|
Quantum teleportation
1 January 1998
'Quantum teleportation', i. e., the instantaneous transfer of
properties between widely distant particles (specifically, the
transfer of photon polarization) has been experimentally
demonstrated by physicists at the University of Innsbruck,
Austria. The technique used was that proposed in 1993 by Charles
Bennet very much in the spirit of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen
1935 Gedanken experiment for demonstrating the incompleteness of
quantum mechanics. Two photons traveling through a cubically
nonlinear crystal become oppositely polarised, so that measuring
the polarisation of one of them makes that of the other
automatically known. According to quantum mechanics, photon
polarisations prior to measurement are superposed of two senses
of polarisation and photon quantum states are therefore
undetermined. Once the polarisation of one photon is measured,
the other acquires a determined quantum state instantaneously
without undergoing any measurement procedure and irrespective of
how far from the first it is. The causality principle is not
violated since it is not known a priori exactly which of the two
possible polarisation states is realised. Source:
http://www.nature.com
Electrical properties of nanotubes
1 January 1998
Nanotubes are hollow carbon cylinders a few nanometeres in
diameter obtained by condensing gaseous carbon in a vacuum or an
inert gas. Theory predicts that, when in contact, two different
nanotubes form a diode, i. e., a device which is unidirectional
to an electric current. The contact region between two nanotubes
is a ring of five or seven carbon atoms. While one tube acts as a
metal, the function of the other is as a semiconductor. This
theory has been confirmed experimentally by Alex Zettl's research
group at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA. While
previous experimental studies of nanotube electrical properties
had nanotube-electrode connection problems, the present study
succeeded by using a scanning tunnel microscope tip as an
electrode. The resulting diode performs at room temperature and
is much smaller than its ordinary silicon counterparts.
Microelectronics applications are hoped for. Source:
http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Research-News.html
Superhigh precision frequency measurements
1 January 1998
Superhigh precision frequency measurements in the visible and
ultraviolet portions of the electromagnetic spectrum have been
carried out at the Max Planck Institute in Munich, Germany, by
measuring beats between two close frequencies. The interval
between 1s and 2s hydrogen states was determined to within 3×10-13.
This accuracy exceeds previous work by a factor of 100 and allows
subtle quantum mechanical effects to be investigated. Source:
Physics News Update, Number 351
Star shell observations
1 January 1998
A shell of gas expelled by a star in its conversion to a white
dwarf has been observed using the Hubble Space Telescope, a
preview of what is likely to happen to our Sun in about 5×109 years.
Among many details revealed by the Hubble's pictures are
unexplained dust disks which pinch the outflowing gas and are
probably due to the presence of invisible companions. The hot
interior of the shell, formed at the final stage of the
explosion, is ejected with a velocity of more than 1500km/s.
The glowing `red blobs' placed along the edge of the shell are
probably shock-wave-compressed clouds of the gas that surrounded
the star prior to the explosion. Also observed were jets of high-
speed particles shot in opposite directions from the star.
Further observations of both the star itself and the shell are
planned. The observation has far-reaching implications for the
theory of stellar evolution. Source:
http://www.stsci.edu/
|
The Extracts from the Internet is a section of Uspekhi Fizicheskih Nauk (Physics Uspekhi) the monthly rewiew journal of the current state of the most topical problems in physics and in associated fields. The presented News is devoted to the fundamental discoveries of physics and astrophysics. Permanent editor is Yu.N. Eroshenko. It is compiled from a multitude of Internet sources.
|