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Quantum number
A quantum number describes the energies of electrons in atoms. Each quantum number specifies the value of a conserved quantity in the dynamics of the quantum system. Since any quantum system can have one or more quantum numbers, it is a futile job to list all possible quantum numbers. The question of how many quantum numbers are needed to describe any given system has no universal answer, although for each system one must find the answer for a full analysis of the system. The most widely studied set of quantum numbers is that for a single electron in an atom: not only because it is useful in chemistry, being the basic notion behind the periodic table, valence (chemistry) and a host of other properties, but also because it is a solvable and realistic problem, and, as such, finds widespread use in textbooks.
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Matter & Energy News
August 24, 2025
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Aug. 24, 2025 — Scientists have developed a groundbreaking cryo-optical microscopy technique that freezes living cells mid-action, capturing ultra-detailed snapshots of fast biological processes. By rapidly immobilizing cells at precise moments, researchers can ...
Aug. 23, 2025 — By using quantum dots and smart encryption protocols, researchers overcame a 40-year barrier in quantum communication, showing that secure networks don’t need perfect hardware to outperform today’s best ...
Aug. 23, 2025 — Researchers at Zhejiang University have found a way to stop performance-killing Auger recombination in perovskite lasers, using a clever additive during processing. Their method produced a record-breaking laser with unprecedented efficiency, ...
Aug. 23, 2025 — Scientists may have uncovered the missing piece of quantum computing by reviving a particle once dismissed as useless. This particle, called the neglecton, could give fragile quantum systems the full power they need by working alongside Ising ...
Aug. 22, 2025 — Researchers developed a crystal that inhales and exhales oxygen like lungs. It stays stable under real-world conditions and can be reused many times, making it ideal for energy and electronic applications. This innovation could reshape technologies ...
Aug. 19, 2025 — Lithium battery recycling offers a powerful solution to rising demand, with discarded batteries still holding most of their valuable materials. Compared to mining, recycling slashes emissions and resource use while unlocking major economic ...
Aug. 16, 2025 — Researchers have unveiled a new quantum material that could make quantum computers much more stable by using magnetism to protect delicate qubits from environmental disturbances. Unlike traditional approaches that rely on rare spin-orbit ...
Aug. 16, 2025 — Rice University scientists have discovered a way to make tiny vibrations, called phonons, interfere with each other more strongly than ever before. Using a special sandwich of silver, graphene, and silicon carbide, they created a record-breaking ...
Aug. 15, 2025 — Researchers have found a clever way to make quantum dots, tiny light-emitting crystals, produce streams of perfectly controlled photons without relying on expensive, complex electronics. By using a precise sequence of laser pulses, the team can ...
Aug. 13, 2025 — Scientists have developed a lightning-fast AI tool called HEAT-ML that can spot hidden “safe zones” inside a fusion reactor where parts are protected from blistering plasma heat. Finding these areas, known as magnetic shadows, is key to keeping ...
Aug. 11, 2025 — Scientists have found that microscopic gold clusters can act like the world’s most accurate quantum systems, while being far easier to scale up. With tunable spin properties and mass production potential, they could transform quantum computing and ...
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Aug. 23, 2025 — Researchers at the University of British Columbia have shown that a small bench-top reactor can enhance nuclear fusion rates by electrochemically loading a metal with deuterium fuel. Unlike massive ...
Aug. 22, 2025 — Scientists are rethinking the universe’s deepest mysteries using numerical relativity, complex computer simulations of Einstein’s equations in extreme conditions. This method could help explore ...
Aug. 19, 2025 — A team in Milan has developed a first-of-its-kind single-atom catalyst that acts like a molecular switch, enabling cleaner, more adaptable chemical ...
Aug. 18, 2025 — By exploring positive geometry, mathematicians are revealing hidden shapes that may unify particle physics and cosmology, offering new ways to understand both collisions in accelerators and the ...
Aug. 18, 2025 — For the first time, researchers have measured atomic temperatures in extreme matter and found gold surviving at 19,000 kelvins, more than 14 times its melting point. The result dismantles a ...
Aug. 18, 2025 — ETH Zurich scientists have levitated a tower of three nano glass spheres using optical tweezers, suppressing almost all classical motion to observe quantum zero-point fluctuations with unprecedented ...
Aug. 17, 2025 — Researchers have synthesized a stable cyclo[48]carbon, a unique 48-carbon ring that can be studied in solution at room temperature, a feat never achieved ...
Aug. 17, 2025 — Scientists have, for the first time, experimentally proven that angular momentum is conserved even when a single photon splits into two, pushing quantum physics to its most fundamental limits. Using ...
Aug. 16, 2025 — Scientists in Finland have measured the heaviest known nucleus to undergo proton emission, discovering the rare isotope 188-astatine. It exhibits a unique shape and may reveal a new kind of nuclear ...
Aug. 13, 2025 — A groundbreaking quantum device small enough to fit in your hand could one day answer one of the biggest questions in science — whether the ...