Quantum physics

2023

Quantum dots brought the Nobel Prize to a scientist from Russia

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry in October 2023 was awarded to a scientist from Russia Alexei Yekimov, Americans Munga Bavendi and Louis Bruce. They won the award for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots. Read more here.

Developed the world's first quantum analogue of a mechanical engine

On September 28, 2023, Japanese researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) announced the creation of the world's first quantum analogue of a mechanical engine. German scientists from the Technical University of Kaiserslautern-Landau and the University of Stuttgart took part in the work.

The proposed concept for obtaining energy uses the principles of quantum mechanics instead of the traditional ignition of fuel - as happens, for example, in an internal combustion engine. The authors of the project proposed using cooled fermions and bosons as the basis for "quantum motors" capable of converting the energy of these particles into mechanical work.

Engine operation diagram

The fact is that at temperatures close to absolute zero, bosons have a lower energy state than fermions, and this energy difference can be used to power the engine. In particular, cyclic conversion of fermions to bosons and vice versa makes it possible to extract energy to power the quantum analogue of a mechanical motor.

To turn fermions into bosons, you can take two fermions and combine them into a single system. This new system is a boson. Its destruction will allow us to get fermions again. By doing this cyclically, we can power the engine without using heat, "explains Professor Thomas Busch, head of the quantum systems division at OIST.

The created engine functions only at the quantum level. At the same time, as noted by the project participants, its effectiveness is quite high and can reach 25%. At the same time, quantum effects can be destroyed even with a slight increase in temperature, so a significant amount of energy is required to maintain the system as cold as possible.^[1]

Notes