Photon

Researchers at Paderborn University have pioneered a method using photon detectors for homodyne detection to characterize optical quantum states accurately. This technique is vital for advancing quantum information processing and quantum computing. Credit: SciTechDaily.comScientists achieve breakthrough in quantum optics with photon detector-based method, paving the way for improved quantum computing.Scientists at Paderborn University have used a new method to determine the characteristics of optical, i.e. light-based,…

Canadian firm Deep Trekker is probably best known for its Revolution, a top-of-the-line underwater ROV (remotely operated vehicle). The company is now offering a much smaller, less pricey yet still very capable model, however, called the Photon.Designed primarily for tasks such as underwater surveying and inspection, the Photon measures just 481 mm long by 333 mm wide by 228 mm high (18.9 by 13.1 by 9 in).It's compact enough to fit inside a single included Pelican case along with a swappable lithium battery, waterproof…

Emission of a single photon in the Maxwell fish-eye lens. Credit: Oliver Diekmann (TU Wien)Scientists have developed “quantum ping-pong”: Using a special lens, two atoms can be made to bounce a single photon back and forth with high precision.Atoms can absorb and reemit light — this is an everyday phenomenon. In most cases, however, an atom emits a light particle in all possible directions — recapturing this photon is therefore quite hard.A research team from TU Wien in Vienna (Austria) has now been able to demonstrate…

Scientists working on CERN’s Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment have published the latest data in their search for a long-lived exotic particle known as the dark photon.Let’s Eat a Chocolate Xbox ControllerDark photons (also called hidden photons) differ from regular photons—particles of light—in that they are thought to have mass, making them a prime candidate to explain dark matter. Dark matter is the catchall term to describe seemingly invisible stuff in space that has only been observed via its gravitational…

Plasma could be wrangled to collide photons and yield matter, according to physicists who ran simulations to explore the practical applications of a world-famous equation.Gizmodo’s Top Five Gadgets of 2023The equation at work here is Einstein’s E = mc^2, which establishes a relationship between energy and mass; specifically, the equation holds that energy and mass are equivalent when the latter is multiplied by the speed of light, squared. A team led by scientists at Osaka University and UC San Diego recently simulated…

The X-ray beam from the world’s largest X-ray laser, the European XFEL, only becomes as clearly visible as in the photo in complete darkness and with an exposure time of 90 seconds. In 2024, the first experiments to detect quantum fluctuations in vacuum will take place here. Credit: European XFEL / Jan HosanThe team at HZDR suggests improvements for an experiment aimed at investigating the boundaries of physics.Absolutely empty – that is how most of us envision the vacuum. Yet, in reality, it is filled with an energetic…

The developers of the popular iPhone app Camera+, LateNiteSoft, have launched a new iOS app called Photon. This new app is focused on pro image shooting. The developers are banking on the app’s simple interface and multiformat support to attract users. The app will let you shoot in auto mode from the get-go, but it also has easy access to controls for adjusting focus, shutter speed, ISO (sensor’s sensitivity to light) and white balance (a way to adjust how “warm” or “cool” your image is). Users…

The process that powers much of life on Earth, photosynthesis, is so finely tuned that just one photon is enough to kick it off. Scientists have long suspected that photosynthesis must be sensitive to individual photons, or particles of light, because despite the way it dominates our days, the sun’s light is surprisingly sparse at the level of individual plant cells. But only now, with the help of quantum physics, have researchers been able to watch a single packet of light begin the process in an experiment described on…

During photosynthesis, a symphony of chemicals transforms light into the energy required for plant, algal, and some bacterial life. Scientists now know that this remarkable reaction requires the smallest possible amount of light – just one single photon – to begin.A US team of researchers in quantum optics and biology showed that a lone photon can start photosynthesis in the purple bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides, and they are confident it works in plants and algae since all photosynthetic organisms share an…

Illustration of exciton splitting in the organic semiconductor pentacene, which consists of five benzene rings each. Instead of the usual two free charge carriers, absorption of a photon in pentacene generates four free charge carriers, represented by orange tracks. Credit: TU BerlinSome materials convert photons into more free charges than would be expected. Using an ultrafast film, researchers have now been able to get a picture of this process.Researchers at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, the…