Macroscopic quantum properties of helium-, one of the simplest and oldest elements in the universe, continue to puzzle and amaze scientists. Supertransport in solid helium- is the most elusive and controversial conundrum of all.
Phys. Rev. Focus28, 4 (2011) – Published July 22, 2011
In the Aharonov-Bohm effect, proposed in 1959, quantum particles are affected in measurable ways by the classical electromagnetic potential, previously regarded as a purely mathematical construct. The electromagnetic field is too far from the particles to have any direct influence.
Phys. Rev. Focus23, 2 (2009) – Published January 16, 2009
The quantum jiggling that molecules experience even at the lowest temperatures–motion associated with the uncertainty principle–is not as tiny as researchers assumed and may be detected in the scattering of light through a liquid.
Quantum graphs are convenient mathematical tools for describing complex molecules and networks of quantum wires. Scientists are addressing the question: When and how fast can a wave function spread out over the entire graph?
When two bulk objects are separated by a sufficiently small distance, quantum fluctuations in the electromagnetic field give rise to Casimir forces between them. Two papers explore how these forces are affected by the electrical properties of the materials.
Bell showed that quantum entanglement cannot be modeled with local hidden variables alone. Now, physicists argue that only models based exclusively on nonlocal hidden variables can reproduce all possible quantum correlations.
The Dirac and Klein-Gordon equations provide a full relativistic description for particles with spin ½ and 0, respectively. A calculation now shows how to extend this description to particles, such as nuclei, with spin greater than ½.