Science and Technology Daily International Department

  Russia

  Russia

  Activate the Baikal Neutrino Telescope

  Obtained a magnetic superconducting material at room temperature for the first time

  ◎Dong Yingbi, our reporter in Russia

  In 2021, Russia’s bright spot in the field of basic research is the launch of the largest deep-water trino telescope in the northern hemisphere "Baikal-GVD" in Lake Baikal, which is used to record ultra-high energy neutrino flow from celestial bodies, to study geophysics, Hydrology and freshwater biology phenomena, exploring the emergence and evolution of the universe.

"Baikal-GVD" has a volume of about half a cubic meter. Through a rectangular hole drilled in the Baikal ice, this high-tech experimental device is placed about 4,000 meters from the lake with a water depth of 750-1300 meters.

  The Russian Samara University described for the first time the emergence of organic molecules in space that played the most important role in the chemical evolution of the universe. The data obtained expanded the concept of the emergence of life and explained the operation of the "interstellar factory" that synthesizes organic matter. mechanism.

This study found that the simplest polycyclic aromatic (aromatic) hydrocarbons, indene, can be formed at a temperature that meets the conditions of space.

Small hard hydrocarbon particles containing polycyclic aromatic (aromatic) hydrocarbons are often called interstellar seeds, which actually operate as molecular space factories for the synthesis of organic substances such as amino acids and sugars.

  The Quantum Technology Center of Moscow University has opened a quantum secure communication line for the network communication of 20 users on the campus, and the maximum distance between users is 50 kilometers.

The Russian telecom operator TransTeleCom has completed the construction of the quantum communication trunk line between Moscow and St. Petersburg.

  For the first time, the Russian Quantum Center has obtained a magnetic superconducting material at room temperature.

The related experiment was carried out on the single crystal film of yttrium iron garnet.

The substance has spontaneous magnetization at certain temperatures.

With this technology, quantum computers that do not require complex and expensive cooling devices can be created in the future.

  Great Britain

  The UK

  Encode information into a hologram with entangled photons

  Detailed measurement of the temperature of Greenland's glaciers

  ◎Intern reporter Zhang Jiaxin

  In the quantum field, physicists at the University of Glasgow in the UK have found for the first time a way to use quantum entangled photons to encode information into holograms.

This new type of quantum holography breaks through the limitations of traditional holographic methods, making it possible in the future to create higher-resolution, lower-noise images, helping researchers to better reveal cell details and further understand the biological aspects of biology at the cellular level. Features.

  In addition, an international research team led by the University of Glasgow also found that the water on the ground may come from "the sky"-the sun.

The solar wind is composed of charged particles (mainly hydrogen ions) from the sun, and water was produced on the surface of dust particles carried by asteroids that hit the earth in the early solar system.

  Researchers from the Quantum Engineering Technology Laboratory of the University of Bristol explained an algorithm that uses machine learning to reverse engineer the Hamiltonian model by acting as an autonomous agent.

This new algorithm provides valuable insights into the basic physical principles of quantum systems, is expected to bring major advances in the field of quantum computing and sensing, and may open a new chapter in scientific research.

  An international research team led by the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom used fiber-optic sensing technology to transmit laser pulses through fiber-optic cables. The temperature of the Greenland glacier was measured in the most detailed way. Temperature measurement results.

This research will help scientists to more accurately model the future changes of the world's second largest glacier, so as to better respond to climate warming.

  America

  The US

  Revealing Muzi's Abnormal Behavior

  Discover direct evidence of macroscopic quantum entanglement

  ◎Reporter Liu Xia

  In terms of elementary particle research, the Fermi National Laboratory and Chinese scientists jointly conducted the Muzi anomalous magnetic moment experiment. With unprecedented measurement accuracy, it revealed that Muzi’s behavior was inconsistent with the predictions of the Standard Model theory, which provided a strong foundation for the existence of new physics. Strong evidence.

The International Forward Search Experiment (FASER) team led by American scientists has discovered the "cue" of neutrinos on the LHC for the first time by analyzing data provided by the European Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

  In the field of quantum technology, American scientists have gained a lot this year.

The US National Institute of Standards and Technology team used microwave pulses to make two small aluminum films enter a quantum entangled state, and found direct evidence of quantum entanglement of macroscopic objects, which will help the study of quantum networks, dark matter and gravitational waves.

Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a programmable quantum simulator that can run 256 qubits, which will help scientists achieve major breakthroughs in many fields such as materials science and communication technology.

IBM claims that it has developed a quantum computer "Eagle" that can run 127 qubits, which is by far the world's largest superconducting quantum computer.

  Scientists from the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have directly observed the "quantum drag" between adjacent water molecules for the first time.

  In addition, scientists in the United States and New Zealand used lasers to squeeze and cool lithium gas to change its density and temperature to a level sufficient to reduce the amount of light scattering, thus proving the Pauli blocking effect, which is expected to be used in the future to develop materials that can suppress light. , To further improve the performance and efficiency of quantum computers.

  A team of physicists from Harvard University simulated and analyzed a new state of matter through experiments-quantum spin liquid, which has broad application prospects in the fields of quantum technology such as high-temperature superconductivity and quantum computers.

  South Korea

  South Korea

  Promulgated laws to strengthen support for quantum technology

  Record operation of superconducting nuclear fusion device

  ◎Tai Ju, our reporter stationed in South Korea

  South Korea officially promulgated the "Relevant Laws to Promote the Revitalization and Convergence of Information and Communication" to legalize the government's support for quantum technology.

According to the legislation, South Korea will establish a full-time quantum technology management organization based on government financial support to play a leading role in policy research, R&D support, infrastructure construction, manpower training, and technology standardization. At the same time, it also plans to increase efforts to cultivate Quantum R&D and industrial ecology provide financial and administrative support to SMEs.

  The Korean superconducting nuclear fusion device KSTAR successfully confined plasma at 100 million degrees Celsius for 30 seconds, setting a new operating record.

  A qubit technology developed by a joint research team in South Korea has a logic error rate of one in 100,000.

  An international joint study involving Korean researchers discovered for the first time a nanomaterial that exhibits the photon avalanche effect, which has new application prospects.

  Korean experimental physicists confirmed the electronic structure of a liquid metal predicted by the theoretical physics community.

  France

  France

  Propose a new quantum computing framework

  Demystifying the birth of the "first substance" in the universe

  ◎Li Hongce, our correspondent in France

  France announced the launch of its national strategy for quantum technology in January 2021. It plans to invest 1.8 billion euros in the quantum field within five years, striving to give France a chance to become "the first country to obtain a complete prototype of a general-purpose quantum computer."

The strategy believes that complete control of the quantum technology value chain is the key to France's lasting independent research, and it is vital to France's sovereignty over proprietary technology and industrial applications.

To this end, the strategy aims to provide support for the entire value chain of the French quantum field, involving all quantum-related technologies.

France is building a quantum ecosystem centered on Paris, Thackeray, and Grenoble.

  In terms of quantum research, the French team has proposed a new quantum computing framework, which connects a quantum memory to a traditional two-dimensional array of qubits to form a three-dimensional structure, thereby greatly reducing the number of qubits required for quantum computers.

Under the new architecture, only 13,436 qubits can be used to crack the current mainstream 2048-bit RSA encryption, which is 3 orders of magnitude less than the 20 million qubits required in previous studies. This provides a new direction for the design of quantum computer architecture.

  CERN has frequently made important discoveries.

The center’s toroidal instrument experiment (ATLAS) and compact muon coil experimental team discovered in February that the Higgs boson decays into two leptons (electrons or muons with opposite charges) and a photon— —The first evidence of "Dalitz decay" helps scientists discover new physics.

  In March, the ALPHA cooperation group of the center successfully cooled antihydrogen atoms with laser cooling technology for the first time, laying the foundation for more accurate measurement of antihydrogen internal structure and its behavior under the action of gravity.

Comparing these measurement results with hydrogen atoms can reveal the difference between matter atoms and antimatter atoms, bringing new perspectives to antimatter research.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the center has discovered 4 brand new particles, which are 4 different tetraquark states.

So far, 59 new hadrons have been discovered in the LHC.

  In June, the center used LHC to reproduce the only substance quark-gluon plasma (QGP) that existed in the first 0.000001 seconds of the Big Bang.

The study found that quark-gluon plasma has a smooth and soft texture, which is different from previous predictions and any other substances known.

  In July, the center’s Large Hadron Collider Bottom Quark (LHCb) experimental team discovered a new material particle Tcc+. This 4-quark particle is a kind of strange hadron, the most "long-lived" strange material particle so far, and it is also The first particle containing 2 heavy quarks and 2 light anti-quarks is composed of 2 charm quarks, 1 anti-up quark, and 1 anti-down quark.

This discovery helps to test the standard model theory and reveal new phenomena.

  In December, neutrinos were detected during the trial operation of the LHC's new detector. This is the first time that neutrinos have been found inside a particle accelerator.

  Ukraine

  Ukraine

  Invented a radio frequency detector based on metamaterials

  New opaque scintillation medium can detect particles

  ◎Zhang Hao, our correspondent in Ukraine

  In March 2021, the Institute of Radiation Physics and Electronics of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences invented a metamaterial-based radio frequency non-contact detector that can be used to detect methanol in aqueous ethanol.

Researchers use so-called metamaterials as detectors, place the container containing the liquid under study near the intermetallic membrane and excite its resonance field, and use electrodynamic formulas to describe the corresponding interaction.

This means that if natural substances with unknown properties are in electromagnetic contact with metamaterials with known properties, standard microwave technology and equipment can be used to record the properties of the metamaterials to identify natural substances with unknown properties. This method is still in experimentation. Room stage, but it is considered to have broad application prospects.

  In the field of particle research, the Institute of Scintillation Materials of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine has been developing a new opaque scintillation medium for detection particles in high-energy physics experiments in the past few years.

The European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) believes that this research is very promising. In 2021, it decided to invite a Ukrainian research team to participate in the Large Hadron Collider Bottom Quark Experiment (LHCb). This project has attracted international attention in the Ukrainian basic science field in recent years. One of the major experimental projects.

  Israel

  Israel

  National plan as support

  Fully develop sub-fields

  ◎Hu Dingkun, our reporter in Israel

  In March 2021, Israel’s Ministry of Defense and Innovation Agency stated that they would invest 60 million U.S. dollars to build Israel’s first quantum computer with a computing capacity of about 30-40 qubits.

The project is part of Israel's "National Quantum Capability Program" launched in 2019, which will invest US$380 million in the quantum field.

In addition to the field of power quantum computing, the plan also invested 40 million US dollars in 5 companies and 8 academic groups to promote the research of new quantum sensors such as quantum radars. Among them, Ben Gurion University has developed a compact and robust cold atomic clock and A sensitive magnetic atomic sensor.

  The research team of the Hebrew University of Israel has developed a tiny fluorescent crystal called "quantum dot", which is mounted on a golden "nano needle". When the fluorescent crystal is irradiated by a laser, it emits a single photon stream and passes A special grating is emitted in a single direction.

The team is currently improving related equipment to provide a more reliable and efficient single-photon stream that can be widely used in quantum encryption technology.

  Germany

  Germany

  Launch of Europe's first quantum computer

  Accurate control of atomic nucleus quantum transitions

  ◎Li Shan, our reporter in Germany

  The first commercial quantum computer in Europe developed in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Association of Germany and IBM was officially launched.

The basic particle components of this 27-qubit computer are produced by IBM in the United States, the cooling system is from Finland, and the control system is developed in Germany.

At the same time, Germany formed an international team in the "Quantum Valley" in Lower Saxony to develop a new quantum computer based on a basic technology that allows ions to exist and be stored alone.

In addition, the German government department held a video conference between Berlin and Bonn for the first time through quantum communication technology.

  The centers under the Helmholtz Federation with the National Science Project as the core continue to develop and advance.

For example, the Jülich Research Center used 4 special cutting-edge scanning tunneling microscopes to directly measure the extraordinary electrical properties of ultra-thin topological insulators for the first time; it has developed a miniature infrared detector that can use a voltage-controlled switch to control two Spectral response of different infrared bands.

The Helmholtz Center in Berlin (HZB) has developed a method that can accurately measure the electron beam cross-section of a "desktop particle accelerator", and promotes the application of new accelerator technologies in medicine and research.

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology has developed a new type of Fabry-Perot resonator, which can track the movement of nanoparticles in space and can be used for the characterization of protein, DNA folding or viruses; a new type of gas molecular sensor has been developed, which can be accurately realized Molecular specific detection.

  The various institutes under the Max Planck Society, whose main task is basic research, have also achieved fruitful results.

For example, the Institute of Quantum Optics has implemented quantum logic operations between quantum modules separated by different laboratories for the first time, opening up a new development path for distributed quantum computing.

The Institute of Intelligent Systems recorded the world's first spatio-temporal crystal video.

The Institute of Biophysical Chemistry has developed a new optical microscopy method that can resolve individual molecules that are only a few nanometers apart.

The Coal Research Institute has developed a new method to synthesize ammonia at room temperature and normal atmospheric pressure.

For the first time, the Institute of Nuclear Physics used X-rays to precisely control the quantum transitions of atomic nuclei.

The Institute of Optics has designed an experiment that can avoid photon quenching while detecting photons.

The Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics found that bubbles in rock pores may be the cradle of early life on Earth.

  German scientists successfully realized space atomic interferometry for the first time on a probe rocket.

In view of the fact that atomic interferometers can use the wave characteristics of atoms to carry out extremely accurate measurements, such as measuring the gravitational field of the earth or detecting gravitational waves, new research is expected to detect gravitational waves more accurately.

  Japan

  Japan

  Accurately measure the mass of superheavy elements for the first time

  Clarify the magnetic skyrmion crystal mechanism

  ◎Chen Chao, our correspondent in Japan

  In March 2021, researchers from Japan's Mercari, the University of Tokyo and Osaka University plan to establish a short-distance communication network using a new method within five years to achieve an "absolutely safe" quantum Internet.

The "Quantum Internet Task Force" announced a plan to establish a quantum Internet test environment in its business plan published in February.

  An international joint research team composed of Japan’s High Energy Accelerator Research Institute (KEK), the Institute of Physics and Chemistry, and Kyushu University used the gas-filled debounce nuclear separator (GARIS- Ⅱ) and multi-reflection time-of-flight measurement mass spectrometer (MRTOF), successfully and accurately measured the mass of the superheavy element Db isotope 257Db with atomic number 105.

  In August, the University of Tokyo clarified the nano-scale magnetic skyrmion crystal mechanism, which provided a design direction for the development of new materials.

The research team of the University of Tokyo constructed a microscopic model that includes antisymmetric exchange interactions derived from chiral crystal structures and spin-charge interactions derived from itinerant electronic systems. Through numerical simulation analysis, it theoretically confirmed nano-scale magnetism. Skyrmion crystal phase can exist stably.

The design ideas in this research help to make progress in the field of spintronic devices that utilize the huge burst magnetic field generated by the highly integrated magnetic skyrmions.