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Category: particle physics – Page 60

Breakthrough in High-Performance Fractal Nanowire Photon Detectors

“ tabindex=”0” quantum computing and secure communications. Scientists have optimized materials and processes, making these detectors more efficient than ever.

Revolutionizing Electronics with Photon Detection

Light detection plays a crucial role in modern technology, from high-speed communication to quantum computing and sensing. At the heart of these systems are photon detectors, which identify and measure individual light particles (photons). One highly effective type is the superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD). These detectors use ultra-thin superconducting wires that instantly switch from a superconducting state to a resistive state when struck by a photon, enabling extremely fast detection.

A Deep-Sea Telescope Just Detected the Most Energetic Ghost Particle Ever

A neutrino of record-breaking energy — 220 PeV — has been detected by the underwater KM3NeT telescope, marking a pivotal moment in astrophysics.

This tiny but powerful particle, born from the universe’s most extreme events, provides fresh clues about cosmic accelerators. While its exact origin remains unknown, scientists believe it could be the first detected cosmogenic neutrino. The discovery fuels new momentum for multi-messenger astronomy, with future observations expected to shed light on the deepest mysteries of the cosmos.

The hidden power of the smallest microquasars

Researchers found for the first time evidence that even microquasars containing a low-mass star are efficient particle accelerators, which leads to a significant impact on the interpretation of the abundance of gamma rays in the universe.

Our home planet is bombarded with particles from outer space all the time. And while we are mostly familiar with the rocky meteorites originating from within our solar system that create fascinating shooting stars in the night sky, it’s the smallest particles that help scientists to understand the nature of the universe. Subatomic particles such as electrons or protons arriving from interstellar space and beyond are one of the fastest particles known in the universe and known as cosmic rays.

The origins and the acceleration mechanisms of the most energetic of these cosmic particles remains one of the biggest mysteries in astrophysics. Fast-moving matter outflows (or “jets”) launched from black holes would be an ideal site for particle acceleration, but the details on how and under which conditions acceleration processes can occur are unclear. The most powerful jets inside our Galaxy occur in microquasars: systems composed by a stellar-mass black hole and a “normal” star. The pair orbit each other, and, once they are close enough, the black hole starts to slowly swallow its companion. As a consequence of this, jets are launched from the region close to the black hole.

Weighing in on the W boson measurement conundrum

One of the tiniest building blocks of the universe has a weigh-in problem, and Ashutosh Kotwal is determined to get to the bottom of it.

For nearly 30 years, the Duke physicist has led a worldwide effort to home in on the mass of a fundamental particle called the W boson.

It’s the force-carrying particle that allows the sun to burn and to form, so it’s pretty important. Without it, the entire universe would be in the dark.

Physicists model how amorphous solids lose their stability

Why do avalanches start to slide? And what happens inside the “pile of snow?” If you ask yourself these questions, you are very close to a physical problem. This phenomenon not only occurs on mountain peaks and in snow masses, where it is rather uncontrolled—it is also studied in the laboratory at the microscopic level in materials with a disordered particle structure, for example in glasses, granular materials or foams.

Particles can “slide” in a similar way to avalanches, causing the structure to lose its and become deformable, even independently of a change in temperature. But what happens inside such a shaky structure?

Physicist Matthias Fuchs from the University of Konstanz and his colleagues Florian Vogel and Philipp Baumgärtel are researching these disordered solids. Two years ago, they solved an old puzzle about glass vibrations by revisiting a forgotten theory. “Now we have continued the project to answer the question of when an ‘irregular house of cards collapses.’ We want to find out when an amorphous solid loses its stability and starts to slide like a pile of sand,” says Fuchs.

Changhong, Other Chinese TV Makers Link TV Sets to DeepSeek Chatbot

Devices that leverage quantum mechanics effects, broadly referred to as quantum technologies, could help to tackle some real-world problems faster and more efficiently. In recent years, physicists and engineers have introduced various promising quantum technologies, including so-called quantum sensors.

Networks of quantum sensors could theoretically be used to measure specific parameters with remarkable precision. These networks leverage a quantum phenomenon known as entanglement, which entails a sustained connection between particles, which allows them to instantly share information with each other, even at a distance.

While quantum sensor networks (QSNs) could have various advantageous real-world applications, their effective deployment also relies on the ability to ensure that the information shared between sensors remains private and is not accessible to malicious third parties.

Quantum For AI, AI For Quantum

Yuval Boger is the Chief Commercial Officer of QuEra Computing, a leader in neutral-atom quantum computers.

Quantum computing and artificial intelligence stand at the forefront of modern technological advancement, each representing a paradigm shift that can transform industries ranging from healthcare and finance to logistics and materials science. Not long ago, these two fields appeared to be competitors vying for the same innovation budgets—while AI generated immediate returns, quantum computing was seen as a more speculative endeavor. However, the reality is more nuanced. Rather than being rivals, quantum and AI can symbiotically accelerate one another’s progress, sparking breakthroughs that neither could achieve in isolation.

AI is widely deployed today, driving business value via deep learning models, sophisticated analytics platforms and even self-driving technologies. Executives can see tangible returns in short timeframes, spurring widespread adoption. Quantum computing, by contrast, has yet to reach full commercial viability.

Quantum-inspired advancement turns crystal gaps into terabyte storage for classical memory

From punch card-operated looms in the 1800s to modern cellphones, if an object has an “on” and an “off” state, it can be used to store information.

In a computer laptop, the binary ones and zeroes are transistors either running at low or high voltage. On a compact disc, the one is a spot where a tiny indented “pit” turns to a flat “land” or vice versa, while a zero is when there’s no change.

Historically, the size of the object making the “ones” and “zeroes” has put a limit on the size of the storage device. But now, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) researchers have explored a technique to make ones and zeroes out of crystal defects, each the size of an individual atom for classical computer memory applications.