of atoms becomes sluggish. On the attosecond timescale, physicists can directly detect the motion of electrons themselves as they flit around atoms, skipping from place to place.
The ability to generate attosecond pulses of light has opened the door on a tinyextremely tinytimescale. It has also opened the door to the world of electrons, said Eva Olsson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics and a physicist at the Chalmers University of Technology.
In addition to being a fundamentally new way of studying electrons, this method for viewing the world in ultraslow motion may lead to a host of applications. Mats Larsson, a member of the Nobel committee, credited the technique with launching the field of attochemistry, or the ability to manipulate individual electrons using light. Shoot attosecond laser pulses at a semiconductor, he continued, and the material almost instantaneously snaps from blocking the flow of electricity to conducting electricity, potentially allowing for the production of ultrafast electronic devices. And Krausz, one of this years laureates, is also attempting to harness the power of attosecond pulses to detect subtle changes in blood cells that could indicate the early stages of cancer.
The world of the ultrafast is entirely different from our own, butdue to the work of LHuillier, Agostini, Krausz, and other researchersit is one that is just coming into view.
What Is An Attosecond?
One attosecond is one-quintillionth of a second, or 0.000000000000000001 seconds. More attoseconds pass in the span of one second than there are seconds that have passed since the birth of the universe.
Illustration: Merrill Sherman/Quanta Magazine
To clock the movements of planets, we think in days, months, and years. To measure a human running the 100-meter dash, we use seconds or hundredths of a second. But as we dive deep into the submicroscopic world, objects move faster. To measure near-instantaneous movements, such as the dance of electrons, we need stopwatches with far finer tick marks: attoseconds.
In 1925, Werner Heisenberg, one of the pioneers of quantum mechanics, argued that the time it takes an electron to circle a hydrogen atom is unobservable. In a sense, he was correct. Electrons dont orbit an atomic nucleus the way planets orbit stars. Rather, physicists understand them as waves of probability that give their odds of being observed at a certain place and time, so we cant measure an electron literally flying through space.
But in another sense, Heisenberg underestimated the ingenuity of 20th-century physicists like LHuillier, Agostini, and Krausz. The odds of the electron being here or there shift from moment to moment, from attosecond to attosecond. And with the ability to create attosecond laser pulses that can interact with electrons as they evolve, researchers can directly probe various electron behaviors.
How Do Physicists Produce Attosecond Pulses?
In the 1980s, Ahmed Zewail at the California Institute of Technology developed the ability to make lasers strobe with pulses lasting a few femtosecondsthousands of attoseconds. These blips, which earned Zewail the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, were enough to allow researchers to study how chemical reactions unfold between atoms in molecules. The advance was billed as the worlds fastest camera.
For a time, a faster camera seemed unattainable. It wasnt clear how to make light oscillate any more quickly. But in 1987, Anne LHuillier and her collaborators made an intriguing observation: If you shine a light on certain gases, their atoms will become excited and reemit additional colors of light that oscillate many times faster than the original laseran effect known as overtones. LHuilliers group found that in gases like argon, some of these extra colors appeared brighter than others, but in an unexpected pattern. At first, physicists werent sure what to make of this phenomenon.
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How These Nobel-Winning Physicists Explored Tiny Glimpses of Time - WIRED
The Rise of Quantum Computing: Unleashing the Power of the … – Medium
In the vast landscape of technology, one innovation stands out as a cosmic leap forward Quantum Computing. Its not just a new chapter; its a new universe in computing. Imagine a world where complex problems are solved in the blink of an eye, where encryption is unbreakable, and where simulations can unveil the deepest secrets of the cosmos. In this article, well embark on a journey through the quantum frontier, exploring the incredible potential of quantum computing and its far-reaching impact.
At the heart of quantum computing are quantum bits or qubits. Unlike classical bits that can be either 0 or 1, qubits can exist in multiple states simultaneously, thanks to the principles of quantum mechanics. This property enables quantum computers to perform mind-boggling calculations.
Quantum computers excel in solving problems that have stumped classical computers for centuries. From optimizing supply chains and drug discovery to simulating quantum materials and predicting climate change, quantum computers are redefining whats possible.
One of the most exciting applications of quantum computing is in the realm of cryptography. Quantum computers have the potential to break current encryption methods, but they also offer the possibility of quantum-safe encryption thats virtually unbreakable.
Quantum computers are like cosmic simulators, capable of modeling complex quantum systems with incredible precision. Theyre unlocking the mysteries of quantum mechanics, aiding research in materials science, chemistry, and fundamental physics.
Quantum computing is not just faster; its exponentially faster. Problems that would take classical computers millennia to solve can be cracked by quantum computers in seconds, opening up new frontiers in innovation.
As quantum computing continues to advance, its poised to revolutionize industries from finance and healthcare to logistics and artificial intelligence. Its not just a tool; its a catalyst for innovation.
The race to develop quantum computing is a global endeavor. Governments, research institutions, and tech giants are investing heavily in quantum research, fostering collaboration and competition that will drive progress.
Were standing on the brink of a new era in computing. The quantum era promises to transform the way we live, work, and explore the universe, unlocking opportunities and answers that were once beyond our grasp.
Join the conversation on the quantum frontier, and stay tuned for updates as we journey into the uncharted territory of quantum computing.
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The Rise of Quantum Computing: Unleashing the Power of the ... - Medium
With CU Boulder as hub, quantum leaders develop workforce … – University of Colorado Boulder
Leaders from Colorados growing quantum ecosystem convened on campus last week to roll up their sleeves and begin mapping out a roadmap for workforce development in this new and growing field.
Gov. Jared Polis kicked off the Friday morning event, attended by state legislators, leaders representing higher education, industry, government and skill-building organizations.
CU President Todd Saliman speaks with attendees
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis addresses attendees
Margaret Murnane, a quantum physicist, MacArthur Award winner and CU Boulder distinguished professor
I am really looking forward to the conversations and ideas that come out of this convening, Polis said. We need to make sure we are a leader in workforce (development); and make Colorado the leading quantum ecosystemnot just in the nation, but in the world.
Also Friday, Polis issued a press release sharing a bipartisan letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo and the Department of Commerce to formalize support for the Elevate Quantum Consortium in Colorado and its designation by the Economic Development Administration (EDA) as a Regional Technology Hub in Advanced Energy focused on quantum information science.
Colorado is an undisputed leader in quantum research and technology translation and this designation will leverage our existing assets to help take Colorado and the quantum industry to the next level, the letter stated.
CU Boulder hosted Fridays event with support from Colorado's Office of Economic Development and International Trade to identify needs and develop a vision for a Colorado Quantum Education and Workforce Roadmap.
The days events included: opening remarks by Polis, CU President Todd Saliman and Corban Tillemann-Dick, founder and CEO of Maybell Quantum; a keynote from Corey Stambaugh of NIST; and panels on how to grow partnerships between industry, higher ed and national labs, and another on developing partnerships within the quantum ecosystem itself. Afternoon sessions brought together academic and industry leaders to identify gaps in quantum workforce training and build a vision that can enable a new and growing Colorado quantum industry ecosystem to thrive.
CU Boulder has long been recognized as a global leader in quantum research and education, and has produced four Nobel Prize winners in related fields. The workforce convening is among the programs covered by a new grant awarded by the state of Colorados Economic Development Commission.
The commission also funded two seed grants to the tune of $1.4 million over three years administered by CU Boulders CUbit Quantum Initiative that can be used by any Colorado research institution or industry partner, thus expanding the quantum ecosystems regional footprint.
The goal of these grants is that they incentivize innovation and get quantum out of the lab and into the marketplace. Quantum science has many future practical applications in engineering, medicine, materials, energy and more.
Tillemann-Dick, possibly the states most vocal quantum advocate, said he imagines a day when you go to the doctor, get a blood draw, a quick drug trial and a prescription for the perfect regimen of medicine for youwith no side effects. (He admits that day may be a way off, but in our lifetimes.)
Speakers noted that quantum jobs are diverse and inclusive and not only for people with doctorates. Because so much quantum hardware gets built here, many of the quantum jobs are for welders, machinists, solderers and techniciansin addition to those who do the fundamental science girding the field and those who start quantum businesses.
Discoveries in quantum science and technology are driving new applications and ultimately new horizons for humanity by advancing human health; position, navigation and timing technologies; sustainable energy and climate solutions; and advanced materials, said Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation and Dean of the Institutes Massimo Ruzzene.
Discovery, development and implementation of these innovative applications requires a range of partners with diverse capabilitiesthe state of Colorado has a unique partner ecosystem that can make all of this possible.
The national quantum economic landscape is experiencing rapid growth across the country, thanks to significant large public- and private-sector investments across industries.
To be well-positioned for large regional grants through the CHIPs Act or other federal legislation, Colorado is strategically building a strong quantum ecosystem that includes increasing the number of spinoff companies built from innovation coming out of Colorados research labs, as well as creating an organized system of education pipeline and workforce development.
The Colorado/Denver metro area and Front Range has the largest density of quantum industry in the U.S.
CU Boulders CUbit Quantum Initiative sits in the middle of it all. Pronounced q-bit, CUbit is an interdisciplinary hub for quantum research. Built to focus the nexus of CU Boulder, the National Institute of Standards and Technologys physics division (as a core component of JILA) and quantum-focused companies, CUbits mission is to advance fundamental science and build a strong foundation for novel quantum technologies and their rapid dissemination, application and commercialization.
This is an amazing opportunity for our state, CU President Todd Saliman said. Weve got the bones right here in Colorado when it comes to quantum.
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With CU Boulder as hub, quantum leaders develop workforce ... - University of Colorado Boulder
Quantum computer works with more than zero and one – Mirage News
For decades computers have been synonymous with binary information - zeros and ones. Now a team at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, realized a quantum computer that breaks out of this paradigm and unlocks additional computational resources, hidden in almost all of today's quantum devices.
We all learn from early on that computers work with zeros and ones, also known as binary information. This approach has been so successful that computers now power everything from coffee machines to self-driving cars and it is hard to imagine a life without them.
Building on this success, today's quantum computers are also designed with binary information processing in mind. "The building blocks of quantum computers, however, are more than just zeros and ones", explains Martin Ringbauer, an experimental physicist from Innsbruck, Austria. "Restricting them to binary systems prevents these devices from living up to their true potential."
The team led by Thomas Monz at the Department of Experimental Physics at the University of Innsbruck, now succeeded in developing a quantum computer that can perform arbitrary calculations with so-called quantum digits (qudits), thereby unlocking more computational power with fewer quantum particles. The study was published in Nature Physics.
Although storing information in zeros and ones is not the most efficient way of doing calculations, it is the simplest way. Simple often also means reliable and robust to errors and so binary information has become the unchallenged standard for classical computers.
In the quantum world, the situation is quite different. In the Innsbruck quantum computer, for example, information is stored in individual trapped Calcium atoms. Each of these atoms naturally has eight different states, of which typically only two are used to store information. Indeed, almost all existing quantum computers have access to more quantum states than they use for computation.
The physicists from Innsbruck now developed a quantum computer that can make use of the full potential of these atoms, by computing with qudits. Contrary to the classical case, using more states does not make the computer less reliable. "Quantum systems naturally have more than just two states and we showed that we can control them all equally well", says Thomas Monz.
On the flipside, many of the tasks that need quantum computers, such as problems in physics, chemistry, or material science, are also naturally expressed in the qudit language. Rewriting them for qubits can often make them too complicated for today's quantum computers. "Working with more than zeros and ones is very natural, not only for the quantum computer but also for its applications, allowing us to unlock the true potential of quantum systems", explains Martin Ringbauer.
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Quantum computer works with more than zero and one - Mirage News