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For the first time, researchers at TU Wien have successfully observed the operating principle of so-called promoters in a catalytic reaction in real-time. These promoters play an important role in technology, but so far there is only limited understanding of how they work. Catalysts are essential for numerous chemical technologies, ranging from exhaust gas purification to the production of valuable chemicals and energy carriers.

An international team from science and industry has revolutionized the modelling and prediction of free energy in crystals. Their work on the new TRHu(ST) method, published in Nature , shows that the stability of crystal forms can be predicted reliably and cost-effectively under real temperature and humidity conditions.

In physics, the complex processes in solids are often described in terms of quasiparticles. In ultracold quantum gases, these quasiparticles can be reproduced and studied. Now, for the first time, Innsbruck scientists led by Rudolf Grimm have been able to observe in experiments how Fermi polarons - a special type of quasiparticle - can interact with each other.

In a groundbreaking collaboration, two world-leading research groups, one led by Francesca Ferlaino and one by Markus Greiner, have joined force to develop an advanced quantum gas microscope for magnetic quantum matter. This state-of-the-art instrument reveals intricate dipolar quantum phases shaped by the interactions as reported in Nature .

In order to obtain information about dark matter and dark energy from the huge amounts of data to be generated by the new ESA probe Euclid, Innsbruck astrophysicist Laila Linke and her team are using novel statistical methods. As soon as Euclid sends its first data to Earth, the researchers intend to have a tool ready to gain new Astronomical measurements revealed that an unknown world lies hidden among all the pretty stars, nebulae and galaxies.

Researchers at TU Wien discover excellent thermoelectric properties of nickel-gold alloys. These can be used to efficiently convert heat into electrical energy. Thermoelectrics enable the direct conversion of heat into electrical energy - and vice versa. This makes them interesting for a range of technological applications.

Decades after the Chernobyl nuclear accident, wild boar meat is still surprisingly radioactive. The solution to the riddle: an important other cause had been overlooked. The Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986 had a major impact on the forest ecosystem in Central Europe. After the accident, the consumption of mushrooms was discouraged because of the high radioactive contamination, and the meat of wild animals was also severely affected for several years.

The carbon material graphene has excellent electronic properties. But are they also stable enough to be useful in practice? Calculations from TU Wien say: Yes. Nothing in the world is perfect. This is also true in materials research. In computer simulations, one often represents a system in a highly idealized way; for example, one calculates the properties that an absolutely perfect crystal would have.

Researchers from Austria and USA have designed a new type of quantum computer that uses fermionic atoms to simulate complex physical systems. The processor uses programmable neutral atom arrays and is capable of simulating fermionic models in a hardware-efficient manner using fermionic gates. The team led by Peter Zoller demonstrated how the new quantum processor can efficiently simulate fermionic models from quantum chemistry and particle physics.

Breakthrough in research on novel energy-efficient computer Research is underway around the world to find alternatives to our current electronic computing technology, as great, electron-based systems have limitations. A new way of transmitting information is emerging from the field of magnonics: instead of electron exchange, the waves generated in magnetic media could be used for transmission, but magnonics-based computing has been (too) slow to date.

At the Vienna University of Technology, it was possible to keep a system that is actually very unstable, consisting of many quantum particles, stable and then release its energy in a targeted manner all at once . These are very special diamonds that are being worked with at TU Wien: Their crystal lattice is not perfectly regular, it contains numerous defects.

Calculations by TU Wien (Vienna) show: Newly discovered material LK-99 indeed has properties that could be advantageous for superconductivity. LK-99 is the name of the material that is being hotly debated around the world these days: A Korean research group published results at the end of July 2023 suggesting that it could be a superconductor even at room temperature and normal atmospheric pressure.

Calculations by TU Vienna show: Newly discovered material LK-99 actually has properties that could be advantageous for superconductivity . LK-99 is the name of the material that is being hotly debated around the world these days: A Korean research group published results at the end of July 2023 suggesting that it could be a superconductor that remains superconducting even at room temperature and normal atmospheric pressure, i.e. conducts electricity completely without electrical resistance.

Researchers at TU Wien are developing a layered photocatalyst that can be used to produce hydrogen very efficiently from water. Finding sustainable and clean fuels is crucial in today's global energy and climate crisis. One promising candidate that is increasingly gaining relevance is hydrogen. However, today's industrial hydrogen production still has a considerable CO2 footprint, especially considering processes like steam reforming or non-sustainable electrolysis.

Tiny plastic particles are an environmental problem. They can even penetrate living cells. A method has now been developed at TU Wien to detect such particles quickly and with high sensitivity. It is well known that microplastics are a problem: They are tiny, barely visible plastic particles that can harm the environment, for example, if they are eaten by animals.

The friction in our joints is extremely low - how is that physically possible at all? Measurements at TU Wien provide explanations and ideas for new treatment methods . Friction and wear as an eternal nuisance - this is as familiar in technology as it is in medicine. Whether it's a manual transmission or a knee joint, you always want moving parts to slide over each other with as little friction as possible, so that energy expenditure and wear are kept to a minimum.

New possibilities for controlling signal routing in quantum information processing Routing signals and isolating them against noise and back-reflections are essential in many practical situations in classical communication as well as in quantum processing. In a theory-experimental collaboration, a team led by Andreas Nunnenkamp from the University of Vienna and Ewold Verhagen based at the research institute AMOLF in Amsterdam has achieved unidirectional transport of signals in pairs of "one-way streets".

Japanese IT company NEC has built the first quantum processor based on the ParityQC architecture. The Parity technology was invented at the University of Innsbruck and is being further developed and marketed by the spin-off ParityQC. NEC is now making the quantum computer, which specializes in optimization problems, available to the scientific community via the cloud.

Scientists from the University of Vienna have now designed an unconditionally secure system for shopping in digital settings Have you ever been compelled to enter sensitive payment data on the website of an unknown merchant? Would you be willing to consign your credit card data or passwords to untrustworthy hands? Scientists from the University of Vienna have now designed an unconditionally secure system for shopping in such settings, combining modern cryptographic techniques with the fundamental properties of quantum light.

Researchers at the University of Innsbruck are working intensively on preparations for the Euclid mission of the European Space Agency ESA. The space telescope will be launched on July 1 and is expected to produce the largest 3D map of the universe to date. Scientists hope to learn more about the hitherto unexplored dark matter and dark energy of the universe.