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This illustration shows a qubit attached to a waveguide where light in the form of microwaves enters and exits. Credit: University of Waterloo

Researchers at the University of Waterloo’s Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) recorded an interaction between light and matter 10X larger than previously seen. The strength of the interaction between photons and a qubit was so large that it opens the door to a realm of physics and applications unattainable until now. “We are enabling the investigation of light-matter interactions in a new domain in quantum optics,” said Pol Forn-Diaz, a postdoctoral fellow at IQC. “The possibilities are exciting because our circuit could potentially act as a quantum simulator to study other interesting quantum systems in nature.”

The ultrastrong coupling between...

A conceptual rendition of gas being driven into a supermassive black hole following a supernova explosion Strong turbulence caused by supernova explosions inside a dense molecular gas disk in the central region of a galaxy disturbs the stable motion of gas. This causes the gas to flow further inward toward the supermassive black hole at the center. Credit: The University of Tokyo

Astronomers have revealed that dense molecular gas disks a few hundred light years in scale located at the centers of galaxies supply gas to supermassive black holes situated within them. This finding provides important insights on the growth of supermassive black holes over cosmic time...

An artist’s illustration depicts the interior of a low-mass star. Such stars have different interior structures than our Sun, so they are not expected to show magnetic activity cycles. However, astronomers have discovered that the nearby star Proxima Centauri defies that expectation and shows signs of a seven-year activity cycle. Credit: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss

In August astronomers announced that the nearby star Proxima Centauri hosts an Earth-sized planet (called Proxima b) in its habitable zone. At first glance, Proxima Centauri seems nothing like our Sun. It’s a small, cool, red dwarf star only 1/10 as massive and 1/1000 as luminous as the Sun. However, new research shows that it is sunlike in one surprising way: it has a regular cycle of starspots.

Starspots (like sunspots) are dark blotches...