The National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory and the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at MSU have solved a nuclear mystery thanks to collaboration between theorists and experimentalists — with an assist from Albert Einstein. A team of researchers, including scientists from the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) and the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University (MSU), have solved the case of zirconium-80’s missing mass. To be fair, they also broke the case. Experimentalists showed that zirconium-80 — a…
Researchers from Basel and Bochum have succeeded in addressing an apparently unattainable energy transition in an artificial atom using laser light. Making use of the so-called radiative Auger process, they were the first team to specifically excite it. In this process, an electron falls from a higher to a lower energy level and, as a result, emits its energy partly in the form of light and partly by transferring it to another electron. The artificial atoms are narrowly defined areas…
By combining two-dimensional materials, researchers create a macroscopic quantum entangled state emulating rare earth compounds. Physicists have created a new ultra-thin two-layer material with quantum properties that normally require rare earth compounds. This material, which is relatively easy to make and does not contain rare earth metals, could provide a new platform for quantum computing and advance research into unconventional superconductivity and quantum criticality. The researchers showed that by starting from seemingly common materials, a radically new quantum state of…
Crystals that convert light to more useful wavelengths. Solid-solution organic crystals have been brought into the quest for superior photon upconversion materials, which transform presently wasted long-wavelength light into more useful shorter wavelength light. Scientists from Tokyo Institute of Technology revisited a materials approach previously deemed lackluster—using a molecule originally developed for organic LEDs—achieving outstanding performance and efficiency. Their findings pave the way for many novel photonic technologies, such as better solar cells and photocatalysts for hydrogen and hydrocarbon productions….
Early-career nuclear physicists show that a better understanding of how neutrinos interact with matter is needed to make the most of upcoming experiments. Neutrinos may be the key to finally solving a mystery of the origins of our matter-dominated universe, and preparations for two major, billion-dollar experiments are underway to reveal the particles’ secrets. Now, a team of nuclear physicists have turned to the humble electron to provide insight for how these experiments can better prepare to capture critical information….
Our galaxy is not alone. Swirling around the Milky Way are several smaller, dwarf galaxies — the biggest of which are the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, visible in the night sky of the Southern Hemisphere. During their dance around the Milky Way over billions of years, the Magellanic Clouds’ gravity has ripped from each of them an enormous arc of gas — the Magellanic Stream. The stream helps tell the history of how the Milky Way and its closest…
The launch readiness date for the James Webb Space Telescope is moving to no earlier than Dec. 22 to allow for additional testing of the observatory, following a recent incident that occurred during Webb’s launch preparations. The incident occurred during operations at the satellite preparation facility in Kourou, French Guiana, performed under Arianespace overall responsibility. Technicians were preparing to attach Webb to the launch vehicle adapter, which is used to integrate the observatory with the upper stage of the Ariane…
Research team develops for the first time a light field that reflects the structure of four-dimensional space. Researchers have developed a method for structuring light in such a way that a projection from four-dimensional space is created. The results have now been published in the journal Nature Communications. Light is used for various purposes in nowadays applications. For example, data can be transmitted with light and nanoscopic structures can be created by light. To enable such applications, light must be…
Terahertz (THz, 1011~1013 Hz) related technology, with its superior spectral performance, has wide application potential in communication, security, sensing fields and so on. Its engineering applications highly depend on a variety of THz components. Recently, a collaborated team from Hefei Institutes of physical science (HFIPS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and University of Science and Technology (USTC) successfully developed a highly efficient magneto-tunable and phonon-based monochromatic THz generator with a frequency of ~0.9 THz by utilizing a 2D ferromagnetic Cr2Ge2Te6 crystal. “Benefiting from the bosonic…
Scientists at the University of Birmingham have succeeded in creating an experimental model of an elusive kind of fundamental particle called a skyrmion in a beam of light. The breakthrough provides physicists with a real system demonstrating the behaviour of skyrmions, first proposed 60 years ago by a University of Birmingham mathematical physicist, Professor Tony Skyrme. Skyrme’s idea used the structure of spheres in 4-dimensional space to guarantee the indivisible nature of a skyrmion particle in 3 dimensions. 3D particle-like…
As a kid, were you ever curious to know what lice looked like from really close by? Or even a mosquito? To do this you would definitely need to use a microscope, in order to observe all the complex structures of these insects. Invented more than 350 years ago and considered a ground breaking discovery, this instrument is now omnipresent in many fields of science. Chemists, biologists, clinicians, physicists, and even engineers rely on the capabilities of different types of…
FRM II research group develops new processing method for image data. Technology could not only improve the resolution of neutron measurements but could also reduce radiation exposure during x-ray imaging. An international research team at the Research Neutron Source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed a new imaging technology. In the future this technology could not only improve the resolution of neutron measurements by many times but could also reduce radiation exposure during…
Liquids containing ions or polar molecules are ubiquitous in many applications needed for green technologies such as energy storage, electrochemistry or catalysis. When such liquids are brought to an interface such as an electrode – or even confined in a porous material – they exhibit unexpected behavior that goes beyond the effects already known. Recent experiments have shown that the properties of the employed material, which can be insulating or metallic, strongly influence the thermodynamic and dynamic behavior of these…
… homogeneity leads to stability. Scientists from The University of Tokyo Institute of Industrial Science used computer simulations to study the aging mechanism that can cause an amorphous glassy material to turn into a crystal. They find that removing tiny irregularities in local densities help prevent the atomic “avalanches” that trigger ordered structure formation. This work may lead to more stable glassy materials, including for pharmaceutical applications. Glasses are highly unusual solids in that they lack an organized crystal structure….
Physicists from Exeter and Zaragoza have created a theory describing how non-reciprocity can be induced at the quantum level, paving the way for non-reciprocal transport in the next generation of nanotechnology. A pair of theoretical physicists, from the University of Exeter (United Kingdom) and the University of Zaragoza (Spain), have developed a quantum theory explaining how to engineer non-reciprocal flows of quantum light and matter. The research may be important for the creation of quantum technologies which require the directional…
A team of scientists has forecast the scientific impact of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s High Latitude Wide Area Survey on critical questions in cosmology. This observation program will consist of both imaging, which reveals the locations, shapes, sizes, and colors of objects like distant galaxies, and spectroscopy, which involves measuring the intensity of light from those objects at different wavelengths, across the same enormous swath of the universe. Scientists will be able to harness the power of a…
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