Physicists have successfully played a mind-bending “quantum game” using a real-world quantum computer, in which lasers shuffle around ions on a chip to explore the strange behavior of qubits. By creating a special, knotted structure of entangled particles, the team demonstrated that today’s quant
Scientists have discovered a new four-body quasi-particle, the quadruplon, in a 2D semiconductor. Using laser experiments and advanced theory, they identified unique spectral features unexplained by existing models, confirming the quadruplon’s existence. A central goal of physics is to understand
Determining the passage of time in our world of ticking clocks and oscillating pendulums is a simple case of counting the seconds between ‘then’ and ‘now’
Down at the quantum scale of buzzing electrons, however, ‘then’ can’t always be anticipated. Worse still, ‘now’ often blurs into a haze of vagueness. A stopwatch simply isn’t going to work for some scenarios.
A potential solution could be found in the very shape of the quantum fog itself, according to a 2022 study by researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden.
A new quantum radio device may detect axions—potential dark matter particles—marking a breakthrough in the hunt for the universe’s missing 85% mass.
Spintronics researchers discovered a new mechanism to generate strong spin currents that could bring us a step closer to low-power, high-performance memory and processors.
Senapati, P., Parida, P. Sci Rep 15, 13,232 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-97337-0
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With applications ranging from experimental physics to quantum field exploration, these high-energy lasers are more than scientific curiosities — they’re becoming symbols of technological ambition and geopolitical strength.
A research team at HZB has developed a clever technique to read quantum spin states in diamonds using electrical signals instead of light. This breakthrough could dramatically simplify quantum sensors and computing hardware.
Diamonds that contain specific optically active defects, known as color centers, can serve as highly sensitive sensors or as qubits for quantum computers, with quantum information stored in their electron spin states. Traditionally, reading these spin states requires optical methods, which are often complex and difficult to implement. Now, researchers at HZB have developed a more streamlined approach: using photovoltage to detect the spin states of individual defects. This method could pave the way for much smaller and more compact quantum sensors.
Harnessing Defects for Spin States.
Researchers in China have achieved a major leap in quantum photonics by generating a massive 60-mode entangled cluster state directly on a chip using optical microresonators.
By leveraging a deterministic, continuous-variable approach and a multiple-laser pump technique, they overcame traditional limitations in scalability. The team confirmed high-quality entanglement using advanced detection methods, paving the way for powerful quantum technologies like chip-based computers, secure communications, and cutting-edge sensors.
Breakthrough in On-Chip Quantum Entanglement.
Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking passed away earlier this year, but his legacy to science will live on. His final theory on the origin of the universe has now been published, and it offers an interesting departure from earlier ideas about the nature of the “multiverse.”
Ideas about how the universe came to exist the way we see it today have been adapted and built on for decades. The new paper, authored by Hawking and Professor Thomas Hertog, adds to the literature with a new understanding of a theory known as eternal inflation.
After the Big Bang kickstarted the universe, it expanded exponentially for a brief fraction of a fraction of a second. When that inflationary period ended, the universe continued to expand at a much slower rate. But according to the eternal inflation model, quantum fluctuations mean that in some regions of the universe, that rapid inflation never stopped. That results in a gigantic “background” universe full of an infinite number of smaller pocket universes – including the one we live in.