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IMAGE: University of Chicago graduate student and first study author Jake Higgins next to the laser where the data were taken. view more
Credit: Photo by Lawson Lloyd, University of Chicago
Photosynthetic organisms harvest light from the sun to produce the energy they need to survive. A new paper published by University of Chicago researchers reveals their secret: exploiting quantum mechanics. Before this study, the scientific community saw quantum signatures generated in biological systems and asked the question, were these results just a consequence of biology being built from molecules, or did they have a purpose? said Greg Engel, Professor of Chemistry and senior author on the study. This is the first time we are seeing biology actively exploiting quantum effects.
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Credit: Markus Rambach
Researchers have struck quantum gold and created a new word by enlisting machine learning to efficiently navigate a 20-dimensional quantum treasure map.
Physicist Dr Markus Rambach from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems (EQUS) at The University of Queensland said the team was able to find unknown quantum states more quickly and accurately, using a technique called self-guided tomography.
The team also introduced the quvigint , which is like a qubit (the quantum version of a classical bit that takes on the values 0 or 1 ) except that it takes on not two, but 20 possible values.
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IMAGE: a, A 3D Dirac sonic crystal and its transition to a Weyl sonic crystal. a Photograph of the 3D Dirac sonic crystal. b,c Geometry of the unit cells for b. view more
Credit: by Boyang Xie, Hui Liu, Hua Cheng, Zhengyou Liu, Jianguo Tian, and Shuqi Chen
Recently, the three-dimensional (3D) Dirac points and 3D Dirac semimetals have attracted tremendous attention in the field of topological physics. The 3D Dirac point is a fourfold band crossing in 3D momentum space, which can be view as the degeneracy of two opposite Weyl points. However, the 3D Dirac points can be described by the Z2 topological invariant other than the Chern number. The topological property of 3D Dirac point is not totally the same as Weyl point. Besides, the transition from Dirac points to Weyl points has not been experimentally studied in both photonic and acoustic systems so far. Therefore, the theoretical or experimental breakthrough of 3D Dirac points and the study on their transition
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IMAGE: Igor Kolokolov, Director of the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics (RAS) and Head of the HSE Department for Theoretical Physic view more
Credit: Igor Kolokolov
Italian and Russian researchers confirmed the hypothesis that the self-maintaining order in eukaryotic cells (cells with nuclei) is a result of two spontaneous mechanisms collaboration. Similar molecules gather into drops on the membrane and then leave it as tiny vesicles enriched by the collected molecules. The paper with the research results was published in the journal
The research was carried out by an international interdisciplinary team of biologists (from Polytechnic University of Turin, Italian Institute for Genomic Medicine of the University of Turin and Candiolo Cancer Institute) and physicists (from Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics and HSE University Faculty of Physics).
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IMAGE: Schematic diagram of the process of material phase transition, ex-solution particle formation, and the change in catalytic activity depending on the reduction environment. view more
Credit: POSTECH
Fuel cells, which are attracting attention as an eco-friendly energy source, obtain electricity and heat simultaneously through the reverse reaction of water electrolysis. Therefore, the catalyst that enhances the reaction efficiency is directly connected to the performance of the fuel cell. To this, a POSTECH-UNIST joint research team has taken a step closer to developing high-performance catalysts by uncovering the ex-solution and phase transition phenomena at the atomic level for the first time.