Chris Cesare
Maryland
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Physicist. @UCSC_SciCom class of 2015. Director of Communications and Outreach @JQInews. Tweets my own.
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Articles by Chris Cesare
Researchers unlock high-res view of 2D materials by doing a microscopic twist
By rapidly twisting a microscopically small tip back and forth, researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have unlocked a new way to detect subtle changes on the surface of a material flexing in response to infrared light. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest sci-tech news updates. In a paper published in the journal Nature Communications , the researchers describe a new way to take high-resolution images that they call infrared torsional force microscopy, or TFM-IR for short.
Twisting AFM probe reveals hidden nanoscale chemistry in 2D materials
A twisting AFM probe maps vertical and horizontal infrared vibrations in 2D materials at near-nanometer resolution, revealing hidden chemical fingerprints. (Nanowerk News) By rapidly twisting a microscopically small tip back and forth, researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have unlocked a new way to detect subtle changes on the surface of a material flexing in response to infrared light.
Researchers unlock high-res view of 2D materials by doing a microscopic twist
A schematic of a novel infrared torsional force microscopy (TFM-IR) experiment conducted at the University of Maryland. A material sample (located on the dark gray disc) is illuminated with pulses from an infrared laser. A microscopic tip, twisted rapidly back and forth on a long arm, scans the surface of the material to sense its response to the light.
Scientists Create Chip That Generates Brand-New Colors of Light, Cracking a Decades-Old Nonlinear Optics Challenge Original
Researchers at JQI have designed and tested new chips that reliably convert one color of light (represented by the orange pulse in the lower left corner of the image above) into many colors (represented by the red, green, blue and dark grey pulses leaving the chip in the lower right corner).
New photonic chips passively convert laser light into multiple colors on demand
Over the past several decades, researchers have been making rapid progress in harnessing light to enable all sorts of scientific and industrial applications. From creating stupendously accurate clocks to processing the petabytes of information zipping through data centers, the demand for turnkey technologies that can reliably generate and manipulate light has become a global market worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
Researchers identify groovy way to beat diffraction limit
Researchers built a silver-grooved chip that channels laser energy into nanometer-spaced peaks, beating the diffraction limit and aiding light-matter studies. (Nanowerk News) Physics is full of pesky limits. There are speed limits, like the speed of light. There are limits on how much matter and energy can be crammed into a region of space before it collapses into a black hole.
$5M in State, Private Funding Supports Hub to Meld…
A University of Maryland-based research initiative that combines three fields of physics—from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries—to explore how the everyday world emerges from the quantum realm has received $5 million in state and private funding to continue its operations.
Twisted light gives electrons a spinning kick: Researchers develop a novel way to control quantum interactions
It's hard to tell when you're catching some rays at the beach, but light packs a punch. Not only does a beam of light carry energy, it can also carry momentum. This includes linear momentum, which is what makes a speeding train hard to stop, and orbital angular momentum, which is what the Earth carries as it revolves around the sun.
New Photonic Chip Spawns Nested Topological Frequency Comb
June 20, 2024 Scientists on the hunt for compact and robust sources of multicolored laser light have generated the first topological frequency comb. Their result, which relies on a small silicon nitride chip patterned with hundreds of microscopic rings, will appear in the June 21, 2024 issue of the journal Science. Light from an ordinary laser shines with a single, sharply defined color—or, equivalently, a single frequency.
New photonic chip spawns nested topological frequency comb
Scientists on the hunt for compact and robust sources of multicolored laser light have generated the first topological frequency comb. Their result, which relies on a small silicon nitride chip patterned with hundreds of microscopic rings, appears in the journal Science. Light from an ordinary laser shines with a single, sharply defined color—or, equivalently, a single frequency.
Tug-of-war unlocks menagerie of quantum phases of matter
In new numerical experiments, quantum particles (black dots), which travel upward through time, are subject to random quantum processes (blue, green and yellow blocks). Depending on the likelihood of the different kinds of processes, the quantum particles ultimately end up in different entanglement phases. This figure shows five examples of randomly chosen processes acting on a small number of particles. Credit: A. Lavasani/Joint Quantum Institute Phases are integral to how we define our world.
Engineers take big step toward using light instead of wires inside computers
This tiny slice of silicon, etched in Jelena Vuckovic's lab at Stanford with a pattern that resembles a bar code, is one step on the way toward linking computer components with light instead of wires. Credit: Vuckovic Lab (Phys.org)—Stanford engineers have designed and built a prism-like device that can split a beam of light into different colors and bend the light at right angles, a development that could eventually lead to computers that use optics, rather than electricity, to carry data.
Quantum computers do the (instantaneous) twist
by Chris Cesare Unlike other kinds of quantum computers, quantum computers built atop topological error correction smear a single qubit’s worth of information out among a network of many qubits. Credit: Gerd Altmann/Pixabay Regardless of what makes up the innards of a quantum computer, its speedy calculations all boil down to sequences of simple instructions applied to qubits—the basic units of information inside a quantum computer.
Vampire bats have a taste for bacon
A vampire bat feeding on a pig in a taxidermy exhibit at the Museum of Natural History in Vienna. Sandstein/Creative Commons By Chris CesareApr. 10, 2015 , 12:45 PM Examining animal droppings is not glamorous—even if you’re studying vampires. But, for scientists interested in the diet of the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), it’s one of the few ways to learn what they eat.
A passion brewing – Out of the Fog
By Chris Cesare on 17 November, 2014 For the past six years I lived under the cotton candy clouds and big blue sky of Albuquerque, home of the television series Breaking Bad. The show is about a high school chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin, and it’s great drama. But the most memorable scenes for me were not the tense standoffs with bad guys or DEA agents. They were the adoringly shot montages of the main character making meth.
What your smile says about where you’re from
By Chris CesareMay. 5, 2015 , 3:00 AM If you come from a country of immigrants, you’re more likely to crack a friendly smile on the street. That’s the conclusion of a new study, which may explain why Americans beam more than their Chinese and Russian counterparts. Scientists have known for decades that societies have their own unwritten rules about when it’s appropriate to smile, frown, or get angry.
Why ants don’t get into traffic jams
By Chris CesareApr. 10, 2015 , 1:15 PM Rush hour usually brings a stop-and-go nightmare as we inch our way home from the office. But for ants, more traffic doesn’t always lead to a slow crawl. New research published in The Science of Nature has found that some ants actually travel faster when more of them take to the roads. To uncover this odd rule, ecologists set up a traffic camera on a small stretch of trail built by black-backed meadow ants (Formica pratensis, pictured).
An updated geological timeline for the extinction of the dinosaurs - GeoSpace
By Chris Cesare The Hell Creek Formation in Eastern Montana was an ancient river and floodplain. Now, scientists are using its pristine formations to provide a more accurate timeline of the events surrounding the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Colors help set body’s internal clock
Scientists have discovered that changing colors of light aid mice in setting their internal clocks. MafrMcfca/iStockphoto By Chris CesareApr. 17, 2015 , 2:15 PM The beautiful color of a sunset might be more than just a pretty picture. It could be a signal to our bodies that it’s time to reset our internal clock, the biological ticktock that governs everything from sleep patterns to digestion.
Private parcel added to Los Padres National Forest
Ventana Wilderness >> A scenic trail along Hennickson’s Ridge in Los Padres National Forest will remain open to hikers indefinitely, after a land purchase by a nonprofit company. The Wilderness Land Trust, purchased a 120-acre parcel containing part of the trail from a family looking to sell, the fourth piece of land the trust has purchased in the forest since 2012. The Land Trust would not identify the family that owned the land or the purchase price. “We purchase the lands, and we do it quickly.
Monarchs on the move: Warm Monterey County weather spurred butterfly activity
Pacific Grove – Sun worshipers flocked to the beach this weekend as temperatures warmed up, but butterflies at the Pacific Grove Monarch Sanctuary took advantage of the heat in their own way. “Because of how warm it’s been, they’ve spread out all over the sanctuary,” said Ann Wasser, the education manager at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History.
Spare the Air: Campaign comes to Monterey
MONTEREY >> The geography of the Monterey Peninsula is allowing fireplaces to roar this winter, even while nearby regions face voluntary bans on burning wood. This winter marks the inaugural season of the Monterey air district’s Spare the Air campaign, a program that urges residents not to use wood-burning stoves and fireplaces on days that already have high air pollution.
Latest nanowire experiment boosts confidence in Majorana sighting
New test matches theory and offers the best evidence yet for the oddball particles. In the latest experiment of its kind, researchers have captured the most compelling evidence to date that unusual particles lurk inside a special kind of superconductor. The result, which confirms theoretical predictions first made nearly a decade ago at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) and the University of Maryland (UMD), will be published in the April 5 issue of Nature.
Scientists trying to create “exoplanet zoo” - GeoSpace
By Chris Cesare Exoplanets, like the stars they orbit, come in many shapes and sizes. But in terms of habitability, the best candidates might bear a striking resemblance to Earth–at least on the surface. Credit: Lucianomendez under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike Scientists are working to simulate and catalogue the properties of Earth-like planets to create an “exoplanet zoo,”—a collection of worlds with similar compositions but different levels of habitability.
Stretched photons recover lost interference
Researchers recorded these patterns of quantum interference between three photons that started out as separate, distinguishable particles. Credit: Joint Quantum Institute The smallest pieces of nature—individual particles like electrons, for instance—are pretty much interchangeable. An electron is an electron is an electron, regardless of whether it's stuck in a lab on Earth, bound to an atom in some chalky moon dust or shot out of an extragalactic black hole in a superheated jet.
Corkscrew photons may leave behind a spontaneous twist
A new prediction argues that some materials might experience a torque when they are hotter than their surroundings. Credit: E. Edwards/JQI Everything radiates. Whether it's a car door, a pair of shoes or the cover of a book, anything hotter than absolute zero (i.e., pretty much everything) is constantly shedding radiation in the form of photons, the quantum particles of light. A twin process—absorption—is usually also present.
Ring resonators corner light
A new, grooved silicon chip keeps light in the corners using the physics of quadrupoles and topology. Credit: E. Edwards/JQI Researchers at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) have created the first silicon chip that can reliably constrain light to its four corners. The effect, which arises from interfering optical pathways, isn't altered by small defects during fabrication and could eventually enable the creation of robust sources of quantum light.
Cold atoms offer a glimpse of flat physics
Home Physics General Physics / Quantum Physics December 21, 2018 December 21, 2018 by Chris Cesare, Joint Quantum Institute Simulated images from two papers showing anyons spreading preferentially to the left in a 1-D grid (left) and a novel phase of matter that may arise from atoms constrained to move in 2-D (right). Credit: Joint Quantum Institute These days, movies and video games render increasingly realistic 3-D images on 2-D screens, giving viewers the illusion of gazing into another world.
Fast-flowing electrons may mimic astrophysical dynamos
Much about these engines, which scientists refer to as dynamos, remains unknown. That's partly because the math behind them is doubly difficult, combining the complex equations of fluid motion with the equations that govern how electric and magnetic fields bend, twist, interact and propagate.
Complexity test offers new perspective on small quantum computers
In the meantime, researchers are busy dreaming up uses for small quantum computers and mapping out the landscape of problems they'll be suited to solving. A paper by researchers from the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) and the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science (QuICS), published recently in Physical Review Letters, argues that a novel non-quantum perspective may help sketch the boundaries of this landscape and potentially even reveal new physics in future experiments.
Quantum gas reveals first signs of path-bending monopole
But some physics theories predict the existence of single-pole magnets—a situation akin to electric charges, which come in either positive or negative chunks. One particular incarnation—called the Yang monopole after its discoverer—was originally predicted in the context of high-energy physics, but it has never been observed.
Tiny Tug Unleashes Cryogenic Currents
Researchers have found that a small stretch is enough to unleash the exotic electrical properties of a newly discovered topological insulator, unshackling a behavior previously locked away at cryogenic temperatures. The compound, called samarium hexaboride, has been studied for decades.
Stanford to host 100-year study on artificial intelligence
Stanford University has invited leading thinkers from several institutions to begin a 100-year effort to study and anticipate how the effects of artificial intelligence will ripple through every aspect of how people work, live and play.
Toxic substances reform moves forward in US
The US Congress appears set to boost the power of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate thousands of chemicals used in everything from dish soap to sofas. On 17 December, the Senate passed an update to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) — a 1976 law that gives the EPA authority to regulate chemicals used in consumer goods and industry. It marks the Senate’s first substantial update to a law that many say was never effective.
Biomedicine wins big in US budget deal - Nature
Late spending bill gives the NIH and several other research agencies healthy increases. A budget bill passed by the US House of Representatives boosts funding for several science-related agencies. Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Biomedical research advocates are revelling in holiday cheer as a budget bill passed by the House of Representatives on 18 December gives the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) its biggest funding increase since 2003.
Paris climate talks, day 12: What we’re reading
It may require working through the night on Friday, but negotiators seem to be close to hashing out a final deal. Nature closes its daily Paris digest with one last round of good reads on the climate talks. A coalition of more than 100 countries has emerged. Dubbed the “high-ambition coalition”, it consists of poor and rich nations that want emissions targets revised every five years and “firm recognition” of a 1.5 ºC warming target.
Paris climate talks, day 11: What we’re reading
With two days of negotiations left, the Paris climate talks “are running suspiciously on time”. But big issues — such as agreeing on an actual warming target — still remain. Negotiators released the latest draft of a climate deal on 9 December, and the document is now at a much-reduced length of 29 pages (compared to the previous 48 pages). The main sticking points remain finding agreement on a warming target and determining how to keep countries honest and accountable.
Paris climate talks, day 9: What we’re reading
Greetings! It’s day nine of the Paris climate talks, which means that there are just three days left for negotiators to ink a new global climate deal. (Whether they will make their self-imposed deadline is another question; UN climate talks are notorious for running late.) Here’s what we’re reading from around the web ...
Paris climate talks, day 8: What we’re reading
A draft of a climate agreement is finished, but it leaves many questions unanswered. Now, as government ministers swoop in to finish off the talks by 11 December, those questions must be addressed. Nature recaps the weekend’s reaction and looks ahead to the final days of the climate talks. A week of “very low drama” produced a draft of a climate agreement, but several questions remain. One is when nations will reconvene to review their progress and adjust their pledges.
Paris climate talks, day 6: What we're reading
Negotiators are busy paring down the text of a draft agreement as their bosses descend on Paris this weekend, and soon the fruits of their labour will be publicly available. Nature will return with its favourite reads on 7 December to recap the reaction to the draft deal and other weekend news. 1. Draft deadline looms Negotiators have until noon on Saturday to submit a near-final draft of a deal before top-level talks begin this weekend.
Paris climate talks, day 5: What weâre reading
Welcome to day five of the United Nations climate summit in Paris. Negotiators are making great progress in editing down their treaty â or are making little progress at all, depending on whom you trust. (Our reporter in Paris notes that the draft shrank from 54 pages on 30 November to 50 pages on 3 December.) While we ponder the draft agreementâs current resemblance to Schrödingerâs cat, hereâs a list of what Nature is reading on the Paris talks, from around the web. 1.
Paris climate talks, day 4: What weâre reading
The United Nations climate summit in Paris is now well under way. After appearances this week by major heads of state, negotiators are starting to dive into the details of their draft agreement to limit greenhouse-gas emissions. Hereâs what Nature is reading on the Paris talks, from around the web. 1. Indiaâs crucial role in Paris All eyes are on India at the UN talks.
Cultural differences determine when kids learn to play fair
The concept of fairness informs everything from playground squabbles to business negotiations. Now, a study suggests that cultural differences shape when children develop a sense of fairness, with significant variations across countries. Children from seven countries â the United States, Canada, Mexico, Peru, India, Senegal and Uganda â began rejecting unfair deals at different ages between 4 and 15 years old, when tested by researchers.
Volcanic rock hints at source of Earth’s water
The origin of Earth’s water has puzzled scientists for decades. Icy comets smashing into the planet seemed like natural donors, but many comets have water chemistry different from that of Earth’s oceans. Rocky asteroids that contain water might have soaked the young planet, but analyses of meteorites — the asteroids’ remnants on Earth — show that the planet today is missing the material that those impacts should have left behind.
Volcanic Rock Hints at Source of Earth's Water
The origin of Earth’s water has puzzled scientists for decades. Icy comets smashing into the planet seemed like natural donors, but many comets have water chemistry different from that of Earth’s oceans. Rocky asteroids that contain water might have soaked the young planet, but analyses of meteorites—the asteroids’ remnants on Earth—show that the planet today is missing the material that those impacts should have left behind.
Biomedicine wins big in US budget deal
Biomedical research advocates are revelling in holiday cheer as a budget bill passed by the House of Representatives on 18 December gives the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) its biggest funding increase since 2003. Several other science-related agencies also benefit substantially from the budget, which is expected to be passed by the Senate and be signed into law by President Barack Obama within a few days.
Rosetta Sniffs Oxygen Around Comet 67P
The presence of the gas could have implications for theories of the early Solar System Scientists have detected molecules of oxygen in the hazy halo of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko—an unexpected discovery that may challenge theories about the formation of the Solar System. The detection, made by an instrument on board the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft, was reported today ( October 28) in Nature.
US astronomers stuck in grant-rejection cycle
US-based astronomers and astrophysicists are seeing their applications for research grants rejected at higher rates because of stagnant budgets and an uptick in the number of resubmitted proposals, according to a draft report written for an advisory committee to the US National Science Foundation (NSF). The authors posted the document on the arXiv preprint server1 on 4 October, ahead of a November meeting in which the advisory committee is set to discuss the issue.
From speculation to surprise, science Twittersphere reacts to Nobel prizewinners
Predicting the winners of the Nobel prizes has become almost a competitive sport for researchers. This year, the winners seemed to surprise many, as seen by reactions on social media. The chemistry prize recognized discoveries in DNA repair, yet was not awarded to the scientists who won another major award, the prestigious Lasker prize, earlier this year for research in a similar area.
Graph-theory breakthrough tantalizes mathematicians
The graph isomorphism problems asks whether two graphs that appear dissimilar are in fact identical. An innovative approach to solving a stubborn, but elementary, question in graph theory â the mathematical study of networks of nodes and their connections â may signal the first major theoretical advance in understanding the problem in more than 30 years.
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