This calculated diffraction image shows how forked diffraction gratings shape the atoms' wave function into a vortex. (Courtesy: Science/AAAS) A wave-like property previously only seen in beams of ...

University of Chicago physicists have succeeded in creating a vortex knot—a feat akin to tying a smoke ring into a knot. Linked and knotted vortex loops have existed in theory for more than a century, ...

Turbulent ball: William Irvine, Takumi Matsuzawa and colleagues have used this apparatus to track turbulence with lasers and high-speed cameras. (Courtesy: Takumi Matsuzawa) Researchers in the US have ...

Charybdis was a maiden-turned-giant whirlpool in “The Odyssey” who sucked ships down to their deaths. Sounds tragically unscientific, but this ancient Greek epic got one thing right – how vortex ...

Vortex arrays in type-II superconductors reflect the translational symmetry of an infinite system. There are cases, however, such as ultracold trapped Fermi gases and the crust of neutron stars, where ...

Video: Thousands of computer processors working together are needed to produce these detailed simulations of turbulent vortices. State-of-the-art computer graphic systems developed for movies and ...

Here you see the good folks on QI shooting smoke rings across the room. Why does a donut-shaped cloud come out of a circular opening? Why are smokers able to blow smoke rings, even when they’re not ...

Kleckner and William Irvine, assistant professor in physics, report their findings on the creation and dynamics of vortex rings in Nature Physics, published online on March 3. Their work relates to ...

University of Chicago physicists have succeeded in creating a vortex knot—a feat akin to tying a smoke ring into a knot. Linked and knotted vortex loops have existed in theory for more than a century, ...