Phys.org Physics

• Improving randomness may be the key to more powerful quantum computers

  Understanding randomness is crucial in many fields. From computer science and engineering to cryptography and weather forecasting, studying and interpreting randomness helps us simulate real-world phenomena, design algorithms and predict outcomes in uncertain situations.

• Understanding the impact of radiation on silicon carbide devices for space applications

  The first results of the ETH Zurich and ANSTO collaboration focused on silicon carbide (SiC) devices have been reported in two publications.

• Physicists create tunable system for enhanced quantum sensing

  Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, have developed a tunable system that paves the way for more accurate sensing in a variety of technologies, including biomedical diagnostics. The result is published in Nature.

• Magnetism recharged: A new method for restoring magnetism in thin films

  Modern low-power solutions to computer memory rely heavily on the manipulation of the magnetic properties of materials. Understanding the influence of the chemical properties of these materials on their magnetization ability is of key importance in developing the field.

• Quantum equivalent of thermodynamics' second law discovered for entanglement manipulation

  Just over 200 years after French engineer and physicist Sadi Carnot formulated the second law of thermodynamics, an international team of researchers has unveiled an analogous law for the quantum world. This second law of entanglement manipulation proves that, just like heat or energy in an idealized thermodynamics regime, entanglement can be reversibly manipulated, a statement which until now had been heavily contested.

• Record-breaking material emits infrared light better than it absorbs it, without violating the laws of physics

  New results published in the journal Physical Review Letters detail how a specially designed metamaterial was able to tip the normally equal balance between thermal absorption and emission, enabling the material to better emit infrared light than absorb it.

• Unveiling hedgehog topological defects in three dimensional glasses

  I've always been fascinated by how materials break down, especially glasses and polymers that don't have a regular crystal structure. Unlike crystals, where we understand plasticity through things like dislocations, amorphous materials like glasses are messier. There's no neat lattice to analyze, so figuring out where and how they deform under stress is a big open question.

• What is the optimal setting for your air conditioner? We asked a physics professor

  Ahh, summer, a time of vacations at the beach or mountains—and sky-high electricity bills as your air conditioner labors against the heat and humidity.

• TaIrTe₄ photodetectors show promise for highly sensitive room-temperature THz sensing

  Terahertz radiation (THz), electromagnetic radiation with frequencies ranging between 0.1 and 10 THz, could be leveraged to develop various new technologies, including imaging and communication systems. So far, however, a lack of fast and sensitive detectors that can detect radiation across a wide range of frequencies has limited the development of these THz-sensing technologies.

• Quantum computer simulates spontaneous symmetry breaking at zero temperature

  For the first time, an international team of scientists has experimentally simulated spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) at zero temperature using a superconducting quantum processor. This achievement, which was accomplished with over 80% fidelity, represents a milestone for quantum computing and condensed matter physics.

• Slithering snakes: The science behind the motion of a young anaconda

  The motion of snakes has long fascinated humans: they undulate, they sidewind, they crawl, they even fly.

• Shape-shifting particles allow temperature control over fluid flow and stiffness

  Imagine a liquid that flows freely one moment, then stiffens into a near-solid the next, and then can switch back with a simple change in temperature. Researchers at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and NYU Tandon have now developed such a material, using tiny particles that can change their shape and stiffness on demand.

• The hidden mechanics of abrupt transitions: Superconducting networks show how tiny changes trigger system collapse

  Why do some changes in nature unfold gradually, while others occur in the blink of an eye? Rust forming on metal is a slow, steady process that takes days or even weeks to become visible. By contrast, a power grid can collapse in mere seconds. What accounts for this difference?

• Breaking Ohm's law: Nonlinear currents emerge in symmetry-broken materials

  In a review just published in Nature Materials, researchers take aim at the oldest principle in electronics: Ohm's law.

• Strong magnetic fields flip angular momentum dynamics in magnetovortical matter

  Angular momentum is a fundamental quantity in physics that describes the rotational motion of objects. In quantum physics, it encompasses both the intrinsic spin of particles and their orbital motion around a point. These properties are essential for understanding a wide range of systems, from atoms and molecules to complex materials and high-energy particle interactions.

• New imaging technique captures every twist of polarized light

  EPFL scientists have developed a new technique that lets researchers watch, with unprecedented sensitivity, how materials emit polarized light over time.

• AI predicts material properties using electron-level information without costly quantum mechanical computations

  Researchers in Korea have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) technology that predicts molecular properties by learning electron-level information without requiring costly quantum mechanical calculations. The research was presented at ICLR 2025.

• Edible microlasers made from food-safe materials can serve as barcodes and biosensors

  If you've ever consumed food made with olive oil, there's a good chance you've unknowingly ingested materials capable of producing lasers. Researchers have recently demonstrated edible microlasers—tiny lasers made entirely from food-safe materials—that can be used for food monitoring, product authentication and tagging. These edible microlasers are composed of droplets of oil or water–glycerol mixtures doped with natural optical gain substances, such as chlorophyll (the green pigment in leaves) or riboflavin (vitamin B2).

• Heaviest tin isotopes provide insights into element synthesis

  An international team of researchers, led by scientists from GSI/FAIR in Darmstadt, Germany, has studied r-process nucleosynthesis in measurements conducted at the Canadian research center TRIUMF in Vancouver. At the center of this work are the first mass measurements of three extremely neutron-rich tin isotopes: tin-136, tin-137 and tin-138. The results are published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

• Unique method enables simulation of error-correctable quantum computers

  Quantum computers still face a major hurdle on their pathway to practical use cases: their limited ability to correct the arising computational errors. To develop truly reliable quantum computers, researchers must be able to simulate quantum computations using conventional computers to verify their correctness—a vital yet extraordinarily difficult task.

• Quantum protocol achieves Heisenberg-limited measurement precision with robust spin states

  Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have achieved exciting progress in quantum metrology, a field that harnesses quantum effects to make measurements with unprecedented accuracy. Their newly developed protocol could potentially benefit emerging technologies such as navigation and sensing of extremely weak signals.

• First-ever collisions of oxygen at the Large Hadron Collider

  The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) gets a breath of fresh air as it collides beams of protons and oxygen ions for the very first time. Oxygen–oxygen and neon–neon collisions are also on the menu of the next few days.

• Platform enables tunable photonic crystals with integrated spin-orbit coupling and controlled laser emission

  A team of researchers has developed a novel method for using cholesteric liquid crystals in optical microcavities. The platform created by the researchers enables the formation and dynamic tuning of photonic crystals with integrated spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and controlled laser emission. The results of this research have been published in the journal Laser & Photonics Reviews. The team is from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw, the Military University of Technology, and the Institut Pascal at Université Clermont Auvergne.

• Photon 'time bins' and signal stability show promise for practical quantum communication via fiber optics

  Researchers at the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT) in Jena, Germany, together with international collaborators, have developed two complementary methods that could make quantum communication via fiber optics practical outside the lab.

• Q&A: Companies are racing to develop the first useful quantum computer—ultracold neutral atoms could be the key

  The race to build the first useful quantum computer is on and may revolutionize the world with brand new capabilities, from medicine to freight logistics.