Quantum Physics News

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Measuring Things ‘Weakly’ has Significant Advantages in Quantum Mechanics

Measure twice, cut once. This proverb of accuracy is not only taken seriously by do-it-yourself enthusiasts, but by scientists who continually strive to make ever increasingly accurate measurements in order to elicit more of nature’s secrets.

15 May 2013

CERN Physicists Measure Ionization Potential of Rare Radioactive Element, Astatine

An international team of physicists at the radioactive-beam facility ISOLDE at CERN have for the first time measured the ionization potential of the rare radioactive element astatine.

15 May 2013

Exoplanet Discovered Using New Method Based on Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity

Detecting alien worlds presents a significant challenge since they are small, faint, and close to their stars. The two most prolific techniques for finding exoplanets are radial velocity (looking for wobbling stars) and transits (looking for dimming stars). A team at Tel Aviv University and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) has just discovered an exoplanet using a new method that relies on Einstein's special theory of relativity.

14 May 2013

Boson Sampling Computer Utilizes High Mobility Feature of Photons

Quantum computers work by manipulating quantum objects as, for example, individual photons, electrons or atoms and by harnessing the unique quantum features. Not only do quantum computers promise a dramatic increase in speed over classical computers in a variety of computational tasks; they are designed to complete tasks that even a supercomputer would not be able to handle.

14 May 2013

‘Passport to the Big Bang’ Scientific Tourist Trail to be Inaugurated by CERN

CERN, in collaboration with its local partners, will be inaugurating a scientific tourist trail through the Pays de Gex and the Canton of Geneva known as the Passport to the Big Bang. A major programme of activities has been organised for the general public at various CERN sites, including special events and bike rides.

14 May 2013

Researchers Progress towards Graphene-Based Spintronic Devices

Researchers from IMDEA-Nanociencia Institute and from Autonoma and Complutense Universities of Madrid (Spain) have managed to give graphene magnetic properties.

13 May 2013

Philosopher Writes on the Structure of a Quantum World

Philosopher Jill North ponders what quantum mechanics has done to reality. In a post-Einstein world where wave/particles apparently exist in multidimensions, why do we seem to live in a space of only three dimensions?

13 May 2013

Engineered Diamond Samples May Help Realize Quantum Computing Architectures

From brain to heart to stomach, the bodies of humans and animals generate weak magnetic fields that a supersensitive detector could use to pinpoint illnesses, trace drugs – and maybe even read minds. Sensors no bigger than a thumbnail could map gas deposits underground, analyze chemicals, and pinpoint explosives that hide from other probes.

13 May 2013

Rocky Debris Disc Discovered Around White Dwarf Stars

The stars, known as white dwarfs — small, dim remnants of stars once like the Sun — reside 150 light-years away in the Hyades star cluster, in the constellation of Taurus (The Bull). The cluster is relatively young, at only 625 million years old.

13 May 2013

Supernova Iron Found in Bacteria Microfossils

Most of the chemical elements have their origin in core collapse supernovae. When a star ends its life in a gigantic starburst, it throws most of its mass into space. The radioactive iron isotope Fe-60 is produced almost exclusively in such supernovae.

10 May 2013