Posts

Showing posts with the label physicists

Physicists Find Oldest Dark Matter Yet With Microwave Lens

Image
Researchers have just studied the oldest lensing of light we can see and found the oldest dark matter ever observed, around a galaxy 12 billion years old. They spotted this dark matter by looking at how some galaxies bend the cosmic microwave background light, the earliest detectable radiation after the Big Bang, that rocked the universe as we know it. The team’s research is published in Physical Review Letters. “Most researchers use source galaxies to measure the distribution of dark matter from now to eight billion years ago,” said Yuichi Harikane, astronomer at the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research at the University of Tokyo and co-author of a recent paper, in a Nagoya University release. . “However, we were able to look further into the past because we used the CMB further afield to measure dark matter. For the first time, we’re measuring dark matter almost from the early days of the universe.” Dark matter makes up about 27% of the universe, although we cannot detect it directly

Physicists Create New Phases of Matter That Act Like They Have Two Time Dimensions

Image
Physicists have created an extraordinary phase of matter never seen before in a quantum computer. Physicists demonstrate a less error-prone way of storing quantum information by subjecting quantum computer qubits to quasi-rhythmic laser pulses based on the Fibonacci sequence. Physicists have created an extraordinary, never-before-seen phase of matter by shining a sequence of laser pulses inspired by the Fibonacci sequence on atoms inside a quantum computer. Although there is still only a single time stream, phases have the benefit of two time dimensions, physicists report July 20 in the journal. Natural . This mind-bending property offers a much-desired benefit: Information stored in phases is much more protected from error than the alternative settings currently used in quantum computers. As a result, information can last longer without becoming garbled, an important milestone to create quantum computing Perform computations using quantum mechanical phenomena such as superposition a

Physicists use quantum "time reversal" to measure vibrating atoms

The quantum vibrations in atoms hold a miniature world of information. If scientists can accurately measure these atomic oscillations, and how they evolve over time, they can hone the precision of atomic clocks and quantum sensors, which are atomic systems whose fluctuations can indicate the presence of dark matter, passing gravitational waves, or even phenomena. unexpected new. The main obstacle on the road to better quantum measurements is noise from the classical world, which can easily overwhelm the subtle vibrations of atoms, making any changes to those vibrations extremely difficult to detect. Now, MIT physicists have shown that they can significantly amplify quantum changes in atomic vibrations, by placing particles through two key processes: quantum entanglement and time reversal. Before you start shopping for DeLoreans, no, they haven’t figured out how to turn back time itself. Instead, physicists have manipulated quantum entangled atoms in such a way that the particles beha

After Years of Searching, Physicists Observe Electrons Flow Into Whirlpools Like Liquids

Image
For the first time, physicists have witnessed something very interesting: electrons form eddies like liquids. This behavior is one that scientists have long predicted, but never observed before. And that could be the key to developing next-generation electronics that are more efficient and faster. “Electron vortex is expected in theory, but there is no direct evidence yet, and seeing is believing,” said one of the researchers behind the new study, physicist Leonid Levitov of MIT. “Now we’ve seen it, and it’s a clear sign of being in this new regime, where electrons behave as liquids, not as individual particles.” While electrons flowing in a vortex might not sound like a breakthrough, it’s a big deal because flowing like a liquid results in more energy being sent to the end point, instead of being lost on the way while the electrons are pushed around by things like impurities in matter or vibrations in atoms. “We know that when an electron enters a liquid state, [energy] dissipation d

Physicists discover strong "family" of superconducting graphene structures

When it comes to graphene, it seems that superconductivity runs in the family. Graphene is a single atom-thin material that can be peeled off from the same graphite found in pencil tips. The ultra-thin material is made entirely of carbon atoms arranged in a simple hexagonal pattern, similar to chicken wire. Since its isolation in 2004, graphene has been found to manifest many remarkable properties in its single layer form. In 2018, MIT researchers discovered that if two layers of graphene are stacked at very specific “magic” angles, the bent bilayer structure can exhibit strong superconductivity, a much sought-after material state in which electric current can flow without loss of energy. Recently, the same group discovered a similar superconductive state that exists in bent trilayer graphene – a structure made of three layers of graphene stacked at new, precise magic angles. Now the team reports that — you guessed it — four and five layers of graphene can be twisted and stacked at

Physicists see electron whirlpool for the first time

Even though they are separate particles, water molecules flow collectively as a liquid, producing streams, waves, whirlpools, and other classic fluid phenomena. Not so with electricity. While electric current is also a different construction of particles – in this case, electrons – the particles are so small that any collective behavior between them is drowned out by a greater influence when electrons pass through ordinary metals. However, in certain materials and under certain conditions, these effects fade, and electrons can directly affect each other. In this case, the electrons can flow collectively like a liquid. Now, physicists at MIT and the Weizmann Institute of Science have observed electrons flowing in eddies, or whirlpools — a fluid flow feature that theorists predicted electrons would exhibit, but that had not been seen until now. “Electronic vortexes are expected in theory, but there is no direct evidence yet, and seeing is believing,” said Leonid Levitov, professor of

Physicists see electron whirlpool for the first time

Image
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Even though they are separate particles, water molecules flow collectively as a liquid, producing streams, waves, whirlpools, and other classic fluid phenomena. Not so with electricity. While electric current is also a different construction of particles—in this case, electrons—the particles are so small that any collective behavior between them is drowned out by a greater influence when electrons pass through ordinary metals. However, in certain materials and under certain conditions, these effects fade, and electrons can directly affect each other. In this case, the electrons can flow collectively like a liquid. Now, physicists at MIT and the Weizmann Institute of Science have observed electrons flowing in eddies, or whirlpools—a fluid flow characteristic that theorists predicted electrons would exhibit, but that had not been seen until now. “Electronic vortexes are expected in theory, but there is

The Large Hadron Collider: What the Higgs boson revealed to physicists.

Image
summer 2012 is one for the books – the first Avengers movie has just hit theaters around the world, and Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” is dominating the charts. And oh yeah, physicists across the ocean at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have just discovered a world-altering particle called the Higgs boson. Theorized for decades leading up to its discovery on July 4, 2012, the Higgs boson is a subatomic particle that has the power to confirm or destroy the most comprehensive theory of physics to date, the Standard Model. As the LHC begins the process of destroying its third atom, scientists have taken steps to Natural to reflect on what a decade of Higgs research means for how we understand physics and the world it describes. Giulia Zanderighi is director of the particle physics group at the Max Planck Institute for Physics and co-author of the perspective published this week in Natural on the Higgs warning. He told Backwards that CERN’s Higgs boson research is still invest