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Category: quantum physics – Page 5

Researchers achieve atomic-scale control of quantum interference

In a study published in Nature Communications, a research team demonstrates the all-electrical control of quantum interference in individual atomic spins on a surface.

Quantum interference arises when a system exists in a superposition of states, with relative phases producing constructive or . An example is Landau-Zener-Stückelberg-Majorana (LZSM) interference, which arises when a quantum two-level system is repeatedly driven through an anticrossing in the energy-level diagram, and undergoes multiple nonadiabatic transitions.

This mechanism is a powerful tool for fast and reliable quantum control, but it remains a significant challenge to achieve tunable LZSM interference in an atomic-scale quantum architecture where multiple spins can be precisely assembled and controllably coupled on demand.

Quantum crystals offer a blueprint for the future of computing and chemistry

Imagine industrial processes that make materials or chemical compounds faster, cheaper, and with fewer steps than ever before. Imagine processing information in your laptop in seconds instead of minutes or a supercomputer that learns and adapts as efficiently as the human brain. These possibilities all hinge on the same thing: how electrons interact in matter.

A team of Auburn University scientists has now designed a new class of materials that gives scientists unprecedented control over these tiny particles. Their study, published in ACS Materials Letters, introduces the tunable coupling between isolated-metal molecular complexes, known as solvated electron precursors, where electrons aren’t locked to atoms but instead float freely in open spaces.

From their key role in energy transfer, bonding, and conductivity, electrons are the lifeblood of chemical synthesis and modern technology. In , electrons drive redox reactions, enable bond formation, and are critical in catalysis. In technological applications, manipulating the flow and interactions between electrons determines the operation of electronic devices, AI algorithms, photovoltaic applications, and even . In most materials, electrons are bound tightly to atoms, which limits how they can be used. But in electrides, electrons roam freely, creating entirely new possibilities.

SCP-3812: The Entity That Broke Reality | The Science of a God Who Knows It’s Fiction

What happens when awareness grows too powerful for the universe that contains it?

SCP-3812 — also known as A Voice Behind Me — is the Foundation’s ultimate paradox: a being that rewrites existence every time it tries to understand itself. This speculative science essay explores the physics, metaphysics, and philosophy behind the phenomenon. From quantum observer effects to pancomputational cosmology, from the breakdown of time to the collapse of narrative itself, we ask the ultimate question:

What if consciousness doesn’t live inside reality, but creates it?

Join us as we explore:

- The origin of Sam Howell and post-mortem evolution of awareness.
- The science of unreality and the hierarchy of dimensions.
- Schizophrenia as multiversal cognition.
- Supersession, recursion, and the limits of containment.
- The final collapse of reality into pure perception.

If you love speculative science, existential philosophy, or cosmic horror wrapped in logic, this video will change the way you think about reality.

Continue reading “SCP-3812: The Entity That Broke Reality | The Science of a God Who Knows It’s Fiction” | >

Direct evidence of universal anyon tunneling in a chiral Luttinger liquid revealed in edge-mode experiment

Electrons in two-dimensional (2D) systems placed under strong magnetic fields often behave in unique ways, prompting the emergence of so-called fractional quantum Hall liquids. These are exotic states of matter in which electrons behave collectively and form new quasiparticles carrying only a fraction of an electron’s charge and obeying unusual quantum statistics.

In the 1990s, physicists introduced a theory known as the chiral Luttinger liquid theory, which describes the collective movements of these fractional excitations moving in 1D channels along the boundary of 2D fractional quantum Hall states. Nonetheless, past experimental findings were not always aligned with theoretical predictions.

Researchers at Purdue University recently carried out a study aimed at further testing some of the predictions of chiral Luttinger liquid theory by measuring tunneling between 1D edge modes in a device in which a fractional quantum Hall liquid state emerges. Their paper, published in Nature Physics, offers direct experimental evidence of universal anyon tunneling for the n=1/3 fractional quantum Hall state, confirming theoretical predictions made by X.-G. Wen and collaborators in the early 1990s.

Nobel Prize in physics awarded for ultracold electronics research that launched a quantum technology

Quantum mechanics describes the weird behavior of microscopic particles. Using quantum systems to perform computation promises to allow researchers to solve problems in areas from chemistry to cryptography that have so many possible solutions that they are beyond the capabilities of even the most powerful nonquantum computers possible.

Quantum computing depends on researchers developing practical quantum technologies. Superconducting electrical circuits are a promising technology, but not so long ago it was unclear whether they even showed . The 2025 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to three scientists for their work demonstrating that quantum effects persist even in large electrical circuits, which has enabled the development of practical quantum technologies.

I’m a physicist who studies superconducting circuits for quantum computing and other uses. The work in my field stems from the groundbreaking research the Nobel laureates conducted.

The playbook for perfect polaritons: Rules for creating quasiparticles that can power optical computers, quantum devices

Light is fast, but travels in long wavelengths and interacts weakly with itself. The particles that make up matter are tiny and interact strongly with each other, but move slowly. Together, the two can combine into a hybrid quasiparticle called a polariton that is part light, part matter.

In a new paper published today in Chem, a team of Columbia chemists has identified how to combine matter and light to get the best of both worlds: polaritons with and fast, wavelike flow. These distinctive behaviors can be used to power and other light-based quantum devices.

“We’ve written a playbook for the ‘perfect’ that will guide our research, and we hope, that of the entire field working on strong light-matter interactions,” said Milan Delor, associate professor of chemistry at Columbia.

Freely levitating rotor spins out ultraprecise sensors for classical and quantum physics

With a clever design, researchers have solved eddy-current damping in macroscopic levitating systems, paving the way for a wide range of sensing technologies.

Levitation has long been pursued by stage magicians and physicists alike. For audiences, the sight of objects floating midair is wondrous. For scientists, it’s a powerful way of isolating objects from external disturbances.

This is particularly useful in the case of rotors, as their torque and , used to measure gravity, gas pressure, momentum, among other phenomena in both classical and , can be strongly influenced by friction. Freely suspending the rotor could drastically reduce these disturbances, and now, researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have designed, created, and analyzed such a macroscopic device, bringing the magic of near-frictionless levitation down to Earth through precision engineering.

Controlling atomic interactions in ultracold gas ‘at the push of a button’

Changing interactions between the smallest particles at the touch of a button: Quantum researchers at RPTU have developed a new tool that makes this possible. The new approach—a temporally oscillating magnetic field—has the potential to significantly expand fundamental knowledge in the field of quantum physics. It also opens completely new perspectives on the development of new materials.

Computer chips, imaging techniques such as imaging, , transistors, and : many milestones in our modern everyday world would not have been possible without the discoveries of quantum physics. What is remarkable is that it was only about a hundred years ago that physicists discovered that the world at the smallest scales cannot be explained by the laws of classical physics.

Atoms and their components, protons, neutrons, and electrons—but also light particles—sometimes exhibit physical behaviors that are unknown in the macroscopic world. To this day, the quantum world therefore holds unclear and surprising phenomena that—once understood and controllable—could revolutionize future technologies.

California physicist and Nobel laureate John Martinis won’t quit on quantum computers

A California physicist and Nobel laureate who laid the foundation for quantum computing isn’t done working.

For the last 40 years, John Martinis has worked—mostly within California—to create the fastest computers ever built.

“It’s kind of my professional dream to do this by the time I’m really too old to retire. I should retire now, but I’m not doing that,” the now 67-year-old said.

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