Researchers from the University of Cambridge have taken a peek into the secretive domain of quantum mechanics. In a theoretical paper published in the journal Physical Review A, they have shown that the way that particles interact with their environment can be used to track quantum particles when they’re not being observed, which had been thought to be impossible.
Researchers have observed quantum effects in electrons by squeezing them into one-dimensional ‘quantum wires’ and observing the interactions between them. The results could be used to aid in the development of quantum technologies, including quantum computing.
A new method of implementing an ‘unbreakable’ quantum cryptographic system is able to transmit information at rates more than ten times faster than previous attempts.
A major showcase of companies developing new technologies from graphene and other two-dimensional materials took place this week at the Cambridge Graphene Centre.
The mechanism behind a process known as singlet fission, which could drive the development of highly efficient solar cells, has been directly observed by researchers for the first time.
A team of scientists have measured a bizarre effect in quantum physics, in which individual particles of light are said to have been “squeezed” – an achievement which at least one textbook had written off as hopeless.
New understanding of the nature of electromagnetism could lead to antennas small enough to fit on computer chips – the ‘last frontier’ of semiconductor design – and could help identify the points where theories of classical electromagnetism and quantum mechanics overlap.
Scientists have successfully demonstrated a new way to control the “spin” of an electron – the natural intrinsic angular momentum of electrons which could underpin faster computing in the future. The technique counterintuitively makes use of the ever-changing magnetic field of the electron’s environment - one of the main obstacles to traditional methods of spin control.
A Nobel Prize Medal, a postcard from Einstein and a Hitler-stamped letter of expulsion are among a fascinating archive of documents and other material belonging to Max Born – one of the fathers of quantum mechanics – being opened by Cambridge University’s Churchill Archives Centre.
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