Latest Quantum electrodynamics Stories

John P. Millis, Ph.D. for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online All fundamental matter in the Universe – protons, electrons, etc. – has counterparts known as antimatter. In most ways, antimatter simply mirrors regular matter. For instance, the antimatter counterpart to the electron is the positron, a particle of the same mass of the electron, but possessing the opposite charge and opposite spin. When normal matter encounters its antimatter counterpart, the pair will annihilate and...

[ Watch the Video: AMS Time Lapse Installation ] John P. Millis, Ph.D. for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online For decades scientists have wondered whether a mysterious form of matter – known simply as Dark Matter since it does not interact directly with light – makes up the majority of the “stuff” in the Universe. Researchers have pointed to the seminal work on the Bullet Cluster of galaxies as evidence that dark matter is a real substance. But similar observations of...

Weizmann Institute researchers suggest one can affect an atom’s spin by adjusting the way it is measured One of the most basic laws of quantum mechanics is that a system can be in more than one state – it can exist in multiple realities – at once. This phenomenon, known as the superposition principle, exists only so long as the system is not observed or measured in any way. As soon as such a system is measured, its superposition collapses into a single state. Thus, we, who are...

In an article published in the PNAS scientific journal, researchers from Aalto University and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland showed experimentally that vacuum has properties not previously observed. According to the laws of quantum mechanics, it is a state with abundant potentials. Vacuum contains momentarily appearing and disappearing virtual pairs, which can be converted into detectable light particles. The researchers conducted a mirror experiment to show that by changing...

University of Rochester A new type of nanoscale engine has been proposed that would use quantum dots to generate electricity from waste heat, potentially making microcircuits more efficient. "The system is really a simple one, which exploits certain properties of quantum dots to harvest heat," Professor Andrew Jordan of the University of Rochester said. "Despite this simplicity, the power it could generate is still larger than any other nanoengine that has been considered until now."...

Flow control of single quantum dot enables measurements with nanoscale accuracy at lower cost COLLEGE PARK, Md., Feb. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Finding ways to see, position, measure, and accurately manipulate nanoscale objects is an ongoing challenge for researchers developing the next generation of ultra-compact electronics, sensors and optical devices. Even the most advanced conventional microscopes are limited by diffraction of the shortest wavelength of visible light,...

AlphaGalileo Not only do optical fibers transmit information every day around the world at the speed of light, but they can also be harnessed for the transport of quantum information. In the current issue of Nature Photonics, a research team of Innsbruck physicists led by Rainer Blatt and Tracy Northup report how they have directly transferred the quantum information stored in an atom onto a particle of light. Such information could then be sent over optical fiber to a distant atom....

A cornerstone of physics may require a rethink if findings at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are confirmed. Recent experiments suggest that the most rigorous predictions based on the fundamental theory of electromagnetism—one of the four fundamental forces in the universe, and harnessed in all electronic devices—may not accurately account for the behavior of atoms in exotic, highly charged states. The theory in question is known as quantum electrodynamics, or...

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online An international team of researchers has created ionized xenon atoms so positively charged that scientists involved in the study are now saying the existing theories need to be reexamined. Using the world’s most powerful laser, the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University, the physicists were able to kick out up to 36 electrons from a xenon...

Studies by Berkeley Lab scientists of electron beam quality in laser plasma accelerators include novel tests for slice-energy spread Part Two: Slicing through the electron beam Wim Leemans of Berkeley Lab’s Accelerator and Fusion Research Division heads LOASIS, the Laser and Optical Accelerator Systems Integrated Studies, an oasis indeed for students pursuing graduate studies in laser plasma acceleration (LPA). Among the most promising applications of future table-top accelerators...