PhysORG Physics News

Unraveling the stripe order mystery
One of the greatest mysteries in condensed matter physics is the exact relationship between charge order and superconductivity in cuprate superconductors. In superconductors, electrons move freely thr …
Researchers build a heat shield just 10 atoms thick to protect electronic devices
Excess heat given off by smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices can be annoying, but beyond that it contributes to malfunctions and, in extreme cases, can even cause lithium batteries to ex …
Studying the excitation spectrum of a trapped dipolar supersolid
Supersolids, solid materials with superfluid properties (i.e., in which a substance can flow with zero viscosity), have recently become the focus of numerous physics studies. Supersolids are paradoxic …
For superconductors, discovery comes from disorder
Discovered more than 100 years ago, superconductivity continues to captivate scientists who seek to develop components for highly efficient energy transmission, ultrafast electronics or quantum bits f …
A glimpse into the future: Accelerated computing for accelerated particles
Every proton collision at the Large Hadron Collider is different, but only a few are special. The special collisions generate particles in unusual patterns—possible manifestations of new, rule-breakin …
Expanded ion beams light new way for next-generation electronic devices, energy storage, smart homes
A new type of lens is lighting the way for expanded uses of large ions and building blocks for new materials. The lens may also address one of the fundamental bottlenecks for generating bright ion bea …
uSEE breakthrough unlocks the nanoscale world on standard biology lab equipment
The ability to observe how life works at a nanoscale level is a grand challenge of our time.
Tiny lensless endoscope captures 3-D images of objects smaller than a cell
Researchers have developed a new self-calibrating endoscope that produces 3-D images of objects smaller than a single cell. Without a lens or any optical, electrical or mechanical components, the tip …
Newfound superconductor material could be the 'silicon of quantum computers'
A potentially useful material for building quantum computers has been unearthed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), whose scientists have found a superconductor that could si …
ATLAS Experiment releases new search for strong supersymmetry
New particles sensitive to the strong interaction might be produced in abundance in the proton-proton collisions generated by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) – provided that they aren't too heavy …
Scientists discover new state of matter
A team of physicists has uncovered a new state of matter—a breakthrough that offers promise for increasing storage capabilities in electronic devices and enhancing quantum computing.
Quantum system virtually cooled to half of its actual temperature
Physicists have developed a quantum simulation method that can "virtually cool" an experimental quantum system to a fraction of its actual temperature. The method could potentially allow acc …
Study reports high-harmonic generation in an epsilon-near-zero material
High-harmonic generation (HHG) is a nonlinear optical phenomenon through which high harmonics of an intense laser beam are generated in a target material, typically a gas. Physicists have been studyin …
Researchers move forward in explaining atomic causes of high temperature superconductivity
During the last five years, few scientists have successfully employed very high pressures in order to produce metal hydrides, rich in hydrogen, which become superconductive around -20 degrees Celsius. …
Researchers propose new topological phase of atomic matter hosting 'photonic skyrmions'
The field of topology or the study of how surfaces behave in different dimensions has profoundly influenced the current understanding of matter. The prime example is the topological insulator, which c …
Breakthrough in understanding of magnetic monopoles could signal new technologies
A breakthrough in understanding how the quasi-particles known as magnetic monopoles behave could lead to the development of new technologies to replace electric charges.
Two teams build invisibility cloaks for water applications
Two teams of researchers, one in Korea, the other China, have devised two different types of invisibility cloaks for water applications. Both teams have published papers describing their work in the j …
Super Proton Synchrotron to receive a new beam dump
By the end of the second long shutdown (LS2) of CERN's accelerator complex, a nine-metre-long object with several hundred tonnes of shielding will be installed around the beam line of the Super P …
Schrödinger's cat with 20 qubits
Dead or alive, left-spinning or right-spinning—in the quantum world particles such as the famous analogy of Schrödinger's cat can be all these things at the same time. An international team, incl …
Scientists discover potential path to improving samarium-cobalt magnets
Scientists have discovered a potential tool to enhance magnetization and magnetic anisotropy, making it possible to improve the performance of samarium-cobalt magnets.
All-optical diffractive neural network closes performance gap with electronic neural networks
A new paper in Advanced Photonics demonstrates distinct improvements to the inference and generalization performance of diffractive optical neural networks.
Counterintuitive physics property found to be widespread in living organisms
Ever since the late 19th century, physicists have known about a counterintuitive property of some electric circuits called negative resistance. Typically, increasing the voltage in a circuit causes th …
A million pulses per second: How particle accelerators are powering X-ray lasers
About 10 years ago, the world's most powerful X-ray laser—the Linac Coherent Light Source—made its debut at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Now the next revolutionary X-ray laser in a class …
How our biological clocks are locked in sync
Scientists from EPFL's Institute of Bioengineering have discovered that the circadian clock and the cell-cycle are, in fact, synchronized.
Atomic 'Trojan horse' could inspire new generation of X-ray lasers and particle colliders
How do researchers explore nature on its most fundamental level? They build "supermicroscopes" that can resolve atomic and subatomic details. This won't work with visible light, but the …
Thinnest optical waveguide channels light within just three layers of atoms
Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed the thinnest optical device in the world—a waveguide that is three layers of atoms thin.
Researchers turn off backscattering, aim to improve optical data transmission
Engineers at the University of Illinois have found a way to redirect misfit light waves to reduce energy loss during optical data transmission. In a study, researchers exploited an interaction between …
Laser and sensor research to be advanced by new inquiries into plasmonic-photonic crystals
A group of researchers led by Professor Myakzyum Salakhov has been working on the problem of optical states in plasmonic-photonic crystals (PPCs).
Dark matter search yields technique for locating heavy metal seams
A method for locating seams of gold and other heavy metals is the unlikely spin-off of Swinburne's involvement in a huge experiment to detect dark matter down a mine in Stawell, Victoria.
Tug of war around gravity
In the summer of 2009, theoretical physicist Erik Verlinde had a brainwave that developed into a radical new idea about gravity and the universe as an ocean of information. Ten years later, the last w …