Mastodawn

It's articles like this that make me wish I had continued in a career in Physics after grad school.

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-photon-infinite-swarm-particles.html

Cutting a photon in two creates an infinite swarm of particles

By definition, elementary particles can't be broken into smaller pieces. But in a new theoretical study published in Physical Review Letters, Johannes Skaar and colleagues have revealed what would happen if you tried anyway for a single photon. The answer is deeply strange: attempting to cut a photon in two wouldn't produce two smaller photons, but instead conjure an infinite number of them out of thin air.

Phys.org

BGDon 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 👨‍💻May 22

Weekend Reading! Check out his TechAptitude post on the upcoming Quantum Internet.

One of the first tangible outcomes from Quantum Technologies will likey be a highly -secure global communications backbone, a “quantum internet”, that could connect data centers, financial institutions, government facilities, with unbreakable encryption and quantum level security. https://techaptitude.substack.com/p/quantum-repeaters-bring-on-the-quantum #Quantum #QuantumInternet #QuantumTechnologies #Communications #Internet #Security #Encryption #QuantumRepeater #Photons #FibreOptics

Rod2ik 🇪🇺 🇨🇵 🇪🇸 🇨🇱 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 🇬🇱 ☮🕊️May 9

#Science et vie: Le « #temps #négatif » #quantique n’est plus seulement #théorique, des #physiciens en révèlent une mesure en #laboratoire #physique #quantique #photons www.science-et-vie.com/sciences-fon...

Le « temps négatif » quantique...

Le « temps négatif » quantique n’est plus seulement théorique, des physiciens en révèlent une mesure en laboratoire

Un temps de séjour négatif mesuré pour des photons traversant des atomes confirme une prédiction quantique longtemps contestée.

Science et vie

Rod2ik 🇪🇺 🇨🇵 🇪🇸 🇨🇱 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 🇬🇱☮🕊️May 9

#Science et vie: Le « #temps #négatif » #quantique n’est plus seulement #théorique, des #physiciens en révèlent une mesure en #laboratoire

#physique #quantique #photons

https://www.science-et-vie.com/sciences-fondamentales/physique-quantique/le-temps-negatif-quantique-nest-plus-seulement-theorique-des-physiciens-en-revelent-une-mesure-en-laboratoire-238955.html

Le « temps négatif » quantique n’est plus seulement théorique, des physiciens en révèlent une mesure en laboratoire

Un temps de séjour négatif mesuré pour des photons traversant des atomes confirme une prédiction quantique longtemps contestée.

Science et vie

BGDon 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 👨‍💻Apr 30

Quantum Networking Advances

Researchers have teleported a photon’s state between two separate quantum dots over a 270-meter open-air link aka the properties of one photon were transferred to another through quantum teleportation. BOOM! https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/04/260429102030.htm #Quantum #QuantumNetworking #Photons #Teleportation #QuantumStates #Communications #Networking

CMS Publications Apr 24

#CMSpaper: Highly boosted dielectron identification in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV (arXiv:2604.13320) https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.13320 #Electrons #Photons

Highly boosted dielectron identification in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV

A new technique is developed to identify dielectrons (e$^+$e$^-$) with Lorentz boost $γ_\mathrm{L}$ $\gt$ 20 that produce one single merged cluster in the electromagnetic calorimeter of the CMS detector. The identification uses two multivariate models: one for the case where both electron tracks are reconstructed, and another where only one of the tracks is reconstructed. The efficiency is determined using proton-proton collision data collected at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Boosted J/$ψ$ mesons decaying into e$^+$e$^-$ pairs are used to estimate the efficiency of the model with two tracks, yielding an overall efficiency of 80%. The Z $\to$ $μ^+μ^-γ$ events, where the photon converts into a collimated dielectron, are used for the model with a single track, yielding an efficiency of about 60%. A dedicated energy correction for dielectron candidates is also developed using B$^\pm$ $\to$ J/$ψ$K$^\pm$ $\to$ e$^+$e$^-$K$^\pm$ data.

arXiv.org

CMS Publications Apr 22

#CMSpaper soon on arXiv: Highly boosted dielectron identification in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV (CERN-EP-2026-092) https://cds.cern.ch/record/2959545 #Electrons #Photons

Highly boosted dielectron identification in proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV

A new technique is developed to identify dielectrons ($ \mathrm{e}^+\mathrm{e}^- $) with Lorentz boost $ \gamma_{\mathrm{L}} > $ 20 that produce one single merged cluster in the electromagnetic calorimeter of the CMS detector. The identification uses two multivariate models: one for the case where both electron tracks are reconstructed, and another where only one of the tracks is reconstructed. The efficiency is determined using proton-proton collision data collected at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Boosted $ \mathrm{J}/\psi $ mesons decaying into $ \mathrm{e}^+\mathrm{e}^- $ pairs are used to estimate the efficiency of the model with two tracks, yielding an overall efficiency of 80\%. The $ \mathrm{Z}\to\mu^{+}\mu^{-}\gamma $ events, where the photon converts into a collimated dielectron, are used for the model with a single track, yielding an efficiency of about 60\%. A dedicated energy correction for dielectron candidates is also developed using $ {\mathrm{B}^{\pm}}\to\mathrm{J}/\psi\mathrm{K^{\pm}}\to\mathrm{e}^+\mathrm{e}^-\mathrm{K^{\pm}} $ data.

CERN Document Server

Deep Agroecology Apr 19

Behold the Light: Farms, Photons, Futures

Now that science has seen the light, waves of possibility spread out over farm fields and high-tech labs.

https://deepagroecology.org/2026/04/19/behold-the-light-farms-photons-futures/

BGDon 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 👨‍💻Apr 7

NIST and University of Colorado researchers demonstrated over 99% effectiveness in transmitting photons over a 2 km link of standard optical fiber. The team successfully separated the signals needed for fiber stabilization, trillions of photons per second, from the single photons carrying quantum information, overcoming a significant technical hurdle.

Net-net the experiment illustrated strong separation between the classical light signals and the quantum signals transversing fiber optic cables dramatically reducing sources of error and noise for optic based quantum systems.

https://quantumzeitgeist.com/optica-publishing-stable-quantum/ #Quantum #QuantumComputing #QuantumNetworking #NIST #Photons #Optics #FibreOptics

Dan Stafford Mar 21

#mwgic #2026 #Light #Photons #Multidimensional #Quantum #QuantumPhysics #Encryption

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260321012705.htm

Scientists just found a hidden 48-dimensional world in quantum light

A routine quantum optics technique just revealed an extraordinary secret: entangled light can carry incredibly complex topological structures. Researchers found these hidden patterns reach up to 48 dimensions, offering a vast new “alphabet” for encoding quantum information. Unlike previous assumptions, this topology can emerge from a single property of light—orbital angular momentum.

ScienceDaily