YouTube video by Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

The "quantum droplet" represents an unlikely, powerful union of two different categories of particles.

Dark energy's grip on the cosmos could be more fickle than scientists once believed.

UC Irvine scientists identified a novel quantum state with potential for energy-efficient devices. Its radiation resistance makes it particularly valuable for space missions. Researchers at the University...

Learn how Nowack Lab uses Scanning SQUID microscopy to explore emergent and interesting phenomena in novel materials.

Physicists at the University of Basel and Technical University of Munich have discovered a groundbreaking method to observe electron behavior within Wigner crystals, an elusive quantum state where electrons form ordered patterns. By cooling atomically thin tungsten diselenide to near absolute zero and using light to probe the material, researchers detected optical signals revealing collective electron motion previously difficult to study. These findings highlight interactions between electrons and excitons (light-generated quasiparticles) forming hybrid entities called Wigner crystal polarons. The discovery provides insights into strongly correlated quantum systems where particle interactions drive material properties rather than individual behaviors. This technique could advance understanding of complex quantum phenomena, offering tools to analyze collective electron dynamics in ordered states. The study, published in Nature Physics, marks progress in unraveling the mysteries of exotic quantum matter through innovative spectroscopic methods.

Not everything we knew about the universe is wrong. But not not everything.