Studies of laser-matter interactions are an important and rapidly growing area of physics. This special issue of EPJ ST, edited by Sivarama Krishnan at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and Marcel Mudrich at Aarhus University, Denmark, contains a set of 21 articles in this field, encompassing a broad range of experimental and theoretical approaches.
In early December 2021, the project "Development of a laser system for experiments with Bose-Einstein condensates on the International Space Station within the BECCAL payload (BECCAL-II)" commenced, with the involvement of a team of researchers led by Professor Patrick Windpassinger and Dr. André Wenzlawski from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU).
Proton therapy is a precise and effective treatment for tumours in sensitive areas of the body, such as the brain or the eyes, with the advantage that it spares healthy tissue. In this procedure, protons (positively charged particles) are strongly accelerated and directed with precision into the tumour tissue, which is destroyed in the process. However, this efficient method of treatment has so far required large accelerators, which is why it is only available in major treatment centres.
Quantum computers will one day be able to solve problems at high speed that cannot be handled by classical computer systems. However, in order for these computers to become practical, they must process a significantly higher number of qubits and have lower error rates. A research project led by Professor Stefanie Barz from the University of Stuttgart is now developing a photonic quantum processor for this purpose.
Due to their unique properties, 2D materials, which consist of a single layer of atoms, are increasingly being used in optoelectronic devices, as quantum light sources and in integrated circuits. Research into the quantum technologies enabled by 2D materials has been advancing rapidly since 2015, with further potential for yet further advances.
Trapped ions excited with a laser beam can be used to create entangled qubits in quantum information systems, but addressing several stationary pairs of ions in a trap requires multiple optical switches and complex controls. Now, scientists at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have demonstrated the feasibility of a new approach that moves trapped ion pairs through a single laser beam, potentially reducing power requirements and simplifying the system.
Quantum mechanics is famous for the way that its predictions challenge intuitive human thinking developed through the way that we experience the everyday world around us. Among other things, quantum objects can display both particle- and wave-like character, can interfere and can occur in the form of quantum superpositions.
Quantum researchers at the University of Bristol have dramatically reduced the time to simulate an optical quantum computer, with a speedup of around one billion over previous approaches.
Phase transitions are everywhere, ranging from water boiling to snowflakes melting, and from magnetic transitions in solids to cosmological phase transitions in the early universe.
Quantum batteries are a new class of energy storage devices that operate according to the principles of quantum physics, the science that studies the infinitely small where the laws of classical physics do not always apply.
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