Press releases
The first "dormant" black hole outside our Galaxy
2022-07-19
An international group of astronomers with the participation of scientists from the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Warsaw discovered a “dormant” stellar- mass black hole in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighbor galaxy to our own. It is the first object of this type found outside the Milky Way. The discovery was made thanks to six years of spectroscopic observations obtained with the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Very Large Telescope (VLT) and nearly 20 years of photometric observations carried out as part of the Polish OGLE project with the Warsaw Telescope in Chile. | More
An isolated black hole roaming our Milky Way galaxy
2022-06-10
The Milky Way galaxy is expected to host over 100 million isolated black holes. Two independent teams of scientists, including astronomers from the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Warsaw, have for the first time discovered what may be a free-floating black hole. | More
The Faculty of Physics of the University of Warsaw will educate staff for the Polish nuclear sector
2022-04-29
Leading Polish universities – University of Warsaw and the Warsaw University of Technology in the presence of H.E. Frédéric Billet, Ambassador of France to Poland, have signed an agreement with France’s International Institute for Nuclear Energy (I2EN). | More
Physicists from the University of Warsaw co-created a microlaser emitting two circular beams
2022-03-23
Scientists from the University of Warsaw, the Military University of Technology and the University of Southampton presented a new type of tunable microlaser emitting two beams. – These beams are polarized circularly and directed at different angles – says Prof. Jacek Szczytko from the Faculty of Physics of the University of Warsaw. This achievement was obtained by creating the so-called a persistent-spin helix on the surface of the microcavity. The results have been published in "Physical Review Applied". | More
Colossal Black Holes Locked in Dance at Heart of Galaxy
2022-02-23
An international team of astronomers found evidence for a unique pair of supermassive black holes orbiting each other in the center of a quasar. Dr Przemysław Mróz from the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Warsaw is one of the co-authors of the study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. | More
A useful application for a quantum processor: the improvement of spectroscopy measurements
2022-02-11
Researchers from the University of Warsaw have built the first quantum processor in Poland and are putting it to use in spectroscopy. They’ve demonstrated how quantum information processing can efficiently provide information on matter hidden in light.
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Publication of physicists from the University of Warsaw in "Nature"
2021-12-15
Scientists from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw led by dr hab. Michał Tomza together with the experimental group of prof. Tobias Schaetz from the University of Freiburg were the first to observe Feshbach resonances between a single ion and ultracold atoms. The results of their work have been published in "Nature". The article was additionally highlighted on the journal's cover. | More
The optical Stern-Gerlach Deflection and Young’s experiment in the reciprocal space
2021-11-09
Scientists for the first time demonstrated Young's experiment for photons in the reciprocal space. Spin patterns corresponding to the persistent spin helix and the Stern-Gerlach experiment are realized in an optically anisotropic liquid crystal microcavity. By applying electric voltage across the microcavity, the liquid crystal molecules inside could be rotated in such a way that the light passing through the cavity was forced to change its internal state into right- and left-handed circular polarized components. | More
Lasing as a tool for detection of protein aggregates
2021-10-06
Scientists from the Laboratory of Ultrafast Processes at the Faculty of Physics of the University of Warsaw have developed a method that allows to detect small protein aggregates (oligomers), the presence of which in the nervous tissue and the cerebrospinal fluid may signal the early stages of neurodegenerative diseases such as the Alzheimer's or Parkinson's diseases. The method is based on the use of the phenomenon of stimulated emission to amplify the light emitted spontaneously by dye molecules associated with protein aggregates. A paper describing this research is promoted on the main cover of the September issue of ACS Photonics. | More
Non-linear effects in coupled optical microcavities
2021-07-28
Scientists from the Faculty of Physics of the University of Warsaw demonstrated exciton-polariton lasing and parametric scattering of exciton-polaritons in a system of coupled optical microcavities. The results have been published in the prestigious journal "Nanophotonics". Exciton-polaritons are quasiparticles formed by a strong coupling between excitons and photons in a semiconductor. Their bosonic nature and non-linear interactions allow the observation of fascinating phenomena such as Bose-Einstein condensation of polaritons and polariton lasing, which, unlike typical lasering, occurs without occupation inversion. | More