quantum effects tagged posts

A multitasking nanomachine that can act as a heat engine and a refrigerator at the same time has been created by RIKEN engineers. The device is one of the first to test how quantum effects, which govern the behavior of particles on the smallest scale, might one day be exploited to enhance the performance of nanotechnologies.

Conventional heat engines and refrigerators work by connecting two pools of fluid. Compressing one pool causes its fluid to heat up, while rapidly expanding the other pool cools its fluid...

They played a key role in demonstrating the unusual behavior of carbon: Tim Schleif (left) and Joel Mieres Perez (right). Credit: © RUB, Marquard

Chemists at Ruhr-Universität Bochum have found evidence that carbon atoms cannot only behave like particles but also like waves. This quantum-mechanical property is well-known for light particles such as electrons or hydrogen atoms. However, researchers have only rarely observed the wave-particle duality for heavy atoms, such as carbon. “Our result is one of few examples showing that carbon atoms can display quantum effects,” says Sander. Specifically, carbon atoms can tunnel. They thus overcome an energetic barrier, although they do not actually possess enough energy to do that.

Wolfram Sander explains the paradox: “It’s as though a tiger has ...