Graduate Program in Physics at UFSC, Florianópolis

Participants of the 1st KMOS VVVX–GalCen Spectroscopic Survey Workshop, held in December 2025 at the Institute of Astrophysics of Universidad Andrés Bello (Chile). The meeting brought together the scientific team involved in the VVV/VVVX surveys and in planning the new spectroscopic survey with the KMOS instrument at the Very Large Telescope (VLT). Credit: Dante Minniti

Astronomers began this week the first observations of a new large international survey called KMOS VVVX-GalCen Spectroscopic Survey, which will investigate tens of thousands of objects in the central region of the Milky Way. The project includes the participation of researcher Roberto K. Saito, professor at the Department of Physics at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), the only Brazilian institution present in the main survey team.

The observations are carried out at the Very Large Telescope (VLT), one of the most advanced optical observatories in the world, located at the Cerro Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert, northern Chile. The telescope is operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

The KMOS VVVX-GalCen is the first major spectroscopic survey led from Chile, and it was selected by ESO as one of only two large programs that will use the KMOS (K-band Multi Object Spectrograph) instrument over the next three years. In total, the project received 140 nights of observation, which corresponds to a scientific investment estimated at about 8 million dollars in telescope time.

The project is led by astronomers Matías Gómez, from Universidad Andrés Bello (Chile), and Francisco Nogueras-Lara, from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalucía (Spain). Saito is part of the central group of researchers in the survey and is responsible for one of the scientific areas of the project.

“The first night of observations at Paranal was monitored remotely and went smoothly. Now begins the stage of analyzing the first spectra,” explains the researcher.

The observed targets were selected from two previous highly successful surveys: the VVV/VVVX, which mapped much of the Milky Way in infrared light over the past decade, and GALACTICNUCLEUS, a high-resolution survey of the innermost regions of our galaxy. The new survey will obtain spectra, a technique that allows decomposing the light of celestial objects and revealing properties such as chemical composition, temperature, and velocity.

Among the main scientific objectives are the study of rogue planets that wander freely through space, star clusters hidden by galactic dust, star-forming regions, and distant galaxies concealed behind the plane of the Milky Way. In the future, the survey is also expected to include spectroscopic observations of objects identified by the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), expanding the scientific possibilities of the project.

Learn more on the project website.

Mice tested in the study were able to create mental maps without using visual references. Photo: Reproduction/Getty Images

Have you ever tried walking in the dark and, even without seeing, managed to find your way? This happens because the human brain is capable of calculating where we are based on our own movements, without relying on visual reference points like signs or buildings.

A study led by Professor Maurício Girardi-Schappo from the Neurophysics Lab, from the Department of Physics at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), revealed through experimental tests that, like humans, mice are capable of creating mental maps without using visual references.

According to the international biology journal eLife, where the research was published in November 2024, the documentation of animals’ ability to build cognitive maps is “something rarely, if ever, reported outside the literature on human beings.” The journal also classified the work as “fundamental” for the advancement of fields such as biology, neuroscience, and cognitive psychology.

The study was developed in collaboration with researchers Leonard Maler, André Longtin, and Jean-Claude Béïque, and with doctoral student Jiayun Xu from the Center for Neural Dynamics and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Ottawa, in Canada.

According to Professor Schappo, the discovery contributes to breaking the premise that humans occupy a “privileged position” both within the universe and among different animal species. “For centuries, science has been deconstructing this idea, but in recent decades we’ve begun to have better tools to dismantle it,” he says.

Learn more.

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O Prof. Dr. Jorge Massayuki Kondo, docente permanente do programa de Pós-Graduação em Física da UFSC, publicou recentemente um artigo de grande impacto na renomada revista “Physical Review A”. O PPGFSC parabeniza o professor Jorge Massayuki Kondo pela relevante contribuição. Abaixo, segue um resumo do texto “Átomos gigantes podem ser a base de sensores quânticos mais refinados” de Danilo Albergaria, da Revista Pesquisa FAPESP.

Um estudo conduzido por físicos brasileiros trouxe evidências de uma possível interação quântica inédita que pode estar envolvida na formação dos átomos de Rydberg, versões superexcitadas e ampliadas dos átomos comuns. Esses átomos, que podem ser até mil vezes maiores que os convencionais, possuem elétrons externos altamente sensíveis a campos elétricos e magnéticos, tornando-se promissores para o desenvolvimento de sensores avançados em tecnologias quânticas, como computação e telecomunicações. A pesquisa sugere que um único fóton pode transferir energia para mais de um átomo simultaneamente, um fenômeno que desafia a visão clássica das interações eletromagnéticas.

Nos experimentos realizados no Instituto de Física de São Carlos da USP, átomos de rubídio foram submetidos a um feixe de laser e a um campo de micro-ondas dentro de uma cavidade a vácuo. O laser resfriou os átomos até temperaturas próximas ao zero absoluto, reduzindo seu movimento e permitindo que parte deles fosse aprisionada em uma região específica. À medida que os átomos absorviam energia e transitavam para o estado de Rydberg, deixavam uma assinatura espectral que foi registrada e analisada. Os pesquisadores, em colaboração com físicos estrangeiros, adaptaram um modelo teórico para descrever esse processo, confirmando que os átomos e o campo eletromagnético formavam uma excitação coletiva, um estado quanticamente emaranhado.

Os átomos de Rydberg são conhecidos desde o século XIX e vêm sendo estudados em laboratório desde os anos 1970, com avanços significativos a partir da década de 1980. Sua alta sensibilidade os tornou fundamentais para o desenvolvimento de dispositivos quânticos, como emissores e receptores de comunicação avançada. Empresas como a Rydberg Technologies já exploram suas propriedades para criar novas tecnologias baseadas na manipulação quântica desses átomos. O estudo liderado pelo Prof. Dr. Jorge Massayuki Kondo reforça a importância dessas pesquisas e sugere que os efeitos extremos observados podem levar à criação de sensores ainda mais sofisticados para aplicações científicas e industriais.

Artigo científico KONDO, J.D. M. et al. Multiphoton-dressed Rydberg excitations in a microwave cavity with ultracold Rb atoms. Physical Review A. 2 dez. 2024

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