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Category: quantum physics – Page 9

Consistency check casts doubt on evolving dark energy

Cosmologists have long struggled to determine whether the universe’s accelerating expansion is being driven by a simple cosmological constant, or whether dark energy’s influence is evolving over time. In a new analysis published in Physical Review D, Samsuzzaman Afroz and Suvodip Mukherjee at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, have identified a subtle impact on the inference of the nature of dark energy, due to a tiny mismatch between a fundamental cosmological distance relation and two key datasets used to measure the properties of dark energy.

The result casts fresh doubt on the robustness of the recent claims that dark energy could be evolving over time—perhaps bringing us a step closer to solving one of cosmology’s most enduring challenges.

New chip offers way to make use of quantum system ‘imperfections’

Quantum technologies promise powerful new kinds of computers, giving scientists new tools to mimic and explore nature at its tiniest scales. At those levels, everything in nature—from atoms and electrons to light itself—follows the strange rules of quantum mechanics. But the real world is never perfectly clean: Signals fade, energy leaks away and systems pick up noise from their surroundings.

“Understanding how quantum systems behave under this messiness is crucial if we want our experiments to say something about nature as it really is, not just idealized setups,” says Govind Krishna, Ph.D. student at KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

Quantum-centric supercomputing simulates 12,635-atom protein

The scale of chemistry simulations with quantum computing has increased dramatically in just the last few months. In the latest milestone for the field, researchers from Cleveland Clinic, RIKEN, and IBM used a quantum-centric supercomputing (QCSC) framework to calculate the electronic structure of a pair of large protein-ligand complexes, reaching a scale of 12,635 atoms in the largest simulation.

The molecules were T4-Lysozyme, a protein from a family of proteins involved in the immune system degradation of peptidoglycans in bacterial membranes, and Trypsin, produced in the pancreas and used in digestion. The team simulated these proteins binding to molecules they interact with in nature and immersed in a liquid water solution, at scales of 11,608 atoms and 12,635 atoms respectively. Bringing together an international team of researchers from across the United States and Japan made it possible to develop the necessary algorithm and workflow enhancements to reach this milestone.

The researchers achieved this scale just four months after modeling the 303-atom miniprotein Trp-cage using quantum computing for the first time. Today’s new result not only demonstrates a 40-fold increase in system size compared to the Trp-cage result, it represents a 210-times improvement in accuracy from previous state-of-the-art QCSC approaches in a specific step of the workflow.

Laser processes to enable robust, miniaturized beam sources for quantum technology

In the HiPEQ project, a consortium of industry and research partners has developed new laser-based approaches to enable miniaturized, robust beam sources for quantum technology. Among others, the consortium also used lasers to grow novel optical insulator crystals. The project achieved significant progress from November 2021 to July 2025. Fraunhofer ILT in Aachen played a key role by co-developing the laser processes needed.

Currently, beam sources for quantum technology applications are often complex, large, and not robust enough for field use. What is needed, then, are miniaturized systems that are as versatile as possible. The BMFTR-funded project “HiPEQ—Highly Integrated PIC-Based ECDLs for Quantum Technology” has developed such a beam source.

Coordinated by TOPTICA, later a systems integrator, a consortium of industry and research partners has built prototypes of two miniaturized laser sources. With external dimensions of just 22 × 9 x 6 cm³, they provide enough space for all system components. The design can also be adapted to other wavelengths, making them suitable for a wide range of quantum technology applications.

Commercial Space Economy: Space Stations, Space Data Centers, and NASA

Matthew Weinzierl and Brendan Rosseau, authors of Space to Grow, explain the commercial space economy and the role of NASA, Artemis, commercial space stations, space-based data centers, Starlink, GPS, China’s space program, national security, and space governance.

The conversation covers how governments, private companies, and investors build, fund, regulate, and compete in space, from microgravity research and launch markets to lunar exploration, space resources, and the economics of commercial space.

We also try and re-write the Space Treaty and look at the politics of the space race.

Please enjoy the show.

Thinking on Paper is a technology podcast about AI, Space, quantum computing, science, and the systems shaping the future.

🏠 Buy us a beer on Substack: https://thinkingonpaperpodcast.substa… Take us with you on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/00volKq… 🎧 Remember steve jobs on APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast… 📺 Get the clips and outtakes on Instagram / thinkingonpaperpodcast — Links & Resources Matthew: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/pro… Brendan: linkedin.com/in/brendan-rosseau Buy Space To Grow: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/ite… — Chapters 00:00 Setting The Scene 03:35 Microgravity 07:43 Economic Incentives 12:14 Political Cycles 17:09 International Collaboration 18:45 National Security in Space 21:36 Space Exploration 24:27 A Day Without Space 28:49 Space Investment 30:37 Space-Based Data Centers 33:40 Space Resources 38:26 Governance in Space 40:55 A New Space Treaty.

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Schrödinger’s clock: Time could tick faster and slower at the same time

Time might be even stranger than Einstein imagined. Physicists are now exploring the possibility that a single clock could exist in a quantum superposition, ticking both faster and slower at the same time — almost like Schrödinger’s cat being both alive and dead simultaneously. Using incredibly precise atomic clocks and cutting-edge quantum technologies, researchers believe they may soon be able to test this bizarre prediction in the lab for the first time.

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