https://phys.org/physics-news/quantum-physics en-us Phys.org provides the latest news on quantum physics, wave particle duality, quantum theory, quantum mechanics, quantum entanglement, quantum teleportation, and quantum computing. New experimental evidence of a collective behavior of electrons to form "quasiparticles" called "anyons" has been reported by a team of scientists at Purdue University. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-evidence-quantum-world-stranger-thought.html Quantum Physics Fri, 04 Sep 2020 16:08:09 EDT news518454479 Quantum bits, or qubits, can hold quantum information much longer now thanks to efforts by an international research team. The researchers have increased the retention time, or coherence time, to 10 milliseconds—10,000 times longer than the previous record—by combining the orbital motion and spinning inside an atom. Such a boost in information retention has major implications for information technology developments since the longer coherence time makes spin-orbit qubits the ideal candidate for building large quantum computers. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-technology-quantum-bits-longer-previous.html Quantum Physics Fri, 04 Sep 2020 11:09:34 EDT news518436571 In physics, it is essential to be able to show a theoretical assumption in actual, physical experiments. For more than a hundred years, physicists have been aware of the link between the concepts of disorder in a system, and information obtained by measurement. However, a clean experimental assessment of this link in common monitored systems, that is systems which are continuously measured over time, was missing so far. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-quantum-shown-experimentally.html Quantum Physics Fri, 04 Sep 2020 09:50:03 EDT news518430888 Nature's speed limits aren't posted on road signs, but Rice University physicists have discovered a new way to deduce them that is better—infinitely better, in some cases—than previous methods. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-quantum-limit-bounds.html Quantum Physics Fri, 04 Sep 2020 09:10:43 EDT news518429440 Scientists from Regensburg and Zurich have found a fascinating way to push an atom with controlled forces so quickly that they can choreograph the motion of a single molecule within less than a trillionth of a second. The extremely sharp needle of their unique ultrafast microscope serves as the technical basis: It carefully scans molecules, similar to a record player. Physicists at the University of Regensburg now showed that shining light pulses onto this needle can transform it into an ultrafast "atomic hand." This allows molecules to be steered—and new technologies can be inspired. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-physicists-nudge-atoms-trillionth.html Quantum Physics Wed, 02 Sep 2020 19:00:01 EDT news518173795 The world is one step closer to having a totally secure internet and an answer to the growing threat of cyber-attacks, thanks to a team of international scientists who have created a unique prototype which could transform how we communicate online. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-revolutionary-quantum-breakthrough-paves-safer.html Quantum Physics Wed, 02 Sep 2020 14:00:03 EDT news518249550 The technology behind the quantum computers of the future is fast developing, with several different approaches in progress. Many of the strategies, or "blueprints," for quantum computers rely on atoms or artificial atom-like electrical circuits. In a new theoretical study in the journal Physical Review X, a group of physicists at Caltech demonstrates the benefits of a lesser-studied approach that relies not on atoms but molecules. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-molecular-approach-quantum.html Quantum Physics Wed, 02 Sep 2020 10:10:00 EDT news518260195 Researchers at Delft University of Technology have succeeded in independently manipulating two different types of magnetism within a single atom. The results are relevant for the development of extremely small forms of data storage. In time, this new discovery could make it possible to store two bits of information in one atom. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-bits-atom.html Quantum Physics Tue, 01 Sep 2020 10:00:09 EDT news518173206 Among all the curious states of matter that can coexist in a quantum material, jostling for preeminence as temperature, electron density and other factors change, some scientists think a particularly weird juxtaposition exists at a single intersection of factors, called the quantum critical point or QCP. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-evidence-quantum-fluctuations-critical-superconductor.html Superconductivity Quantum Physics Mon, 31 Aug 2020 12:54:55 EDT news518097292 In 2019, Google claimed it was the first to demonstrate a quantum computer performing a calculation beyond the abilities of today's most powerful supercomputers. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-theory-hints-efficient-quantum-algorithms.html Quantum Physics Mon, 31 Aug 2020 10:41:45 EDT news518089300 A team of researchers with Google's AI Quantum team (working with unspecified collaborators) has conducted the largest chemical simulation on a quantum computer to date. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their work and why they believe it was a step forward in quantum computing. Xiao Yuan of Stanford University has written a Perspective piece outlining the potential benefits of quantum computer use to conduct chemical simulations and the work by the team at AI Quantum, published in the same journal issue. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-google-largest-chemical-simulation-quantum.html Quantum Physics Fri, 28 Aug 2020 09:00:01 EDT news517823478 The quantum properties underlying crystal formation can be replicated and investigated with the help of ultracold atoms. A team led by Dr. Axel U. J. Lode from the University of Freiburg's Institute of Physics has now described in the journal Physical Review Letters how the use of dipolar atoms enables even the realization and precise measurement of structures that have not yet been observed in any material. The theoretical study was a collaboration involving scientists from the University of Freiburg, the University of Vienna and the Technical University of Vienna in Austria, and the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, India. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-quantum-simulation-crystals.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Thu, 27 Aug 2020 13:32:25 EDT news517753938 The practicality of quantum computing hangs on the integrity of the quantum bit, or qubit. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-cosmic-rays-stymie-quantum.html Quantum Physics Wed, 26 Aug 2020 11:00:03 EDT news517641344 For the first time, researchers have designed a fully connected 32-qubit trapped-ion quantum computer register operating at cryogenic temperatures. The new system represents an important step toward developing practical quantum computers. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-path-powerful-quantum.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Physics Tue, 25 Aug 2020 15:02:51 EDT news517586567 Published in Nature Physics, findings from a new study co-led by Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University teams show for the first time how ideas from quantum physics can help develop novel drug interventions for bacterial infections and cancer. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-ideas-quantum-physics-alternative-interventions.html General Physics Quantum Physics Mon, 24 Aug 2020 11:00:03 EDT news517475567 Regardless of what makes up the innards of a quantum computer, its speedy calculations all boil down to sequences of simple instructions applied to qubits—the basic units of information inside a quantum computer. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-quantum-instantaneous.html Quantum Physics Fri, 21 Aug 2020 12:05:11 EDT news517230303 Physicists from Trinity College Dublin have proposed a thermometer based on quantum entanglement that can accurately measure temperatures a billion times colder than those in outer space. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-quantum-thermometer-coldest-temperatures-universe.html Quantum Physics Thu, 20 Aug 2020 09:28:34 EDT news517134508 In an important step toward practical implementation of secure quantum-based communication, researchers have demonstrated secure measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) transmission over a record-breaking 170 kilometers. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-approach-quantum-key.html Quantum Physics Wed, 19 Aug 2020 16:40:00 EDT news517073990 Traditional ways of producing entanglements, necessary for the development of any 'quantum internet' linking quantum computers, are not very well suited for fiber optic telecoms networks used by today's non-quantum internet. However, researchers have come up with a new way to produce such particles that is much more compatible. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-quest-quantum-internet-boost-technique.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Physics Wed, 19 Aug 2020 12:41:42 EDT news517059699 Light is known to have a number of fundamental properties, including color, brightness, and direction, most of which are immediately apparent and can be observed with the naked eye. There are now several instruments to detect and measure these properties, such as photon counters, detectors often used in research that measure brightness by counting individual light quanta. Crucially, some existing devices can also measure these properties at the so-called quantum limit, which is a fundamental barrier for the precision of a measurement. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-method-canonical-phase-quantum-feedback.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Physics Wed, 19 Aug 2020 10:00:01 EDT news517048328 A group of theoretical physicists, including two physicists from the University of Groningen, have proposed a 'table-top' device that could measure gravity waves. However, their actual aim is to answer one of the biggest questions in physics: is gravity a quantum phenomenon? The key element for the device is the quantum superposition of large objects. Their design was published in New Journal of Physics on 6 August. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-stone-quantum-gravity.html Quantum Physics Tue, 18 Aug 2020 12:08:56 EDT news516971331 Quantum physicists at Griffith University have unveiled a new paradox that says, when it comes to certain long-held beliefs about nature, "something's gotta give." https://phys.org/news/2020-08-quantum-paradox-reveals-contradiction-widely.html Quantum Physics Tue, 18 Aug 2020 07:45:28 EDT news516955524 For the first time ever, scientists have witnessed the interaction of a new phase of matter known as "time crystals". https://phys.org/news/2020-08-crystals-interacting.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Mon, 17 Aug 2020 11:00:02 EDT news516865531 An Australian-led study uses a scanning-tunneling microscope "trick" to map electronic structure in Na3Bi, seeking an answer to that material's extremely high electron mobility. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-unexpectedly-fast-electrons-na3bi.html Quantum Physics Mon, 17 Aug 2020 09:05:35 EDT news516873932 Many quantum materials have been nearly impossible to simulate mathematically because the computing time required is too long. Now, a joint research group at Freie Universität Berlin and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB, Germany) has demonstrated a way to considerably reduce the computing time. This could accelerate the development of materials for energy-efficient IT technologies of the future. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-mathematical-tool-properties-quantum-materials.html Quantum Physics Mon, 17 Aug 2020 09:04:48 EDT news516873885 If we can harness it, quantum technology promises fantastic new possibilities. But first, scientists need to coax quantum systems to stay yoked for longer than a few millionths of a second. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-scientists-quantum-states-longer.html General Physics Quantum Physics Thu, 13 Aug 2020 16:31:39 EDT news516555091 A team of researchers from Heriot-Watt University, the Indian Institute of Technology and the University of Glasgow has demonstrated a way to transport entangled particles through a commercial fiber cable with 84.4% fidelity. In their paper published in the journal Nature Physics, the group describes using a unique attribute of entanglement to achieve such high fidelity. Andrew Forbes and Isaac Nape with the University of Witwatersrand have published a News & Views piece in the same journal issue outlining issues with sending entangled particles across fiber cables and the work done by the team in this new effort. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-entanglement-fiber-cable-high-fidelity.html General Physics Quantum Physics Thu, 13 Aug 2020 09:21:53 EDT news516529301 Yale physicists have developed an error-correcting cat—a new device that combines the Schrödinger's cat concept of superposition (a physical system existing in two states at once) with the ability to fix some of the trickiest errors in a quantum computation. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-quantum-error-correcting-cat.html Quantum Physics Wed, 12 Aug 2020 16:01:53 EDT news516466910 Researchers at the University of Basel in collaboration with colleagues from Pisa have developed a new concept that uses electron spin to switch an electrical current. In addition to fundamental research, such spin valves are also the key elements in spintronics—a type of electronics that exploits the spin instead of the charge of electrons. The results were published in the scientific journal Communications Physics. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-efficient-valves-electron.html Quantum Physics Wed, 12 Aug 2020 12:43:48 EDT news516455023 When Adelaide glass blower Karen Cunningham made art using diamond and glass she had no idea it would inspire a new kind of hybrid material. Now a consortium of scientists, including from RMIT University and University of Adelaide, is using the technology to make a new class of quantum sensors. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-glass-class-quantum-sensors.html General Physics Quantum Physics Wed, 12 Aug 2020 12:42:37 EDT news516454943