News tagged with theory of physics
Finnish researchers find explanation for sliding friction
Friction is a key phenomenon in applied physics, whose origin has been studied for centuries. Until now, it has been understood that mechanical wear-resistance and fluid lubrication affect friction, but the fundamental origin ...
May 29, 2012 |
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The new world of gamma-ray optics
Scientists discover that certain materials like silicon or gold exhibit a surprisingly large refractive index for extremely high energetic gamma-rays.
May 14, 2012 |
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Raising the prospects for quantum levitation
More than half-a-century ago, the Dutch theoretical physicist Hendrik Casimir calculated that two mirrors placed facing each other in a vacuum would attract. The mysterious force arises from the energy of virtual particles ...
Apr 18, 2012 |
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Italian physicist behind 'faster-than-light' test resigns
An Italian physicist at the head of a team that made a cautious but hugely controversial claim that neutrinos may travel faster than the speed of light resigned on Friday following calls for his dismissal.
Mar 30, 2012 |
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When dark energy turned on (Update)
(PhysOrg.com) -- Some six billion light years distant, almost halfway from now back to the big bang, the universe was undergoing an elemental change. Held back until then by the mutual gravitational attraction ...
Mar 30, 2012 |
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Quantum copies do new tricks
One of the strange features of quantum information is that, unlike almost every other type of information, it cannot be perfectly copied. For example, it is impossible to take a single photon and make a number of photons ...
Mar 22, 2012 |
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Looking at quantum gravity in a mirror
Einstein's theory of gravity and quantum physics are expected to merge at the Planck-scale of extremely high energies and on very short distances. At this scale, new phenomena could arise. However, the Planck-scale ...
Mar 18, 2012 |
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In the early universe, rapid expansion or something very weird
(PhysOrg.com) -- The widely-accepted theory of cosmic inflation states that our universe expanded rapidly in the moments after its birth, resulting in the immense expanse we see today.
Feb 27, 2012 |
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Pulsars: The Universe's gift to physics
Pulsars, superdense neutron stars, are perhaps the most extraordinary physics laboratories in the Universe. Research on these extreme and exotic objects already has produced two Nobel Prizes. Pulsar researchers now are poised ...
Feb 19, 2012 |
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Leading the quest to crack cosmological mysteries
Sometimes a scientist can only laugh in the face of a seemingly insurmountable challenge.
Feb 13, 2012 |
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Physicists propose test for loop quantum gravity
(PhysOrg.com) -- As a quantum theory of gravity, loop quantum gravity could potentially solve one of the biggest problems in physics: reconciling general relativity and quantum mechanics. But like all tentative ...
Jan 03, 2012 |
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Pions don't want to decay into faster-than-light neutrinos, study finds
When an international collaboration of physicists came up with a result that punched a hole in Einstein's theory of special relativity and couldn't find any mistakes in their work, they asked the world to ...
Dec 23, 2011 |
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U of Toronto experiment named top breakthrough of 2011 by Physics World
Aephraim Steinberg and colleagues at the Centre for Quantum Information and Quantum Control at the University of Toronto had the top physics breakthrough of the year according to Physics World magazine.
Dec 16, 2011 |
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String theory researchers simulate big-bang on supercomputer
(PhysOrg.com) -- A trio of Japanese physicists have applied a reformulation of string theory, called IIB, whereby matrices are used to describe the properties of the physical universe, on a supercomputer, to effectively sho ...
Dec 14, 2011 |
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'Faster-than-light' particles spark science drama
Oh Albert. Did you get it wrong? In 2011, physics was shaken by an experiment which said the Universe's speed limit, enshrined by Einstein in his 1905 theory of special relativity, could be broken.
Dec 09, 2011 |
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