Truly two-dimensional objects are rare. Even a thin piece of paper is trillions of atoms thick. When physicists do succeed in producing 2D systems, quantum interactions can lead to new phenomena and Nobel prizes. Two examples: ...
Superconductivity
Sep 9, 2014
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(Phys.org) —Chemical reactions drive the mechanisms of life as well as a million other natural processes on earth. These reactions occur at a wide spectrum of temperatures, from those prevailing at the chilly polar icecaps ...
Quantum Physics
Sep 2, 2014
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Topological transport of light is the photonic analog of topological electron flow in certain semiconductors. In the electron case, the current flows around the edge of the material but not through the bulk. It is "topological" ...
Optics & Photonics
Aug 1, 2014
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Theorists propose a way to make superconducting quantum devices such as Josephson junctions and qubits, atom-by-atom, inside a silicon crystal. Such systems could combine the most promising aspects of silicon spin qubits ...
Quantum Physics
Jul 2, 2014
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Michael Lewis's bestselling book "Flash Boys" describes how some brokers, engaging in high frequency trading, exploit fast telecommunications to gain fraction-of-a-second advantage in the buying and selling of stocks. But ...
Optics & Photonics
May 25, 2014
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Twenty years ago, Philip Platzman and Allen Mills, Jr. at Bell Laboratories proposed that a gamma-ray laser could be made from a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of positronium, the simplest atom made of both matter and antimatter ...
General Physics
May 1, 2014
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Atomtronics is an emerging technology whereby physicists use ensembles of atoms to build analogs to electronic circuit elements. Modern electronics relies on utilizing the charge properties of the electron. Using lasers and ...
Quantum Physics
Feb 12, 2014
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Swirling, persistent vortices can be created in superfluid helium. Generally no atoms sit at the eye of these miniature hurricanes. Things might be different in condensates of ultracold atoms. Theorists at the Joint Quantum ...
Quantum Physics
Dec 5, 2013
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(Phys.org) —Topology—the understanding of how things are connected—remains abstract, even with the popular example of doughnuts and coffee cups. This concept, esoteric as it appears, is also neat because it is the basis ...
Optics & Photonics
Oct 21, 2013
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(Phys.org) —In "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (JK Rowling, 1997), Harry, Ron, and Hermione encounter a massive stone chessboard, one of many obstacles in their path. To advance, they must play, and win. Although ...
Quantum Physics
Sep 23, 2013
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