Cooling and trapping is a set of experimental techniques used to reduce the kinetic energy of particles, typically atoms or ions, and confine them spatially for precision measurements and quantum control. Laser cooling methods, such as Doppler and sub-Doppler cooling, use resonant light to induce momentum exchange that lowers atomic velocities, while magneto-optical traps (MOTs) combine inhomogeneous magnetic fields with polarized light to provide both cooling and restoring forces. Additional mechanisms, including evaporative cooling and optical or electromagnetic trapping potentials, further reduce temperatures toward the quantum degenerate regime, enabling studies of ultracold gases, atomic clocks, quantum simulation, and controlled quantum information processing.
Few concepts in physics are as familiar, yet as enigmatic, as time. In Einstein's theory of relativity, time is not absolute: its passage depends on motion and gravity. But when combined with quantum physics, this relativistic ...
General Physics
Apr 20, 2026
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Two independent research teams have each demonstrated collisional quantum gates using fermionic atoms: a long-sought milestone in quantum computing where logic operations are performed through the direct physical overlap ...
For the first time, scientists have directly imaged the quantum process underlying superconductivity, a phenomenon in which paired electrons cause electric current to flow without resistance at sufficiently low temperatures. ...
Condensed Matter
Apr 15, 2026
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A major obstacle in the development of powerful quantum computers is the growing number of cables required to control a computer as the number of qubits increases. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden ...
Quantum Physics
Apr 14, 2026
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Adelaide University researchers have successfully tested a new type of portable atomic clock at sea for the first time, using technology that could help power the next generation of navigation, communications and scientific ...
Optics & Photonics
Apr 14, 2026
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25
Justus Ndukaife, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and Chancellor Faculty Fellow, and his team have developed next generation nanotweezers that better analyze extracellular vesicles and aid in unraveling ...
Bio & Medicine
Apr 13, 2026
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5
A new type of radiofrequency trap can capture particles with extremely different requirements and could theoretically hold both types of particles at the same time. Researchers in the group of Professor Dmitry Budker from ...
General Physics
Apr 10, 2026
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Researchers at ETH Zurich have realized particularly stable quantum logical operations with qubits made of neutral atoms. Since these operations, called quantum gates, are based on geometric phases, they are extremely robust ...
Quantum Physics
Apr 8, 2026
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Mid-circuit measurements are one of the biggest practical hurdles in quantum error correction on encoded qubits. Researchers in Innsbruck and Aachen have now proposed and experimentally demonstrated that a universal fault-tolerant ...
Quantum Physics
Apr 7, 2026
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23
Quantum mechanics tells us that a particle can never be perfectly still. But how precisely can it be oriented? A research team at the University of Vienna, together with colleagues at TU Wien and Ulm University, has now cooled ...
Optics & Photonics
Apr 6, 2026
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