Quantum Physics News

RSS

Endeavor to Improve EPFL Simulation Software Targeting Supernovae in Dwarf Galaxies

Summer Series. Supernovas, the explosions of stars at the end of life, contain valuable information about the origin of the universe. Master’s student Alexis Arnaudon seeks to improve parameters of their simulation to lift the veil on some of the many remaining questions about them.

9 Aug 2013

Manipulating 'Spin' of Electrons Can Improve Performance of Solar Cells

Organic solar cells, a new class of solar cell that mimics the natural process of plant photosynthesis, could revolutionise renewable energy - but currently lack the efficiency to compete with the more costly commercial silicon cells.

8 Aug 2013

Quasar Observed With Many Light Reflections

Quasars are active black holes – primarily from the early universe. Using a special method where you observe light that has been bent by gravity on its way through the universe, a group of physics students from the Niels Bohr Institute have observed a quasar whose light has been deflected and reflected in six separate images. This is the first time a quasar has been observed with so many light reflections. The results are published in the scientific journal, Astrophysical Journal.

8 Aug 2013

Powerful Stellar Winds from Extremely Hot Newborn Stars Sculpt Glowing Clouds of Gas

ESO’s Very Large Telescope has captured an intriguing star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud — one of the Milky Way’s satellite galaxies. This sharp image reveals two distinctive glowing clouds of gas: red-hued NGC 2014, and its blue neighbour NGC 2020. While they are very different, they were both sculpted by powerful stellar winds from extremely hot newborn stars that also radiate into the gas, causing it to glow brightly.

8 Aug 2013

Excess Dash of Radiation in Early Universe Not Due to Cosmic Microwave Background Photons

Mystery fans know that the best way to solve a mystery is to revisit the scene where it began and look for clues. To understand the mysteries of our universe, scientists are trying to go back as far they can to the Big Bang. A new analysis of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation data by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has taken the furthest look back through time yet – 100 years to 300,000 years after the Big Bang – and provided tantalizing new hints of clues as to what might have happened.

8 Aug 2013

Dark Age Star Outshines Entire Galaxy at its Death

More than 12 billion years ago a star exploded, ripping itself apart and blasting its remains outward in twin jets at nearly the speed of light. At its death it glowed so brightly that it outshone its entire galaxy by a million times. This brilliant flash traveled across space for 12.7 billion years to a planet that hadn't even existed at the time of the explosion - our Earth. By analyzing this light, astronomers learned about a galaxy that was otherwise too small, faint and far away for even the Hubble Space Telescope to see.

8 Aug 2013

High School Physics Teachers Take Part in Quarknet Program

Even though it’s summertime, a group of eight Central New York high school physics teachers are continuing their growth in the classroom by attending class on the SU hill.

6 Aug 2013

AGU to Honor UT Mars and Meteorite Expert with Whipple Award

Harry “Hap” McSween, a UT professor who is a leading expert on the composition of Mars and meteorites, will be awarded the Whipple Award from the American Geophysical Union.

6 Aug 2013

New, Reliable Method to Verify Quantum Entanglement

For quantum physicists, entangling quantum systems is one of their every day tools. Entanglement is a key resource for upcoming quantum computers and simulators. Now, physicists in Innsbruck/Austria and Geneva/Switzerland realized a new, reliable method to verify entanglement in the laboratory using a minimal number of assumptions about the system and measuring devices.

6 Aug 2013

Study Results Pose New Challenge to High-Temperature Superconductivity Theories

Superconductors carry electricity with zero loss, but that perfect performance only occurs at temperatures hundreds of degrees below zero. Warmed beyond those frigid conditions, the materials cross a critical temperature threshold and the superconductivity breaks down. But high-temperature superconductors (HTS)—warmer, but still subzero—may have untapped potential because their underlying mechanism remains a mystery.

5 Aug 2013