February 2025
Top Quantum Stories
New sensor can take any gas and tell you what’s in it
“The Frequency comb laser was originally invented for optical atomic clocks, but very early on, we identified its powerful application for molecular sensing,” said Jun Ye, a fellow of JILA and NIST and professor adjoint of physics at CU Boulder. “Still, it took us 20 years to mature this technique, finally allowing universal applicability for molecular sensing.”
Quantum billiard balls: Digging deeper into light-assisted atomic collisions
When atoms collide, their exact structure—for example, the number of electrons they have or even the quantum spin of their nuclei—has a lot to say about how they bounce off each other. This is especially true for atoms cooled to near-zero Kelvin, where quantum mechanical effects give rise to unexpected phenomena.
Tiny compasses could improve navigation, brain imaging and more
A team of physicists and engineers at the CU Boulder has discovered a new way to measure the orientation of magnetic fields using what may be the tiniest compasses around—atoms. The group’s findings could one day lead to a host of new quantum sensors.
CU Boulder physicists uncover quantum system that never reaches thermal equilibrium
Understanding whether and why many-body localization (MBL) happens can help scientists delve into the fundamental laws of nature and unlock new possibilities for technologies like quantum computing, where preventing the loss of quantum information is critical.
Meet CU Boulder physics graduate Jenny Jiahui Wu
After graduation, Wu joined Quantinuum, where her extensive background in ion trapping is well applied in helping Quantinuum develop ion-trap-based quantum technologies. “I’m excited to be part of this journey and to help build extremely advanced quantum computers for the future," Wu says.
CU Boulder physics students lead the 2025 CU*iP Conference, inspiring future physicists
As the snow fell the last weekend in January, 180 undergraduate students gathered in the Duane Physics building at the University of Colorado Boulder for the Conference for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics (CU*iP), an annual three-day event sponsored by the American Physical Society.
