Over the past decade, scientists have made tremendous progress in generating quantum phenomena in mechanical systems. What seemed impossible only fifteen years ago has now become a reality, as ...

When a guitar string is plucked or a playground swing is set in motion, the movement gradually fades away. Physicists call these “damped harmonic oscillators,” and Newton’s laws do a fine job of ...

A quantum harmonic oscillator—a structure that can control the location and energy of quantum particles that could, in the future, be used to develop new technologies including OLEDs and miniature ...

Time has always seemed like the one thing physics could count on. Matter changes, stars die, particles flicker in and out, ...

Synchronization—the spontaneous adjustment of rhythms among interacting units—has long been studied in classical physics, from fireflies flashing in unison to coupled pendulums. In the quantum regime, ...