Science and Technology
Physics
Physics, often hailed as the most fundamental of all natural sciences, is the systematic study of matter, energy, space, and time, and how they interact.
8 articles in this topic
Articles on Physics
Proton accelerator facility to come up in Visakhapatnam
Source: The Hindu(Page3) | Syllabus: GS3(Science and Tech)
LIGO-India: India’s Gravitational Wave Observatory
Context The construction of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)-India in Hingoli district, Maharashtra has faced delays, as the Engineering, Procurement and Construction tender is yet to be awarded nearly a year after being floated. About LIGO-India LIGO-India is a major mega-science project aimed at detecting gravitational waves, ripples in spacetime, predicted by Albert Einstein in his Theory of General Relativity (1915). These waves are produced by phenomena such as
Nearly a year after tender, Rs 1,600-crore gravitational wave observatory in limbo
Source: Indian Express(Page1) | Syllabus: GS3(Science and Tech)
Hydrogen Molecule As a Precision Test for Fundamental Physics
Context Recent advances in theoretical physics and experimental spectroscopy have enabled scientists to test the foundations of quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics (QED) using the hydrogen molecule (H₂). Background The hydrogen molecule (H₂), has long been used to test the accuracy of fundamental physical laws. With advances in experimental techniques, scientists can now measure the energy gaps between different molecular states with an accuracy of one part in 100 billion.
Altermagnetism
Context The discovery of altermagnetism has emerged as a new class of magnetic order. Altermagnetism It is rotating or mirror-flipping the crystal pattern matches sites in cancelling pairs, leaving no net magnetisation — thus bridging the gap between other two types. In altermagnets, the magnetic moments of neighbouring atoms point in opposite directions — one up, the next down — just like in antiferromagnets.
2025 Nobel Prize in Physics
Context John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis will share the 2025 Nobel Prize in physics for their discovery of a phenomenon called quantum mechanical tunneling in an electrical circuit. About They showed that the process of tunneling can occur not only in subatomic particles but also in an electrical circuit made of superconductors. Tunneling literally is the ability of particles to pass through physical walls.
Optical Atomic Clock
Context Researchers from six countries have conducted the world’s largest and most accurate comparison of optical atomic clocks across three continents. What is the Current Definition of a Second? Present Standard (since 1967): One second equals the time taken for 9,192,631,770 cycles of radiation produced by the caesium-133 atom when it changes between two energy states.
Breakthrough Prize 2025
Context The 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics was jointly awarded to four experimental collaborations operating at CERNs Large Hadron Collider (LHC)—ATLAS, CMS, ALICE and LHCb. What are the Breakthrough Prizes? The Breakthrough Prizes were founded by Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, Yuri and Julia Milner, and Anne Wojcicki.