[{"article_processing_charge":"Yes","title":"One-milligram torsional pendulum toward experiments at the quantum-gravity interface","arxiv":1,"publication_identifier":{"eissn":["2399-3650"]},"user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","PlanS_conform":"1","department":[{"_id":"GradSch"},{"_id":"OnHo"}],"OA_type":"gold","publication_status":"published","year":"2026","publisher":"Springer Nature","day":"04","external_id":{"arxiv":["2408.09445"]},"oa":1,"type":"journal_article","quality_controlled":"1","project":[{"_id":"bdb2a702-d553-11ed-ba76-f12e3e5a3bc6","name":"A quantum hybrid of atoms and milligram-scale pendulums: towards gravitational quantum mechanics","grant_number":"101087907"}],"date_created":"2025-12-21T11:39:04Z","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"file_date_updated":"2026-03-16T10:07:46Z","OA_place":"publisher","DOAJ_listed":"1","article_type":"original","_id":"20840","scopus_import":"1","oa_version":"Published Version","doi":"10.1038/s42005-026-02514-w","month":"03","volume":9,"acknowledgement":"We thank Gerard Higgins, Andrei Militaru, Nikolai Kiesel, and Markus Aspelmeyer for useful discussions on the topic of the figure-of-merit. We thank Teodor Strömberg for helping with the additional characterizations of the optical lever noise. We thank Johannes Fink and Scott Waitukaitis for their helpful feedback on the manuscript. This work was supported by Institute of Science and Technology Austria and the European Research Council under Grant No. 101087907 (ERC CoG QuHAMP).","ddc":["530"],"article_number":"80","file":[{"relation":"main_file","checksum":"62e2175e7e3ad49260ae6a7b4e0860a2","date_updated":"2026-03-16T10:07:46Z","creator":"dernst","date_created":"2026-03-16T10:07:46Z","access_level":"open_access","file_size":1901772,"content_type":"application/pdf","file_name":"2026_CommunicationsPhysics_Agafonova.pdf","success":1,"file_id":"21457"}],"status":"public","author":[{"full_name":"Agafonova, Sofya","id":"09501ff6-dca7-11ea-a8ae-b3e0b9166e80","first_name":"Sofya","last_name":"Agafonova","orcid":"0000-0003-0582-2946"},{"full_name":"Rosello, Pere","first_name":"Pere","last_name":"Rosello"},{"first_name":"Manuel","last_name":"Mekonnen","full_name":"Mekonnen, Manuel"},{"full_name":"Hosten, Onur","id":"4C02D85E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","first_name":"Onur","orcid":"0000-0002-2031-204X","last_name":"Hosten"}],"publication":"Communications Physics","intvolume":"         9","date_updated":"2026-03-16T10:09:22Z","date_published":"2026-03-04T00:00:00Z","tmp":{"short":"CC BY (4.0)","name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)","image":"/images/cc_by.png","legal_code_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode"},"related_material":{"record":[{"id":"20842","relation":"research_data","status":"public"}]},"abstract":[{"text":"Probing the possibility of entanglement generation through gravity offers a path to tackle the question of whether gravitational fields possess a quantum mechanical nature. A potential realization necessitates systems with low-frequency dynamics at an optimal mass scale, for which the microgram-to-milligram range is a strong contender. Here, after refining a figure-of-merit for the problem, we present a 1-milligram torsional pendulum operating at 18 Hz. We demonstrate laser cooling its motion from room temperature to 240 microkelvins, surpassing by over 20-fold the coldest motions attained for oscillators ranging from micrograms to kilograms. We quantify and contrast the utility of the current approach with other platforms. The achieved performance and large improvement potential highlight milligram-scale torsional pendulums as a powerful platform for precision measurements relevant to future studies at the quantum-gravity interface.","lang":"eng"}],"citation":{"ista":"Agafonova S, Rosello P, Mekonnen M, Hosten O. 2026. One-milligram torsional pendulum toward experiments at the quantum-gravity interface. Communications Physics. 9, 80.","ama":"Agafonova S, Rosello P, Mekonnen M, Hosten O. One-milligram torsional pendulum toward experiments at the quantum-gravity interface. <i>Communications Physics</i>. 2026;9. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-026-02514-w\">10.1038/s42005-026-02514-w</a>","chicago":"Agafonova, Sofia, Pere Rosello, Manuel Mekonnen, and Onur Hosten. “One-Milligram Torsional Pendulum toward Experiments at the Quantum-Gravity Interface.” <i>Communications Physics</i>. Springer Nature, 2026. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-026-02514-w\">https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-026-02514-w</a>.","mla":"Agafonova, Sofia, et al. “One-Milligram Torsional Pendulum toward Experiments at the Quantum-Gravity Interface.” <i>Communications Physics</i>, vol. 9, 80, Springer Nature, 2026, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-026-02514-w\">10.1038/s42005-026-02514-w</a>.","ieee":"S. Agafonova, P. Rosello, M. Mekonnen, and O. Hosten, “One-milligram torsional pendulum toward experiments at the quantum-gravity interface,” <i>Communications Physics</i>, vol. 9. Springer Nature, 2026.","short":"S. Agafonova, P. Rosello, M. Mekonnen, O. Hosten, Communications Physics 9 (2026).","apa":"Agafonova, S., Rosello, P., Mekonnen, M., &#38; Hosten, O. (2026). One-milligram torsional pendulum toward experiments at the quantum-gravity interface. <i>Communications Physics</i>. Springer Nature. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-026-02514-w\">https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-026-02514-w</a>"},"corr_author":"1","has_accepted_license":"1"},{"abstract":[{"lang":"eng","text":"Optical computing often employs tailor-made hardware to implement specific algorithms, trading generality for improved performance in key aspects like speed and power efficiency. An important computing approach that is still missing its corresponding optical hardware is probabilistic computing, used e.g. for solving difficult combinatorial optimization problems. In this study, we propose an experimentally viable photonic approach to solve arbitrary probabilistic computing problems. Our method relies on the insight that coherent Ising machines composed of coupled and biased optical parametric oscillators can emulate stochastic logic. We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach by using numerical simulations equivalent to the full density matrix formulation of coupled optical parametric oscillators."}],"citation":{"chicago":"Horodynski, Michael, Charles Roques-Carmes, Yannick Salamin, Seou Choi, Jamison Sloan, Di Luo, and Marin Soljačić. “Stochastic Logic in Biased Coupled Photonic Probabilistic Bits.” <i>Communications Physics</i>. Springer Nature, 2025. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-01953-1\">https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-01953-1</a>.","ama":"Horodynski M, Roques-Carmes C, Salamin Y, et al. Stochastic logic in biased coupled photonic probabilistic bits. <i>Communications Physics</i>. 2025;8. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-01953-1\">10.1038/s42005-025-01953-1</a>","apa":"Horodynski, M., Roques-Carmes, C., Salamin, Y., Choi, S., Sloan, J., Luo, D., &#38; Soljačić, M. (2025). Stochastic logic in biased coupled photonic probabilistic bits. <i>Communications Physics</i>. Springer Nature. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-01953-1\">https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-01953-1</a>","mla":"Horodynski, Michael, et al. “Stochastic Logic in Biased Coupled Photonic Probabilistic Bits.” <i>Communications Physics</i>, vol. 8, 31, Springer Nature, 2025, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-01953-1\">10.1038/s42005-025-01953-1</a>.","ieee":"M. Horodynski <i>et al.</i>, “Stochastic logic in biased coupled photonic probabilistic bits,” <i>Communications Physics</i>, vol. 8. Springer Nature, 2025.","short":"M. Horodynski, C. Roques-Carmes, Y. Salamin, S. Choi, J. Sloan, D. Luo, M. Soljačić, Communications Physics 8 (2025).","ista":"Horodynski M, Roques-Carmes C, Salamin Y, Choi S, Sloan J, Luo D, Soljačić M. 2025. Stochastic logic in biased coupled photonic probabilistic bits. Communications Physics. 8, 31."},"tmp":{"short":"CC BY (4.0)","name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)","image":"/images/cc_by.png","legal_code_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode"},"date_published":"2025-02-20T00:00:00Z","date_updated":"2026-04-27T08:43:22Z","extern":"1","intvolume":"         8","publication":"Communications Physics","author":[{"full_name":"Horodynski, Michael","last_name":"Horodynski","first_name":"Michael"},{"first_name":"Charles","last_name":"Roques-Carmes","id":"e2e68fc9-6505-11ef-a541-eb4e72cc3e82","full_name":"Roques-Carmes, Charles"},{"first_name":"Yannick","last_name":"Salamin","full_name":"Salamin, Yannick"},{"first_name":"Seou","last_name":"Choi","full_name":"Choi, Seou"},{"full_name":"Sloan, Jamison","first_name":"Jamison","last_name":"Sloan"},{"full_name":"Luo, Di","last_name":"Luo","first_name":"Di"},{"last_name":"Soljačić","first_name":"Marin","full_name":"Soljačić, Marin"}],"status":"public","ddc":["530"],"article_number":"31","volume":8,"month":"02","doi":"10.1038/s42005-025-01953-1","scopus_import":"1","oa_version":"Published Version","_id":"21550","article_type":"original","DOAJ_listed":"1","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"OA_place":"publisher","date_created":"2026-03-30T12:22:47Z","quality_controlled":"1","type":"journal_article","oa":1,"external_id":{"arxiv":["2406.04000"]},"day":"20","publisher":"Springer Nature","OA_type":"gold","year":"2025","publication_status":"published","main_file_link":[{"open_access":"1","url":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-01953-1"}],"user_id":"ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd","publication_identifier":{"eissn":["2399-3650"]},"arxiv":1,"title":"Stochastic logic in biased coupled photonic probabilistic bits","article_processing_charge":"No"},{"department":[{"_id":"MiLe"}],"publisher":"Springer Nature","publication_status":"published","year":"2021","oa":1,"external_id":{"arxiv":["2101.02020"],"isi":["000722867600002"]},"day":"26","type":"journal_article","title":"Generation of spin currents by a temperature gradient in a two-terminal device","article_processing_charge":"No","arxiv":1,"user_id":"ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd","publication_identifier":{"eissn":["2399-3650"]},"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"file_date_updated":"2021-12-06T14:53:41Z","article_type":"original","scopus_import":"1","oa_version":"Published Version","_id":"10401","doi":"10.1038/s42005-021-00753-7","quality_controlled":"1","project":[{"name":"ISTplus - Postdoctoral Fellowships","_id":"260C2330-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425","call_identifier":"H2020","grant_number":"754411"}],"isi":1,"date_created":"2021-12-05T23:01:39Z","author":[{"last_name":"Barfknecht","first_name":"Rafael E.","full_name":"Barfknecht, Rafael E."},{"last_name":"Foerster","first_name":"Angela","full_name":"Foerster, Angela"},{"last_name":"Zinner","first_name":"Nikolaj T.","full_name":"Zinner, Nikolaj T."},{"first_name":"Artem","last_name":"Volosniev","orcid":"0000-0003-0393-5525","id":"37D278BC-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","full_name":"Volosniev, Artem"}],"status":"public","issue":"1","publication":"Communications Physics","month":"11","article_number":"252","ddc":["530"],"ec_funded":1,"acknowledgement":"The authors acknowledge support from the European QuantERA ERA-NET Cofund in Quantum Technologies (Project QTFLAG Grant Agreement No. 731473) (R.E.B), CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico) Brazil (A.F.), the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 754411 (A.G.V.), the Independent Research Fund Denmark, the Carlsberg Foundation, and Aarhus University Research Foundation under the Jens Christian Skou fellowship program (N.T.Z).","volume":4,"file":[{"file_size":1068984,"content_type":"application/pdf","success":1,"file_name":"2021_NatComm_Barfknecht.pdf","file_id":"10420","relation":"main_file","checksum":"9097319952cb9a3d96e7fd3aa9813a03","creator":"alisjak","date_updated":"2021-12-06T14:53:41Z","date_created":"2021-12-06T14:53:41Z","access_level":"open_access"}],"date_published":"2021-11-26T00:00:00Z","tmp":{"short":"CC BY (4.0)","name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)","image":"/images/cc_by.png","legal_code_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode"},"abstract":[{"text":"Theoretical and experimental studies of the interaction between spins and temperature are vital for the development of spin caloritronics, as they dictate the design of future devices. In this work, we propose a two-terminal cold-atom simulator to study that interaction. The proposed quantum simulator consists of strongly interacting atoms that occupy two temperature reservoirs connected by a one-dimensional link. First, we argue that the dynamics in the link can be described using an inhomogeneous Heisenberg spin chain whose couplings are defined by the local temperature. Second, we show the existence of a spin current in a system with a temperature difference by studying the dynamics that follows the spin-flip of an atom in the link. A temperature gradient accelerates the impurity in one direction more than in the other, leading to an overall spin current similar to the spin Seebeck effect.","lang":"eng"}],"citation":{"chicago":"Barfknecht, Rafael E., Angela Foerster, Nikolaj T. Zinner, and Artem Volosniev. “Generation of Spin Currents by a Temperature Gradient in a Two-Terminal Device.” <i>Communications Physics</i>. Springer Nature, 2021. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-021-00753-7\">https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-021-00753-7</a>.","ama":"Barfknecht RE, Foerster A, Zinner NT, Volosniev A. Generation of spin currents by a temperature gradient in a two-terminal device. <i>Communications Physics</i>. 2021;4(1). doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-021-00753-7\">10.1038/s42005-021-00753-7</a>","apa":"Barfknecht, R. E., Foerster, A., Zinner, N. T., &#38; Volosniev, A. (2021). Generation of spin currents by a temperature gradient in a two-terminal device. <i>Communications Physics</i>. Springer Nature. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-021-00753-7\">https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-021-00753-7</a>","ieee":"R. E. Barfknecht, A. Foerster, N. T. Zinner, and A. Volosniev, “Generation of spin currents by a temperature gradient in a two-terminal device,” <i>Communications Physics</i>, vol. 4, no. 1. Springer Nature, 2021.","mla":"Barfknecht, Rafael E., et al. “Generation of Spin Currents by a Temperature Gradient in a Two-Terminal Device.” <i>Communications Physics</i>, vol. 4, no. 1, 252, Springer Nature, 2021, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-021-00753-7\">10.1038/s42005-021-00753-7</a>.","short":"R.E. Barfknecht, A. Foerster, N.T. Zinner, A. Volosniev, Communications Physics 4 (2021).","ista":"Barfknecht RE, Foerster A, Zinner NT, Volosniev A. 2021. Generation of spin currents by a temperature gradient in a two-terminal device. Communications Physics. 4(1), 252."},"has_accepted_license":"1","intvolume":"         4","date_updated":"2026-04-02T14:05:00Z"},{"intvolume":"         3","date_updated":"2026-04-02T14:34:21Z","date_published":"2020-06-19T00:00:00Z","tmp":{"short":"CC BY (4.0)","name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)","image":"/images/cc_by.png","legal_code_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode"},"abstract":[{"lang":"eng","text":"When tiny soft ferromagnetic particles are placed along a liquid interface and exposed to a vertical magnetic field, the balance between capillary attraction and magnetic repulsion leads to self-organization into well-defined patterns. Here, we demonstrate experimentally that precessing magnetic fields induce metachronal waves on the periphery of these assemblies, similar to the ones observed in ciliates and some arthropods. The outermost layer of particles behaves like an array of cilia or legs whose sequential movement causes a net and controllable locomotion. This bioinspired many-particle swimming strategy is effective even at low Reynolds number, using only spatially uniform fields to generate the waves."}],"citation":{"ista":"Collard Y, Grosjean GM, Vandewalle N. 2020. Magnetically powered metachronal waves induce locomotion in self-assemblies. Communications Physics. 3, 112.","apa":"Collard, Y., Grosjean, G. M., &#38; Vandewalle, N. (2020). Magnetically powered metachronal waves induce locomotion in self-assemblies. <i>Communications Physics</i>. Springer Nature. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-020-0380-9\">https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-020-0380-9</a>","mla":"Collard, Ylona, et al. “Magnetically Powered Metachronal Waves Induce Locomotion in Self-Assemblies.” <i>Communications Physics</i>, vol. 3, 112, Springer Nature, 2020, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-020-0380-9\">10.1038/s42005-020-0380-9</a>.","ieee":"Y. Collard, G. M. Grosjean, and N. Vandewalle, “Magnetically powered metachronal waves induce locomotion in self-assemblies,” <i>Communications Physics</i>, vol. 3. Springer Nature, 2020.","short":"Y. Collard, G.M. Grosjean, N. Vandewalle, Communications Physics 3 (2020).","chicago":"Collard, Ylona, Galien M Grosjean, and Nicolas Vandewalle. “Magnetically Powered Metachronal Waves Induce Locomotion in Self-Assemblies.” <i>Communications Physics</i>. Springer Nature, 2020. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-020-0380-9\">https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-020-0380-9</a>.","ama":"Collard Y, Grosjean GM, Vandewalle N. Magnetically powered metachronal waves induce locomotion in self-assemblies. <i>Communications Physics</i>. 2020;3. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-020-0380-9\">10.1038/s42005-020-0380-9</a>"},"has_accepted_license":"1","month":"06","ec_funded":1,"volume":3,"ddc":["530"],"article_number":"112","file":[{"file_name":"2020_CommunicationsPhysics_Collard.pdf","file_id":"8045","file_size":1907821,"content_type":"application/pdf","creator":"cziletti","date_updated":"2020-07-14T12:48:08Z","date_created":"2020-06-29T13:21:24Z","access_level":"open_access","relation":"main_file","checksum":"ed984f7a393f19140b5279a54a3336ad"}],"status":"public","author":[{"full_name":"Collard, Ylona","first_name":"Ylona","last_name":"Collard"},{"last_name":"Grosjean","orcid":"0000-0001-5154-417X","first_name":"Galien M","full_name":"Grosjean, Galien M","id":"0C5FDA4A-9CF6-11E9-8939-FF05E6697425"},{"last_name":"Vandewalle","first_name":"Nicolas","full_name":"Vandewalle, Nicolas"}],"publication":"Communications Physics","quality_controlled":"1","project":[{"grant_number":"754411","call_identifier":"H2020","_id":"260C2330-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425","name":"ISTplus - Postdoctoral Fellowships"}],"isi":1,"date_created":"2020-06-29T07:59:35Z","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"file_date_updated":"2020-07-14T12:48:08Z","article_type":"original","_id":"8036","scopus_import":"1","oa_version":"Published Version","doi":"10.1038/s42005-020-0380-9","article_processing_charge":"No","title":"Magnetically powered metachronal waves induce locomotion in self-assemblies","publication_identifier":{"eissn":["2399-3650"]},"user_id":"ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd","department":[{"_id":"ScWa"}],"publication_status":"published","year":"2020","publisher":"Springer Nature","external_id":{"isi":["000543328000002"]},"day":"19","oa":1,"type":"journal_article"}]