"Quantum physics at the Lange Nacht der Forschung 2012"
On April 27th 2012 the "Lange Nacht der Forschung 2012" took place also in Vienna. Young scientists of the Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology (VCQ) and the Vienna Doctoral Program on Complex Quantum Systems (CoQuS) gave the visitors the chance to carry out fascinating experiments in foundations of quantum physics by themselves or to ask questions eg. about the future of quantum computing.
Quantenphysik: Unglaubliche Verschränkungen
Wie verrückt – zumindest nach herkömmlichen Erfahrungshorizont – die Quantenphysik sein kann, haben nun Physiker um Anton Zeilinger in einem in "Nature Physics" veröffentlichten Experiment demonstriert. Demnach können in der Quantenwelt zukünftige Handlungen Einfluss auf vergangene Ereignisse haben.
2nd Erwin Schrödinger Distinguished Lecture by Prof. Ignacio Cirac - Video available now!
On Tuesday, 27th March 2012 the 2nd Erwin Schrödinger Distinguished lecture took place at the "Festsaal" of the Austrian Academy of Science.
CoQuS Summer School 2012 - "Quantum Physics meets Gravity"
The Vienna Doctoral Program on Complex Quantum Systems is organizing a summer school on theoretical and experimental research topics at the intersection of quantum physics and general relativity. The school is targeted mainly at doctoral students but is also open to advanced Masters students as well as junior post-docs and will feature several lecture series by international experts.
His picture "phthalocyanine quantum interference", showing three farfield interference patterns on top of each other, could win this year's prize in the category "novel microscopy".
Single molecules in a quantum movie
The quantum physics of massive particles has intrigued physicists for more than 80 years, since it predicts that even complex particles can exhibit wave-like behaviour – in conflict with our everyday ideas of what is real or local. An international team of scientists now succeeded in shooting a movie which shows the build-up of a matter-wave interference pattern from single dye molecules which is so large (up to 0.1 mm) that you can easily see it with a camera. This visualizes the dualities of particle and wave, randomness and determinism, locality and delocalization in a particularly intuitive way. Seeing is believing: the movie by Thomas Juffmann et al. will be published on March 25 in "Nature Nanotechnology".
Looking at quantum gravity in a mirror
Einstein’s theory of gravity and quantum physics are expected to merge at the Planck-scale of extremely high energies and on very short distances. At this scale, new phenomena could arise. However, the Planck-scale is so remote from current experimental capabilities that tests of quantum gravity are widely believed to be nearly impossible. Now an international collaboration between the groups of Prof. C. Brukner and Prof. M. Aspelmeyer at the University of Vienna and Prof. M. S. Kim at Imperial College London has proposed a new quantum experiment using Planck-mass mirrors. Such an experiment could test certain predictions made by quantum gravity proposals in the laboratory. The findings will be published this week in “Nature Physics”.
Philip Walther was elected as a member of the Global Young Academy
The Global Young Academy (GYA) was officially founded in February 2010 with support by InterAcademy Panel (IAP). Its primary aim is to unlock the potential of young scientists from around the world; working together, this group can provide new insights on major challenges in scientific capacity-building and science-based education, policy and international issues.
Can't get no diffraction?
A feature on Vienna molecule interferometry in Nature Physics, by Mark Buchanan