New discovery reveals rare quantum event 50 years after it was first predicted

New discovery reveals rare quantum event 50 years after it was first predicted

In a supercooled lab setting, a tiny crystal has quietly flipped a half-century-old assumption on its head. Scientists at Rice University have reported the first direct observation of a long-predicted quantum event known as the superradiant phase transition, or SRPT. Though it sounds like something from science fiction, this rare event could help change the future of computers, sensors, and how we understand the universe itself. SRPT happens whe…