Normal view

There are new articles available, click to refresh the page.
Today — March 14th 2025American Physical Society
Before yesterdayAmerican Physical Society

Synchrotron Radiation Could Explain Black Hole’s Flaring

March 11th 2025 at 1:30 pm

Author(s): Samuel Jarman

JWST observations reveal two distinct types of flares from the Milky Way’s black hole, suggesting that they originate from two different electron-acceleration mechanisms within the supermassive black hole’s accretion disk.


[Physics 18, 55] Published Tue Mar 11, 2025

Experts Weigh in on Microsoft’s Topological Qubit Claim

March 10th 2025 at 1:30 pm

Author(s): Philip Ball

Tech giant Microsoft claimed in a recent press release to have made the first topological qubit–an important milestone in the development of quantum computers. But some experts say the firm’s claim has not been backed up by peer-reviewed research.


[Physics 18, 57] Published Mon Mar 10, 2025

Quantum Milestones, 1964: John Stewart Bell Quietly Rings in New Era of Quantum Theory

March 7th 2025 at 1:30 pm

Author(s): Dan Garisto

In 1964, Bell showed that quantum physics predicts correlations that violate certain inequalities. The work implied that quantum mechanics is not compatible with locality, even if there were “hidden variables” not accounted for in quantum theory.


[Physics 18, 53] Published Fri Mar 07, 2025

  • ✇American Physical Society
  • How Black Holes Help Stars FormElizabeth Fernandez
    Author(s): Elizabeth FernandezIn the Phoenix galaxy cluster, the presence of a black hole allows gas to cool, collapse, and form stars at an extremely high rate, in contrast with other clusters where the black hole heats the gas and slows star formation.[Physics 18, 39] Published Fri Feb 21, 2025
     

Antiprotons from Beyond the Solar System

Author(s): N. Eugene Engelbrecht and R. Du Toit Strauss

The spectrum of cosmic-ray antiprotons has been measured for a full solar cycle, which may allow a better understanding of the sources and transport mechanisms of these high-energy particles.


[Physics 18, 19] Published Mon Feb 03, 2025

  • ✇American Physical Society
  • Localizing LightCharles Day
    Author(s): Charles DaySimulations demonstrate that light can be confined within a scattering medium in a way similar to electrons in a disordered metal.[Physics 18, s10] Published Wed Jan 29, 2025
     

Podcast: A Milestone in Laser-Plasma Acceleration

December 18th 2024 at 1:30 pm

Author(s): Julie Gould and Matteo Rini

Researchers from the Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator Center talk about their latest results on a laser-based particle-acceleration technique that could lead to cheaper and more compact x-ray sources and particle accelerators.


[Physics 17, 185] Published Wed Dec 18, 2024

Cracking the Challenge of Quantum Error Correction

Author(s): Matteo Rini and Michael Schirber

Researchers at Google Quantum AI have demonstrated “below-threshold” error correction, a necessary condition for building noise-resistant quantum computers that are sufficiently large to perform useful computations.


[Physics 17, 176] Published Mon Dec 09, 2024

  • ✇American Physical Society
  • Enter the Mechanical QubitSusan Curtis
    Author(s): Susan CurtisThe demonstration of the first fully functioning mechanical qubit offers a new platform for quantum information processing and could lead to ultraprecise gravity sensors.[Physics 17, 172] Published Wed Dec 04, 2024
     
  • ✇American Physical Society
  • Dark Matter at Cosmic DawnCharles Day
    Author(s): Charles DayLow-frequency radio observations could allow researchers to distinguish among several dark matter models, thanks to dark matter’s influence on the early Universe.[Physics 17, s132] Published Tue Nov 19, 2024
     

Quantifying the Background Radiation Hitting Superconducting Qubits

November 12th 2024 at 1:30 pm

Author(s): Marric Stephens

Researchers have characterized the naturally occurring background radiation hitting a typical quantum circuit—a result that might help with the engineering of devices that are less vulnerable to radiation-induced decoherence.


[Physics 17, s140] Published Tue Nov 12, 2024

  • ✇American Physical Society
  • Why Emus Favor Fast WalkingCharles Day
    Author(s): Charles DayEmus inherited from their dinosaur ancestors a crouched posture that dictates the gait they adopt when moving quickly, according to a new computer simulation of bird motion.[Physics 17, 151] Published Wed Oct 16, 2024
     
  • ✇American Physical Society
  • Diabolical NanomagnetsCharles Day
    Author(s): Charles DayA quantum degeneracy named after a Chinese yo-yo boosts the magnetization lifetime of a short chain of magnetic iron atoms by a factor of 1000.[Physics 17, s118] Published Tue Oct 15, 2024
     

Deciphering the Blueprint of the Fruit Fly’s Brain

Author(s): Suman Kulkarni and Dani S. Bassett

Researchers leverage synapse-level maps of the fruit fly brain to examine how neuronal connection probabilities vary with distance, offering insights into how these neuronal networks may optimize function within spatial constraints.


[Physics 17, 136] Published Mon Sep 23, 2024

  • ✇American Physical Society
  • Old Movie Demos New TechDavid Ehrenstein
    Author(s): David EhrensteinUsing an old film as input, researchers demonstrate an algorithm that rapidly determines the positions of thousands of particles whose light-scattering produces an image or other desired output.[Physics 17, 134] Published Fri Sep 13, 2024
     

Gamma-Ray Burst Tightens Constraints on Quantum Gravity

August 15th 2024 at 1:30 pm

Author(s): Marric Stephens

An analysis of the brightest gamma-ray burst ever observed reveals no difference in the propagation speed of different frequencies of light—placing some of the tightest constraints on certain violations of general relativity.


[Physics 17, s99] Published Thu Aug 15, 2024

  • ✇American Physical Society
  • Measuring Fusion PowerCharles Day
    Author(s): Charles DayExperiments at the Joint European Torus make the case for using gamma rays to determine the fusion reaction rate in a magnetically confined plasma.[Physics 17, s59] Published Tue Jul 30, 2024
     
  • ✇American Physical Society
  • Podcast: The Sounds of DataJulie Gould
    Author(s): Julie GouldSonification and other multisensorial approaches offer powerful tools to analyze data, help visually impaired researchers, communicate science, and create science-inspired art.[Physics 17, 113] Published Fri Jul 12, 2024
     
  • ✇American Physical Society
  • Mimicking an Elephant TrunkPhilip Ball
    Author(s): Philip BallThe extraordinary range of motions achieved by elephants’ trunks can be mimicked by a physical model that uses just three “muscles,” which could inspire robotic designs.[Physics 17, 98] Published Fri Jun 14, 2024
     

Informing Potential Remedies for Quasiparticle Poisoning

Author(s): Max Hays, Kyle Serniak, and William D. Oliver

Measurements of the temperature distribution of quasiparticles in superconducting circuits reveal behavior that could inform strategies for mitigating quasiparticle-induced errors in superconducting qubits.


[Physics 17, 82] Published Mon May 20, 2024

The Neuron vs the Synapse: Which One Is in the Driving Seat?

April 1st 2024 at 1:30 pm

Author(s): David Dahmen

A new theoretical framework for plastic neural networks predicts dynamical regimes where synapses rather than neurons primarily drive the network’s behavior, leading to an alternative candidate mechanism for working memory in the brain.


[Physics 17, 50] Published Mon Apr 01, 2024

  • ✇American Physical Society
  • Magnetic Vortex Rings on DemandRyan Wilkinson
    Author(s): Ryan WilkinsonScientists have devised a promising method for generating and manipulating exotic spin patterns called magnetic vortex rings, which could have applications in energy-efficient data storage and processing.[Physics 17, s29] Published Tue Mar 19, 2024
     

Prizes for Videos Featuring Mickey Mouse and Laptop Cables

March 8th 2024 at 1:30 pm

Author(s): Marric Stephens

The winners of the third annual “Gallery of Soft Matter” competition included posters portraying robotic leaves and cannibalizing droplets and a video with what might be Steamboat Willie’s first appearance at the APS March Meeting.


[Physics 17, 41] Published Fri Mar 08, 2024

  • ✇American Physical Society
  • Applying a Twist to LightCharles Day
    Author(s): Charles DayResearchers have determined the amount of transverse orbital angular momentum that a type of optical vortex carries per photon, an important step for future applications.[Physics 17, s28] Published Wed Feb 28, 2024
     
  • ✇American Physical Society
  • Rainproof Water StridersMatteo Rini
    Author(s): Matteo RiniResearchers reveal how water striders survive collisions with raindrops that are much larger than the insects—a result that could help in understanding how microplastics are transported in water.[Physics 17, 33] Published Tue Feb 27, 2024
     
  • ✇American Physical Society
  • Voltage Control over MagnonsMichael Schirber
    Author(s): Michael SchirberResearchers have demonstrated that magnetic spin waves called magnons can be controlled by voltage and thus could operate more efficiently as information carriers in future devices.[Physics 17, 29] Published Fri Feb 16, 2024
     
❌
❌