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Category: cosmology – Page 7

Simulating the Hawking effect and other quantum field theory predictions with polariton fluids

Quantum field theory (QFT) is a physics framework that describes how particles and forces behave based on principles rooted in quantum mechanics and Albert Einstein’s special relativity theory. This framework predicts the emergence of various remarkable effects in curved spacetimes, including Hawking radiation.

Hawking radiation is the thermal radiation theorized to be emitted by close to the (i.e., the boundary around a black hole after which gravity becomes too strong for anything to escape). As ascertaining the existence of Hawking radiation and testing other QFT predictions in space is currently impossible, physicists have been trying to identify that could mimic aspects of curved spacetimes in experimental settings.

Researchers at Sorbonne University recently identified a new promising experimental platform for simulating QFT and testing its predictions. Their proposed QFT simulator, outlined in a paper published in Physical Review Letters, consists of a one-dimensional quantum fluid made of polaritons, quasiparticles that emerge from strong interactions between photons (i.e., light particles) and excitons (i.e., bound pairs of electrons and holes in semiconductors).

Rewriting Physics Textbooks: Scientists Propose a Bold New Theory About the Universe’s Origins

A team of researchers, led by Raúl Jiménez, an ICREA scientist at the University of Barcelona’s Institute of Cosmos Sciences (ICCUB), and working in partnership with the University of Padua (Italy), has introduced a groundbreaking new theory about how the Universe began.

Published in Physical Review Research, their study offers a major shift in how scientists understand the earliest moments following the Big Bang.

The Big Bang is the leading cosmological model explaining how the universe as we know it began approximately 13.8 billion years ago.

Astronomers share best-ever evidence that Betelgeuse has a secret companion star — and they’ve nicknamed it ‘her bracelet’

The red supergiant Betelgeuse likely has a companion star, astronomers have confirmed.

Long theorized to share an orbit with Betelgeuse — an extremely bright star that may go supernova in the next few thousand years — a sun-size companion star has finally appeared in unique observations taken with the Gemini North telescope high on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea.

Research reveals quantum topological potential in material

New research into topological phases of matter may spur advances in innovative quantum devices. As described in a new paper published in the journal Nature Communications, a research team including Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists used a novel strain engineering approach to convert the material hafnium pentatelluride (HfTe5) to a strong topological insulator phase, increasing its bulk electrical resistance while lowering it at the surface, a key to unlocking its quantum potential.

“I’m excited that our team was able to show that the elusive and much-sought-after topological surface states can be made to become a predominant electrical conduction pathway,” said Michael Pettes, scientist with the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) at the Laboratory.

“This is promising for the development of types of quantum optoelectronic devices, dark matter detectors and topologically protected devices such as quantum computers. And the methodology we demonstrate is compatible for experimentation on other .”

Is Earth inside a huge void? ‘Sound of Big Bang’ hints so

Earth and our entire Milky Way galaxy may sit inside a mysterious giant hole which makes the cosmos expand faster here than in neighbouring regions of the universe, astronomers say.

Their theory is a potential solution to the ‘Hubble tension’ and could help confirm the true age of our universe, which is estimated to be around 13.8 billion years old.

The latest research – shared at the Royal Astronomical Society’s National Astronomy Meeting (NAM) in Durham – shows that sound waves from the early universe, “essentially the sound of the Big Bang”, support this idea.

Study inspects over 100 quasars from the MIGHTEE survey

A team of astronomers from Rhodes University and elsewhere have investigated a sample of 104 quasars detected with the MeerKAT International GHz Tiered Extragalactic Exploration (MIGHTEE) survey. The new study, published July 16 on the pre-print server arXiv, could help us advance our knowledge about quasars and their properties.

Quasars, or quasi-stellar objects (QSOs), are among the brightest and most distant objects in the known universe, and serve as fundamental tools for numerous studies in astrophysics as well as cosmology.

In general, they are (AGN) of very high luminosity, emitting electromagnetic radiation observable in radio, infrared, visible, ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths.

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