Highlights

With the help of the James Webb Space Telescope, a team of researchers including members from the Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics at ETH Zurich measured ammonia in the atmosphere of a cold brown dwarf, showing that the isotopic abundance of ammonia can be used to study how giant gas planets form.

In a feat of optical waveguide engineering, researchers from the Institute for Quantum Electronics at ETH Zurich have successfully observed terahertz solitons in a ring quantum cascade laser.

Researchers at ETH have put a crystal into a quantum superposition state and measured for how long quantum effects in the vibrations of the crystal lasted. Such measurements are important for putting bounds on possible modifications of quantum theory that could explain why we do not see quantum features in everyday life.

Experimentalists at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching (Germany), in close collaboration with theoretical physicist Eugene Demler at ETH Zurich, observed for the first time in microscopic detail how magnetic correlations mediate the pairing of quantum entities known as holes. The work establishes an intriguing platform for exploring theoretical models of high-temperature superconductivity — and might guide future efforts for designing novel quantum materials.

Traffic obstructions are not only a nuisance for our everyday mobility; they can also have negative consequences for the smallest particles such as electrons. If physicists want to study very fast dynamics in matter using soft X-rays, a clear path for electrons is required.

A method known as quantum key distribution has long held the promise of communication security unattainable in conventional cryptography. An international team of scientists, including ETH physicists, has now demonstrated experimentally, for the first time, an approach to quantum key distribution that uses high-quality quantum entanglement to provide much broader security guarantees than previous schemes.

ETH physicists have modified one of the major schemes for quantum error correction and put it into practice, demonstrating that they can substantially prolong the lifetime of quantum states — a crucial ingredient for future large-scale quantum computers.

The demonstration that a tiny cloud of atoms can be turned from a heat engine into a cooler by cranking up the interactions between the particles provides both deep fundamental insight and a possible template for more efficient thermoelectric devices.

The flagship supercomputer of the CSCS, "Piz Daint", needs to be replaced. Installation of the successor computer, "Alps", is taking place in three phases and will be completed in 2023. CSCS Director Thomas Schulthess explains in an interview why the new computer is so special.

The demonstration of electroluminescence at terahertz frequencies from a silicon-germanium device marks a key step towards the long-sought goal of a silicon-based laser.