Physics

Researchers at ETH Zurich have shown that quantum states of single electron spins can be controlled by currents of electrons whose spins are evenly aligned. In the future, this method could be used in electronic circuit elements.

Scientists at EPFL have devised and tested out a new, gamma-noise method for monitoring nuclear reactors non-invasively and from a distance. The new method, tested out on EPFL’s CROCUS nuclear reactor, can improve nuclear safety and treaty compliance.

An EPFL research project has developed a method based on machine-learning to quickly and accurately search large databases, leading to the discovery of 14 new materials for solar cells.

At the European Organization for Nuclear Research CERN in Geneva, literally big plans for the future are being forged: The Future Circular Collider (FCC), with a circumference of 91 kilometres, would become the largest machine ever built by human hands. As an important member of the Swiss Institute of Particle Physics, the Paul Scherrer Institute PSIwill participate in this project. Lea Caminada, head of the High Energy Particle Physics Group at PSI, talks about the status of this undertaking.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have, for the first time, made visible how electrons form vortices in a material at room temperature. Their experiment used a quantum sensing microscope with an extremely high resolution.

By analysing images made of coloured dots created by quantum simulators, ETH researchers have studied a special kind of magnetism. In the future this method could also be used to solve other physics puzzles, for instance in superconductivity.