http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- For the past few years, researchers have been using quantum dots to increase the light absorption and overall efficiency of solar cells. Now, researchers have taken a step further, demonstrating that quantum dots with a built-in electric charge can increase the efficiency of InAs/GaAs quantum dot solar cells by 50% or more. http://phys.org/news224489989.html Nanotechnology Fri, 13 May 2011 07:50:01 EST news224489989 (PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, researchers have measured a long-theorized force that operates at distances so tiny they’re measured in billionths of a meter, which may have important applications in nanotechnology as scientists and engineers seek new ways to create devices far too small for the eye to see. http://phys.org/news150557049.html Physics Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:24:09 EST news150557049 In 2004 Lyncean Technologies announced the construction of the Compact Light Source (CLS), a miniature synchrotron which uses inverse Compton scattering to produce high-intensity, tunable, near-monochromatic x-ray beams. The CLS was designed to bring state-of-the-art protein structure determination to the home laboratory -- but it has also promised to have a broad impact across the spectrum of x-ray science. http://phys.org/news150537938.html Physics Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:05:38 EST news150537938 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of University of Toronto physicists have demonstrated a new technique to squeeze light to the fundamental quantum limit, a finding that has potential applications for high-precision measurement, next-generation atomic clocks, novel quantum computing and our most fundamental understanding of the universe. http://phys.org/news150121818.html Physics Fri, 02 Jan 2009 12:30:18 EST news150121818 (PhysOrg.com) -- Storing and sending information using quantum phenomena is one of the hottest areas of research today; scientists across the globe are investigating how to make quantum communication possible for real-life applications. In a key step, a group of researchers was recently able to greatly improve the lifetime of a form of quantum memory. http://phys.org/news150115833.html Physics Fri, 02 Jan 2009 10:50:33 EST news150115833 (PhysOrg.com) -- “Fock states will play a role in the future of quantum computing,” Andrew Cleland tells PhysOrg.com. “We have completed the first experimental measurement of the time decay of Fock states in a superconducting quantum circuit, and we believe this will provide useful information as we work toward developing a quantum computer.” Cleland is a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and works with a group headed by John Martinis. http://phys.org/news149252720.html Physics Tue, 23 Dec 2008 11:05:20 EST news149252720 A Princeton-led team of researchers has discovered an entirely new mechanism for making common electronic materials emit laser beams. The finding could lead to lasers that operate more efficiently and at higher temperatures than existing devices, and find applications in environmental monitoring and medical diagnostics. http://phys.org/news149171030.html Physics Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:23:50 EST news149171030 The ability to exploit the extraordinary properties of quantum mechanics in novel applications, such as a new generation of super-fast computers, has come closer following recent progress with some of the remaining underlying mathematical problems. In particular, the operator theory used to describe interactions between particles at atomic scales or smaller where quantum mechanical properties are significant needs to be enhanced to deal with systems where digital information is processed or transmitted. In essence, the theory involves mathematical analysis based on Hilbert Spaces, which are extensions of the conventional three dimensional Euclidean geometry to cope with additional dimensions, as are required to describe quantum systems. http://phys.org/news149167907.html Other Sciences Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:31:47 EST news149167907 Quantum physics is both mysterious and difficult to grasp. Barry Sanders, director of the University of Calgary's Institute for Quantum Information Science, is hoping to change that. http://phys.org/news148740939.html Physics Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:55:39 EST news148740939 Quantum dots, tiny luminescent particles made of semiconductors, hold promise for detecting and treating cancer earlier. However, if doctors were to use them in humans, quantum dots could have limitations related to their size and possible toxicity. http://phys.org/news147883810.html Nanotechnology Sun, 07 Dec 2008 14:50:10 EST news147883810 Physicists have taken a significant step toward creation of quantum networks by establishing a new record for the length of time that quantum information can be stored in and retrieved from an ensemble of very cold atoms. Though the information remains usable for just milliseconds, even that short lifetime should be enough to allow transmission of data from one quantum repeater to another on an optical network. http://phys.org/news147881784.html Physics Sun, 07 Dec 2008 14:16:24 EST news147881784 (PhysOrg.com) -- It is a truth universally acknowledged that quantum computing must have entanglement. http://phys.org/news147698804.html Physics Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:26:44 EST news147698804 In the age of the petabyte, we all need help digesting and understanding massive amounts of information. In this month's Physics World, a series of features celebrates the ascendance of visual methods that are being used to make meaning of the mountains of scientific data. http://phys.org/news147357219.html Physics Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:33:39 EST news147357219 (PhysOrg.com) -- Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers have posited an explanation for superconductivity that may open the door to the discovery of new, unconventional forms of superconductivity. http://phys.org/news146492527.html Physics Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:22:07 EST news146492527 Quantum computers would likely outperform conventional computers in simulating chemical reactions involving more than four atoms, according to scientists at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Haverford College. Such improved ability to model and predict complex chemical reactions could revolutionize drug design and materials science, among other fields. http://phys.org/news146405835.html Chemistry Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:17:15 EST news146405835 (PhysOrg.com) -- If space-time were constructed in such a way that you could travel back in time, it would create some pretty strange effects. One of these oddities, as many people know, is the “grandfather paradox.” Here, a person travels back in time to kill their grandfather before the person’s father is born, thus preventing their own birth. http://phys.org/news146398685.html Physics Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:18:05 EST news146398685 (PhysOrg.com) -- The promise of quantum computing is that it will dramatically outshine traditional computers in tackling certain key problems: searching large databases, factoring large numbers, creating uncrackable codes and simulating the atomic structure of materials. http://phys.org/news146329499.html Physics Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:04:59 EST news146329499 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new approach to calibrating quantum mechanical measurement has been developed with particular applications in optics and super-secure quantum communication. http://phys.org/news146150726.html Physics Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:25:26 EST news146150726 Physicists in the USA and at the London Centre for Nanotechnology have found a way to extend the quantum lifetime of electrons by more than 5,000 per cent, as reported in this week's Physical Review Letters. Electrons exhibit a property called 'spin' and work like tiny magnets which can point up, down or a quantum superposition of both. The state of the spin can be used to store information and so by extending their life the research provides a significant step towards building a usable quantum computer. http://phys.org/news145938390.html Physics Sat, 15 Nov 2008 02:26:30 EST news145938390 (PhysOrg.com) -- "There are a number of different proposals for quantum computing," Andrew Daley tells PhysOrg.com. "These include solid state or semiconductor as well as atomic and molecular systems. We are considering atomic systems, and more specifically alkaline earth metals." http://phys.org/news145883039.html Physics Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:03:59 EST news145883039 (PhysOrg.com) -- Theoretically, quantum computing has the potential to work more efficiently and accurately than classical computing for certain processes, such as factoring. But quantum methods are experimentally challenging, since they often require tiny, fragile systems that are difficult to handle. http://phys.org/news145535050.html Physics Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:24:10 EST news145535050 Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in The Netherlands have managed to crack the so-called McEliece encryption system. This system is a candidate for the security of Internet traffic in the age of the quantum computer - the predicted superpowerful computer of the future. http://phys.org/news144669128.html Technology Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:52:08 EST news144669128 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists led by Rainer Blatt, Markus Hennrich and Mark Riebe of the Institute for Experimental Physics at Innsbruck University recently succeeded for the first time in realizing a deterministic transfer of entanglement in their lab. They reported this important technique for future quantum computing in the online edition of the acclaimed science journal Nature Physics. http://phys.org/news144250142.html Physics Sun, 26 Oct 2008 14:29:02 EST news144250142 An international team of scientists has performed the ultimate miniaturisation of computer memory: storing information inside the nucleus of an atom. This breakthrough is a key step in bringing to life a quantum computer - a device based on the fundamental theory of quantum mechanics which could crack problems unsolvable by current technology. http://phys.org/news143912221.html Physics Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:37:01 EST news143912221 Scientists at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany, have, for the first time, succeeded in rendering the spatial distribution of individual atoms in a Bose-Einstein condensate visible. http://phys.org/news143738245.html Physics Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:17:25 EST news143738245 (PhysOrg.com) -- Theoretical proof of stable and measurable states extending over two quantum dots and creating offspring has now been provided for the first time. This supports the notion of what is known as Quantum Darwinism, which makes the selection and reproduction of quantum mechanical states responsible for the way in which our reality is perceived. These results of an Austrian Science Fund FWF project were recently published in Physical Review Letters and will play a part in the future development of quantum information technology. http://phys.org/news143710195.html Physics Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:29:55 EST news143710195 (PhysOrg.com) -- Experiments with quantum systems sometimes yield surprising results. This is exactly what happened when John Thomas, a researcher at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina found out when he and his post doc, Du, and his students Luo and Clancy, attempted to study a trapped cloud of Fermi atoms all initially in the same quantum superposition of spin-up and spin-down states. They expected all of the atoms to move uniformly back and forth in the trap. Instead, the atoms moved in a way that not predicted using existing theory. http://phys.org/news143374744.html Physics Thu, 16 Oct 2008 11:19:04 EST news143374744 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and JILA, a joint institute of NIST and the University of Colorado (CU) at Boulder, have made the first tunable “noiseless” amplifier. By significantly reducing the uncertainty in delicate measurements of microwave signals, the new amplifier could boost the speed and precision of quantum computing and communications systems. http://phys.org/news143299359.html Physics Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:22:39 EST news143299359 The American Institute of Mathematics announces that Soundararajan and Roman Holowinsky have proven a significant version of the quantum unique ergodicity conjecture. Their work, based in the pure mathematics area of number theory, illuminates deep connections between classical and quantum physics in what is being hailed as one of the best theorems of the year. http://phys.org/news142834558.html Other Sciences Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:15:58 EST news142834558 In the past few years, the design and manufacturing of circuits at nanoscopic scale for integrated devices has become one of the frontier fields in new material science and technology. The significant reduction achieved in these devices often is accompanied by new discoveries in how they behave precisely when the systems are of extremely small dimensions. Understanding this new physics at nanoscopic scale at the same time has enabled researchers to study the possibility of designing new materials with innovative characteristics. http://phys.org/news142677353.html Nanotechnology Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:35:53 EST news142677353