Quantum defects are tiny imperfections in solid crystal lattices that can trap individual electrons and their "spin" (i.e., the internal angular momentum of particles). These defects are central to ...

Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday for research on the strange behavior of subatomic particles called ...

This review discusses the impact of non-Hermitian physics on optics, revealing new possibilities in wave control and addressing fundamental performance limits.

UC Berkeley emeritus professor John Clarke, UC Santa Barbara professor Michel H. Devoret and UC Santa Barbara professor John ...

John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret, and John Martinis built an electrical circuit-based oscillator on a microchip.

Discover the groundbreaking work of John Clarke, Michel Devoret, and John Martinis in the field of quantum physics. Learn how ...

For centuries, scientific progress has depended on more precise tools for measuring the world around us. Galileo’s telescope ...

Cold atom experiments are among the most powerful and precise ways of investigating and measuring the Universe and exploring ...

Irish physicist William Rowan Hamilton’s pioneering work contained hints of the enigmatic wave–particle duality that governs ...

Imagine you are out on a walk. Outside the house in the fresh air you may have left the walls behind, but even so there are boundaries that limit where you can wander. In a city, you are constrained ...

We’re celebrating 180 years of Scientific American. Explore our legacy of discovery and look ahead to the future. This year is the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, according to ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. There are precision measurements, and then there’s the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. In each of LIGO’s twin ...