news

After decades of searching, an exotic new state of matter may finally have been found: An international research team, including the TU Wien, presents compelling evidence. Since the 1970s, scientists have speculated whether materials could exist that exhibit a very particular form of magnetic disorder-so-called quantum spin liquids (QSLs).

For the past five years, researchers at Leipzig University have been working on fundamentally new methods to specifically assemble gaseous, charged molecular fragments into new, complex molecules. The newly synthesized substances are deposited on surfaces. This innovative process opens up new perspectives for applications in modern nanoelectronics and sensor technology.

Understanding how the universe transitioned from darkness to light with the formation of the first stars and galaxies is a key turning point in the universe's development, known as the Cosmic Dawn. However, even with the most powerful telescopes, we can't directly observe these earliest stars, so determining their properties is one of the biggest challenges in astronomy.

Astronomers uncover huge, hot filament of missing normal matter Astronomers uncover huge, hot filament of missing normal matter An analysis by an international team of astronomers, some from the University of Bonn, supports the cosmological standard model An international team of astronomers led by Leiden University and with involvement from the University of Bonn has investigated a large filament made of hot gas that connects four galaxy clusters and contains what is known as warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM).

Improved thermoelectrics: A research team at TU Wien has demonstrated how electrical current can be generated using "traffic jam of electrons" in certain materials. Electricity can be easily converted into heat - every electric cooker does it. But is the opposite also possible? Can heat be converted into electricity - directly, without a steam turbine or similar detours? Physicist Thomas Seebeck answered this question with a clear 'yes' over 200 years ago.

A new study reveals that the Australian Bogong moth uses stars, the Milky Way, and Earth's magnetic field to navigate - making it the first known invertebrate to travel long distances using a stellar compass. Every spring, Australia's iconic Bogong moths leave their birthplace in southeastern Australia and set course for a very specific destination they never visited before: dark, cool caves and rocky outcrops in the Snowy Mountains of southern Australia.

A new method combines helium droplets with ultrashort laser pulses to initiate chemical processes in a controlled manner. This provides insights into the transfer of energy and charge during the formation of chemical bonds. For the first time, a research team led by Markus Koch from the Institute of Experimental Physics at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) has tracked in real time how individual atoms combine to form a cluster and which processes are involved.

A new method combines helium droplets with ultrashort laser pulses to initiate chemical processes in a controlled manner. This provides insights into the transfer of energy and charge during the formation of chemical bonds. For the first time, a research team led by Markus Koch from the Institute of Experimental Physics at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) has tracked in real time how individual atoms combine to form a cluster and which processes are involved.

The vast majority of matter in the universe is dark-it is entirely invisible and detected only through its gravitational effects. Ordinary matter-everything from protons to planets to people-makes up only 16 percent. Unlike dark matter, ordinary matter emits light of various wavelengths and thus can be seen.

ISTA scientists formalize how amorphous solids learn nontrivial behaviors Can we understand and predict how complex systems learn? Modeling learning in a theoretical framework in disordered solids, researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) make surprising findings reminiscent of a Star Trek philosophy.

Scientists at EPFL have unraveled the details of the first crucial step in the oxygen evolution reaction, a bottleneck for clean hydrogen production, using advanced simulations and machine learning techniques. In our search for cleaner energy sources, hydrogen stands out, as it can store and deliver energy without producing carbon emissions because burning hydrogen only creates water.

University of Münster is involved in the new "Center for Molecular Water Science Water is not only essential for life, it is also a fascinating and complex molecule that forms the basis of all life on earth. In the new "Centre for Molecular Water Science", a European research network, scientists are investigating the molecular properties of water and its compounds.

The US research center for particle physics "Fermilab" recently published the results of a groundbreaking experiment with muons - particles that play a central role in the so-called standard model of particle physics - for the third time. At the same time, a new study on complex theoretical calculations of the so-called magnetic dipole moment of the muon was published under the leadership of researchers from the University of Bern.

An international team of scientists has published a new report that moves towards a better understanding of the behaviour of some of the heaviest particles in the universe under extreme conditions, which are similar to those just after the big bang. The paper, published in the journal Physics Reports , is signed by physicists Juan M. Torres-Rincón, from the Institute of Cosmos Sciences at the University of Barcelona (ICCUB), Santosh K. Das, from the Indian Institute of Technology Goa (India), and Ralf Rapp, from Texas A&M University (United States).

Quantum effects are often used today for extremely precise measurements. But where is the absolute limit of accuracy? Results from TU Wien and collaborators show that it is better than expected. How can the strange properties of quantum particles be exploited to perform extremely accurate measurements? This question is at the heart of the research field of quantum metrology.

Astrophysicists have gained precious new insights into how distant "exoplanets" form and what their atmospheres can look like, after using the James Webb Telescope to image two young exoplanets in extraordinary detail. Among the headline findings were the presence of silicate clouds in one of the planet's atmospheres, and a circumplanetary disk thought to feed material that can form moons around the other.

International researcher team develops scalable aluminium alloys for the hydrogen economy To the point Novel alloy design for aluminum: Researchers mix scandium with aluminum alloys to achieve 40 percent higher strength and five times higher resistance to hydrogen embrittlement - while maintaining the same ductility.

One of the current hot research topics is the combination of two of the most recent technological breakthroughs: machine learning and quantum computing. An experimental study shows that already small-scale quantum computers can boost the performance of machine learning algorithms. This was demonstrated on a photonic quantum processor by an international team of researchers of the University of Vienna.

A spectacular breakthrough in geoscience shows that our planet is in motion even at a depth of 3000 kilometres. by Peter Rüegg, Corporate Communications Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, shifting tectonic plates - these are all signs that our planet is alive. But what is revealed deep inside the earth surprises laymen and scientists alike: Almost 3000 kilometres below the Earth's surface, solid rock is flowing that is neither liquid, like lava, nor brittle like solid rock.

Scientists working on the Muon g-2 experiment, conducted at the US-based Fermilab and involving researchers from UCL, have issued their third and final measurement of the subatomic muon particle's magnetic anomaly, drawing on three years of data. The measurement is in perfect agreement with the experiment's previous results, but unlike with earlier results, is not seen as contradicting the Standard Model of physics, the best model of matter we have, because of new theoretical predictions that reduce the discrepancy between the experimental results and theory.