Quantum Physics News

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Universe Still in its 'Child' Phase

The Planck satellite, launched in 2009 by ESA (the European Space Agency) examines the origin of the Universe: after almost three years the data regarding the first fifteen months of observations have finally been published, describing a Universe that is still in its 'child' phase.

22 Mar 2013

MIT Astrophysicist Continues Hunt for Habitable Exoplanets

The solar system's configuration is learned in grade school, and forever committed to memory with the help of foam balls, deconstructed coat hangers, and paint. It's a fairly straightforward arrangement: The sun revolves at the center as eight planets — along with dwarf planet Pluto — orbit within the same plane, and in the same direction as the sun's rotation.

21 Mar 2013

Something Other than Electrons Carries the Current in Copper-Containing Superconductors

To engineers, it's a tale as old as time: Electrical current is carried through materials by flowing electrons. But physicists at the University of Illinois and the University of Pennsylvania found that for copper-containing superconductors, known as cuprates, electrons are not enough to carry the current.

21 Mar 2013

Researchers Observe Process of Spin Collapse in Atoms by Measuring Scattered Photons

One of the most basic laws of quantum mechanics is that a system can be in more than one state – it can exist in multiple realities – at once. This phenomenon, known as the superposition principle, exists only so long as the system is not observed or measured in any way.

21 Mar 2013

Scientists Track SN 1999em Supernova in NGC 1637 Lopsided Spiral Galaxy

Supernovae are amongst the most violent events in nature. They mark the dazzling deaths of stars and can outshine the combined light of the billions of stars in their host galaxies.

21 Mar 2013

Increase in Cosmic Ray Intensity Indicates Voyager 1’s Exit Outside Normal Heliosphere

Thirty-five years after its launch, Voyager 1 appears to have travelled beyond the influence of the Sun and exited the heliosphere, according to a new study appearing online today.

21 Mar 2013

BU Physicists Partner in Study on New Findings about Higgs Boson

The new particle discovered at experiments at the CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) last summer is looking more like a Higgs boson than ever before. The CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) scientists, including a number of BU physicists, released new findings about the Higgs boson last week at CERN’s Moriond Conference in La Thuile, Italy.

21 Mar 2013

Herschel Reveals Youngest Protostars in Constellation Orion

Astronomers have found some of the youngest stars ever seen thanks to the Herschel space observatory, a European Space Agency mission with important NASA contributions.

20 Mar 2013

New Study Points to Origin of Famous Kepler’s Supernova

A new study using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory points to the origin of a famous supernova. This supernova, discovered in 1604 by Johannes Kepler, belongs to an important class of objects that are used to measure the rate of expansion of the Universe.

19 Mar 2013

GSU Researcher Wins NSF Grant to Measure Black Holes

Black holes, the high-gravity phenomena of galaxies from which no light can escape, will be better measured thanks to a $862,769 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to a Georgia State University astronomer.

19 Mar 2013