An international team of researchers has discovered that the quantum particles responsible for the vibrations of materials—which influence their stability and various other properties—can be classified through topology....

The spin of the electron is nature's perfect quantum bit, capable of extending the range of information storage beyond "one" or "zero." Exploiting the electron's spin degree of freedom (possible spin states) is a central goal of quantum information science....

By analyzing images made of colored dots created by quantum simulators, ETH researchers have studied a special kind of magnetism. In the future this method could also be used to solve other physics puzzles, for instance in superconductivity....

In daily life, when two objects are "indistinguishable," it's due to an imperfect state of knowledge. As a street magician scrambles the cups and balls, you could, in principle, keep track of which ball is which as they are passed between the cups. However, at the smallest scales in nature, even the...

Since the discovery of quantum mechanics more than a hundred years ago, it has been known that electrons in molecules can be coupled to the motion of the atoms that make up the molecules. Often referred to as molecular vibrations, the motion of atoms act like tiny springs, undergoing periodic...

In the 1880s Heinrich Hertz discovered that a spark jumping between two pieces of metal emits a flash of light—rapidly oscillating electromagnetic waves—which can be picked up by an antenna. To honor his groundbreaking work, the unit of frequency was named "Hertz" in 1930. Hertz's findings were...

A large international team of physicists working on the BES III collaboration has announced possible physical evidence of glueballs. In their study, published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the group analyzed decaying particles in a particle collider and uncovered what they believe to be...

A team of researchers from the 5th Institute of Physics at the University of Stuttgart is making important progress in the field of quantum simulation and quantum computing based on Rydberg atoms by overcoming a fundamental limitation: the limited lifetime of Rydberg atoms. Circular Rydberg states...

Researchers at the Universities of Melbourne and Manchester have invented a breakthrough technique for manufacturing highly purified silicon that brings powerful quantum computers a big step closer....

Chemical reactions are complex mechanisms. Many different dynamic processes are involved, affecting both the electrons and the nucleus of the present atoms. Very often, the strongly coupled electron and nuclear dynamics induce radiation-less relaxation processes known as conical intersections. Such...