Phys.org May 4, 2023 If two integers are entered as the input value, the computer circuit returns their product. Researchers in Austria developed inversion of algorithms with the help of quantum computers. The logic of the circuit was encoded within ground states of a quantum system. Both multiplication and factorization could be understood as ground-state problems and solved using quantum optimization methods. The core of their work was the encoding of the basic building blocks of the multiplier circuit, specifically AND gates, half, and full adders with the parity architecture as the ground state problem on an ensemble of interacting […]
DNA data storage within reach thanks to new PCR technique
Nanowerk May 4, 2023 For DNA-based storage systems scalable parallel random access to information needs to be robustly established. An international team of researchers (the Netherlands, USA – Microsoft, University of Washington, UK) has developed a thermoconfined polymerase chain reaction, which enabled multiplexed, repeated random access to compartmentalized DNA files. The strategy was based on localizing biotin-functionalized oligonucleotides inside thermoresponsive, semipermeable microcapsules. At low temperatures, microcapsules were permeable to enzymes, primers, and amplified products, whereas at high temperatures, membrane collapse prevented molecular crosstalk during amplification. Their data showed that the platform outperformed non-compartmentalized DNA storage compared with repeated random access […]
The exciting possibilities of tiny, twisted superconductors
Phys.org May 5, 2023 A team of researchers in the USA (Rutgers University, Harvard University, University of Connecticut, Louisiana State University, Flatiron Institute, Princeton University) proposed how to experimentally manipulate the quasiparticles, in very thin layers of ordinary superconductors to create topological superconductors by slightly twisting the stacked layers. They theorized that the application of a current makes the quasiparticles in the superconductor behave as if they were in a topological superconductor. They theorized that the twist at any angle essentially determines the properties. Even deviations by .1 degree in twist is strongly detrimental. The interactions between quasiparticles are shown […]
Leaky-wave metasurfaces: A perfect interface between free-space and integrated optical systems
Phys.org May 8, 2023 Metasurfaces have been rapidly advancing our command over the many degrees of freedom of light; however, so far, they have been mostly limited to manipulating light in free space. Metasurfaces integrated on top of guided-wave photonic systems have been explored to control the scattering of light off-chip with enhanced functionalities. However, these efforts have so far been limited to controlling one or two optical degrees of freedom at best. A team of researchers in the US (Columbia University, City University of New York) has developed leaky-wave metasurfaces, which are based on symmetry-broken photonic crystal slabs that […]
Magnetic bacteria: Microorganisms can help to extract dangerous heavy metals from wastewater
Phys.org May 8, 2023 Researchers in Germany purified water containing uranium using a special kind of bacteria known as magnetotactic bacteria which can accumulate dissolved heavy metal in their cell walls. The bacteria form nanoscopic magnetic crystals within the cell which are arranged like a row of beads. Each individual magnetic crystal is embedded in a protective membrane. The crystals and membrane form the magnetosome which the bacteria use to align themselves with the Earth’s magnetic field and orientate themselves in their habitat. It also makes them suitable for simple separation processes. The cell walls of magnetotactic bacteria are surrounded […]
New catalyst transforms carbon dioxide into sustainable byproduct
Science Daily May 3, 2023 About 90% of the acetic acid market is for feedstock in the manufacture of paints, coatings, adhesives, and other products. Production at this scale is primarily derived from methanol, which comes from fossil fuels. An international team of researchers (China, Canada, New Zealand, USA – Northwestern University) has created acetic acid out of carbon monoxide derived from captured carbon. Their process consisted of capturing CO2 and passing it through an electrolyzer where it reacted with water and electrons to form carbon monoxide. Gaseous CO was then passed through a second electrolyzer, where another catalyst transformed […]
Physicists discover ‘stacked pancakes of liquid magnetism’
Phys.org May 10, 2023 Magnetic frustrations and dimensionality play an important role in determining the nature of the magnetic long-range order and how it melts at temperatures above the ordering transition TN. A team of researchers in the US (Rice University, Ames National Laboratory, Iowa State University) used large-scale Monte Carlo simulations to study these phenomena in a class of frustrated Ising spin models in two spatial dimensions. They found that the melting of the magnetic long-range order into an isotropic gas like paramagnet proceeded via an intermediate stage where the classical spins remained anisotropically correlated. The correlated paramagnet existed […]
Research Excellence Framework significantly increases UK university output but not efficiency, study shows
Phys.org May 10, 2023 A performance-based research funding system (PRFS) is a nationwide incentive scheme that promotes and rewards university research performance through competition for government funding. The UK’s PRFS, currently the Research Excellence Framework (REF), is considered the oldest, largest, and most developed payment-by-results system in academia worldwide. Surprisingly, and despite the strong criticisms, little has been done to quantitatively and casually evaluate the intended and unintended effects of the PRFSs. An international team of researchers (UK, Spain, Italy) evaluated the incremental impact of the REF 2014 in the fields of Economics and Business. They used a synthetic control […]
Researchers create a tool for accurately simulating complex systems
MIT News May 4, 2023 Current trace-driven simulators assume that the interventions being simulated (e.g., a new algorithm) would not affect the validity of the traces. However, real-world traces are often biased by the choices algorithms make during trace collection, and hence replaying traces under an intervention may lead to incorrect results. Researchers at MIT developed a causal framework for unbiased trace-driven simulation called CausalSim. CausalSim addresses this challenge by learning a causal model of the system dynamics and latent factors capturing the underlying system conditions during trace collection. It learns these models using an initial randomized control trial (RCT) […]
Researchers observe extremely squeezed directional THz waves in thin semiconductor crystals
Phys.org May 4, 2023 Thin layers of in-plane anisotropic materials can support ultra confined polaritons, whose wavelengths depend on the propagation direction. Such polaritons hold potential for the exploration of fundamental material properties and the development of novel nanophotonic devices. However, the real-space observation of ultra confined in-plane anisotropic plasmon polaritons (PPs)—which exist in much broader spectral ranges than phonon polaritons—has been elusive. An international team of researchers (Spain, China, Czech Republic, UK, Germany) imaged and analyzed THz waves that propagate in the form of plasmon polaritons along thin anisotropic semiconductor platelets with wavelengths reduced by up to 65 times […]