Physics

Sep 3rd, 2025 - sPHENIX is a next-generation particle detector that probes the mysterious, soupy form of the early universe. We know very little about the first few microseconds after the Big Bang. We have theories, most of which we're still double- and triple-checking to see if they actually make scientific sense. The research process can seem tedious at times, but a newcomer from Long Island offers promising advances in our quest to understand how our universe came to be. In a recent paper for the Journal of ... [Read More]

Sep 3rd, 2025 - As quantum computers get larger, they may become truly useful – 3D-printing a key component of some quantum computers may make it easier to build larger arrays of qubits to make them more powerful To make some quantum computers larger, and therefore more powerful, we may have to 3D-print them. Currently, there is no consensus on the single best design for quantum computers, but researchers agree that to become unambiguously useful, quantum computers will have to be made larger. For those ... [Read More]

Sep 3rd, 2025 - By Matt Davenport, University of Michigan Share DESI observations suggest black holes may generate dark energy by consuming stellar matter. The idea resolves puzzles about neutrino mass and cosmic expansion. These are remarkable times for probing some of the most profound mysteries in physics, made possible by advanced experiments and increasingly precise measurements. One of the most compelling questions centers on dark energy, the term given to the unknown force driving the accelerated ... [Read More]

Sep 2nd, 2025 - Researchers from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands have been able to see the magnetic nucleus of an atom switch back and forth in real time. They read out the nuclear "spin" via the electrons in the same atom through the needle of a scanning tunneling microscope. To their surprise, the spin remained stable for several seconds, offering prospects for enhanced control of the magnetic nucleus . The research, in Nature Communications , is a step forward for quantum sensing at the ... [Read More]

Sep 1st, 2025 - By CERN Share CMS employed machine learning to probe rare Higgs decays into charm quarks. The search produced the most stringent limits so far. The Higgs boson, first observed at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 2012, is a cornerstone of the Standard Model of particle physics. Through its interactions, it gives fundamental particles such as quarks their mass. Interactions between the Higgs boson and the heaviest "third-generation" quarks—the top and bottom quarks—have already been ... [Read More]

Sep 1st, 2025 - UK photonics researchers have developed a new kind of hollow-core optical fibre that can transmit light signals about 45% further than current telecom fibres before needing a boost. The scientists from Microsoft Azure Fiber and the University of Southampton have called this a "breakthrough result" which paves the way for a potential revolution in optical communications. With further advancements, the new fibre could enable more energy-efficient optical networks with unprecedented data ... [Read More]

Sep 1st, 2025 - By University of Illinois Grainger College of Engineering Share A modular quantum processor design shows ~99% fidelity. It paves the way for scalable quantum computing . What do children's building blocks and quantum computing have in common? The answer is modularity. Constructing a quantum computer as a single, unified device proves extremely difficult. These machines depend on manipulating millions of qubits, the basic units of quantum information, yet assembling such vast numbers into one ... [Read More]

Sep 1st, 2025 - For many industrial applications one needs synthesis gas, also known as "syngas," a mixture of hydrogen (H 2 ) and carbon monoxide (CO). In addition to the established production method via steam reforming, synthesis gas can alternatively—and even more energy‑efficiently—be produced from methane (CH 4 ) and oxygen. However, in this process, the total oxidation (combustion) of methane to CO 2 and H 2 O must be avoided, which is why there is extensive research on syngas ... [Read More]

Aug 25th, 2025 - By University of Sydney Physicists at the University of Sydney have achieved a breakthrough in quantum computing by creating a universal logic gate inside a single atom . Using a powerful error-correcting system known as the Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) code — often called the "Rosetta Stone" of quantum computing — they managed to entangle vibrations of a trapped ion. This achievement drastically reduces the number of physical qubits needed, tackling one of the biggest hurdles in ... [Read More]

Aug 21st, 2025 - A team of researchers has discovered how a little-known type of symmetry in quantum materials, called nonsymmorphic symmetry, governs the way these materials interact with intense laser light. The work is in Physical Review Applied as a Letter. The findings reveal surprising effects—including the suppression of even-order response and striking polarization-dependent responses—that could enable the design of next-generation lightwave-based electronics and quantum devices . When ... [Read More]

Aug 20th, 2025 - Whether in solar cells or in the human eye, whenever certain molecules absorb light, the electrons within them shift from their ground state into a higher-energy, excited state. This results in the transport of energy and charge, leading to charge separation and eventually to the generation of electricity. An international team of scientists led by Dr. Antonietta De Sio and Prof. Dr. Christoph Lienau from the Ultrafast Nano-Optics research group at the University of Oldenburg, Germany, has now ... [Read More]

Aug 17th, 2025 - , Phys.org Topological quantum systems are physical systems exhibiting properties that depend on the overall connectivity of their underlying lattice, as opposed to local interactions and their microscopic structure. Predicting the evolution of these systems over time and their long-range quantum correlations is often challenging, as their behavior is not defined by magnetization or other parameters linked to local interactions. Researchers at École Polytechnique Fédérale ... [Read More]

Aug 16th, 2025 - Artificial intelligence software is designing novel experimental protocols that improve upon the work of human physicists, although the humans are still "doing a lot of baby-sitting." The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine . There are precision measurements, and then there's the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. In each of LIGO's twin gravitational wave detectors (one in Hanford, Washington, and the other in Livingston, Louisiana), laser beams bounce ... [Read More]

Aug 16th, 2025 - , Phys.org Topological spin textures, spatially organized patterns linked to the intrinsic angular momentum of particles, have proved to be highly advantageous for the development of spintronics and quantum technologies. One of the most studied among these textures are skyrmionic textures, which are two-dimensional and stable patterns of spin orientation. Recently, the study of skyrmionic textures has gained significant attention in the field of optics and photonics, revealing novel physical ... [Read More]

Aug 16th, 2025 - New experiments focused on understanding the enigmatic neutrino may offer insights. Everything we see around us, from the ground beneath our feet to the most remote galaxies, is made of matter. For scientists, that has long posed a problem: According to physicists' best current theories, matter and its counterpart, antimatter, ought to have been created in equal amounts at the time of the Big Bang. But antimatter is vanishingly rare in the universe. So what happened? Physicists don't know the ... [Read More]

Aug 6th, 2025 - What is dark matter? Physicists have been trying to answer this question since the first observations of distant galaxies suggested that only a fifth of all the "stuff" in the universe is the visible matter with which we interact every day. The other 80% is the enigmatic dark matter which has so far eluded direct observation. Dark matter's existence would account for the gravitational forces behind how galaxies bind together and rotate. There are hundreds of experiments around the world trying ... [Read More]