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A new ion trap for larger quantum computers

The researchers' experimental setup

Researchers at ETH have managed to trap ions using static electric and magnetic fields and to perform quantum operations on them. In the future such traps could be used to realize quantum computers with far more quantum bits than have been possible up to now.

Triathlon medallist and ETH student: “A non-productive day is not the end of the world.”

Portraitphoto of Randy Dobler

Studying at ETH Zurich is demanding, and all students have their own personal hurdles to overcome. This video series portrays ETH students.

How to fail productively

Team Maze with the exhibit item

Apprentices from four different professional careers paths within the vocational training programme managed by the Department of Physics had to work in teams to build an interactive exhibition item in the Physics4mation pilot project. They learned how to collaborate with colleagues, carry out interdisciplinary work and handle failure. The Physics4mation project will now be part of the vocational training programme in the physics department.

If Earth were an exoplanet

The LIFE mission

Researchers from the Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics at ETH Zurich and the Department of Astrophysics at the University of Zurich asked if the potential future LIFE space mission could detect evidence of a habitable and inhabited Earth – and the answer is affirmative.

Rediscovering quantum mechanics through teaching

A person walking through mirrors

No two lecturers are likely to teach quantum mechanics in the same way, but many will agree that its richness and intrinsic peculiarities make for a wonderful playground for teaching experimentation.

New Master’s in Space Systems to be launched in September

Spiral galaxy

A new Master’s degree programme in Space Systems will be launched at ETH Zurich in autumn 2024. Interested parties can start applying in April.

Sound-powered sensors stand to save millions of batteries

Prototype of the sensor with various wiring of green background

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a sensor that utilises energy from sound waves to control electronic devices. This could one day save millions of batteries.

PPLUS grows thanks to Innovedum Fund

The first PPLUS students

Physics practicals allow undergraduate students to gain first-hand experience with conducting experiments in solid-state physics, quantum optics as well as nuclear and particle physics. PPLUS, a new project-based module, was launched in 2023 and offers an alternative to standard practicals. Thanks to recent support by the ETH Innovedum Fund, PPLUS will be growing further.

Long live the graphene valley state

Artistic impression of the physical system

Researchers in the Laboratory for Solid State Physics at ETH Zurich found evidence that bilayer graphene quantum dots may host a promising new type of quantum bit based on so-called valley states.

Quantum scars as a way out of thermalisation

A fermionic lattice

Researchers studied how quantum many-body scars, states that resist thermalisation, could be probed experimentally in a variety of systems and thus harnessed for quantum information processing applications.

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