News

Exploring the Hubble Tension Problem with Phantom Dark Energy

Recently, the observed equation of state for dark energy appears to favor values below −1. The tendency implies that the nature of dark energy may be quite different from that of the cosmological constant. In view of this, the introduction of the phantom energy seems inevitable. By employing observational constraints from supernovae and from the acoustic scale in which the accuracy of the data has become extraordinary, the research team applied a phenomenological scenario to be acquainted with the evolution of our universe. The demonstration of the constrained unfolding of the phantom energy shows that the model has high consistency with the current observation, suggesting that if it is phantom dark energy that is causing the accelerating expansion of the universe instead of the cosmological constant, then the Hubble constant may be different from the recent observations, and the “Hubble tension” problem may not be as severe as expected.

Learning from an Early Childhood Chinese Immersion Program in the Heart of Texas

With support from the Ministry of Education, NTNU launched an overseas education internship program titled “Immersive Bilingual Education - American Kindergarten Education Internship” in Austin, Texas, this January.

From Spaghetti Towers to Lego Houses: Cross-Cultural Insights from a STEM/STEAM Workshop

Participants present results on final day of STEM/STEAM collaborative design workshop jointly organized by NTNU's College of Technology and Engineering and Department of Design at Kyushu University (KU) in Japan from March 5 to 8.

NTNU and TSMC Team Up to Build Taiwan's Semiconductor Workforce

TSMC has partnered with the NTNU College of Technology and Engineering to launch a Semiconductor certificate curriculum this semester that integrates relevant coursework with practical industry experience, fostering the development of skilled professionals for Taiwan's semiconductor sector.

A Revolutionary Discovery for Solar Cells

In the pursuit of cleaner energy, solar cells are expected to be widely applied in various fields; however, current solar cells are limited in their development due to the low conversion efficiency of light to electricity. To enhance the material's absorption of light, the research team altered the characteristics of light by utilizing twisted light. Photons of twisted light carry an orbital angular momentum. Additional orbital angular momentum is expected to induce more carrier transitions within the material, thereby increasing the material's light absorption and its photogenerated carrier concentration, elevating its potential for application in solar cells. The highlight of this experiment lies in using twisted light to enhance the light absorption of novel 2D material molybdenum disulfide. As the orbital angular momentum of light increments, the concentration of photo-induced carriers rises as well. Consequently, the larger photovoltaic effect in solar cells is enhanced. Based on the results of this experiment, twisted light has shown its potential to become a new approach to enhancing the efficiency of solar cells.