Vacuum

Interactions between atoms and molecules are facilitated by electromagnetic fields. The bigger the distance between the partners involved, the weaker these mutual interactions are. In order for the particles to be able to form natural chemical bonds, the distance between them must usually be approximately equal to their diameter.

Simulations could connect laser experiments to quantum electrodynamics The post Quantum vacuum fluctuations illuminated by new computational technique appeared first on Physics World.

Vacuum is often thought of as empty, but in fact it is teeming with fleeting energy fluctuations—virtual photons popping in and out of existence that can interact with matter, giving rise to new, potentially useful properties.

Unfortunately, any work you do in the universe will have to be done the old-fashioned way.

Using advanced computational modeling, a research team led by the University of Oxford, working in partnership with the Instituto Superior Técnico at the University of Lisbon, has achieved the first-ever real-time, three-dimensional simulations of how intense laser beams alter the "quantum vacuum"—a state once assumed to be empty, but which quantum physics predicts is full of virtual electron-positron pairs.

A major part of NASA's nearly complete Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope just passed a lengthy thermal test to ensure it will function properly in the space environment.

Author(s): Rachel BerkowitzA processor made of five-level, trapped-ion “ququints” captures the intricate particle–antiparticle interactions of quantum electrodynamics theory. [Physics 18, 78] Published Thu Apr 10, 2025

Researchers from the Yunnan Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Southwest Forestry University have developed an advanced neural network-based method to improve the compression of spectral data from the New Vacuum Solar Telescope (NVST).

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission has successfully touched down on the lunar surface and is now undertaking various experiments. Two of these experiments have been captured on video; the first is the LISTER drill, capable of penetrating the lunar regolith to depths of up to 3 meters. It will provide scientists with data to measure the Moon's cooling rate. Additionally, footage has been obtained of the PlanetVac experiment, which is evaluating regolith sample collection methods under the Moon's vacuum conditions.

Physicists have performed a simulation they say sheds new light on an elusive phenomenon that could determine the ultimate fate of the universe.

Researchers and engineers who require vacuum environments for their projects can simplify their design process and achieve better results by collaborating with the technology experts at Agilent The post Vacuum expertise enables physics research appeared first on Physics World.

An X-ray pulse may be able to vaporize the surface of an asteroid and change its trajectory, according to a proof-of-concept paper published in Nature Physics. A laboratory experiment that mimics the deflection of an asteroid model using this technique suggests that this technology could potentially be used for future planetary defense missions.

Join the audience for a live webinar on 8 October 2024 sponsored by Agilent Technologies The post Vacuum for physics research appeared first on Physics World.

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The fabric of spacetime is roiling with vibrating quantum fields, known as vacuum energy. It's right there, everywhere we look. But could we ever get anything out of it?

The fabric of spacetime is roiling with vibrating quantum fields, known as the vacuum energy. It’s right there, everywhere we look. Could we ever get anything out of it? We can even calculate the strength of this vacuum energy. When we apply the rules of quantum mechanics to determine how much the fields vibrate in … Continue reading "Could We Ever Harness Quantum Vacuum Energy?" The post Could We Ever Harness Quantum Vacuum Energy? appeared first on Universe Today.

Theoretical study proposes a "revolutionary" new method for constructing the future quantum Internet The post Vacuum-sealed tubes could form the backbone of a long-distance quantum network appeared first on Physics World.

One of the quantum fields that fills the universe is special because its default value seems poised to eventually change, changing everything. The post Vacuum of Space to Decay Sooner Than Expected (but Still Not Soon) first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Using a specially designed 3D printed vacuum system, scientists have developed a way to 'trap' dark matter with the aim of detecting domain walls, this will be a significant step forwards in unravelling some of the mysteries of the universe.

Using a specially designed 3D printed vacuum system, scientists have developed a way to "trap" dark matter with the aim of detecting domain walls. This will be a significant step forwards in unraveling some of the mysteries of the universe.

First experimental evidence of true vacuum “bubbles” could have implications for cosmology as well as condensed-matter physics The post Physicists observe false vacuum decay in a ferromagnetic superfluid appeared first on Physics World.

Ultra-short laser pulses may allow us to measure entanglement in a way that answers questions about the quantum nature of the vacuum

Far from any galaxy, icy grains of dust in deep space may be able to form organic molecules, a new preprint study finds.

Absolutely empty -- that is how most of us envision the vacuum. Yet, in reality, it is filled with an energetic flickering: the quantum fluctuations. Experts are currently preparing a laser experiment intended to verify these vacuum fluctuations in a novel way, which could potentially provide clues to new laws in physics. A research team has developed a series of proposals designed to help conduct the experiment more effectively -- thus increasing the chances of success.

Even though the density of interstellar space is billions of times lower than even our emptiest human-made vacuum chambers, it's not 100% percent empty.

Absolutely empty—that is how most of us envision the vacuum. Yet, in reality, it is filled with an energetic flickering: the quantum fluctuations.

When you think of empty space, you almost certainly imagine a vacuum in which nothing interesting can ever happen. However, if we zoom in to tiny length scales where quantum effects start to become important, it turns out that what you thought was empty is actually filled at all times with a seething mass of electromagnetic activity, as virtual photons flicker in and out of existence.

Excitement about light–matter coupling results, tempered by lack of agreed-upon mechanism and difficulties reproducing results

The classic film "Alien" was once promoted with the tagline "In space, no one can hear you scream." Physicists Zhuoran Geng and Ilari Maasilta from the Nanoscience Center at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, have demonstrated that, on the contrary, in certain situations, sound can be transmitted strongly across a vacuum region.

It is an early autumn morning. Three researchers from the Globe Institute at the University of Copenhagen venture into a Danish forest carrying plastic boxes with DNA air samplers. Wearing latex gloves and face masks, the researchers strap the samplers to tree trunks and attach air filters. They then turn on the power. A faint hum reveals that the collection of airborne particles is in progress.

The space industry – and space junk – is booming, literally. Every year, a handful of satellites inexplicably explode, slowly filling heavily trafficked space lanes with deadly debris. The International Space Station has had to take evasive action more than 32 times since it settled into orbit in 1999. Last December, a tiny fragment punched […]

Developed at Harvard, and successfully tested at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), a revolutionary new meta-optics for microscopes with extremely high spatial and temporal resolution has proven its functional ability in laboratory tests at the Institute of Experimental Physics at TU Graz.

In an article recently published in the journal ACS Applied Electronic Materials, researchers synthesized two-dimensional (2D) transition metal carbides, nitrides, and/or carbonitrides (Ti3C2TX...

The International Space Station is in a precarious position. Not only is it orbiting in hard vacuum high above our heads. It now finds itself wedged between two opposing worlds. Last night, the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos told state-controlled television that he would officially withdraw from the international project. “The decision has been […]

The International Space Station is in a precarious position. Not only is it orbiting in hard vacuum high above our heads. It now finds itself wedged between two opposing worlds. Last night, the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos told state-controlled television that he would officially withdraw from the international project. “The decision has been […]

By shaking an optical lattice potential, researchers have realized a discontinuous phase transition in a strongly correlated quantum gas, opening the door to quantum simulations of false vacuum decay in the early universe.

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. Particularly intriguing are quantum phase transitions that occur at temperatures close to absolute zero and are driven by quantum rather than thermal fluctuations.

Here's what would happen to an astronaut's body if they didn't have a spacesuit protecting them in outer space.

A new theory suggests that light can escape vacuums. Researchers from Dartmouth College funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation have developed a theoretical

High-precision method simplifies ultra-precise adjustment for quantum optics experiments.

A beam of light can only be seen when it hits matter particles and is scattered or reflected by them. In a vacuum, however, it is invisible. Physicists have now developed a method that allows laser beams to be visualized even under these conditions. The method makes it easier to perform the ultra-precise laser alignment required to manipulate individual atoms.

A new method developed at the University of Bonn simplifies ultra-precise adjustment for quantum optics experiments.

ESA's Juice mission to Jupiter has successfully endured a month of space-like conditions inside the Large Space Simulator, the largest vacuum chamber in Europe.

Northwestern University researchers have, for the first time, created borophane -- atomically thin boron that is stable at standard temperatures and air pressures. Researchers have long been excited...

The Unruh-effect connects quantum theory and relativity. Until now, it could not be measured. A new idea could change this.

The Unruh-effect connects quantum theory and relativity. Until now, it could not be measured. A new idea could change this - in a completely different way than ever before.

Researchers have developed a new theory for observing a quantum vacuum that could lead to new insights into the behaviour of black holes.

Researchers have developed a new theory for observing a quantum vacuum that could lead to new insights into the behavior of black holes.

The nothingness of space is hard to wrap our heads around.

An international research team from Germany and France has created structures in which light fields interact with electrons so strongly that the quantum vacuum itself is significantly altered. Using extremely short bursts of light, they interrupted this coupling much faster than the timescale of a vacuum fluctuation and observed an intriguing ringing of the emitted electromagnetic field, indicating the collapse of the vacuum state. Their key achievement could improve our understanding of the nature of nothingness—the vacuum of space itself, paving a way toward photonics exploiting vacuum fluctuations. The results are published in the current issue of Nature Photonics.

Heat isn't supposed to move like this.

Even a total vacuum is full of strange quantum fluctuations, which have now been caught making heat leap across empty space for the first time

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Nanoscale experiments reveal that quantum effects can transmit heat between objects separated by empty space -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com

New instrument extends LIGO’s already significant reach.

According to quantum physics, energy can be 'borrowed' -- at least for some time. Energies lower than zero are possible, much like a bank account that can be overdrawn. There are, however, certain restrictions to that. Scientists have now shown that these restrictions are very fundamental properties of our universe and must be true for various possible quantum theories.

Energy is a quantity that must always be positive—at least that's what our intuition tells us. If every single particle is removed from a certain volume until there is nothing left that could possibly carry energy, then a limit has been reached. Or has it? Is it still possible to extract energy even from empty space?

An international research team has investigated the extent to which negative energy is possible.

Vacuum tubes initially played a central role in the development of electronic devices. A few decades ago, however, researchers started replacing them with semiconductor transistors, small electronic components that can be used both as amplifiers and switches.

Scientists have discovered a novel mechanism which they refer to as microbubble implosion (MBI) in 2018. In this study, the group confirmed that during MBI, an ultrahigh electrostatic field close to the Schwinger field could be achieved because micron-sized bubbles embedded in a solid hydride target implode to have nanometer-sized diameters upon ionization.

A vacuum is generally thought to be nothing but empty space. But in fact, a vacuum is filled with virtual particle-antiparticle pairs of electrons and positrons that are continuously created and annihilated in unimaginably short time-scales.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has successfully cleared another critical testing milestone, taking this ambitious observatory one step closer to its 2021 launch. The spacecraft has gone through its final thermal vacuum test meant to ensure that its hardware will function electronically in the vacuum of space, and withstand the extreme temperature variations it will encounter on its mission.

Experiment could test theory of quantum electrodynamics—if it ever can be done

Since the historic finding of gravitational waves from two black holes colliding over a billion light years away was made in 2015, physicists are advancing knowledge about the limits on the precision of the measurements that will help improve the next generation of tools and technology used by gravitational wave scientists. Physicists have now measured quantum ''back action'' in the audio band at room temperature.

Researchers present the first broadband, off-resonance measurement of quantum radiation pressure noise in the audio band, at frequencies relevant to gravitational wave detectors.

A physicist has shown for the first time that the Casimir force can be reversed and made repulsive, tunable or enhanced, based on the material inserted in between the plates.

Scientists can put two uncharged metal plates close together in a vacuum, and 'voila!' -- they will attract each other. In 1948, Dutch theoretical physicist Hendrick Casimir first predicted an attractive force responsible for this effect. Scientists have wondered, can there be an equal yet opposite kind of Casimir force? Physicists have shown for the first time that the Casimir force can be reversed and made repulsive, tunable or enhanced, based on the material inserted in between the plates.

The force is strong not only in Star Wars lore but also as a fundamental property in physics. For example, scientists can put two uncharged metal plates close together in a vacuum, and "voila!" —-they will attract each other like Luke Skywalker and his trusted lightsaber.

In 2018, a new atomic refrigerator will blast off for the space station. It's called the Cold Atom Lab (CAL), and it can refrigerate matter to one ten billionth of a degree above absolute zero, just above the point where all the thermal activity of atoms theoretically stops.

A research team from the Research Institute of Mechanics, MSU together with a colleague from the Center of New Space Technologies, MAI described the behavior of a liquid sheet propagating in open space. The results of the study were published in the Physics of Fluids journal.

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There are plenty of ways to brutally die in the unforgiving vacuum of space. Fortunately, a company has patented a next-generation spacesuit with a return home feature fail-safe, to boot.

Part of NASA's next major observatory – the James Webb Space Telescope – just left a thermal vacuum chamber after about 100 days of cryogenic testing to prepare it for launch in 2019.

Water waves bolster theory that accelerating space travelers really feel the heat.

An external view of Europe's largest vacuum chamber, the Large Space Simulator, which subjects entire satellites to space-like conditions ahead of launch. This 15 m-high and 10 m-diameter chamber is cavernous enough to accommodate an upended double decker bus.

Thanks to a new kind of plastic, printed tools no longer need to stay inside.

Physicists have made a huge step forwards towards building a novel experiment to probe the 'dark contents' of the vacuum. What we see, normal matter and light, only accounts for a about 5 percent of the universe. Understanding the remaining 95 percent (the dark content) remains of the greatest challenges for fundamental physics in the 21st Century.

The scientific successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has arrived in Houston for a pre-launch milestone trial using an historic and unparalleled facility that was built for the Apollo spacecraft.

Today's selection of need-to-know updates from the world of physics

Polarized gamma rays could be used to measure how gamma-ray photons scatter off the virtual particles that make up the quantum vacuum. [Physics] Published Wed May 17, 2017

(Phys.org)—When three physicists first discovered through their calculations that a decaying atom moving through the vacuum experiences a friction-like force, they were highly suspicious. The results seemed to go against the laws of physics: The vacuum, by definition, is completely empty space and does not exert friction on objects within it. Further, if true, the results would contradict the principle of relativity, since they would imply that observers in two different reference frames would see the atom moving at different speeds (most observers would see the atom slow down due to friction, but an observer moving with the atom would not).

An important step towards a completely new experimental access to quantum physics has been made at University of Konstanz. The team of scientists headed by Professor Alfred Leitenstorfer has now shown how to manipulate the electric vacuum field and thus generate deviations from the ground state of empty space which can only be understood in the context of the quantum theory of light.

Quantum mechanics dictates sensitivity limits in the measurements of displacement, velocity and acceleration. A recent experiment probes these limits, analyzing how quantum fluctuations set a sensor membrane into motion in the process of a measurement. The membrane is an accurate model for future ultraprecise quantum sensors, whose complex nature may even hold the key to overcome fundamental quantum limits.

Quantum membranes for ultraprecise mechanical measurements.