Physicists build an atom laser that can stay on forever

Lasers produce coherent waves of light: All the light inside a laser vibrates completely in sync. Meanwhile, quantum mechanics tells us that particles like atoms should also be thought of as waves. As a result, we can build ...

Going gentle on mechanical quantum systems

When thinking about quantum mechanical systems, single photons and well-isolated ions and atoms may spring to mind, or electrons spreading through a crystal. More exotic in the context of quantum mechanics are genuinely mechanical ...

Optical cavities could provide new technological possibilities

A research team from NTNU is studying a topic called optical cavities and how the light trapped in them interacts with atoms, molecules and other particles. The technology could prove valuable for the development of energy-efficient ...

One particle on two paths: Quantum physics is right

The double-slit experiment is the most famous and probably the most important experiment in quantum physics: individual particles are shot at a wall with two openings, behind which a detector measures where the particles ...

How physics can help us make sense of multiverse madness

If you're a fan of science fiction films, you'll likely be familiar with the idea of alternate universes—hypothetical planes of existence with different versions of ourselves. As far from reality as it sounds, it is a question ...

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