'Time Crystals' Could Upend Physicists' Theory of Time | Wired Science. Physicists plan to create a “time crystal” — a theoretical object that moves in a repeating pattern without using energy — inside a device called an ion trap. Image: Hartmut Häffner In February 2012, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Frank Wilczek decided to go public with a strange and, he worried, somewhat embarrassing idea. Impossible as it seemed, Wilczek had developed an apparent proof of “time crystals” — physical structures that move in a repeating pattern, like minute hands rounding clocks, without expending energy or ever winding down. Unlike clocks or any other known objects, time crystals derive their movement not from stored energy but from a break in the symmetry of time, enabling a special form of perpetual motion. “Most research in physics is continuations of things that have gone before,” said Wilczek, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Wilczek’s idea met with a muted response from physicists. A Crazy Concept The Big Test.
What is Quantum Physics. Why Are Scientists Trying To Create Slow Light? Mediadesk - First glimpse into birth of the Milky Way. News release, August 25, 2011 For almost 20 years astrophysicists have been trying to recreate the formation of spiral galaxies such as our Milky Way realistically. Now astrophysicists from the University of Zurich present the world’s first realistic simulation of the formation of our home galaxy together with astronomers from the University of California at Santa Cruz. The new results were partly calculated on the computer of the Swiss National Supercomputing Center (CSCS) and show, for instance, that there have to be stars on the outer edge of the Milky Way. The aim of astrophysical simulations is to model reality in due consideration of the physical laws and processes. Removing standard matter central to formation of spiral galaxies For their study, the scientists developed a highly complex simulation in which a spiral galaxy similar to the Milky Way develops by itself without further intervention.
Astronomical computing power Literature: Spooky Action-at-a-Distance Loophole Closed | Quantum Mechanics. The weird way entangled particles stay connected even when separated by large distances — a phenomenon Albert Einstein called "spooky" — has been confirmed once again, this time with a key loophole in the experiment eliminated. The results from the new experiment confirm one of the wildest predictions of quantum mechanics: that a pair of "entangled" particles, once measured, can somehow instantly communicate with each other so that their states always match. "Quantum mechanics is a wonderful theory that scientists use very successfully," said study co-author Marissa Giustina, a physicist at the University of Vienna.
"But it makes some strange predictions. " [How Quantum Entanglement Works (Infographic)] But the new experiment goes further than past studies by eliminating one of the major loopholes in entanglement experiments. The findings were published April 14 in the journal Nature. Spooky phenomenon Better detector. Icist Proposes Solution to Arrow-of-Time Paradox. (PhysOrg.com) -- Entropy can decrease, according to a new proposal - but the process would destroy any evidence of its existence, and erase any memory an observer might have of it.
It sounds like the plot to a weird sci-fi movie, but the idea has recently been suggested by theoretical physicist Lorenzo Maccone, currently a visiting scientist at MIT, in an attempt to solve a longstanding paradox in physics. The laws of physics, which describe everything from electricity to moving objects to energy conservation, are time-invariant. That is, the laws still hold if time is reversed. However, this time reversal symmetry is in direct contrast with everyday phenomena, where it’s obvious that time moves forward and not backward. For example, when milk is spilt, it can’t flow back up into the glass, and when pots are broken, their pieces can’t shatter back together. In his study, Maccone presents two thought experiments to illustrate this idea, followed by an analytical derivation. How organic magnets grow in a thin film.
Development of organic single molecule magnets opens a great many of applications for magnetic materials and new memory technologies. Organic magnets are lighter, more flexible and less energy intensive in production than conventional magnets. Scientists from the laboratory of Dr. Benedetta Casu and Professor Thomas Chassé at the Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry of the University of Tübingen have established together with colleagues of the University of Florence a first step on the road to new applications for organic magnets: Their controlled deposition in a thin film.
Purely organic magnets are chemical compounds based on carbon, they are not composed of classic magnetic elements like iron. To be precise, these organic compounds are paramagnetic, exhibiting their magnetic character only as long as they are near a magnetic field. The investigated organic magnets contain an unpaired electron enabling the magnetic character of the molecule.