https://phys.org/physics-news/ en-us The latest news in physics, materials science, quantum physics, optics and photonics, superconductivity science and technology. Updated Daily. Some innovations in physics come from entirely new technologies, others from fresh theoretical insights. Others still take shape by bringing together existing tools in new ways, working out how to combine them to outperform other solutions. The branch of particle physics that studies weakly interacting particles—such as neutrinos and some types of dark-matter candidates—could use innovative detection approaches: technological challenges in this research area quickly become practical as well as economic, as increases in detector volume and spatial resolution improve the sensitivity to the processes producing the particles of interest. Similarly, demanding targets on instrument capability apply to the calorimeters used in collider experiments. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-neutrinos-caught-camera-prototype-elementary.html General Physics Fri, 24 Apr 2026 18:20:01 EDT news696257942 A study by University of Wollongong (UOW) physicist Dr. Enbang Li has demonstrated that gravity can subtly influence the behavior of light, a breakthrough that could underpin future technologies for monitoring groundwater, tracking glacier melt, locating mineral deposits and detecting underground changes linked to volcanic activity and carbon storage. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-gravity-subtle-effect-groundwater-volcano.html General Physics Fri, 24 Apr 2026 12:00:03 EDT news696246841 The detection and study of isotopes, atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons, could expand the scope of physics research and enable new scientific discoveries. So far, rare isotopes have been primarily detected using a technique known as accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), which accelerates atoms, to then measure their mass and charge. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-approach-ultra-rare-sextillion-isotopes.html General Physics Fri, 24 Apr 2026 10:40:07 EDT news696241546 Three RIKEN researchers have demonstrated a way to stop problematic "dark modes" from squelching intriguing effects in quantum systems. This advance could help with the development of more versatile quantum devices that can be used to control the storage and transmission of quantum information. The study is published in the journal Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-quantum-dark-modes-longer-block.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 24 Apr 2026 09:00:01 EDT news696238803 A novel approach for realizing the one-way quantum synchronization of phonons has been proposed by three theoretical physicists at RIKEN. Importantly, this method is remarkably resilient against practical challenges such as imperfections and environmental noise. Their paper, "Nonreciprocal quantum synchronization," is published in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-phonon-synchronization-survive-noise-defects.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 24 Apr 2026 08:40:01 EDT news696238622 In materials science, if you can understand the "texture" of a material—how its internal patterns form and shift—you can begin to design how it behaves. That's the focus of the work of Zhenglu Li, assistant professor in the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at USC Viterbi School of Engineering. Li's recently published paper in PNAS, titled "Moiré excitons in generalized Wigner crystals," demonstrates that the way electrons organize themselves inside a material determines how that material responds to light—and how this organization can be engineered. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-electron-affects-responses-moir-materials.html Condensed Matter Fri, 24 Apr 2026 05:30:02 EDT news696223587 The most demanding calculations in quantum chemistry can now be solved with graphics processing unit (GPU) supercomputers. A recently published study shows that software adapted to use GPU hardware can provide not just speed, but also the accuracy needed to solve complex chemistry problems. The work solved the two chemical structures often seen as too complex and expensive to tackle. The advance, published in the Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation, could allow researchers to make meaningful progress in designing new catalysts and improve predicted behaviors of magnetic and electronic materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-ai-accurate-quantum-chemistry.html Quantum Physics Thu, 23 Apr 2026 18:00:11 EDT news696180301 Semiconductor spin qubits are a promising candidate for the building blocks of next-generation quantum computers due to their high potential for integration and compatibility with existing semiconductor technologies. Qubits—like the 0s and 1s of a traditional computer—serve as a basic unit of information for quantum computers. However, the practical realization of these computers requires a massive number of qubits, making the development of more efficient adjustment methods a critical challenge for the field. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-ai-automates-quantum-dot-voltage.html Condensed Matter Thu, 23 Apr 2026 18:00:01 EDT news696173161 Quantum computers, devices that process information leveraging quantum mechanical effects, could tackle some tasks that are difficult or impossible to solve using classical computers. These systems represent data as qubits, units of information that can exist in multiple states at once, unlike the bits used by classical computers that represent data using binary values ("0" or "1"). https://phys.org/news/2026-04-quantum-chips-scale-faster-qubit.html Condensed Matter Thu, 23 Apr 2026 12:40:06 EDT news696162318 Researchers in the US and Germany have unveiled a theoretical blueprint for an atomic clock driven by a highly synchronized laser, where atoms work in concert rather than independently. Publishing their results in Physical Review Letters, Jarrod Reilly at the University of Colorado, Simon Jäger at the University of Bonn, and their colleagues in the US and Germany revived an idea first proposed in the 1990s—possibly charting a course toward the narrowest-linewidth lasers ever achieved. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-physicists-revive-1990s-laser-concept.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 23 Apr 2026 10:10:01 EDT news696156265 It was a head-spinning discovery. In 2018, researchers in Japan claimed to find concrete evidence of an elusive particle, a Majorana fermion, in a quantum spin liquid called ruthenium trichloride. Majoranas are highly sought-after by quantum materials scientists because when a pair are localized, or trapped, they can securely encode information and form a stable qubit—the building block of quantum computing. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-soundwaves-debate-elusive-quantum-particle.html Condensed Matter Wed, 22 Apr 2026 16:40:02 EDT news696079861 A new method developed at LMU overcomes fundamental resolution limits and may provide insights into high-temperature superconductivity. Physicist Dr. Sebastian Paeckel has developed a method that can be used to calculate spectral functions of complex quantum systems much more precisely than was possible previously. His approach reconstructs precise energy spectra without requiring lengthy calculations. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-quantum-simulations-bypass-resolution-limits.html Superconductivity Wed, 22 Apr 2026 16:00:08 EDT news696079081 When you throw a ball in the air, the equations of classical physics will tell you exactly what path the ball will take as it falls, and when and where it will land. But if you were to squeeze that same ball down to the size of an atom or smaller, it would behave in ways beyond anything that classical physics can predict. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-classical-physics-quantum-weirdness.html General Physics Wed, 22 Apr 2026 14:40:06 EDT news696077161 One of the biggest open questions in particle physics today is how the Higgs boson interacts with itself. This "self-coupling" could help explain the evolution of the early universe and the mechanism that gives mass to elementary particles. To try to shed light on this fundamental interaction, the ATLAS Collaboration has recently studied one of the "golden" decay channels of a pair of Higgs bosons, where one Higgs boson decays into two photons and the other into a pair of bottom quarks. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-atlas-limits-higgs-boson-interaction.html General Physics Wed, 22 Apr 2026 13:20:01 EDT news696076082 An international team of physicists has achieved a significant advance in laser science, demonstrating for the first time a practical route to dramatically boosting the intensity of high-power laser light. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-laser-plasma-mirror-path-extreme.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 22 Apr 2026 11:00:14 EDT news695979301 A tiny discrepancy in particle physics has loomed for decades as an exciting possible crack in one of science's most successful theories, hinting at unknown forces or quantum objects. Now, an international team led by a Penn State physicist has published the most precise study yet to reveal the discrepancy was a fluke in calculation, not nature. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-particle-thought-physics-reveals.html General Physics Wed, 22 Apr 2026 11:00:06 EDT news696065647 Plasma, the fourth state of matter, consists of a gas in which electrons are no longer bound to atoms, which allows electricity to flow freely. When beams of particles moving close to the speed of light travel through plasma, they disturb electrons and drive so-called plasma waves. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-route-plasma-based-particle.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 22 Apr 2026 10:40:05 EDT news696071586 Only about 5% of the universe is composed of normal matter that we can directly observe, while the remaining 95% is widely believed to consist of dark matter and dark energy. Paradoxically, however, the nature of these dark components remains unknown. Is this due to limitations in our observational capabilities, or does it reflect a more fundamental incompleteness in the classical laws of physics that have long underpinned our understanding of the universe? https://phys.org/news/2026-04-decoherence-gravity-dark-energy-quantum.html General Physics Wed, 22 Apr 2026 07:30:01 EDT news696002430 Buried within the Antarctic ice are more than 5,000 light sensors that work together to detect some of the highest energy particles in the universe. These tiny particles, called neutrinos, provide insight into the extreme cosmic events that created them as well as phenomena that challenge traditional physics. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-qa-icecube-observatory-elusive-cosmic.html General Physics Tue, 21 Apr 2026 21:00:01 EDT news695992172 As long as there's been an internet, there's been a way to hack it. Scientists have spent decades imagining a different kind of network, one where the laws of physics make eavesdropping physically impossible, not just technically difficult. They call that dream a quantum internet. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-scientists-quantum-internet-york-city.html Quantum Physics Tue, 21 Apr 2026 18:00:01 EDT news696004142 Researchers from the University of Twente and Harvard University have developed a new way to generate ultraviolet (UV) light on a photonic chip at power levels high enough for real-world use. For the first time, the technique produces milliwatt-level UV light on a chip. It is an important step for quantum technology, optical atomic clocks and advanced measurement equipment. The research is published in the journal Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-photonic-chip-generates-milliwatt-uv.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 21 Apr 2026 17:40:06 EDT news696003542 A new technology has been proposed that could fundamentally solve the issue of smartphones overheating during high-spec gaming or extended video streaming. Researchers at KAIST have discovered the principle of processing signals using the minute vibrations of magnets (spin waves) instead of electrons. This method significantly reduces heat generation and power consumption while enabling instantaneous frequency switching within the several GHz range. This breakthrough is expected to pave the way for smart devices with less heat and longer battery life, as well as ultra-low-power, high-speed computing. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-boost-strange-magnetic-rewrites-chips.html Condensed Matter Tue, 21 Apr 2026 17:10:06 EDT news696007861 Tens of kilometers above Earth's surface, high-energy particles from outer space constantly strike the atmosphere, creating showers of energetic secondary particles that rain down from the sky. Approximately one of these particles passes through your head every second, but the "cosmic rays" that produce them are still not fully understood. In a recent paper posted to the arXiv preprint server, the ATLAS Collaboration describes how its first measurement of proton–oxygen collisions at the LHC could help us learn more about them. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-atlas-cosmic-ray-laboratory-protonoxygen.html General Physics Tue, 21 Apr 2026 14:40:03 EDT news695990881 Superconductors, materials that can conduct electricity with a resistance of zero, have proved to be highly promising for the development of quantum technologies, medical imaging devices, particle accelerators and other advanced technologies. These materials can be divided into two broad categories: conventional and unconventional superconductors. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-alternating-atomic-layers-enable-rare.html Superconductivity Tue, 21 Apr 2026 11:20:01 EDT news695985154 Researchers have discovered a new way to tune the quantum properties of tiny defects in diamond—by gently stretching or compressing the crystal. These findings could pave the way for next-generation sensors that can detect pressure, temperature, and other physical changes with unprecedented precision. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-diamond-path-ultra-precise-quantum.html Condensed Matter Tue, 21 Apr 2026 10:40:01 EDT news695984881 Researchers from Bar-Ilan University have successfully recreated key features of black hole physics in a laboratory setting using an innovative optical system that mimics how black holes behave after violent cosmic events such as collisions or mergers. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-laser-black-holes-extreme-physics.html General Physics Tue, 21 Apr 2026 10:20:03 EDT news695984701 A quantum spin liquid is a phase of matter in which the magnetic moments in a material do not align or freeze, even at temperatures close to absolute zero (i.e., at 0 K). The experimental realization of this highly dynamic state could have important implications for the development of quantum computers and other technologies that operate leveraging quantum mechanical effects. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-pressure-tuned-quantum-liquid-behavior.html Condensed Matter Tue, 21 Apr 2026 08:00:02 EDT news695910243 Distributed fiber-optic sensors are widely used to monitor temperature and strain in infrastructure, but their spatial resolution has long been limited. In a new study, researchers from Shibaura Institute of Technology and Yokohama National University, Japan, have demonstrated that operating near a previously avoided frequency regime and suppressing signal distortions allows reflection-based sensing to achieve a world-record spatial resolution of 6 mm among single-end-access configurations. This enables precise monitoring of temperature and strain in infrastructure. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-millimeter-scale-resolution-fiber-optic.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 20 Apr 2026 19:40:08 EDT news695922241 The cosmological constant is the mathematical description of the energy that drives the ever-accelerating expansion of the cosmos. It's also the source of one of the most enduring and confounding problems in modern physics. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-mathematical-universe-cosmological-constant-problem.html General Physics Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:40:01 EDT news695907962 Today, I want to walk you through a deceptively simple innovation from the lab at Loughborough University (PI: Prof Marco Peccianti): what happens when we decorate a spintronic heterostructure with a sparse layer of plasmonic nanoparticles? This isn't just a lab curiosity—it's a step toward making terahertz sources more efficient, compact, and practical for real-world applications like high-speed communications, noninvasive imaging, and advanced spectroscopy. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-sprinkling-nanoparticles-spintronics.html Condensed Matter Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:00:06 EDT news695895133