Physics News and Discussions

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I got into this theory from the TV series Sliders and went from there, the only problem is that I now think like this now.

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Quantum crystal of frozen electrons—the Wigner crystal—is visualized for the first time
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-quantum-c ... igner.html
by Princeton University

Electrons—the infinitesimally small particles that are known to zip around atoms—continue to amaze scientists despite the more than a century that scientists have studied them. Now, physicists at Princeton University have pushed the boundaries of our understanding of these minute particles by visualizing, for the first time, direct evidence for what is known as the Wigner crystal—a strange kind of matter that is made entirely of electrons.

The finding, published in Nature, confirms a 90-year-old theory that electrons can assemble into a crystal-like formation of their own, without the need to coalesce around atoms. The research could help lead to the discovery of new quantum phases of matter when electrons behave collectively.

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Physicists discover a novel quantum state in an elemental solid
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-physicist ... solid.html
by Princeton University

Physicists have observed a novel quantum effect termed "hybrid topology" in a crystalline material. This finding opens up a new range of possibilities for the development of efficient materials and technologies for next-generation quantum science and engineering.

The finding, published in Nature, came when Princeton scientists discovered that an elemental solid crystal made of arsenic (As) atoms hosts a never-before-observed form of topological quantum behavior. They were able to explore and image this novel quantum state using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and photoemission spectroscopy, the latter a technique used to determine the relative energy of electrons in molecules and atoms.

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Evidence of a new subatomic particle observed
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-evidence- ... ticle.html
by Chinese Academy of Sciences

The BESIII collaboration have reported the observation of an anomalous line shape around ppbar mass threshold in the J/ψ→γ3(π+π-) decay, which indicates the existence of a ppbar bound state. The paper was published online in Physical Review Letters.

The proximity in mass to 2mp is suggestive of nucleon-antinucleon bound states, an idea that has a long history. Before the birth of Quark Model, a nucleon-antinucleon bound state was already proposed by Prof. E. Fermi and Prof. C. N. Yang.

There is an accumulation of evidence for anomalous behavior in the proton-antiproton system near the ppbar mass threshold, e.g., J/ψ→γppabr , J/ψ→γπ+π-η' and the proton's effective form factor determined from e+e-→ppbar, exhibiting a narrow peak or a very steep falloff around the ppbar mass threshold, which inspired many speculations and renewed the interests on the nucleon-antinucleon bound state.

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Combating disruptive 'noise' in quantum communication
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-combating ... ation.html
by Griffith University

In a significant milestone for quantum communication technology, an experiment has demonstrated how networks can be leveraged to combat disruptive 'noise' in quantum communications.

The international effort led by researchers from Griffith University's Center for Quantum Dynamics highlights the potential of quantum networks in revolutionizing communication technologies on a quantum level. The study, "Nonlocality activation in a photonic quantum network," has been published in Nature Communications.

Researchers Dr. Nora Tischler and Dr. Sergei Slussarenko, program managers at the ARC Center of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology (CQC2T) node at Griffith University, believe their findings are a first step towards large-scale quantum networks, which may fundamentally change how we communicate on a global scale.

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A balanced quantum Hall resistor provides a new measurement method
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-quantum-h ... ethod.html
by Sebastian Hofmann, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg

Researchers at the University of Würzburg have developed a method that can improve the performance of quantum resistance standards. It's based on a quantum phenomenon called Quantum Anomalous Hall effect.

The precise measurement of electrical resistance is essential in industrial production or electronics—for example, in the manufacture of high-tech sensors, microchips and flight controls. "Very precise measurements are essential here, as even the smallest deviations can significantly affect these complex systems," explains Professor Charles Gould, a physicist at the Institute for Topological Insulators at the University of Würzburg (JMU).

"With our new measurement method, we can significantly improve the accuracy of resistance measurements, without any external magnetic field, using the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE)."

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Machine learning could help reveal undiscovered particles within data from the Large Hadron Collider

https://phys.org/news/2024-04-machine-r ... large.html

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Beyond equilibrium: Scientists investigate Floquet Fermi liquids
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-equilibri ... quids.html
by Tejasri Gururaj , Phys.org

Researchers from Germany and Singapore have studied a non-equilibrium state of Fermi liquids called the Floquet Fermi liquid (FFL), which is formed when Fermi liquids are subjected to a periodic driving force and kept in contact with a fermionic bath.

Fermi liquids are quantum mechanical systems where fermions (like electrons in a metal) collectively behave predictably at absolute zero temperature, equivalent to 0 Kelvin or -273.15°C.

Fermions are one of the two fundamental classes of particles in the universe, and they obey Fermi-Dirac (FD) statistics. This describes their distribution when the system is in thermal equilibrium.

This is where we encounter an interesting quantum system called a Fermi liquid. The term "Fermi liquid" comes from the idea that similar to how a liquid flows freely and can change shape, the fermions in a Fermi liquid move relatively freely within the material due to their collective behavior.

For Fermi liquids, the behavior of fermions is characterized by a Fermi surface. The Fermi surface marks a separation in the Fermi liquid's energy states, indicating filled and empty energy states occupied by the fermions.

The researchers were motivated to understand what happens to electrons when a periodic driving force is applied to them while coupled with a fermionic heat bath.

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Ghost particle on the scales: Research offers more precise determination of neutrino mass
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-ghost-par ... trino.html
by Roland Wengenmayr, Max Planck Society

What is the mass of a neutrino at rest? This is one of the big unanswered questions in physics. Neutrinos play a central role in nature. A team led by Klaus Blaum, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, has now made an important contribution in "weighing" neutrinos as part of the international ECHo collaboration. Their findings are published in Nature Physics.

Using a Penning trap, it has measured the change in mass of a holmium-163 isotope with extreme precision when its nucleus captures an electron and turns into dysprosium-163. From this, it was able to determine the Q value 50 times more accurately than before. Using a more precise Q-value, possible systematic errors in the determination of the neutrino mass can be revealed.

In the 1930s, it turned out that neither the energy nor the momentum balance is correct in the radioactive beta decay of an atomic nucleus. This led to the postulate of "ghost particles" that "secretly" carry away energy and momentum. In 1956, experimental proof of such neutrinos was finally obtained. The challenge: neutrinos only interact with other particles of matter via the weak interaction that is also underlying the beta decay of an atomic nucleus.

For this reason, hundreds of trillions of neutrinos from the cosmos, especially the sun, can pass through our bodies every second without causing any damage. Extremely rare neutrino collisions with other particles of matter can only be detected with huge detectors.

Solar neutrinos brought another ground-breaking revelation: the three types of neutrino known to date can transform into each other. However, these "neutrino oscillations" had a serious consequence for the world view of particle physics. Previously, it was assumed that neutrinos had no rest mass, like photons.

This would be compatible with the standard model of particle physics, the best description of the particle world to date. However, the oscillations forced a rest mass for neutrinos—a further indication that new physics must exist beyond the standard model.

Knowing the exact rest mass of the neutrino would therefore be an open sesame into the unknown world of new physics. Unfortunately, you cannot simply place a neutrino on a scale. This requires extremely complex experiments on technically accessible physical processes involving neutrinos.

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Is the Multiverse Real? Why One Force Still Baffles Most Physicists

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technolo ... r-AA1jOaZv

Starts out decent but veers off into "great spiritual purpose" in the end

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A New Study Says We May Be Living in a Variable Universe

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technolo ... r-AA1netDR

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Laser excitation of Th-229 nucleus: New findings suggest classical quantum physics and nuclear physics can be combined
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-laser-nuc ... ysics.html
by Vienna University of Technology

Physicists have been hoping for this moment for a long time: For many years, scientists all around the world have been searching for a very specific state of thorium atomic nuclei that promises revolutionary technological applications. It could be used, for example, to build a nuclear clock that could measure time more precisely than the best atomic clocks available today. It could also be used to answer completely new fundamental questions in physics—for example, the question of whether the constants of nature are actually constant or whether they change in space and time.

Now this hope has come true: The long-sought thorium transition has been found, and its energy is now known exactly. For the first time, it has been possible to use a laser to transfer an atomic nucleus into a state of higher energy and then precisely track its return to its original state.

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A Scientist Says He Has the Evidence That We Live in a Simulation

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technolo ... r-AA1nOru8

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'A dream come true': Nuclear clock breakthrough could revolutionize study of the universe's fundamental forces

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/technolo ... r-BB1m3mTb

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Possible evidence of glueballs found during Beijing Spectrometer III experiments

https://phys.org/news/2024-05-evidence- ... r-iii.html