Topics: Applied Physics, Modern Physics, Particle Physics Physics Today 74, 8, 42 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.4815 Particle accelerators are among the most important scientific tools of the modern age. Major accelerator facilities, such as the 27-km-circumference Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, where the Higgs boson was recently discovered, allow scientists to uncover fundamental properties of matter and energy. ButContinue reading “Dielectric Laser Accelerators…”
Category Archives: Modern Physics
Nearing Ignition…
Topics: Energy, Environment, Modern Physics, Nuclear Fusion, Nuclear Power More than a decade ago, the world’s most energetic laser started to unleash its blasts on tiny capsules of hydrogen isotopes, with managers promising it would soon demonstrate a route to limitless fusion energy. Now, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) has taken a major leap toward thatContinue reading “Nearing Ignition…”
Muon g-2…
Topics: Modern Physics, Particle Physics, Quantum Mechanics Solving a mystery More than 200 scientists from around the world are collaborating with Fermilab on the Muon g-2 physics experiment which probes fundamental properties of matter and space. Muon g-2 (pronounced gee minus two) allows researchers to peer into the subatomic world to search for undiscovered particlesContinue reading “Muon g-2…”
Quantum Jumps…
Topics: Modern Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Theoretical Physics Quantum mechanics, the theory that describes the physics of the universe at very small scales, is notorious for defying common sense. Consider, for instance, the way that standard interpretations of the theory suggest change occurs in the quantum turf: shifts from one state to another supposedly happen unpredictablyContinue reading “Quantum Jumps…”
Clocking Dark Matter…
Topics: Dark Matter, Modern Physics, Quantum Mechanics An optical clock has been used to set new constraints on a proposed theory of dark matter. Researchers including Jun Ye at JILA at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Andrei Derevianko at the University of Nevada, Reno, explored how the coupling between regular matter and “ultralight” dark matter particles could beContinue reading “Clocking Dark Matter…”
Diamond Nanoneedles…
Topics: Materials Science, Modern Physics, Nanotechnology, Semiconductor Technology If you ever manage to deform a diamond, you’re likely to break it. That’s because the hardest natural material on Earth is also inelastic and brittle. Two years ago, Ming Dao (MIT), Subra Suresh (Nanyang Technological University in Singapore), and their collaborators demonstrated that when bulk diamonds are etched into fine,Continue reading “Diamond Nanoneedles…”
Right-Handed Photons…
Topics: Modern Physics, Particle Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Quarks Note: A primer on quarks at Hyperphysics On 17 January 1957, a few months after Chien-Shiung Wu’s discovery of parity violation, Wolfgang Pauli wrote to Victor Weisskopf: “Ich glaube aber nicht, daß der Herrgott ein schwacher Linkshänder ist” (I cannot believe that God is a weak left-hander).Continue reading “Right-Handed Photons…”
Quantum Modem…
Topics: Modern Physics, Nanotechnology, Quantum Computer, Quantum Mechanics (Nanowerk News) The first quantum revolution brought about semiconductor electronics, the laser and finally the internet. The coming, second quantum revolution promises spy-proof communication, extremely precise quantum sensors and quantum computers for previously unsolvable computing tasks. But this revolution is still in its infancy. A central researchContinue reading “Quantum Modem…”
Chirality…
Topics: Modern Physics, Particle Physics, Quantum Mechanics Our right and left hands are reflections of one another, but they are not equal. To hide one hand perfectly behind the other, we must face our palms in opposite directions. In physics, the concept of handedness (or chirality) works similarly: It is a property of objects thatContinue reading “Chirality…”
City-Sized, Secure Quantum Network…
Topics: Cryptography, Futurism, Internet of Things, Modern Physics, Quantum Computer, Quantum Mechanics Quantum cryptography promises a future in which computers communicate with one another over ultrasecure links using the razzle-dazzle of quantum physics. But scaling up the breakthroughs in research labs to networks with a large number of nodes has proved difficult. Now an international teamContinue reading “City-Sized, Secure Quantum Network…”
Physics and Nano 