Lifeboat Foundation

Circa 2018

The symmetries that govern the world of elementary particles at the most elementary level could be radically different from what has so far been thought. This surprising conclusion emerges from new work published by theoreticians from Warsaw and Potsdam. The scheme they posit unifies all the forces of nature in a way that is consistent with existing observations and anticipates the existence of new particles with unusual properties, which may even be present in our close environs.

For half a century, physicists have been trying to construct a theory that brings together all four fundamental forces of nature, describes the known elementary particles and predicts the existence of new ones. So far these attempts have not found experimental confirmation and the Standard Model — an old and surely incomplete, but still surprisingly effective theoretical construct — has successfully remained in use for years as our best description of the quantum world. In a recent paper in Physical Review Letters, Prof. Krzysztof Meissner from the Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, and Prof. Hermann Nicolai from the Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik in Potsdam have presented a new scheme generalizing the Standard Model that incorporates gravitation into the description. The shortcomings of previous attempts were overcome through the application of a kind of symmetry not previously used in the description of elementary particles.

In physics, symmetries are understood somewhat differently than in the colloquial sense of the word. For instance, note that whether we drop a ball from the same spot now or one minute from now, it will still fall in the same way. That is a manifestation of a certain symmetry: the laws of physics remain unchanged with respect to shifts in time. Similarly, we can drop the ball while standing and facing once in a southward direction, once westward, or we can drop it from the same height in one location, then another. The ball will still fall in the same way in both cases, which means that the laws of physics are symmetrical also with respect to the operations of rotation and spatial displacement, respectively.

A team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, have discovered a new method that could be used to build quantum sensors with ultra-high precision.

When individual atoms emit light, they do so in discrete packets called photons.

When this light is measured, this discrete or ‘granular’ nature leads to especially low fluctuations in its brightness, as two or more photons are never emitted at the same time.

Mikel Sanz, of the Physical Chemistry Department of UPV/EHU, leads the theoretical group for an experiment published by the prestigious journal, Nature Communications. The experiment has managed to prepare a remote quantum state; i.e., absolutely secure communication was established with another, physically separated quantum computer for the first time in the microwave regime. This new technology may bring about a revolution in the next few years.

Within the greater European project of the Quantum Flagship, spearheaded by Mikel Sanz—researcher of the QUTIS Group of the UPV/EHU Physical Chemistry Department—an experiment has been conducted in collaboration with German and Japanese researchers who have managed to develop a protocol for preparing a remote quantum state while conducting communication in the microwave regime, “which is the frequency at which all quantum computers operate. This is the first time the possibility of doing so in this range has been examined, which may bring about a revolution in the next few years in the field of secure quantum communication and quantum microwave radars,” lead researcher in this project Mikel Sanz observes.

The preparation of a remote quantum state (known as remote state preparation) is based on the phenomenon of quantum entanglement, where sets of entangled particles lose their individuality and behave as single entities, even when spatially separated. “Thus, if two computers share this quantum correlation, performing operations on only one of them can affect the other. Absolutely secure communication can be achieved,” Sanz explains.

Move aside, electrons; it’s time to make way for the trion.

A research team led by physicists at the University of California, Riverside, has observed, characterized, and controlled dark trions in a semiconductor—ultraclean single-layer tungsten diselenide (WSe₂)—a feat that could increase the capacity and alter the form of information transmission.

In a semiconductor, such as WSe₂, a trion is a quantum bound state of three charged particles. A negative trion contains two electrons and one hole; a positive trion contains two holes and one electron. A hole is the vacancy of an electron in a semiconductor, which behaves like a positively charged particle. Because a trion contains three interacting particles, it can carry much more information than a single electron.

Physicists at the University of Innsbruck are proposing a new model that could demonstrate the supremacy of quantum computers over classical supercomputers in solving optimization problems. In a recent paper, they demonstrate that just a few quantum particles would be sufficient to solve the mathematically difficult N-queens problem in chess even for large chess boards.

Some of you are going to want to use this tech.

In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from University of Toronto have demonstrated a novel and non-invasive way to manipulate cells through microrobotics.

Cell manipulation—moving small particles from one place to another—is an integral part of many scientific endeavours. One method of manipulating cells is through optoelectronic tweezers (OET), which use various light patterns to directly interact with the object of interest.

Continue reading “Microrobots to change the way we work with cellular material” »

Even in the strange world of open quantum systems, the arrow of time points steadily forward—most of the time. New experiments conducted at Washington University in St. Louis compare the forward and reverse trajectories of superconducting circuits called qubits, and find that they follow the second law of thermodynamics. The research is published July 9 in the journal Physical Review Letters.

“When you look at a quantum system, the act of measuring usually changes the way it behaves,” said Kater Murch, associate professor of physics in Arts & Sciences. “Imagine shining light on a small particle. The photons end up pushing it around and there is a dynamic associated with the measurement process alone.

Continue reading “Characterizing the ‘arrow of time’ in open quantum systems” »

A trio of researchers affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. and Canada has found evidence that suggests nuclear material beneath the surface of neutron stars may be the strongest material in the universe. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, M. E. Caplan, A. Schneider, and C. J. Horowitz describe their neutron star simulation and what it showed.

Prior research has shown that when stars reach a certain age, they explode and collapse into a mass of neutrons; hence the name neutron star. And because they lose their neutrinos, neutron stars become extremely densely packed. Prior research has also found evidence that suggests the surface of such stars is so dense that the material would be incredibly strong. In this new effort, the researchers report evidence suggesting that the material just below the surface is even stronger.

Astrophysicists have theorized that as a neutron star settles into its new configuration, densely packed neutrons are pushed and pulled in different ways, resulting in formation of various shapes below the surface. Many of the theorized shapes take on the names of pasta, because of the similarities. Some have been named gnocchi, for example, others spaghetti or lasagna. Caplan, Schneider and Horowitz wondered about the density of these formations—would they be denser and thus stronger even than material on the crust? To find out, they created some computer simulations.

Imagine a world where everything is exactly the same as this one but no one knows of its existence, even though it could be staring you right in the face. These are called mirror universes — a parallel world in a different time space. While this prospect may seem a bit fetched to many, Leah Broussard believes that these parallel universes are actually very real. In fact, she, along with her colleagues at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, is on the hunt for a mirror universe and plans on opening portals to them.

Broussard is attempting to open a portal to a parallel universe by, what she calls “oscillation” which would eventually lead her to mirror matter. To conduct these experiments during the upcoming summer, Broussard will send a beam of subatomic particles down a 50-foot tunnel, past a powerful magnet, and into an impenetrable wall.

So what’s the point of that? Well, if the setup is just right, some of those particles will transform into mirror-image versions of themselves, allowing them to tunnel right through the wall. If it works, this would be the first proof of a mirror universe. The whole experiment will only take around a day but analyzing the data will take many weeks afterward. Either way, it won’t be long before the results are published.