Scientists open a new window into quantum physics with superconductivity in LEDs

A team of University of Toronto physicists led by Alex Hayat has proposed a novel and efficient way to leverage the strange quantum physics phenomenon known as entanglement. 

The approach would involve combining light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with a superconductor to generate entangled photons and could open up a rich spectrum of new physics as well as devices for quantum technologies, including quantum computers and quantum communication. 

Read more here...

Superconductivity in Orbit: Scientists Find New Path to Loss-Free Electricity

Armed with just the right atomic arrangements, superconductors allow electricity to flow without loss and radically enhance energy generation, delivery, and storage. 

Scientists tweak these superconductor recipes by swapping out elements or manipulating the valence electrons in an atom's outermost orbital shell to strike the perfect conductive balance. 

Most high-temperature superconductors contain atoms with only one orbital impacting performance—but what about mixing those elements with more complex configurations?

Now, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have combined atoms with multiple orbitals and precisely pinned down their electron distributions. 

Read more here...

These images show the distribution of the valence electrons in the samples explored by the Brookhaven Lab collaboration—both feature a central iron layer sandwiched between arsenic atoms. The tiny red clouds (more electrons) in the undoped sample on the left (BaFe2As2) reveal the weak charge quadrupole of the iron atom, while the blue clouds (fewer electrons) around the outer arsenic ions show weak polarization. The superconducting sample on the right (doped with cobalt atoms), however, exhibits a strong quadrupole in the center and the pronounced polarization of the arsenic atoms, as evidenced by the large, red balloons. Credit: Brookhaven Lab scientists and study coauthors Lijun Wu, Yimei Zhu, Chris Homes, and Weiguo Yin

Gold and Silica Nanostars Imitate the Two Faces of the God Janus

Researchers from the Basque centre CIC biomaGUNE and the University of Antwerp (Belgium) have designed nanoparticles with one half formed of gold branches and the other of silicon oxide. 

They are a kind of Janus particle, so-called in honour of the Roman god with two faces, which could be used in phototherapy in the future to treat tumours.

In Roman mythology, Janus was the god of gates, doors, beginnings and transitions between the past and the future. In fact, the first month of the year, January (from the Latin, ianuarĭus), bears his name. 

This deity was characterised by his profile of two faces, something which has inspired scientists, when naming their chemical designs with two clearly distinct components.

Read more here...

Two examples of nanostars with one silicon oxide face (bluish) and another with golden branches (yellow). / Credit: Liz-Marzán et al.

Diamond Defect Boosts Quantum Technology

New research shows that a remarkable defect in synthetic diamond produced by chemical vapor deposition allows researchers to measure, witness, and potentially manipulate electrons in a manner that could lead to new “quantum technology” for information processing. The study is published in the January 31, 2014, issue of Physical Review Letters.

 

Normal computers process bits, the fundamental ones and zeros, one at a time. But in quantum computing, a “qubit” can be a one or a zero at the same time.

This duplicitous state can allow multitasking at an astounding rate, which could exponentially increase the computing capacity of a tiny, tiny machine.

Read more here...

Credit: carnegiescience.edu

Discovery of Quantum Vibrations in 'Microtubules' Inside Brain Neurons Supports Controversial Theory of Consciousness

A review and update of a controversial 20-year-old theory of consciousness published in Physics of Life Reviews claims that consciousness derives from deeper level, finer scale activities inside brain neurons. The recent discovery of quantum vibrations in "microtubules" inside brain neurons corroborates this theory, according to review authors Stuart Hameroff and Sir Roger Penrose. They suggest that EEG rhythms (brain waves) also derive from deeper level microtubule vibrations, and that from a practical standpoint, treating brain microtubule vibrations could benefit a host of mental, neurological, and cognitive conditions.

Read more

How Losing Information Can Benefit Quantum Computing

Suggesting that quantum computers might benefit from losing some data, physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have entangled—linked the quantum properties of—two ions by leaking judiciously chosen information to the environment.

 

Researchers usually strive to perfectly shield ions (charged atoms) in quantum computing experiments from the outside world. Any "noise" or interference, including heat generated by the experiment and measurements that cause fragile quantum states to collapse, can ruin data and prevent reliable logic operations, the conventional approach to quantum information processing.

Read more here...

This is an artist's conception of a NIST experiment showing how quantum computing might benefit from lost information. Two beryllium ions (red), used as quantum bits or qubits to store information, were "entangled" so that their properties were linked -- a useful feature for quantum computing. Two partner magnesium ions (green) released heat to the environment. Any unwanted information in the qubits was coupled to the outgoing heat, leaving the qubits in the desired entangled state (suggested by the hourglass). Credit: Bertram/Motion Forge for NIST

 

Credit: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Regulating Electron 'Spin' May Be Key to Making Organic Solar Cells Competitive

Organic solar cells, a new class of solar cell that mimics the natural process of plant photosynthesis, could revolutionise renewable energy -- but currently lack the efficiency to compete with the more costly commercial silicon cells.

At the moment, organic solar cells can achieve as much as 12 per cent efficiency in turning light into electricity, compared with 20 to 25 per cent for silicon-based cells.

This is the laser set-up used to to make the actual measurements reported in the paper. (Credit: Dr. Akshay Rao)

 Credit: http://www.cam.ac.uk

Particle in a 1-D Box

For detailed derivation click here.

Image credit: http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu

Credit: http://www.cobalt.chem.ucalgary.ca/ziegler/Lec.chm373/Lec9/CHAPTER7.pdf

The Photoelectric Effect

The most dramatic prediction of Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism, published in 1865, was the existence of electromagnetic waves moving at the speed of light, and the conclusion that light itself was just such a wave.  Click me to find out more.

Courtesy: Michael Fowler, University of Virginia

Black Body Radiation

Do not all fix’d Bodies, when heated beyond a certain degree, emit Light and shine; and is not this Emission perform’d by the vibrating motion of its parts? For more click here.

Courtesy: Dr. Michael Fowler, University of Virginia

Sir James Chadwick - Birthday

James Chadwick was born on October 20, 1891, in Cheshire, England. He graduated from Manchester University's Honours School of Physics in 1911 and spent the next two years working on various radioactivity problems in the Physical Laboratory in Manchester, earning a M.Sc. degree in 1913 as well as the 1851 Exhibition Scholarship, which allowed him to continue his research and move to Berlin to work with Professor Hans Geiger. More here.

Sir James Chadwick

Courtesy: http://www.atomicarchive.com

Niels Bohr - 127 th Birthday

Niels Henrik David Bohr was born in Copenhagen on October 7, 1885, as the son of Christian Bohr, Professor of Physiology at Copenhagen University, and his wife Ellen, née Adler. Niels, together with his younger brother Harald (the future Professor in Mathematics), grew up in an atmosphere most favourable to the development of his genius - his father was an eminent physiologist and was largely responsible for awakening his interest in physics while still at school, his mother came from a family distinguished in the field of education.  For more click here.

 

Courtesy: http://www.nobelprize.org

Solvay Congress of 1927

The most famous conference held on October 1927, Fifth Solvay International Conference on Electrons and Photons, where the world’s most notable physicists met to discuss the newly formulated quantum theory. 

Courtesy: http://www.dailymail.co.uk