2020
A graph-based approach to spike protein S of SARS-CoV-2
A research team of PhD and graduate students from Bondar's research group designed, implemented and applied a graph-based approach to investigate spike protein S of SARS-CoV-2. They identified dynamic hydrogen-bond communication networks in spike protein.
Dec 10, 2020
Determining the nature of quantum resonances by probing elastic and reactive scattering in cold collisions
Scientists from Freie Universität Berlin, Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science, and the Netherlands' Radboud University have demonstrated two types of quantum resonances: tunneling resonances and above-barrier resonances. The team of physicists and chemists combined the merged-beam technique with VMI detection assisted by near-threshold photoionization to resolve the resonances and corroborated their findings by calculating the corresponding scattering wavefunctions.
Dec 05, 2020
Spinach underpins photosynthetic manganese dioxide production three billion years ago
Interdisciplinary research team at Freie Universität uses X-ray experiments at the Berlin Electron Synchrotron (BESSY) to show that photosystems from spinach can form manganese oxide nanoparticles.
Dec 04, 2020
SFB 1078 extended for third funding period
The Collaborative Research Center "Protonation Dynamics in Protein Function" will receive more than ten million euros in total within next four years starting at January 1, 2021. The spokesperson of the center is biophysics professor Joachim Heberle from Freie Universität. Physicists, biologists and chemists from Berlin, Gießen, Dresden und Jerusalem work jointly to identify and understand a new key principal in protein science, namely the control and coordination of complex protein function by protonation dynamics.
Nov 30, 2020
Quantum Future Award 2020 goes to Paul Fährmann
Paul Fährmann from the research group of Professor Jens Eisert was awarded the Quantum Future Award 2020 for his outstanding master's thesis. With this award, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) honours innovative scientific work with clear application relevance in the field of quantum technologies.
Nov 27, 2020
Carl Ramsauer Award 2020
Dr. Till Stensitzki, the member of the Heyne's research group, received a Carl Ramsauer Award for his outstanding doctoral thesis on 18 November 2020. In his dissertation "Femtosecond Pump-Probe Spectroscopy on Corroles, Phytochromes, Channelrhodopsins and Ground-states Reactions" Till Stensitzki reported on the results of his experimental research on ground-state reactions as photoreactions.
Nov 19, 2020
Dynamical structure factors of quantum simulators
Physicists from Freie Universität Berlin and Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB) has shown a way to simulate the quantum physical properties of complex solid state systems - a method that can be studied experimentally. The research team led by Professor Jens Eisert demonstrated that the measurements of dynamic structure factors in quantum simulators provides a useful tool to assess time-dependent quantities of key importance in condensed-matter physics and further place quantum simulators into the realm of quantum technological devices.
Nov 02, 2020
Physics of Virus Transmission by Speaking Droplets
Theoretical investigation on physics of virus transmission by speaking droplets indicates that mouth coverings can help contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sep 25, 2020
Magnetization Dynamics of Rare-Earth Metals
Physicists of the Collaborative Research Centre 227 "Ultrafast Spin Dynamics" have gained deeper insights into magnetization dynamics in materials with strong magnetic anisotropy. In complex experiments and computer simulations, scientists compared the rare-earth metals gadolinium (Gd) and terbium (Tb) and could demonstrate a new mechanism that leads to demagnetization.
Sep 25, 2020
Easing the Monte Carlo sign problem
Quantum physicists at the Freien Universität and the Helmholtz-Zentrum (HZB) developed a method to calculate quantum materials more quickly. The mathematical tool is a feasible and promising means to reduce the sign problem of the quantum Monte Carlo method.
Aug 17, 2020
Strongest Coupling of Light and Matter by Synthetic Gold Crystals
Research teams led by physics professor Stephanie Reich of Freie Universität Berlin showed that crystals of tiny gold spheres bind light. The new material shows the strongest coupling to light reported so far. In future, it can be used for computers that operate with light. The findings of the research were published in the most recent issue of Nature .
Jul 30, 2020
Physics student Miad Mansouri awarded DAAD prize
Miad Mansouri, a physics student at Freie Universität Berlin, has been awarded one of this year's DAAD prizes for outstanding foreign students at German universities.
Jul 17, 2020
Physics Study Award 2020 for graduates Daniel Vajner and Paul Fährmann
Our graduates Daniel Vajner and Paul Fährmann received the Physics Study Award of the Physical Society of Berlin for their outstanding master's projects.
Jul 10, 2020
Professor Cecilia Clementi starts her work at Freie Universität
Professor Cecilia Clementi, an expert in the field of computer simulation of biomolecules, has started her research and teaching work at the Department of Physics in June 2020. The renowned physicist moved from William Marsh Rice University in the U.S. to the Freie Universität Berlin with funding from the Einstein Foundation Berlin.
Jun 05, 2020
Quantum Certification and Benchmarking
Scientists from the Dahlem Center for Complex Quantum Systems of Freie Universität Berlin and the Sorbonne Paris developed a framework for certification and benchmarking of quantum technologies. They published a brief overview of the existing characterization methods of certification and benchmarking in the journal Nature Reviews Physics.
Jun 03, 2020
How is a nerve impulse generated?
Biophysicists resolve light-induced structural changes of a sodium pump at highest temporal and spatial precision. In collaboration with colleagues from Switzerland and Israel, scientists of the Collaborative Research Center "Protonation Dynamics in Protein Function" (SFB 1078) have succeeded in recording a sodium pump during its action.
May 22, 2020
Phage capsid against influenza: perfectly fitting inhibitor prevents viral infection
Biophysicists from Freie Universität participate in groundbreaking influenza research. A new approach brings the hope of new therapeutic options for suppressing seasonal influenza and avian flu: On the basis of an empty – and therefore non-infectious – shell of a phage virus, researchers from Berlin have developed a chemically modified phage capsid that “stifles” influenza viruses.
Mar 31, 2020
Phase Protection of Fano-Feshbach Resonances
The research team led by Professor Christiane Koch has shown by means of basic quantum mechanical concepts that an interference effect can dominate the decay process of quantum states.
Feb 24, 2020