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New evidence for electron’s dual nature found in a quantum spin liquid . New experiments conducted at – Princeton University

May 18, 2021 | Author: admin

A new discovery led by Princeton University researchers could upend our understanding of how electrons behave under extreme conditions due to the laws of quantum physics.

The finding provides experimental evidence that this familiar building block of matter often behaves as if it is made of two particles one particle that gives the electron its negative charge and another that gives it a magnet-like property known as spin.

We think this is the first hard evidence of spin-charge separation, said Nai Phuan Ong, Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics, the senior author on a study published this week in the journal Nature Physics.

The experimental results fulfill a prediction made decades ago to explain one of the most mind-bending states of matter, the quantum spin liquid. In all materials, the spin of an electron can point either up or down. In the familiar magnet, the spins uniformly point in one direction throughout the sample when the temperature drops below a critical temperature.

However, in spin liquid materials, the spins are unable to establish a uniform pattern even when cooled very close to absolute zero. Instead, the spins are constantly changing in a tightly coordinated, entangled choreography. The result is one of the most entangled quantum states ever conceived, a state of great interest to researchers in the nascent field of quantum computing.

To describe this behavior mathematically, Nobel prize-winning Princeton physicist Philip Anderson (1923-2020), who first predicted the existence of spin liquids in 1973, proposed an explanation: in the quantum regime an electron may be regarded as composed of two particles, one bearing the electrons negative charge and the other containing its spin. Anderson called the spin-containing particle a spinon.

In this new study, the team searched for signs of the spinon in a spin liquid composed of ruthenium and chlorine atoms. At temperatures a fraction of a Kelvin above absolute zero (or roughly 452 degrees Fahrenheit), ruthenium chloride crystals enter a spin liquid state in the presence of a high magnetic field.

Physics graduate student Peter Czajka and Tong Gao, a 2020 Ph.D. graduate, connected three highly sensitive thermometers to the crystal as it sat in a bath maintained at temperatures close to absolute zero Kelvin. They then applied the magnetic field and a small amount of heat to one crystal edge to measure its thermal conductivity, a quantity that expresses how well it conducts a heat current. If spinons were present, they should appear as an oscillating pattern in a graph of the thermal conductivity versus magnetic field.

The oscillating signal they were searching for was tiny just a few hundredths of a degree change so the measurements demanded an extraordinarily precise control of the sample temperature as well as careful calibrations of the thermometers in a strong magnetic field.

Researchers at Princeton University conducted experiments on materials known as quantum spin liquids, finding evidence that the electrons in the quantum regime behave as if they are made up of two particles. The 3D color-plot, a composite of many experiments, shows how the thermal conductivity Kxx (vertical axis) varies as a function of the magnetic field B (horizontal axis) and the temperature T (axis into the page). The oscillations provide evidence for spinons.

Graph by Peter Czajka, Princeton University

The team used the purest crystals available, ones grown at the U.S. Department of Energys Oak Ridge National Laboratory under the leadership of David Mandrus, materials science professor at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and Stephen Nagler, corporate research fellow in ORNLs Neutron Scattering Division. The ORNL team has extensively studied the quantum spin liquid properties of ruthenium chloride.

In a series of experiments extending over nearly three years, Czajka and Gao detected the temperature oscillations consistent with spinons with increasingly higher resolution, providing evidence that the electron is composed of two particles, consistent with Andersons prediction.

People have been searching for this signature for four decades, Ong said. If this finding and the spinon interpretation are validated, it would significantly advance the field of quantum spin liquids.

From the purely experimental side, Czajka said, it was exciting to see results that in effect break the rules that you learn in elementary physics classes.

Czajka and Gao spent last summer confirming the experiments while under COVID-19 restrictions that required them to wear masks and maintain social distancing.

The experiment was performed in collaboration with Max Hirschberger, a 2017 Ph.D. alumnus now at the University of Tokyo; Arnab Banerjee at Purdue University and ORNL; David Mandrus and Paula Lempen-Kelley at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and ORNL; and Jiaqiang Yan and Stephen E. Nagler at ORNL. Funding at Princeton was provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation also supported the crystal growth program at the University of Tennessee.

The study, Oscillations of the thermal conductivity in the spin-liquid state of -RuCl3, by Peter Czajka, Tong Gao, Max Hirschberger, Paula Lampen-Kelley, Arnab Banerjee, Jiaqiang Yan, David G. Mandrus, Stephen E. Nagler and N. P. Ong, was published in the journal Nature Physics online on May 13, 2021. DOI: 10.1038/s41567-021-01243-x.

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New evidence for electron's dual nature found in a quantum spin liquid . New experiments conducted at - Princeton University

Carlo Rovelli: What We Believe About Certainty – The New York Times

May 18, 2021 | Author: admin

This personal reflection is part of a series called The Big Ideas, in which writers respond to a single question: What do we believe?

I believe in justice. I believe that the Earth is round. I believe that my name is Carlo and that my fathers name was Franco. I believe that life is worth living. My beliefs are rooted in me. They define me. I hold them dear and I strenuously defend them against any challenge.

But I am not certain about them.

We never have total certainty, nor do we need it or want it. Between full ignorance and total certainty there is a vast intermediate space where we conduct our lives.

We grow, and we gather more reliable knowledge, by being genuinely open to the questioning of our beliefs. This is the core teaching of scientific thinking. The most reliable beliefs are those that survive questioning.

If we believe that the Earth is round and that penicillin cures pneumonia, for example, it is because scientists doubted the proclamations of our ancestors that you could sail a ship off the edge of the Earth, or that incantations were a legitimate form of medicine.

Albert Einstein questioned Newtonian science, and quantum theory questions the picture of the world of classical mechanics. There was a time when we thought that reality was simple: particles in space, moving in time. Now space bends and weaves, and time depends on where we are and how we move. Quantum physics subverted most of what we used to believe about matter.

This doesnt mean, however, that we are in the dark, or that we should feel paralyzed by a lack of perfect knowledge. If I ask for street directions from a person or from my smartphone theres no guarantee that the answer will be correct. The person might have misinterpreted my question, or I may have misspelled the address I entered into my smartphone. But that wont stop me from deciding on a direction and walking.

Our forefathers believed that only white, property-owning men could be trusted to vote; that Black people were better off enslaved; and that witches floated when tossed into a pond. Thank heavens some people in the past had the strength to challenge the standards of their time. If they hadnt, wed still be stoning women in the streets.

Such drifts in what we believe do not make our convictions any less valuable, either. No person, book or institution holds definitive truth. Openness to change means that our beliefs are strong, and that we can make them stronger. It means that we, the finite critters who inhabit this planet, are capable of doing better.

The same is true for our political beliefs. Iron determination grounded in the firm political convictions of individuals and groups created the modern world. But we do not live in a perfect world far from it. If we have the will to challenge established conventions, we can make the world better for everyone.

But beware: Eagerly embracing shiny new ideologies can be even more dangerous than hanging on to hold ones. The neophyte is passionate. Fresh converts may not see the evil in their new credo. Germany fell in love with the glittering order of Nazism. A little over a decade later, with Europe in ruin and millions dead, the country experienced a brutal awakening. The ugliness and horror of the Nazi years suddenly became visible.

If left unchallenged, old beliefs can be suffocating; but the passion that novel beliefs inspire can be a recipe for disaster. The balance is never easy; we have no other tool to guide us than our limited and always insufficient intelligence. No other reliable adviser than uncertainty.

Experience causes our beliefs to change, and they change because we all hold different beliefs and are constantly comparing them. The vast diversity and interconnectedness of humankind is the fertile humus that creates an endless network of exchanges, which nurtures our beliefs but also allows them to evolve. Like the constantly drifting and intermixing genetic pool of a species, our beliefs are the result of our continuous exchanges with the rest of the world and the people who live in it.

Far from being truly ours a mark of our individuality beliefs are a precious shared wealth that humankind continuously trades. We receive them, elaborate on them, mix them with beliefs weve previously received and pass them on. They glide across us. We are nodes in their evolution.

This network of exchanges is our shared culture: the never-ending dialogue that constantly grows and enriches itself. Our best political, moral and scientific beliefs are the evolving configurations of this long dialogue.

I believe in justice. I believe that the Earth is round. I believe that my name is Carlo and that my fathers name was Franco. I believe that life is worth living.

But I also know how slippery the notion of justice is, how it has been misused to enable all sorts of crimes.

The Earth is round, but I know that it is not really round, as a true sphere is. Its shape is more subtle.

My name is Carlo, and my father grew up being called Franco until the day he discovered that Franco was just a name his mother liked, and that his birth certificate, registered by his father, said that his name was actually Giulio.

And although I believe that life is worth living, I also know that there are crises and true hardships that compel too many people to think otherwise.

I hold dear to my beliefs. But I will never stop questioning them.

Carlo Rovelli is a theoretical physicist. His latest book is Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution.

Carlo Rovelli: What We Believe About Certainty - The New York Times

To Observe the Muon Is to Experience Hints of Immortality – WIRED

May 18, 2021 | Author: admin

The known universe seemed, briefly, muonstruck. But it took only 12 days for another Italian physicist to throw cold water on the bliss. Carlo Rovelli, a founder of loop quantum gravity theory, which seeks to combine quantum mechanics and general relativity, and the author of Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution, which was published in English in May, wrote in The Guardian, Physicists love to think of themselves as radical.

This self-conception, Rovelli went on, is understandable, especially among physicists, who make their names in the outer reaches of human understanding. But it also leads labs to overhype their findings. He cited examples of would-be discoveries in supersymmetry that initially seemed groundbreaking but didn't live up to the hype. Rovelli especially zeroed in on the word hint, which appeared in that Fermilab press release. I do not remember a time without some colleague talking about hints that new supersymmetric particles had been nearly discovered. The nearlys and hints, presumably, are often at a value that, unlike Fermilab's 0.0000002 percent, may not be statistically significant.

In 1807, William Wordsworth published an ode that was to Romantic poetry as the discovery of quarks was to particle physics in 1964: a breakthrough. Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood chronicles the poet's emotional detachment from nature; his blissful rediscovery of it in memories of childhood; and his bittersweet resolution that, though the Earth will die, the suggestions of deathlessness in the present moment will sustain him in his grief.

Though nothing can bring back the hourOf splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;We will grieve not, rather findStrength in what remains behind;In the primal sympathyWhich having been must ever be;In the soothing thoughts that springOut of human suffering; In the faith that looks through death

An intriguing approach to literature called ecocriticism, pioneered in the 1990s by the English philosopher Jonathan Bate, argues that Romantic poetry like this ode can suggest ways to conceive of our dying planet as one that we must saveor perhaps, in sorrow, and maybe love, allow to die. But Wordsworth's poem doesn't just concern the fate of humans and the blue planet. Its subject is also intimationswhat the physicists on the Muon g-2 project call hints.

As it happens, they are hints of the same thing: immortality.

Wordsworth's poem doesn't just concern the fate of humans and the blue planet. Its subject is also intimationswhat the physicists on the Muon g-2 project call hints.

The central contention of physics has it that the building blocks of the universe will endure even if, or even when, the humans who tally them, and the planet we live on, all die. To see into the deathless universe is to try to see nothing so flamboyant as Wordsworth's favorite daffodils and walnut groves, but to peer into the coldest spaces, the black holes and the fractional electric charge of theoretical subatomic particles. These entities have no blood flow, of course, but also no DNA; they're not susceptible to pandemics, however virulent, or the dividends and ravages of carbon. They don't live, so they don't die. To model the universe as precisely as possible is to try to see the one thing that even the strictest atheist agrees is everlastingto try to achieve, in a lab, an intimation of immortality.

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To Observe the Muon Is to Experience Hints of Immortality - WIRED

Disturbing the Fermi Sea with Rydberg States – Physics

May 18, 2021 | Author: admin

May 17, 2021• Physics 14, 74

A method that enables long-range interactions between fermions on a lattice allows atomic quantum simulations of exotic quantum many-body phenomena.

Currently, one of the best ways to model complex quantum systems is through atomic quantum simulations. Controlling interactions between atoms is key to such simulations, something that can be achieved in atomic lattices using the well-established Feshbach-resonance approach. While that approach can be used to vary the strength of short-range interactions between atoms, it does not carry over to long-range interactions, leaving some interesting quantum systems outside of the techniques scope. Elmer Guardado-Sanchez at Princeton University and colleagues have now shown that such long-range interactions can be controlled using Rydberg dressing in a lattice of lithium ( 6Li) atoms [1]. The teams demonstration opens up unprecedented opportunities for exploring systems that exhibit rich fermionic many-body physics.

In the Feshbach-resonance approach to interaction control, a variable magnetic field is used to tune the scattering dynamics of colliding atoms. The use of this technique has led to the experimental observation of the crossover between the Bose-Einstein-condensation (BEC) regimein which strongly interacting fermions form bosonic moleculesand the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) regimein which weakly interacting fermions form loosely bound Cooper pairs. Quantum phenomena that can be simulated using such interactions range from the electron correlations behind high-temperature superconductors to the quantum kinematics taking place in distant neutron stars. Despite this versatility, there remains an important class of systems beyond the reach of simulations based on local interactions. Those systems are ones composed of spinless fermions, which the Pauli exclusion principle forbids from sitting on top of one another, making local interactions largely irrelevant. Instead, it is the long-range interactions that must be controlled.

One way to engineer such long-range interactions between spinless atomic fermions is to excite the atoms to Rydberg states, in which an electron occupies a high orbital. This method has been proposed theoretically as a way to mediate correlated topological density waves within a fermionic system [2]. Guardado-Sanchez and colleagues now employ the technique experimentally, which they do with an ensemble of spinless, fermionic 6Li atoms.

The team cooled a dilute gas of 6Li atoms in an optical lattice to a quantum degenerate temperature, one where each atoms de Broglie wavelength becomes larger than the interatomic spacing. Unable to reach the ground state simultaneously (because of the Pauli exclusion principle), the atoms freeze one by one at the lowest momentum available, forming a Fermi sea (Fig. 1). In this sea state, the atoms barely interact, and there are both minimal thermal and minimal quantum fluctuations.

The teams next step was to use a laser to implement a Rydberg dressing scheme, which mixes the systems internal ground state with a highly excited Rydberg state. An atom in a Rydberg state exhibits a larger electric dipole moment than one in the ground state because of the greater distance between its ion core and its outermost electron. This dipole-moment enhancement produces an effective soft-core interaction between Rydberg-dressed atoms, meaning that the interaction strength remains roughly constant as the interparticle distance increases, before dropping off above a threshold length scale [24]. The researchers show that they can manipulate the strength and the range of this interaction by varying the intensity and frequency of the laser. Although the Rydberg-dressing-induced interaction is isotropic across the two-dimensional system, the motion (by quantum tunneling) of the fermions is restricted to one dimension. This limited freedom of motion hinders the infamous Rydberg-avalanching-loss process by which Rydberg atoms collide, gain kinetic energy, and escape the trap.

The long-range interaction and the consequent hopping motion of the fermions generate many-body excitationscommonly called quantum fluctuationson top of the Fermi sea. These collective quantum fluctuations can have tremendously rich features, yielding many kinds of quantum-correlated states of matter. The types of phenomena that arise in such a system of interacting fermions depend on the way in which the fermions pair up, or, more precisely, on the momenta of the participating fermions and the Cooper pairs that result. These momentum-dependent interactions, in turn, are governed largely by the range of the interaction relative to the lattice spacing. A soft-core interaction with a tunable length, such as that realized by Guardado-Sanchez and colleagues, could lead to abundant momentum-dependent behaviors, generating, for example, topological density waves [2] and chiral p+ip superfluidity [5]. Such p+ip superfluids support topological Majorana vortices and offer a plausible route toward realizing topological quantum computation.

Even more exotic and counterintuitive phenomena may arise when different pairing possibilities occur simultaneously. For example, although mean-field theories typically predict that superfluidity appears in the presence of purely attractive interactions, functional renormalization group calculations suggest that a complex combination of different fermion pairings should generate unconventional f-wave superfluidity even with atomic repulsion [6]. Guardado-Sanchez and colleagues have so far only demonstrated attractive interactions, but tuning from attraction to repulsion is experimentally feasible [7]. Interesting effects should also arise when the interaction strength completely dominates the kinetic energy, with the system then being driven toward a Wigner crystal or fractional quantum Hall state [8, 9].

In the teams experiment, with its lattice-hopping fermions, the dynamical aspects of the system are more easily observed than the quantum many-body equilibrium states. Uncovering how to probe such states in a nonequilibrium setting should stimulate future theoretical investigation. On the application side, as well as the above-mentioned potential for topological quantum computing, long-range interaction control is a key step toward performing quantum simulations of quantum chemistry problems. Such simulations represent one arena ripe for applications employing the so-called quantum advantage to solve problems that would be intractable using classical computers. One strength of the teams scheme in realizing applications is that, unlike previously developed Feshbach-resonance techniques, it is magnetic-field-free. This aspect provides extra freedom to integrate the technique with certain magnetic-field-sensitive cold-atom quantum technologies, such as artificial gauge fields.

Xiaopeng Li is professor of physics in the Physics Department of Fudan University, China, jointly employed by Shanghai Qi Zhi Institute. He is active in quantum information science and condensed-matter theories, with his primary research interests in exploiting the quantum computation power of various quantum simulation platforms. He received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Pittsburgh in 2013 and joined Fudan University as a faculty member in 2016 after three years at the University of Maryland, supported by a Joint Quantum Institute theoretical postdoctoral fellowship. He has been a full professor since 2019.

Elmer Guardado-Sanchez, Benjamin M. Spar, Peter Schauss, Ron Belyansky, Jeremy T. Young, Przemyslaw Bienias, Alexey V. Gorshkov, Thomas Iadecola, and Waseem S. Bakr

Phys. Rev. X 11, 021036 (2021)

Published May 17, 2021

A new experimental method based on adsorption can indicate whether a material is a Mott insulator or a common insulator. Read More

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Disturbing the Fermi Sea with Rydberg States - Physics

Physicists push limits of Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle – Big Think

May 18, 2021 | Author: admin

Recently published research pushes the boundaries of key concepts in quantum mechanics. Studies from two different teams used tiny drums to show that quantum entanglement, an effect generally linked to subatomic particles, can also be applied to much larger macroscopic systems. One of the teams also claims to have found a way to evade the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

One question that the scientists were hoping to answer pertained to whether larger systems can exhibit quantum entanglement in the same way as microscopic ones. Quantum mechanics proposes that two objects can become "entangled," whereby the properties of one object, such as position or velocity, can become connected to those of the other.

An experiment performed at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, led by physicist Shlomi Kotler and his colleagues, showed that a pair of vibrating aluminum membranes, each about 10 micrometers long, can be made to vibrate in sync, in such a way that they can be described to be quantum entangled. Kotler's team amplified the signal from their devices to "see" the entanglement much more clearly. Measuring their position and velocities returned the same numbers, indicating that they were indeed entangled.

Tiny aluminium membranes used by Kotler's team.Credit: Florent Lecoq and Shlomi Kotler/NIST

Another experiment with quantum drums each one-fifth the width of a human hair by a team led by Prof. Mika Sillanp at Aalto University in Finland, attempted to find what happens in the area between quantum and non-quantum behavior. Like the other researchers, they also achieved quantum entanglement for larger objects, but they also made a fascinating inquiry into getting around the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

The team's theoretical model was developed by Dr. Matt Woolley of the University of New South Wales. Photons in the microwave frequency were employed to create a synchronized vibrating pattern as well as to gauge the positions of the drums. The scientists managed to make the drums vibrate in opposite phases to each other, achieving "collective quantum motion."

The study's lead author, Dr. Laure Mercier de Lepinay, said: "In this situation, the quantum uncertainty of the drums' motion is canceled if the two drums are treated as one quantum-mechanical entity."

This effect allowed the team to measure both the positions and the momentum of the virtual drumheads at the same time. "One of the drums responds to all the forces of the other drum in the opposing way, kind of with a negative mass," Sillanp explained.

Theoretically, this should not be possible under the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, one of the most well-known tenets of quantum mechanics. Proposed in the 1920s by Werner Heisenberg, the principle generally says that when dealing with the quantum world, where particles also act like waves, there's an inherent uncertainty in measuring both the position and the momentum of a particle at the same time. The more precisely you measure one variable, the more uncertainty in the measurement of the other. In other words, it is not possible to simultaneously pinpoint the exact values of the particle's position and momentum.

Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle Explained. Credit: Veritasium / Youtube.com

Big Think contributor astrophysicist Adam Frank, known for the 13.8 podcast, called this "a really fascinating paper as it shows that it's possible to make larger entangled systems which behave like a single quantum object. But because we're looking at a single quantum object, the measurement doesn't really seem to me to be 'getting around' the uncertainty principle, as we know that in entangled systems an observation of one part constrains the behavior of other parts."

Ethan Siegel, also an astrophysicist, commented, "The main achievement of this latest work is that they have created a macroscopic system where two components are successfully quantum mechanically entangled across large length scales and with large masses. But there is no fundamental evasion of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle here; each individual component is exactly as uncertain as the rules of quantum physics predicts. While it's important to explore the relationship between quantum entanglement and the different components of the systems, including what happens when you treat both components together as a single system, nothing that's been demonstrated in this research negates Heisenberg's most important contribution to physics."

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Physicists push limits of Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle - Big Think

Can A Patent Violate The Laws Of Chemistry And Physics? – JD Supra

May 18, 2021 | Author: admin

Quick answer: no!

The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals recently tangled with a patent application for an invention that did not have scientific support. The court affirmed a decision of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board rejecting a patent application on these grounds. While this is not a common occurrence, in this case, its an easy conclusion to reach.

In In re Huping Hu, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 7776, the inventors applied for patents for inventions related to quantum entanglement. According to the inventors, quantum entanglement is quantum spins of photons, electrons and nuclei. The inventors explained that quantum spins of photons, electrons and nuclei have now been successfully entangled in various ways for purposes of quantum computation and communication. The inventors said that quantum entanglement is a phenomenon that happens if particles, such as photons and electrons, become linked, and, when separated, the mechanical states of the molecules are still linked such that if the state of one particle is changed, the linked particle is affected. The PTO explained the inventors method as using quantum entanglement to change the characteristics of one substance via the manipulation of a completely physically separate substance. The PTO did not dispute the existence of quantum entanglement, but said that the phenomenon has been seen in very specific conditions for only a fraction of a second.

The inventors claimed that they had developed quantum entanglement into technologies that could be used in communications, engineering, health, medicine, and recreation. They filed four applications for methods and apparatus to produce or use quantum entanglement. One of the claims was directed to a method of producing a non-local effect in a target substance through manipulating an originating substance and detecting said nonlocal effect and included the steps of selecting a substance and letting said substance sit. Another claim was directed to a method of using general anesthesia by applying magnetic pulses to the brain while placing the anesthetic in a container outside the body. The PTAB commented that this claim was directing music toward the brain through a container of that anesthetic. I dont know about you, but Id rather not have surgery with general anesthesia outside my body!

Not surprisingly, the patent examiners rejected the claims of the four applications on several grounds. First, the examiners rejected claims as inoperative under 35 U.S.C 101, stating that the claims were not credible and therefore could not meet the utility requirement of 101. The patent examiners also rejected claims as not enabled and lacking written description on the grounds that the claimed invention was incapable of functioning as claimed. One very thorough examiner said that the claims violated the first law of thermodynamics, basic laws of chemistry, classical laws of physics, and the principle of conservation of mass.

The PTAB affirmed the examiners rejections. The PTAB found that the claims did not satisfy 112; they were indefinite, lacked written description, and were not enabled. The PTAB explained that the claims were not enabled due to the absence of any known scientific principles explaining how [applicants] invention could possibly operate in this manner, the absence of any cogent explanation in [applicants] specification regarding the general principles or mechanisms causing this to occur, and the absence of any verifiable test data reasonably attributable to the reported result The PTAB also affirmed the rejections under 101, finding that the claimed inventions were directed to a natural phenomenon, which is not patent-eligible subject matter.

As would be expected, the Federal Circuit affirmed the PTABs decision. On appeal, the applicants argued that the PTO had the burden of establishing unpatentability, and that the examiners and the PTAB had erroneously relied on skepticism and ignorance and had not considered the evidence and the prior art. The court agreed that the burden rested with the PTO, but said that concepts that strain scientific principles are properly held to a heightened standard, typically measured by reproducibility of results. The court compared this invention to inventions for perpetual motion machines and cold fusion. There was no scientific support for the invention, and the data was not sufficient to support the claims.

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Can A Patent Violate The Laws Of Chemistry And Physics? - JD Supra

A wobbling muon could unlock mysteries of the universe – Vox.com

May 18, 2021 | Author: admin

Its an exciting time in particle physics. The results of a new experiment out of Fermilab in Illinois involving a subatomic particle wobbling weirdly could lead to new ways of understanding our universe.

To understand why physicists are so excited, consider the ambitious task theyve set for themselves: decoding the fundamental building blocks of everything in the universe. For decades, theyve been trying to do that by building a big, overarching theory known as the standard model.

The standard model is like a glossary, describing all the building blocks of the universe that weve found so far: subatomic particles like electrons, neutrinos, and quarks that make up everything around us, and three of the four fundamental forces (electromagnetic, weak, and strong) that hold things together.

But, as Jessica Esquivel, a particle physicist at Fermilab, tells Vox, scientists suspect this model is incomplete.

One of the big reasons why we know its incomplete is because of gravity. We know it exists because apples fall from trees and Im not floating off my seat, Esquivel says. But they havent yet found a fundamental particle that conveys gravitys force, so its not in the standard model.

Esquivel says the model also doesnt explain two of the biggest mysteries in the universe: dark matter, an elusive substance that holds galaxies together, and dark energy, an even more poorly understood force that is accelerating the universes expansion. And since the overwhelming majority of the universe might be made up of dark matter and dark energy, thats a pretty big oversight.

The problem is, the standard model works really well on its own. It describes the matter and energy were most familiar with, and how it all works together, superbly. Yet, as physicists have tried to expand the model to account for gravity, dark matter, and dark energy, theyve always come up short.

Thats why Esquivel and the many other particle physicists weve spoken to are so excited about the results of a new experiment at Fermilab. It involves muons subatomic particles that are like electrons heavier, less stable cousins. This experiment might, finally, have confirmed a crack in the standard model for particle physicists to explore. Its possible that crack could lead them to find new, fundamental building blocks of nature.

Esquivel worked on the experiment, so we asked her to walk us through it for the Unexplainable podcast. What follows is a transcript of that conversation, edited for clarity and length.

What was this muon experiment?

So at Fermilab, we can create particle beams of muons a very, very intense beam. You can imagine it like a laser beam of particles. And we shoot them into detectors. And then by taking a super, super close measurement of those muons, we can use that as kind of a probe into physics beyond our standard model.

So how, exactly, does this muon experiment point to a hole in the model, or to a new particle to fill that gap?

So the muon g-2 experiment is actually taking a very precise measurement of this thing that we call the precession frequency. And what that means is that we shoot a whole bunch of muons into a very, very precise magnetic field and we watch them dance.

They dance?

Yeah! When muons go into a magnetic field, they precess, or they spin like a spinning top.

One of the really weird quantum-y, sci-fi things that happens is that when you are in a vacuum or an empty space, it actually isnt empty. Its filled with this roiling, bubbling sea of virtual particles that just pop in and out of existence whenever they want, spontaneously. So when we shoot muons into this vacuum, there are not just muons going around our magnet. These virtual particles are popping in and out and changing how the muon wobbles.

Wait, sorry ... what exactly are these virtual particles popping in and out?

So, virtual particles, I ... see them as like ghosts of actual particles. We have photons that kind of pop in and out and theyre just kind of like there, but not really there. I think a really good depiction of this, the weirdness of quantum mechanics, is Ant-Man. Theres this scene where he shrinks down to the quantum realm, and he gets stuck and everything is kind of like wibbly-wobbling and somethings there, but its really not there.

Thats kind of like what virtual particles are. Its just hints of particles that were used to seeing. But theyre not actually there. They just pop in and out and mess with things.

So quantum mechanics says that there are virtual particles, sort of like ghosts of particles we already know about in our standard model, popping in and out of existence. And theyre bumping into muons and making them wobble?

Yes. But again, theoretical physicists know this, and theyve come up with a really good theory of how the muon will change with regards to which particles are popping in and out. So we know specifically how every single one of these particles interacts with each other and within the magnetic field, and they build their theories based on what we already know what is in the standard model.

Got it. So even though there are these virtual ghost particles popping in and out, as long as theyre versions of particles we know, then physicists can predict exactly how the muons are going to wobble. So were the predictions off?

So what we just unveiled is that precise measurement doesnt align with the theoretical predictions of how the muons are supposed to wobble in a magnetic field. It wobbled differently.

And the idea is that you have no idea whats making it do that extra wobble, so it might be something that hasnt been discovered yet? Something outside the standard model?

Yeah, exactly. Its not considered new physics yet because we as physicists give ourselves a very high bar to reach before we say something is potentially new physics. And thats 5 sigma [a measure of the probability that this finding wasnt a statistical error or a random accident.] And right now, were at 4.2 sigma. But its pretty exciting.

So if it clears that bar, would this break the standard model? Because Ive seen that framing in a bunch of headlines.

No, I dont think I would say the standard model is broken. I mean, weve known for a long time that its missing stuff. So its not that whats there doesnt work as its supposed to work.

Its just that were adding more stuff to the standard model, potentially. Just like back in the day when scientists were adding more elements to the periodic table ... even back then, they had spots where they knew an element should go, but they hadnt been able to see it yet. Thats essentially where were at now. We know we have the standard model, but were missing things. So we have holes that were trying to fill.

How exciting does all of this feel?

I think its like a career-defining moment. Its a once-in-a-lifetime. Were chasing new physics and were so close, we can taste it.

What Im studying isnt in any textbook that Ive read or peeked through before, and the fact that the work that Im doing could potentially be in textbooks in the future ... that people can be learning about the dark matter particle that g-2 had a role in finding ... it gives me chills just thinking about it!

See the rest here:

A wobbling muon could unlock mysteries of the universe - Vox.com

The Worldwide Quantum Technology Industry will Reach $31.57 Billion by 2026 – North America to be the Biggest Region – PRNewswire

May 18, 2021 | Author: admin

DUBLIN, May 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Quantum Technology Market by Computing, Communications, Imaging, Security, Sensing, Modeling and Simulation 2021 - 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the quantum technology market. It assesses companies/organizations focused on quantum technology including R&D efforts and potential gaming-changing quantum tech-enabled solutions. The report evaluates the impact of quantum technology upon other major technologies and solution areas including AI, Edge Computing, Blockchain, IoT, and Big Data Analytics. The report provides an analysis of quantum technology investment, R&D, and prototyping by region and within each major country globally.

The report also provides global and regional forecasts as well as the outlook for quantum technology's impact on embedded hardware, software, applications, and services from 2021 to 2026. The report provides conclusions and recommendations for a wide range of industries and commercial beneficiaries including semiconductor companies, communications providers, high-speed computing companies, artificial intelligence vendors, and more.

Select Report Findings:

Much more than only computing, the quantum technology market provides a foundation for improving all digital communications, applications, content, and commerce. In the realm of communications, quantum technology will influence everything from encryption to the way that signals are passed from point A to point B. While currently in the R&D phase, networked quantum information and communications technology (ICT) is anticipated to become a commercial reality that will represent nothing less than a revolution for virtually every aspect of ICT.

However, there will be a need to integrate the ICT supply chain with quantum technologies in a manner that does not attempt to replace every aspect of classical computing but instead leverages a hybrid computational framework. Traditional High-Performance Computing (HPC) will continue to be used for many existing problems for the foreseeable future, while quantum technologies will be used for encrypting communications, signaling, and will be the underlying basis in the future for all commerce transactions. This does not mean that quantum encryption will replace Blockchain, but rather provide improved encryption for blockchain technology.

The quantum technology market will be a substantial enabler of dramatically improved sensing and instrumentation. For example, gravity sensors may be made significantly more precise through quantum sensing. Quantum electromagnetic sensing provides the ability to detect minute differences in the electromagnetic field. This will provide a wide-ranging number of applications, such as within the healthcare arena wherein quantum electromagnetic sensing will provide the ability to provide significantly improved mapping of vital organs. Quantum sensing will also have applications across a wide range of other industries such as transportation wherein there is the potential for substantially improved safety, especially for self-driving vehicles.

Commercial applications for the quantum imaging market are potentially wide-ranging including exploration, monitoring, and safety. For example, gas image processing may detect minute changes that could lead to early detection of tank failure or the presence of toxic chemicals. In concert with quantum sensing, quantum imaging may also help with various public safety-related applications such as search and rescue. Some problems are too difficult to calculate but can be simulated and modeled. Quantum simulations and modeling is an area that involves the use of quantum technology to enable simulators that can model complex systems that are beyond the capabilities of classical HPC. Even the fastest supercomputers today cannot adequately model many problems such as those found in atomic physics, condensed-matter physics, and high-energy physics.

Key Topics Covered:

1.0 Executive Summary

2.0 Introduction

3.0 Quantum Technology and Application Analysis3.1 Quantum Computing3.2 Quantum Cryptography Communication3.3 Quantum Sensing and Imaging3.4 Quantum Dots Particles3.5 Quantum Cascade Laser3.6 Quantum Magnetometer3.7 Quantum Key Distribution3.8 Quantum Cloud vs. Hybrid Platform3.9 Quantum 5G Communication3.10 Quantum 6G Impact3.11 Quantum Artificial Intelligence3.12 Quantum AI Technology3.13 Quantum IoT Technology3.14 Quantum Edge Network3.15 Quantum Blockchain

4.0 Company Analysis4.1 1QB Information Technologies Inc.4.2 ABB (Keymile)4.3 Adtech Optics Inc.4.4 Airbus Group4.5 Akela Laser Corporation4.6 Alibaba Group Holding Limited4.7 Alpes Lasers SA4.8 Altairnano4.9 Amgen Inc.4.10 Anhui Qasky Science and Technology Limited Liability Company (Qasky)4.11 Anyon Systems Inc.4.12 AOSense Inc.4.13 Apple Inc. (InVisage Technologies)4.14 Biogen Inc.4.15 Block Engineering4.16 Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.4.17 BT Group4.18 Cambridge Quantum Computing Ltd.4.19 Chinese Academy of Sciences4.20 D-Wave Systems Inc.4.21 Emerson Electric Corporation4.22 Fujitsu Ltd.4.23 Gem Systems4.24 GeoMetrics Inc.4.25 Google Inc.4.26 GWR Instruments Inc.4.27 Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.4.28 Hewlett Packard Enterprise4.29 Honeywell International Inc.4.30 HP Development Company L.P.4.31 IBM Corporation4.32 ID Quantique4.33 Infineon Technologies4.34 Intel Corporation4.35 KETS Quantum Security4.36 KPN4.37 LG Display Co. Ltd.4.38 Lockheed Martin Corporation4.39 MagiQ Technologies Inc.4.40 Marine Magnetics4.41 McAfee LLC4.42 MicroSemi Corporation4.43 Microsoft Corporation4.44 Mirsense4.45 Mitsubishi Electric Corp.4.46 M-Squared Lasers Limited4.47 Muquans4.48 Nanoco Group PLC4.49 Nanoplus Nanosystems and Technologies GmbH4.50 Nanosys Inc.4.51 NEC Corporation4.52 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation4.53 NN-Labs LLC.4.54 Nokia Corporation4.55 Nucrypt4.56 Ocean NanoTech LLC4.57 Oki Electric4.58 Oscilloquartz SA4.59 OSRAM4.60 PQ Solutions Limited (Post-Quantum)4.61 Pranalytica Inc.4.62 QC Ware Corp.4.63 QD Laser Co. Inc.4.64 QinetiQ4.65 Quantum Circuits Inc.4.66 Quantum Materials Corp.4.67 Qubitekk4.68 Quintessence Labs4.69 QuSpin4.70 QxBranch LLC4.71 Raytheon Company4.72 Rigetti Computing4.73 Robert Bosch GmbH4.74 Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (QD Vision Inc.)4.75 SeQureNet (Telecom ParisTech)4.76 SK Telecom4.77 ST Microelectronics4.78 Texas Instruments4.79 Thorlabs Inc4.80 Toshiba Corporation4.81 Tristan Technologies4.82 Twinleaf4.83 Universal Quantum Devices4.84 Volkswagen AG4.85 Wavelength Electronics Inc.4.86 ZTE Corporation

5.0 Quantum Technology Market Analysis and Forecasts 2021 - 20265.1 Global Quantum Technology Market 2021 - 20265.2 Global Quantum Technology Market by Technology 2021 - 20265.3 Quantum Computing Market 2021 - 20265.4 Quantum Cryptography Communication Market 2021 - 20265.5 Quantum Sensing and Imaging Market 2021 - 20265.6 Quantum Dots Market 2021 - 20265.7 Quantum Cascade Laser Market 2021 - 20265.8 Quantum Magnetometer Market 2021 - 20265.9 Quantum Key Distribution Market 2021 - 20265.9.1 Global Quantum Key Distribution Market by Technology5.9.1.1 Global Quantum Key Distribution Market by Infrastructure Type5.9.2 Global Quantum Key Distribution Market by Industry Vertical5.9.2.1 Global Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) Market by Government5.9.2.2 Global Quantum Key Distribution Market by Enterprise/Civilian Industry5.10 Global Quantum Technology Market by Deployment5.11 Global Quantum Technology Market by Sector5.12 Global Quantum Technology Market by Connectivity5.13 Global Quantum Technology Market by Revenue Source5.14 Quantum Intelligence Market 2021 - 20265.15 Quantum IoT Technology Market 2021 - 20265.16 Global Quantum Edge Network Market5.17 Global Quantum Blockchain Market5.18 Global Quantum Exascale Computing Market5.19 Regional Quantum Technology Market 2021 - 20265.19.1 Regional Comparison of Global Quantum Technology Market5.19.2 Global Quantum Technology Market by Region5.19.2.1 North America Quantum Technology Market by Country5.19.2.2 Europe Quantum Technology Market by Country5.19.2.3 Asia Pacific Quantum Technology Market by Country5.19.2.4 Middle East and Africa Quantum Technology Market by Country5.19.2.5 Latin America Quantum Technology Market by Country

6.0 Conclusions and Recommendations

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/6syb13

Media Contact:

Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [emailprotected]

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Original post:

The Worldwide Quantum Technology Industry will Reach $31.57 Billion by 2026 - North America to be the Biggest Region - PRNewswire

CINECA and D-Wave Expand Access to Quantum Computing Technology and Resources in Italy – HPCwire

May 16, 2021 | Author: admin

BOLOGNA, Italy and BURNABY, British Columbia, May 11, 2021 CINECA, the Italian inter-university consortium and one of the worlds leading global supercomputing centers, and D-Wave Systems Inc., a leader in quantum computing systems, software, and services, have announced a formal collaboration to offer Italian universities, researchers, and developers expanded access to practical quantum computing technology and resources through D-Waves Leapquantum cloud service.

CINECA, which is made up of 69 Italian universities, 25 national research institutions, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Universities and Research, will benefit from expanded, real-time access to theLeapquantum cloud service. This access includes D-Waves hybrid quantum/classical solvers, which leverage both quantum solutions and best-in-class classical algorithms to run large-scale business-critical problems. With real-time access to quantum computers via the cloud, the Italian and international scientific community have the opportunity to further quantum education, publication, and R&D, while boosting the development of real-world quantum applications.

This collaboration aids the consortiums mission to support Italys scientific community and improve quantum computing literacy and skills training for university partners. This, in turn, will benefit the larger public administration and private enterprise ecosystem. CINECA university members, suchas the Polytechnic University of Milan,have alreadyexpressed interest in leveraging quantum computing to explore drug repurposing and development, natural disaster response and relief, and sustainability challenges such as decarbonization and energy production. As an example of the value of the collaboration, D-Wave and CINECA hosted a jointwebinaron March 31stshowcasing CINECAs work on molecular docking for drug discovery utilizing D-Waves quantum system.

D-Wave will also provide cloud access via Leap to its latest generation quantum system, Advantage, which includes:

We have enjoyed a long-standing relationship with the pioneering team at CINECA, which was one of the first non-profit consortiums to explore quantum computing with us, said Daniel Ley,SVP Global Sales, D-Wave. Bringing quantum computing to the world requires more than just vendors alone. We need to continue to build a robust ecosystem of developers and researchers, innovative scientific institutions, cutting-edge academic organizations, and forward-thinking businesses to work together. CINECA is aligned with us in that mission and committed to helping their ecosystem build practical and applied quantum computing applications.

At CINECA we are very happy to be part of this agreement with D-Wave. Quantum computing is a field that has been strongly emerging in recent years, said Sanzio Bassini, Head of the HPC Department at CINECA. Its natural association with HPC, which CINECA has been dealing with for more than 50 years, makes the issue of high interest both for CINECA and for the entire ecosystem of universities and research institutions that it represents. Thanks to D-Wave for the collaboration. I have no doubt that it will be a wonderful experience for both parties.

To learn more about how CINECA and D-Wave are working together to expand access to quantum computing technology and resources in Italy clickhere. To find out more about CINECAs work in molecular docking for drug discovery utilizing D-Waves quantum systems, clickhere.

About CINECA

CINECA established in 1969, is a not-for-profit consortium of 69 Italian Universities 25 national research institutions, the Italian Ministry of Education, and the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research. CINECA is the Italian national facility for supercomputing applications and research, one of the largest in Europe. It develops advanced Information Technology applications and services supporting the European scientific communities, the Italian academic administration offices, the Italian Ministry of Education, the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research, and the world of industry and Public Administration.

CINECAs HPC infrastructure is equipped with cutting-edge technology managed by qualified personnel, which cooperates with researchers and customers for the most effective exploitation of the HPC systems, in both the academic and industrial fields. The mission of CINECA is to accelerate the scientific discovery by providing high performance computing resources, data management and storage systems and tools, HPC services and expertise at large. CINECA represents Italy in PRACE (the pan-European ESFRI e-infrastructure for HPC) and in the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (a joint initiative between the EU, European countries and private partners to develop a World Class Supercomputing Ecosystem in Europe).

About D-Wave Systems Inc.

D-Wave is a leader in the development and delivery of quantum computing systems, software and services and is the worlds first commercial supplier of quantum computers. Our mission is to unlock the power of quantum computing for the world. We do this by delivering customer value with practical quantum applications for problems as diverse as logistics, artificial intelligence, materials sciences, drug discovery, scheduling, cybersecurity, fault detection, and financial modeling. D-Waves systems are being used by some of the worlds most advanced organizations, including NEC, Volkswagen, DENSO, Lockheed Martin, USRA, USC, and Los Alamos National Laboratory. With headquarters near Vancouver, Canada, D-Waves US operations are based in Palo Alto, CA. D-Wave has a blue-chip investor base including PSP Investments, Goldman Sachs, BDC Capital, NEC Corp., and In-Q-Tel. For more information, visit: http://www.dwavesys.com.

Source: D-Wave

Continued here:
CINECA and D-Wave Expand Access to Quantum Computing Technology and Resources in Italy - HPCwire

Outlook on the Quantum Technology Global Market to 2026 – – GlobeNewswire

May 16, 2021 | Author: admin

Dublin, May 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Quantum Technology Market by Computing, Communications, Imaging, Security, Sensing, Modeling and Simulation 2021 - 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Select Report Findings:

Key Topics Covered:

1.0 Executive Summary

2.0 Introduction

6.0 Conclusions and Recommendations

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/pcwigy

View post:
Outlook on the Quantum Technology Global Market to 2026 - - GlobeNewswire

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New evidence for electron’s dual nature found in a quantum spin liquid . New experiments conducted at – Princeton University

Carlo Rovelli: What We Believe About Certainty – The New York Times

To Observe the Muon Is to Experience Hints of Immortality – WIRED

Disturbing the Fermi Sea with Rydberg States – Physics

Physicists push limits of Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle – Big Think

Can A Patent Violate The Laws Of Chemistry And Physics? – JD Supra

A wobbling muon could unlock mysteries of the universe – Vox.com

The Worldwide Quantum Technology Industry will Reach $31.57 Billion by 2026 – North America to be the Biggest Region – PRNewswire

CINECA and D-Wave Expand Access to Quantum Computing Technology and Resources in Italy – HPCwire

Outlook on the Quantum Technology Global Market to 2026 – – GlobeNewswire

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