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Category: particle physics – Page 356

The best of both worlds: Combining classical and quantum systems to meet supercomputing demands

Quantum entanglement is one of the most fundamental and intriguing phenomena in nature. Recent research on entanglement has proven to be a valuable resource for quantum communication and information processing. Now, scientists from Japan have discovered a stable quantum entangled state of two protons on a silicon surface, opening doors to an organic union of classical and quantum computing platforms and potentially strengthening the future of quantum technology.

One of the most interesting phenomena in quantum mechanics is “quantum entanglement.” This phenomenon describes how certain particles are inextricably linked, such that their states can only be described with reference to each other. This particle interaction also forms the basis of quantum computing. And this is why, in recent years, physicists have looked for techniques to generate entanglement. However, these techniques confront a number of engineering hurdles, including limitations in creating large number of “qubits” (quantum bits, the basic unit of quantum information), the need to maintain extremely low temperatures (1 K), and the use of ultrapure materials. Surfaces or interfaces are crucial in the formation of quantum entanglement. Unfortunately, electrons confined to surfaces are prone to “decoherence,” a condition in which there is no defined phase relationship between the two distinct states.

Multiparty entanglement: When everything is connected

Entanglement is an ubiquitous concept in modern physics research: it occurs in subjects ranging from quantum gravity to quantum computing. In a publication that appeared in Physical Review Letters last week, UvA-IoP physicist Michael Walter and his collaborator Sepehr Nezami shed new light on the properties of quantum entanglement—in particular, for cases in which many particles are involved.

In the quantum world, physical phenomena occur that we never observe in our large scale everyday world. One of these phenomena is quantum entanglement, where two or more quantum systems share certain properties in a way that affects measurements on the systems. The famous example is that of two electrons that can be entangled in such a way that—even when taken very far apart—they can be observed to spin in the same direction, say clockwise or counterclockwise, despite the fact that the spinning direction of neither of the individual electrons can be predicted beforehand.

Graphene scientists capture first images of atoms ‘swimming’ in liquid

Graphene scientists from The University of Manchester have created a novel “nano-petri dish” using two-dimensional (2D) materials to create a new method of observing how atoms move in liquid.

Publishing in the journal Nature, the team led by researchers based at the National Graphene Institute (NGI) used stacks of 2D materials like graphene to trap liquid in order to further understand how the presence of liquid changes the behavior of the solid.

The team were able to capture images of single atoms “swimming” in liquid for the first time. The findings could have widespread impact on the future development of green technologies such as hydrogen production.

The other end of a black hole — with James Beacham

What would happen if you fell into a black hole? Join James Beacham, particle physicist at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, as he explores what happens when the fabric of reality – physical or societal – gets twisted beyond recognition.

Watch the Q&A with James here: https://youtu.be/Q37oEB4bNSI
Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe.

James Beacham searches for answers to the biggest open questions of physics using the largest experiment ever, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. He hunts for dark matter, gravitons, quantum black holes, and dark photons as a member of the ATLAS collaboration, one of the teams that discovered the Higgs boson in 2012.

In addition to his research, he is a frequent keynote speaker about science, innovation, the future of technology, and art at events and venues around the world, including the American Museum of Natural History, the Royal Institution, SXSW, and the BBC, as well as private events for companies and corporations, including KPMG, Bain, Dept Agency, and many others.

This talk was recorded at the Royal Institution on 28 October 2021.

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NOTHING: The Science of Emptiness

Why is there something rather than nothing? And what does ‘nothing’ really mean? More than a philosophical musing, understanding nothing may be the key to unlocking deep mysteries of the universe, from dark energy to why particles have mass. Journalist John Hockenberry hosts Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek, esteemed cosmologist John Barrow, and leading physicists Paul Davies and George Ellis as they explore physics, philosophy and the nothing they share.

This program is part of the Big Ideas Series, made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation.

The World Science Festival gathers great minds in science and the arts to produce live and digital content that allows a broad general audience to engage with scientific discoveries. Our mission is to cultivate a general public informed by science, inspired by its wonder, convinced of its value, and prepared to engage with its implications for the future.

Visit our Website: http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/
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Original Program Date: June 12, 2009
MODERATOR: John Hockenberry.
PARTICIPANTS: George Ellis, Frank Wilczek, John Barrow, Paul Davies.

Introduction 00:00

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Eternal Matter Waves: Physicists Build Atom Laser That Can Stay On Forever

These days, imagining our everyday life without lasers is difficult. Lasers are used in printers, CD players, measuring devices, pointers, and so on.

What makes lasers so special is that they use coherent waves of light: all the light inside a laser vibrates completely in sync. Meanwhile, quantum mechanics tells us that particles like atoms should also be thought of as waves. As a result, we can build ‘atom.

An atom is the smallest component of an element. It is made up of protons and neutrons within the nucleus, and electrons circling the nucleus.

Scientists calculate the risk of someone being killed by space junk

The chance of someone being killed by space junk falling from the sky may seem ridiculously tiny. After all, nobody has yet died from such an accident, though there have been instances of injury and damage to property. But given that we are launching an increasing number of satellites, rockets, and probes into space, do we need to start taking the risk more seriously?

A new study, published in Nature Astronomy, has estimated the chance of causalities from falling rocket parts over the next ten years.

Every minute of every day, debris rains down on us from space – a hazard we are almost completely unaware of. The microscopic particles from asteroids and comets patter down through the atmosphere to settle unnoticed on the Earth’s surface – adding up to around 40,000 tonnes of dust each year.

Octonions —“May Harbor Secrets of the Universe”

“The final theory of nature must be octonionic,” observed Michael Atiyah, a British mathematician who united mathematics and physics during the 1960s in a way not seen since the days of Isaac Newton.

“Octonions are to physics what the Sirens were to Ulysses,” Pierre Ramond, a particle physicist and string theorist at the University of Florida, said to Natalie Walchover for Quanta.

Many physicists and mathematicians over the decades suspected that the peculiar panoply of forces and particles that comprise reality spring logically from the properties of eight-dimensional numbers called “octonions.” Proof surfaced in 1,898, writes Walchover in Quanta, that the reals, complex numbers, quaternions and octonions are the only kinds of numbers that can be added, subtracted, multiplied and divided.

‘Neutrino factories’ could hold the solution to the cosmic ray mystery

This is because cosmic rays consist of electrically charged particles, meaning as they journey billions of light-years from their source to Earth, they are repeatedly deflected by the magnetic fields of galaxies, making their sources impossible to spot.

Related: High-Energy ‘Ghost Particle’ Traced to Distant Galaxy in Astronomy Breakthrough

Some of the processes and events that launch cosmic rays also blast out astrophysical neutrinos, and these ‘ghost-like’ particles could be used as ‘messengers’ to solve this puzzle, a team of astrophysicists believes.