A quantum breakthrough makes light behave like both a solid and a liquid

from ScienceDaily

Scientists have observed a bizarre quantum state of matter that combines the structure of a crystal with the frictionless flow of a liquid, all at room temperature. The breakthrough overturns a major practical limitation of exotic quantum experiments and could help bring powerful new light-based computing and sensing technologies closer to reality.

explained

In physics, polaritons are bosonic quasiparticles resulting from strong coupling of electromagnetic waves (photon) with an electric or magnetic dipole-carrying excitation (state) of solid or liquid matter (such as a phonon, plasmon, or an exciton). Polaritons describe the crossing of the dispersion of light with any interacting resonance.

They are an expression of level repulsion (quantum phenomenon), also known as the avoided crossing principle. To this extent polaritons can be thought of as the new normal modes of a given material or structure arising from the strong coupling of the bare modes, which are the photon and the dipolar oscillation. Bosonic quasiparticles are distinct from polarons (fermionic quasiparticle), which is an electron plus an attached phonon cloud.

Polaritons violate the weak coupling limit and the associated photons do not propagate freely in crystals. Instead, propagation speed depends strongly on the frequency of the photon.

Significant experimental results on various aspects of exciton-polaritons have been gained in the case of copper(I) oxide.

From Wikipedia: Polariton (CC BY-SA 4.0) ↗

so what

Room temperature operation makes this kind of quantum behavior far more practical to use. It opens a route toward computing and sensing that run on light rather than electricity.

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

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politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗