Quantum Physics News

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Researchers Create Atomically Coherent Quantum Dot Solids

A team of scientists from Cornell University have developed atomically coherent quantum dot solids, which are 2D superstructures fabricated from single-crystal building blocks. Years ago, single-crystal silicon wafers redefined the very nature of electronics.

25 Feb 2016

UCSB Research Team Aims to Reveal Hitherto Invisible Ultrafast Processes in Matter

When is a solid not a real solid? When it’s a lattice of ultracold atoms held in place not by the covalent and ionic bonds that bind the atoms of “real” solids together — like your chair or your cellular phone — but by light waves.

25 Feb 2016

NANOGrav Study Shows Existing Radio Telescopes Could Detect Low-Frequency Gravitational Waves

The recent detection of gravitational waves by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) came from two black holes, each about 30 times the mass of our sun, merging into one. Gravitational waves span a wide range of frequencies that require different technologies to detect. A new study from the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) has shown that low-frequency gravitational waves could soon be detectable by existing radio telescopes.

25 Feb 2016

ATLASGAL Survey Reveals Cold Dense Gas Distribution Along Plane of Milky Way

APEX, the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment telescope, is located at 5100 metres above sea level on the Chajnantor Plateau in Chile's Atacama region. The ATLASGAL survey took advantage of the unique characteristics of the telescope to provide a detailed view of the distribution of cold dense gas along the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. The new image includes most of the regions of star formation in the southern Milky Way.

25 Feb 2016

Research Reveals Type Ia Supernova Continues to Shine Brighter than Expected

Three years after its explosion, a type Ia supernova continues to shine more brightly than expected, new research finds. The observations, made with the Hubble Space Telescope and published today in The Astrophysical Journal, suggest that powerful explosions like this one produce a heavy form of cobalt that gives the heat from nuclear decay an energy boost.

25 Feb 2016

Fermi Space Telescope Detects Gamma-Ray Burst from Twin Black Holes

On September 14, 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) discovered gravitational waves from the merger of two black holes, 29 and 36 times the total mass of the Sun. This kind of occurrence is usually expected to be dark, however the Fermi Space Telescope spotted a gamma-ray burst instantly after LIGO's signal. Recent research indicates that the black holes must have been living in a single, gigantic star whose death led to the gamma-ray burst.

24 Feb 2016

New Scheme to Control Infrared Plasmons Opens Door for Large Data Transmission

Merely a decade ago, people were amazed that their cellular phones could send a simple text message. Now smartphones send and receive high-resolution photographs, videos, emails with large attachments, and much more. The desire for endless data has become insatiable.

24 Feb 2016

Researchers Use FERMI Laser Light to Control Ultrafast Movement of Electrons

An international team has used the light produced by the Free Electron Laser FERMI at the research Centre Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste in the AREA Science Park to control the ultrafast movement of electrons. The experiment, published in the journal Nature Photonics, opens the way to the study of more complex processes which occur in nature on the scale of attoseconds (billionths of a billionth of a second), such as photosynthesis, combustion, catalysis and atmospheric chemistry.

24 Feb 2016

Graphene Environment Plays an Important Theoretical Concept in Quantum Physics

Electrical resistance is considered a simple concept, and is similar to friction. While friction slows down objects rolling over a surface, electrical resistance slows the transfer of electrons via a conductive material. Two physicists have discovered that electrons can assist in turning resistance on its head, resulting in the production of vortices and a backward flow of electricity.

23 Feb 2016

CWU Star Party to Explore Mysteries of Black Holes, Origin of the Universe

Explore the infinite mysteries of black holes and the origin of the universe at the CWU Astronomy Club Star Party. Black holes—where gravity is so strong, not even light can escape—are thought to have formed when the universe began. The event features guest speaker Jason Arakawa, whose interests include astrophysics, cosmology, and general relativity. He is a junior majoring in physics, with an astronomy minor.

23 Feb 2016