Researchers led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a breakthrough technique that could lay the foundations for detecting the universe’s “dark matter” and bring scientists closer than before to uncovering the secrets of the cosmos.

In a new study, physicists at Brown University have now observed a novel class of quantum particles called fractional excitons, which behave in unexpected ways and could significantly expand scientists’ understanding of the quantum realm.

The simultaneous capability of colloidal QDs to sustain robust room-temperature spin quantum coherence and to engage in photochemistry inspired Prof. WU Kaifeng and his team from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to explore a highly interdisciplinary field—using quantum coherence of QDs to control photochemical reactions.

For the first time, scientists have observed a collection of particles, also known as a quasiparticle, that's massless when moving one direction but has mass in the other direction. The quasiparticle, called a semi-Dirac fermion, was first theorized 16 years ago, but was only recently spotted inside a crystal of semi-metal material called ZrSiS. The observation of the quasiparticle opens the door to future advances in a range of emerging technologies from batteries to sensors, according to the researchers. The team, led by scientists at Penn State and Columbia University, recently published their discovery in the journal Physical Review X.

SandboxAQ is proud to announce a year of exceptional progress and innovation from its AQMed division. Combining artificial intelligence with advanced sensors, AQMed empowers clinicians to make faster and more accurate heart health decisions. This transformative work has been featured in the McKinsey report Quantum Sensing’s Untapped Potential: Insights for Leaders and highlighted by AQMed GM Dr. Kit Yee Au-Yeung during The Economist’s Commercialising Quantum Global 2024 and in the World Economic Forum’s Quantum for Society: Meeting the Ambition of the Sustainable Development Goals. Today, AQMed reflects on its technical milestones that are paving the way for improved patient care.

In a recent breakthrough, scientists from Okayama University in Japan developed nanodiamond sensors bright enough for bioimaging, with spin properties comparable to those of bulk diamonds. The study, published in ACS Nano, on 16 December 2024, was led by Research Professor Masazumi Fujiwara from Okayama University, in collaboration with Sumitomo Electric Company and the National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology.

SandboxAQ today announced a series of scientific and technical milestone publications on magnetic anomaly-based navigation (MagNav), collectively marking a set of significant advances in the company’s core research and product development activities for its AQNav offering. Building on its breakthrough results with the U.S. Air Force (USAF), including the successful use of AQNav for real-time navigation in GPS-denied environments and the award of a TACFI contract extension to develop new configurations for a wider range of USAF aircraft, these publications provide a synthesis of SandboxAQ’s expertise. Together, they represent critical contributions to the commercial aeronautical, defense, and academic research communities over the past three years.

The quantum Hall effect, a fundamental effect in quantum mechanics, not only generates an electric but also a magnetic current. It arises from the motion of electrons on an orbit around the nuclei of atoms. This has been demonstrated by the calculations of a team from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) which were published in the journal "Physical Review Letters". These results can potentially be used to develop new types of inexpensive and energy-efficient devices. Electricity flows through all types of electronic devices, be it mobile phones or computers. However, this generates heat, which means that energy is lost. It also means that conventional computer chips cannot be infinitely scaled down. In the field of spin-orbitronics, researchers are looking for alternatives for storing and processing information without the loss of energy. The basic idea is to utilise not only an electron’s charge, but also its spin and orbital moment when processing information. Spin is the intrinsic angular momentum of an electron, and the orbital moment arises from the motion of the electrons around atomic nuclei. "Combining both effects would allow us to design new devices that are more powerful and efficient," says physicist Professor Ingrid Mertig at MLU.

Recently, researchers from at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK) in Heidelberg tackled a tricky piece of the QED puzzle. They focused on a phenomenon known as the electron self-energy, which occurs when an electron interacts with the quantum vacuum — the invisible sea of energy that pervades the whole universe.

Quantum computers may have garnered all the headlines but if it all sounds impossibly theoretical, there are many other practical applications of quantum technologies that have the potential to change our world. And QuEST is well placed to ride this wave(-particle) of innovation. “It’s becoming very important to make sure that quantum technologies are delivered to the market,” says Kim. Haynes adds: “Most engineers may not consider themselves to be experts in quantum, but it turns out they have lots of relevant expertise. Imperial, with its strength in science and engineering, is well placed to bring those things together.”