Professor Gabi Schierning | Exploring Quantum Properties in Bismuth Telluride Nanoparticles

Professor Gabi Schierning | Exploring Quantum Properties in Bismuth Telluride Nanoparticles

Particles of the material bismuth telluride have unique properties: the interior of the particle acts as an insulator, but its surface can conduct electricity. In their recent research, Professor Gabi Schierning at Bielefeld University, Germany, and her collaborators at the University of Duisburg-Essen and IFW Dresden, offer fascinating insights into the properties of bismuth telluride particles. The team’s work may pave the way for their use in technological applications.

Dr Philip Norcott | Imaging the Small: Improving Nuclear Magnetic Resonance with SABRE-DREAM

Dr Philip Norcott | Imaging the Small: Improving Nuclear Magnetic Resonance with SABRE-DREAM

In a recent paper, Dr Philip Norcott at the Australian National University proposes a new strategy to improve nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging, a technique widely used in biology, chemistry, and medical imaging. A difficultly in these applications of nuclear magnetic resonance is low sensitivity and the potential for multiple signals to overlap, and existing techniques may only improve one of these factors without addressing the other. Dr Norcott suggests and tests a novel technique that offers the best of both worlds.

Dr Stefi Baum – Dr Christopher O’Dea | Shaping Galaxy Clusters with Supermassive Black Holes

Dr Stefi Baum – Dr Christopher O’Dea | Shaping Galaxy Clusters with Supermassive Black Holes

The black holes found at the centres of most large galaxies are now found to be fundamental to galactic formation and evolution. Until recently, however, little was understood about how these massive bodies affect the behaviours of their host galaxies and beyond. Through their research, Dr Stefi Baum and Dr Christopher O’Dea at the University of Manitoba have made important strides towards untangling the many mysteries involved in this intriguing astronomical problem.

Dr Tie-Cheng Guo – Professor Li You | Viewing Quantum Phases with ‘Time Order’

Dr Tie-Cheng Guo – Professor Li You | Viewing Quantum Phases with ‘Time Order’

Discovering new phases of matter and classifying such phases are among the most important goals in physics. In a new study, Dr Tie-Cheng Guo and Professor Li You at Tsinghua University in Beijing present a new methodology to discover new quantum phases of matter, using the concept of ‘time order’. Through identifying and defining quantum phases from this perspective, time order could become a new paradigm in physics, helping researchers to gain more insight into quantum many-body systems.

Professor Inge Helland | Reconstructing Parts of Quantum Theory from Two Conceptual Variables

Professor Inge Helland | Reconstructing Parts of Quantum Theory from Two Conceptual Variables

The Hilbert space formulation is a central idea in quantum theory, but the ideas used by physicists to interpret the formulation widely differ. Furthermore, concepts in quantum mechanics are very abstract to those outside the field. Professor Inge Helland from the University of Oslo approaches these problems through what he calls ‘conceptual variables’, which belong to the minds of one or more conscious observers. From this basis, he achieves a new derivation of the Hilbert space formulation, which he hopes will lead to more satisfying studies of the foundations of quantum theory.

Dr Jakub Sitek | Growing Stacks of 2D Materials for Electronic Applications

Dr Jakub Sitek | Growing Stacks of 2D Materials for Electronic Applications

By stacking layers of atom-thick materials on top of each other, researchers are opening up a whole host of exciting new possibilities for technology and scientific research. Particularly interesting properties in these 2D materials could be achieved by stacking three or more of these layers – but so far, the large-scale production of these structures has proven difficult. Using carefully applied techniques, Dr Jakub Sitek and his team at Warsaw University of Technology have made important steps towards overcoming this challenge.