https://phys.org/physics-news/ en-us The latest news in physics, materials science, quantum physics, optics and photonics, superconductivity science and technology. Updated Daily. Scientists from the Quantum Technologies Group at the Institute of Physics Zagreb, in collaboration with a colleague from the Physics Department at the Faculty of Science (PMF), have experimentally demonstrated for the first time the existence of discrete one-dimensional (1D) solitons in an optically induced photonic lattice in warm rubidium vapor. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-laser-lattice-reveals-discrete-solitons.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 21 Oct 2026 18:20:07 EDT news711813961 In a study published in Advanced Optical Materials, researchers at Vilnius University (VU) demonstrated perovskite-based laser structures that maintained stable performance over more than 400 million pulses. Their findings address one of the major challenges limiting the practical use of perovskites: their instability. These semiconductor materials could play an important role in next-generation optical technologies, but their tendency to degrade has long posed a challenge for researchers worldwide. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-perovskite-laser-stable-million-pulses.html Condensed Matter Wed, 21 Oct 2026 18:00:02 EDT news711813781 Researchers at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the U.S. Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have measured the shortest high-energy X-ray pulses ever recorded at an X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL). The pulses had photon energies of about 9 kiloelectronvolts (keV) and clocked in at durations of 100 to 400 attoseconds—mere billionths of a billionth of a second. The results are published in Nature Photonics. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ray-free-electron-laser-shortest.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:40:10 EDT news711803582 Despite being known for more mundane uses such as sticking notes to refrigerators or keeping bags shut, magnetization is one of the most fundamental and useful properties of a material. Indeed, it forms the physical basis for storing most of our digital information, encoding the bits used in hard drives, computer memories and credit cards. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ultrafast-ferromagnetism.html Condensed Matter Wed, 21 Oct 2026 13:40:04 EDT news711801302 Scientists from RMIT University and Riga Technical University in Latvia have shown that static charge left on surfaces can be controlled, which may have big benefits for companies needing to avoid the little zap in production of common household goods. The discovery could even one day help stop powders such as protein, chocolate malt powders and coffee from clumping. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-invisible-tweak-protein-clumpy.html General Physics Wed, 21 Oct 2026 11:40:16 EDT news711796202 For the first time, Northwestern University physicists have coaxed a single positron—the antimatter counterpart of an electron—into an exquisitely controlled quantum state. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-physicists-particle-antimatter-months.html General Physics Wed, 21 Oct 2026 11:00:10 EDT news711713041 Quantum networks, systems that connect devices and allow them to exchange information encoded in the quantum states of particles, could enable more secure communications. To build these networks, physicists need to devise strategies that allow distant particles to share quantum states, preserving them long enough to perform calculations or enable communication between devices. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-atomic-memory-distant-ions-entangled.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 21 Oct 2026 07:40:12 EDT news711706392 Transmitting electricity without losing any energy may sound impossible, yet this is precisely the promise of superconductivity. For nearly 40 years, scientists have been working to understand materials that exhibit this remarkable property at relatively high temperatures. Unlocking their secrets could one day help make power grids more efficient, enhance medical technologies and support the development of quantum computing. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-hidden-rivalry-quantum-states-heart.html Superconductivity Tue, 20 Oct 2026 18:00:07 EDT news711721321 New results from the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) provide strong evidence that smashing oxygen nuclei together at nearly the speed of light generates a quark-gluon plasma (QGP), a type of matter that existed just after the birth of the universe. The data, just published in Physical Review Letters, show that energetic jets of particles lose energy as they traverse the hot, dense matter left in the collision's wake. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-oxygen-collisions-evidence-jet-quenching.html General Physics Tue, 20 Oct 2026 17:20:01 EDT news711719881 Superconductivity has many important practical applications, including creating powerful magnets used in high-resolution medical scans, transporting electricity efficiently and building ultrasensitive measuring devices. Until now, understanding exactly what lay behind this unique phenomenon at high temperatures has eluded scientists over many decades. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-gun-mystery-high-temperature-superconductivity.html Superconductivity Tue, 20 Oct 2026 16:00:07 EDT news711718201 Most conventional methods of ultrafast photography use evenly spaced intervals in which images are taken, but new developments have shown how much can be left out of the story, especially when multiple timescales are involved. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-custom-captures-ultrafast-events-magnitude.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 20 Oct 2026 15:20:10 EDT news711728369 Light is one of the most powerful tools scientists have for probing matter. By interacting with electrons, light reveals how atoms, molecules and materials are structured and how they evolve in time. Highly energetic ultraviolet and X-ray photons are particularly attractive because they can access electrons located close to atomic nuclei, where each chemical element carries its own distinctive electronic fingerprint. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-electrons-extreme-ultraviolet-team-quantum.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 20 Oct 2026 14:00:31 EDT news711713761 Tiny atoms and molecules are constantly bombarding each other all around us. While we regularly measure the large-scale effects of these interactions, measuring the effect of each individual collision is far more difficult. But now, researchers have managed to measure how tiny gas particles affect a single silica particle in the lab. In their new study, published in Physical Review Letters, the team describes how they detected the momentum transfers of individual collisions of gas particles with a nanoparticle levitated in laser light. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-individual-atomic-collisions-lab-potentially.html General Physics Tue, 20 Oct 2026 13:10:01 EDT news711719258 For nearly a century, physicists have relied on the Born rule to calculate the chances of different outcomes when they measure a quantum system. Yet despite decades of effort, nobody has managed to derive the rule from more basic mathematical principles without making assumptions about probability along the way. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-quantum-probability-derived-assuming.html Quantum Physics Tue, 20 Oct 2026 11:50:01 EDT news711713510 For scientists, breakthroughs often stem from unexpected turns. A research team led by Oscar Dahlsten, an associate professor in the Department of Physics at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK), set out to prove a theoretical limitation, only to discover a quantum solution. The finding breaks traditional physical constraints and introduces a strategy for harvesting energy from fluctuating sources. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-quantum-pathway-entropy-free-energy.html General Physics Tue, 20 Oct 2026 11:00:01 EDT news711706981 Scientists have unveiled a new theory on the birth of the cosmos, suggesting the early universe was shaped by an ancient particle that has been overlooked for decades. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-forgotten-particle-mystery-physicists.html General Physics Mon, 19 Oct 2026 19:10:02 EDT news711618181 Voltage fluctuations, light fluctuations, temperature fluctuations—any fluctuations are troublesome and thus undesirable. They don't just cause discomfort; in engineering and medical applications, they affect the accuracy of measurements or introduce errors in controls. Even at the minute level of quantum phenomena, fluctuations are considered undesirable. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-forbidden-emissions-graphene-expose-quantum.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 19 Oct 2026 13:40:04 EDT news711626341 Today's computer technology, based on silicon chips, is slowly reaching its physical limits. Components cannot be miniaturized indefinitely, and clock speeds cannot be increased indefinitely. At the same time, huge AI data centers are being built in many places, and these consume an immense amount of electricity. This is why scientists around the world are searching for novel materials that can replace or complement silicon technology and consume significantly less electricity. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-rays-reveal-copper-oxide.html Condensed Matter Mon, 19 Oct 2026 11:40:06 EDT news711621013 Some quantum systems are so complex that even the most powerful supercomputers struggle to simulate their behavior. One solution is quantum simulation: building a controllable quantum system in the lab and tuning it to mimic the one researchers want to understand. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-monolithic-ion-quantum-simulations.html General Physics Sun, 18 Oct 2026 14:00:06 EDT news711191698 Whether we are waiting for a car windshield to defrost in winter or a warm drink to cool down, how long it takes for an object to settle into a stable, even temperature within its environment (thermal equilibrium) depends on numerous factors. These can include surface area, the material properties of an object and airflow. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-physicists-quantum-limit-thermalization.html General Physics Sun, 18 Oct 2026 13:20:01 EDT news711375948 Researchers have developed and demonstrated a new hybrid photonic platform that integrates quantum emitters with photonic devices, providing a way to reliably control the interaction between photons and quantum information carriers. The chip-based platform, which combines gallium phosphide (GaP) with a diamond substrate, could help make quantum networks more practical by providing a way to connect quantum devices over long distances. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-hybrid-diamond-chip-interactions-quantum.html Optics & Photonics Sun, 18 Oct 2026 09:00:05 EDT news711300067 Qubits, the quantum equivalent of digital bits, are fragile and prone to errors. That makes building reliable quantum computers extremely difficult. One fix has been to use traditional magic state distillation, which filters out flaws, but it is extremely resource-intensive. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-quantum-magic-state-cleanup-errors.html Quantum Physics Sat, 17 Oct 2026 14:00:02 EDT news711367172 Quantum computers represent a next step in the fast-paced evolution of technology. Using quantum bits (qubits), they have the potential to run certain calculations exponentially faster than conventional computers. However, developing and fine-tuning quantum computers requires an enormous number of repetitive tests. To accelerate quantum technology development, we need a method that can read quantum states at ultrafast speeds. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-high-frequency-method-boosts-2d.html Quantum Physics Fri, 16 Oct 2026 18:00:01 EDT news711373496 For the first time, scientists have achieved strong coupling between light and long-lived acoustic vibrations in an optical fiber. Optical fibers are used in both classical telecommunications and quantum communication and could serve not only as connections between computing nodes but also as quantum processors themselves in the future. The results, published in Nature Physics, pave the way for new technologies in quantum signal processing. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-highway-racetrack-strong-coupling-optical.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 16 Oct 2026 17:20:01 EDT news711373441 Researchers have developed and tested a new locking method for gravitational wave detectors that will advance the discovery of distant black holes and neutron stars colliding. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-infrared-mirror-coating-obstacle-gravitational.html General Physics Fri, 16 Oct 2026 17:00:05 EDT news711373401 Researchers used the European XFEL to create X-ray flashes that were not only extremely short but also reached record intensity for this type of pulse. The researchers focused the X-rays to an area roughly 100,000 times smaller than the cross section of a typical human hair. This concentrated the X-ray light into a tiny but extremely powerful spot. The method could enable detailed studies of how electrons behave in atoms and molecules and, in the long term, could even allow researchers to control electrons during chemical reactions. The team has now published the results of the experiment, carried out in April 2026, in the journal Optica. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-world-intensity-attosecond-hard-ray.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 16 Oct 2026 15:10:01 EDT news711377641 Since its introduction more than 150 years ago, the thought-provoking idea of Maxwell's demon has profoundly shaped our understanding of the relationship between information and energy. Maxwell's demon is an imagined microscopic gatekeeper that exploits information at the microscopic scale to produce macroscopic work. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-maxwell-demon-concealed-usable-energy.html General Physics Fri, 16 Oct 2026 14:50:01 EDT news711377401 To build faster and more energy-efficient computers, researchers need to understand nanoscale magnetic materials. But looking inside these tiny magnets is surprisingly difficult: Modern microscopes only measure the magnetic field outside the material, not the magnetic pattern inside. Because many different internal patterns can produce the exact same field, working backwards has long been a challenge. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-physics-ai-reconstructs-hidden-patterns.html Condensed Matter Fri, 16 Oct 2026 11:40:12 EDT news711364261 The researchers in the Quantum Detection Microscopy group at CIC nanoGUNE, in collaboration with chemists at CiQUS of the University of Santiago de Compostela, have demonstrated that adding or removing a single molecule from a quantum chain can fundamentally change its interaction with a superconductor. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-odd-molecule-difference-quantum-world.html Superconductivity Fri, 16 Oct 2026 10:20:06 EDT news711362070 Glimpses of the "gallium anomaly" were first seen in the mid-1990s, but it was first clearly discovered and stated in 2007 by neutrino physicist Carlo Giunti of Italy. The problem is simple to state but potentially very important: about 20% fewer electron neutrinos were seen to be captured by gallium nuclei than expected. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-gallium-anomaly-neutrino-shortfall-invoking.html General Physics Fri, 16 Oct 2026 08:00:01 EDT news711279680