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Liquid Gold Anna Curran Department of Mathematics A lattice of bubbles inside a ring that has been dipped in soapy water. The bubbles hold their shape because of molecules in the dish soap called surfactants, which stabilise the interface. Surfactants are all around us - for example, they allow soap to break down dirt and bacteria, and they are given to premature babies to help them inflate their lungs. Conversely, they threaten the efficacy of various industrial applications such as self-cleaning surfaces and laptop cooling systems. My research focuses on mathematically modelling the effect of these molecules at a f luid interface, in order to gain a greater understanding of how to control their behaviour in these applications.

Physics

Photography contest spotlights the beauty of science in vivid detail

A collection of images from Imperial College London's photography competition uncovers the visual splendor of scientific discovery

Regulars

Physics

Ultra-secure quantum data sent over existing internet cables

News

Physics

LHC breaks the record for heaviest antimatter nucleus ever seen

News

Abstract prism of light references quantum properties

Video

Five physicists discuss the achievements and future of quantum theory

Video

Quantum computer circuitry illustration. Conventional computers store information as 'bits', with each transistor holding either a 1 or a 0. Quantum computers use quantum bits, or qubits, which operate according to two principles of quantum physics. One of the principles, supposition, allows a qubit to store a 1 and a 0 at the same time. This means two qubits can hold four values at once. The second principle, entanglement, means that the state of one qubit can depend on the state of another. As you expand the number of qubits, the machine becomes exponentially more powerful.

Physics

Quantum theory at 100: Let’s celebrate its power and provocation

Leader

2G4A579 3D visualization of gravity distorsion, physical objects in orbit, space, general theory of relativity, law of universal gravitation, scientific

Physics

Why I still love reckoning with the quantum gravity problem

Comment

Where exactly does the quantum world end and concrete reality begin?

Physics

Where exactly does the quantum world end and concrete reality begin?

Features

Could the ancient Greeks have invented quantum theory?

Physics

Could the ancient Greeks have invented quantum theory?

Features

What exactly would a full-scale quantum computer be useful for?

Physics

What exactly would a full-scale quantum computer be useful for?

Features

A timeline of the most important events in quantum mechanics

Physics

A timeline of the most important events in quantum mechanics

Explore the key moments in the history of quantum theory, from the early ideas of Albert Einstein and Werner Heisenberg to the discovery of phenomena like superposition and entanglement – and today’s quantum computers

Features

Physics

Carlo Rovelli on what we get wrong about the origins of quantum theory

Features

Physics

What does quantum theory really tell us about the nature of reality?

Features

Physics

Where Schrödinger’s cat came from – and why it’s getting fatter

Comment

Physics

Speculative novel layers Groundhog Day with existential dreaminess

Culture