Researchers have built a camera-like device for understanding how vortices form in quantum liquids, where atoms pair up and start to behave like overlapping waves

Physics 20 May 2022

The camera set-up. The copper part is where the 25 cavities sit (see main story)

Theo Noble

Vortices that form in quantum liquids can now be studied with a camera that uses particle-like disturbances to take images instead of light. Normal cameras can’t capture these whirlpools, so the device may lead to a more detailed understanding of how they form.

Swirl a spoon in a cup of tea and you can easily create a vortex. But researchers have long struggled to predict exactly how these tiny tornadoes form or how they …