Latest news with #BrookhavenNationalLaboratory
Sustainability Times
2 days ago
- Science
- Sustainability Times
'Fiber Optics Are Finished': Free-Space Quantum Tech Set to Shatter Global Networks and Redefine the Future of Communication
IN A NUTSHELL 🔬 Quantum Laser Across the Sound (Q-LATS) aims to test free-space quantum communication, sending entangled photons over Long Island Sound. aims to test free-space quantum communication, sending entangled photons over Long Island Sound. 🌊 The project involves Yale University and Stony Brook University, utilizing their unique geographical positions for innovative research. 🔗 By transmitting entangled photons , the initiative explores alternatives to traditional fiber optic networks, potentially transforming data exchange. , the initiative explores alternatives to traditional fiber optic networks, potentially transforming data exchange. 🌟 Despite challenges like atmospheric interference, the project promises to revolutionize future communication technologies and inspire further quantum advancements. Recent advancements in quantum technology hold the promise of transforming how we exchange information. A groundbreaking project, aptly named Quantum Laser Across the Sound (Q-LATS), is underway, aiming to explore the potential of free-space quantum communication. This initiative seeks to demonstrate how quantum information can be transmitted through the air, bypassing traditional fiber optic pathways. Spearheaded by scientists at Yale University, the project involves sending laser beams over a span of 27 miles across Long Island Sound, with the ultimate goal of reshaping the future of quantum networks and technologies. Quantum Laser Across the Sound The Quantum Laser Across the Sound (Q-LATS) project represents a significant leap in quantum communication research. Stationed atop Kline Tower at Yale University, a specially designed telescope will launch entangled photons across Long Island Sound to a corresponding setup at Stony Brook University. As explained by Professor Hong Tang, the primary objective is to establish a reliable method for exchanging quantum information over long distances without relying on fiber optics. This project could set the groundwork for future quantum networks, potentially influencing fields from quantum cryptography to astronomical imaging. Beyond its scientific ambitions, Q-LATS also serves an educational purpose. By engaging with this project, students gain firsthand experience with the often bewildering principles of quantum mechanics, fostering the development of future engineers and scientists who will continue to push the boundaries of this cutting-edge field. 'Dark Energy Just Got Stranger': Groundbreaking Discovery Shakes the Foundations of How We Understand the Entire Universe Qubits Flying Over Long Island Sound The vision of sending qubits—fundamental units of quantum information—over Long Island Sound is both ambitious and captivating. This endeavor not only sparks public interest in quantum sciences but also highlights the unique geographical advantages of the project. The collaboration involves Yale University, Stony Brook University, and Brookhaven National Laboratory, leveraging their proximity across state lines and a significant body of water to facilitate this innovative research. Such a setting is rare, making it an ideal location for pioneering quantum communication technologies. By connecting these institutions via free-space optics, the project paves the way for exploring new methods of quantum data transmission. This approach could overcome the limitations of fiber optics, which, while effective, can be costly and geographically constrained. The success of this project could inspire similar initiatives worldwide, driving the evolution of quantum networks. 'Global Population Far Higher Than Expected': New Revelation Exposes Massive Undercount That Changes Everything About Our Future Pair of Entangled Photons Central to the Q-LATS project is the generation and transmission of entangled photons. Entanglement, a fundamental concept in quantum physics, allows particles to remain interconnected over vast distances. In this project, one photon of the entangled pair is retained, while its counterpart is sent across the Sound to Stony Brook University. The continued entanglement of these photons demonstrates the feasibility of using laser-based systems for quantum communication. Currently, quantum networks primarily rely on fiber optic cables to transport delicate qubits. These cables, typically insulated and placed underground, provide a stable channel for data exchange. However, they are not always practical, especially in scenarios requiring communication with satellites or isolated locations. Free-space optics presents a promising alternative, offering flexibility in urban environments where establishing underground networks may be challenging. 'An Unimaginable Fortune': 55 Billion Tons of Iron Found in Secret Reserve Worth Over $4 Trillion Set to Disrupt Global Markets Challenges and Prospects of Free-Space Optics While the potential of free-space optics is immense, it is not without its challenges. As the project progresses, researchers must contend with environmental factors such as fog, air attenuation, and atmospheric turbulence, which can interfere with laser transmission. Despite these hurdles, the prospect of establishing a robust quantum network that bypasses traditional limitations is both exciting and transformative. The implications of successfully implementing free-space quantum communication extend beyond academia. It could revolutionize how data is shared across long distances, enhancing security and efficiency in various fields. As the Q-LATS project unfolds, it raises important questions about the future of quantum technologies and their role in shaping global communication networks. How will these advances influence our daily lives, and what new possibilities will they unlock? Our author used artificial intelligence to enhance this article. Did you like it? 4.5/5 (23)
The Independent
4 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Scientists use giant magnets to solve a 20-year-old dark matter mystery
Physicists are always searching for new theories to improve our understanding of the universe and resolve big unanswered questions. But there's a problem. How do you search for undiscovered forces or particles when you don't know what they look like? Take dark matter. We see signs of this mysterious cosmic phenomenon throughout the universe, but what could it possibly be made of? Whatever it is, we're going to need new physics to understand what's going on. Thanks to a new experimental result published today, and the new theoretical calculations that accompany it, we may now have an idea what this new physics should look like – and maybe even some clues about dark matter. Meet the muon For 20 years, one of the most promising signs of new physics has been a tiny inconsistency in the magnetism of a particle called the muon. The muon is a lot like an electron but is much heavier. Muons are produced when cosmic rays – high-energy particles from space – hit Earth's atmosphere. Roughly 50 of these muons pass through your body every second. Muons travel through solid objects much better than x-rays, so they are useful for finding out what is inside large structures. For example, they have been used to look for hidden chambers in Egyptian and Mexican pyramids; to study magma chambers inside volcanoes to predict volcanic eruptions; and to safely see inside the Fukushima nuclear reactor after it melted down. A tiny crack in physics? In 2006, researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the United States measured the strength of the muon's magnetism incredibly precisely. Their measurement was accurate to roughly six parts in 10 billion. This is equivalent to measuring the mass of a loaded freight train to ten grams. This was compared to a similarly impressive theoretical calculation. When researchers compared the two numbers, they found a tiny but significant difference, indicating a mismatch between theory and experiment. Had they finally found the new physics they'd been looking for? A better experiment To find a definitive answer, the international scientific community started a 20-year programme to increase the precision of both results. The huge electromagnet from the original experiment was loaded onto a barge and shipped down the east coast of the US and then up the Mississippi River to Chicago. There, it was installed at Fermilab for a completely overhauled experiment. Just this morning, researchers announced they had finished that experiment. Their final result for the strength of the muon's magnetism is 4.4 times more precise, at one-and-a-half parts in 10 billion. And better calculations To keep up, theorists had to make sweeping improvements too. They formed the Muon g-2 Theory Initiative, an international collaboration of more than 100 scientists, dedicated to making an accurate theoretical prediction. They computed the contributions to the muon's magnetism from more than 10,000 factors. They even included a particle called the Higgs boson, which was only discovered in 2012. But there was one last sticking point: the strong nuclear force, one of the universe's four fundamental forces. In particular, computing the largest contribution to the result from the strong nuclear force was no easy feat. Antimatter vs supercomputers It was not possible to compute this contribution in the same way as the others, so we needed a different approach. In 2020, the Theory Initiative turned to collisions between electrons and their antimatter counterparts: positrons. Measurements of these electron–positron collisions provided the missing values we needed. Put together with all the other parts, this gave a result that strongly disagreed with the latest experimental measurement. The disagreement was almost strong enough to announce the discovery of new physics. At the same time, I was exploring a different approach. Along with my colleagues in the Budapest-Marseille-Wuppertal collaboration, we performed a supercomputer simulation of this strong contribution. Our result eliminated the tension between theory and experiment. However, now we had a new tension: between our simulation and the electron–positron results which had withstood 20 years of scrutiny. How could those 20-year-old results be wrong? Hints of new physics disappear Since then, two other groups have produced full simulations that agree with ours, and many more have validated parts of our result. We have also produced a new, overhauled simulation that almost doubles our precision (released as a preprint, which has not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a scientific journal). To ensure these new simulations weren't affected by any preconceptions, they were performed 'blind'. The simulation data was multiplied by an unknown number before being analysed, so we didn't know what a 'good' or 'bad' result would be. We then held a nerve-wracking and exciting meeting. The blinding factor was revealed, and we found out the results of years of work all at once. After all this, our latest result agrees even better with the experimental measurement of the muon's magnetism. But others emerge The Muon g-2 Theory Initiative has moved to using the simulation results instead of the electron-positron data in its official prediction, and the hint of new physics seems to be gone. Except … why does the electron–positron data disagree? Physicists around the globe have studied this question extensively, and one exciting suggestion is a hypothetical particle called a 'dark photon'. Not only could the dark photon explain the difference between the latest muon results and the electron–positron experiments, but (if it exists) it could also explain how dark matter relates to ordinary matter.
CTV News
5 days ago
- General
- CTV News
A long-running experiment finds a tiny particle is still acting weird
This image provided by the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory shows the ring-shaped track that scientists used to study tiny particles called muons, July 20, 2023 in Batavia, Ill. (Ryan Posteland/Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory via AP) NEW YORK — Final results from a long-running U.S.-based experiment announced Tuesday show a tiny particle continues to act strangely -- but that's still good news for the laws of physics as we know them. 'This experiment is a huge feat in precision,' said Tova Holmes, an experimental physicist at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville who is not part of the collaboration. The mysterious particles called muons are considered heavier cousins to electrons. They wobble like a top when inside a magnetic field, and scientists are studying that motion to see if it lines up with the foundational rulebook of physics called the Standard Model. Experiments in the 1960s and 1970s seemed to indicate all was well. But tests at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the late 1990s and early 2000s produced something unexpected: the muons weren't behaving like they should. Decades later, an international collaboration of scientists decided to rerun the experiments with an even higher degree of precision. The team raced muons around a magnetic, ring-shaped track — the same one used in Brookhaven's experiment — and studied their signature wiggle at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory near Chicago. The first two sets of results — unveiled in 2021 and 2023 — seemed to confirm the muons' weird behavior, prompting theoretical physicists to try to reconcile the new measurements with the Standard Model. Now, the group has completed the experiment and released a measurement of the muon's wobble that agrees with what they found before, using more than double the amount of data compared to 2023. They submitted their results to the journal Physical Review Letters. That said, it's not yet closing time for our most basic understanding of what's holding the universe together. While the muons raced around their track, other scientists found a way to more closely reconcile their behavior with the Standard Model with the help of supercomputers. There's still more work to be done as researchers continue to put their heads together and future experiments take a stab at measuring the muon wobble — including one at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex that's expected to start near the end of the decade. Scientists also are still analyzing the final muon data to see if they can glean information about other mysterious entities like dark matter. 'This measurement will remain a benchmark ... for many years to come,' said Marco Incagli with the National Institute for Nuclear Physics in Italy. By wrangling muons, scientists are striving to answer fundamental questions that have long puzzled humanity, said Peter Winter with Argonne National Laboratory. 'Aren't we all curious to understand how the universe works?' said Winter. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Adithi Ramakrishnan, The Associated Press
Associated Press
5 days ago
- General
- Associated Press
A long-running experiment finds a tiny particle is still acting weird
NEW YORK (AP) — Final results from a long-running U.S.-based experiment announced Tuesday show a tiny particle continues to act strangely -- but that's still good news for the laws of physics as we know them. 'This experiment is a huge feat in precision,' said Tova Holmes, an experimental physicist at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville who is not part of the collaboration. The mysterious particles called muons are considered heavier cousins to electrons. They wobble like a top when inside a magnetic field, and scientists are studying that motion to see if it lines up with the foundational rulebook of physics called the Standard Model. Experiments in the 1960s and 1970s seemed to indicate all was well. But tests at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the late 1990s and early 2000s produced something unexpected: the muons weren't behaving like they should. Decades later, an international collaboration of scientists decided to rerun the experiments with an even higher degree of precision. The team raced muons around a magnetic, ring-shaped track — the same one used in Brookhaven's experiment — and studied their signature wiggle at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory near Chicago. The first two sets of results — unveiled in 2021 and 2023 — seemed to confirm the muons' weird behavior, prompting theoretical physicists to try to reconcile the new measurements with the Standard Model. Now, the group has completed the experiment and released a measurement of the muon's wobble that agrees with what they found before, using more than double the amount of data compared to 2023. They submitted their results to the journal Physical Review Letters. That said, it's not yet closing time for our most basic understanding of what's holding the universe together. While the muons raced around their track, other scientists found a way to more closely reconcile their behavior with the Standard Model with the help of supercomputers. There's still more work to be done as researchers continue to put their heads together and future experiments take a stab at measuring the muon wobble — including one at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex that's expected to start near the end of the decade. Scientists also are still analyzing the final muon data to see if they can glean information about other mysterious entities like dark matter. 'This measurement will remain a benchmark ... for many years to come,' said Marco Incagli with the National Institute for Nuclear Physics in Italy. By wrangling muons, scientists are striving to answer fundamental questions that have long puzzled humanity, said Peter Winter with Argonne National Laboratory. 'Aren't we all curious to understand how the universe works?' said Winter. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
