The Physics Times

2021-12-15 20:51:44 #PhysicsNEWS
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Quantum theory needs complex numbers
Physicists construct theories to describe nature. Let us explain it through an analogy with something that we can do in our everyday life, like going on a hike in the mountains. To avoid getting lost, we generally use a map. The map is a representation of the mountain, with its houses, rivers, paths, etc. By using it, it is rather easy to find our way to the top of the mountain. But the map is not the mountain. The map constitutes the theory we use to represent the mountain's reality.
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2021-12-14 02:00:32 #PhysicsNEWS
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New spin amplifier accelerates search for dark matter
Despite astrophysical evidence for the existence of dark matter, direct detection of its interaction with particles and fields of the standard model has not been achieved. Illuminating dark matter is the best hope of making progress in understanding the universe and would provide insights into astrophysics, cosmology and physics beyond the standard model.
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2021-12-12 18:30:11 #PhysicsNEWS
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Exotic six-quark particle predicted by supercomputers
The predicted existence of an exotic particle made up of six elementary particles known as quarks by RIKEN researchers could deepen our understanding of how quarks combine to form the nuclei of atoms.
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2021-12-09 18:01:25 #PhysicsNEWS
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Physical features boost the efficiency of quantum simulations
Recent theoretical breakthroughs have settled two long-standing questions about the viability of simulating quantum systems on future quantum computers, overcoming challenges from complexity analyses to enable more advanced algorithms. Featured in two publications, the work by a quantum team at Los Alamos National Laboratory shows that physical properties of quantum systems allow for faster simulation techniques.
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2021-12-08 19:07:05 #PhysicsNEWS
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Making lasers more efficient, versatile and compact
Their inner workings reside in the realm of physics, but lasers make everyday life possible. Talking on a cell phone or googling COVID stats while your apples and oranges are scanned at the checkout counter—lasers at every step.
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2021-12-06 22:02:33 #PhysicsNEWS
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Studying cosmic expansion using methods from many-body physics
It is almost always assumed in cosmological calculations that there is a even distribution of matter in the universe. This is because the calculations would be much too complicated if the position of every single star were to be included. In reality, the universe is not uniform: in some places there are stars and planets, in others there is just a void. Physicists Michael te Vrugt and Prof. Raphael Wittkowski from the Institute of Theoretical Physics and the Center for Soft Nanoscience (SoN) at the University of Münster have, together with physicist Dr. Sabine Hossenfelder from the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS), developed a new model for this problem. Their starting point was the Mori-Zwanzig formalism, a method for describing systems consisting of a large number of particles with a small number of measurands. The results of the study have now been published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
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2021-12-02 21:46:15 #PhysicsNEWS
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Three-dimensional imaging with optical frequency combs
Holography is a powerful technique of photography of a light field without a lens for 3D imaging and display. Now, scientists at the Max-Planck Institute of Quantum Optics are moving holography forward by implementing it with optical frequency combs. Thousands of holograms over all colors of the rainbow can be recorded. Via digital processing, each hologram provides a three-dimensional image of the scene in which the focusing distance can be chosen at will. Combining all these holograms renders the geometrical shape of the three-dimensional object with high precision and no ambiguity. At the same time, other diagnostics can be performed by the frequency combs: Here, the scientists show molecule-selective imaging of a cloud of ammonia vapor.
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2021-11-30 11:29:01 #PhysicsNEWS
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Researchers propose a simpler design for quantum computers
Today's quantum computers are complicated to build, difficult to scale up, and require temperatures colder than interstellar space to operate. These challenges have led researchers to explore the possibility of building quantum computers that work using photons—particles of light. Photons can easily carry information from one place to another, and photonic quantum computers can operate at room temperature, so this approach is promising. However, although people have successfully created individual quantum "logic gates" for photons, it's challenging to construct large numbers of gates and connect them in a reliable fashion to perform complex calculations.
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2021-11-24 07:54:05 #PhysicsNEWS
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Research looks at entropy generation from hydrodynamic mixing in ICF experiments
Research conducted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is taking a closer look at entropy—the measure of internal energy per unit temperature that is unavailable for doing useful work—in experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF).
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2021-11-22 00:46:46 #PhysicsNEWS
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Rare Einstein manuscript set to fetch millions
A rare manuscript by theoretical physicist Albert Einstein goes under the hammer in Paris on Tuesday, with auctioneers aiming for a stratospheric price tag.
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