…explores uncharted territory in search of new physics. Scientists working on Fermilab’s Muon g-2 experiment released the world’s most precise measurement yet of the magnetic moment of the muon, bringing particle physics closer to the ultimate showdown between theory and experiment that may uncover new particles or forces. Physicists now have a brand-new measurement of a property of the muon called the anomalous magnetic moment that improves the precision of their previous result by a factor of 2. An international…
Chip manufacturing, gravitational wave detectors and quantum computers could all benefit from better ways to measure a vacuum. A vacuum chamber is never perfectly empty. A small number of atoms or molecules always remain, and measuring the tiny pressures they exert is critical. For instance, semiconductor manufacturers create microchips in vacuum chambers that must be almost entirely devoid of atomic and molecular contaminants, and so they need to monitor the gas pressure in the chamber to ensure that the contaminant…
A classic movie was once promoted with the punchline: ”In space, no one can hear you scream”. Physicists Zhuoran Geng and Ilari Maasilta from the Nanoscience Center at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, have demonstrated, on the contrary, that in certain situations sound can be transmitted strongly across a vacuum region! In a recent publication they show that in some cases a sound wave can jump or “tunnel” fully across a vacuum gap between two solids if the materials in…
Dr. Jaeyeon Pyo’s team at KERI developed a method for printing structural colors through nanoscale 3D printing of diffraction gratings, selected as a cover article for ACS Nano. The world’s first 3D printing technology that can be used in transparent displays and AR devices has been developed, which implements the physical phenomenon of chameleon’s changing skin color or peacock’s beautiful feather color. Dr. Jaeyeon Pyo’s team at KERI has succeeded in realizing a three-dimensional diffraction grating that can precisely control…
Physical Review Letters published the new theoretical framework. Physicists have identified a mechanism for the formation of oscillating superconductivity known as pair-density waves. Physical Review Letters published the discovery, which provides new insight into an unconventional, high-temperature superconductive state seen in certain materials, including high-temperature superconductors. “We discovered that structures known as Van Hove singularities can produce modulating, oscillating states of superconductivity,” says Luiz Santos, assistant professor of physics at Emory University and senior author of the study. “Our work…
Machine learning for customised particle beams. A team of researchers has been using machine learning to teach a compact particle accelerator to produce customised beams for a number of different applications. This technique expands the conceivable range of applications for so-called laser-plasma accelerators, innovative compact next-generation accelerators that are currently under development. The scientists led by DESY researcher Sören Jalas are presenting their technique in the journal Physical Review Accelerators and Beams. Particle accelerators are used in many different applications,…
Groups report evidence that the cosmos is filled with a background of gravitational waves likely due to mergers of supermassive black hole binaries. The universe is humming with gravitational radiation — a very low-frequency rumble that rhythmically stretches and compresses spacetime and the matter embedded in it. That is the conclusion of several groups of researchers from around the world who simultaneously published a slew of journal articles in June describing more than 15 years of observations of millisecond pulsars within…
New observations and simulations of three spiral arms of gas feeding material to three protostars forming in a trinary system have clarified the formation of multi-star systems. Most stars with a mass similar to the Sun form in multi-star systems together with other stars. So an understanding of multi-star system formation is important to an overall theory of star formation. However, the complexity and lack of high-resolution, high-sensitivity data left astronomers uncertain about the formation scenario. In particular, recent observations…
Scientists at TU Wien (Vienna) succeeded in keeping a rather unstable system consisting of many particles stable and then releasing its energy all at once. Very special diamonds are being experimented on at TU Wien (Vienna): Their crystal lattice is not perfectly regular; it contains numerous defects. In places where one would usually expect two neighboring carbon atoms, there is one nitrogen atom and an empty place without any atom. Microwaves can be used to switch these defects between two…
Employing state-of-the-art numerical simulations, a study led by scientists at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) has obtained the first systematic characterization of the properties of stellar winds in a sample of cool stars. They found that stars with stronger magnetic fields produce more powerful winds. These winds create unfavourable conditions for the survival of planetary atmospheres, thus affecting the possible habitability of these systems. The Sun is among the most abundant stars in the universe known as “cool…
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has recorded breath-taking new images of the iconic Ring Nebula, also known as Messier 57. The images, released today by an international team of astronomers led by Professor Mike Barlow (UCL, UK) and Dr Nick Cox (ACRI-ST, France), with Professor Albert Zijlstra of The University of Manchester, showcase the nebula’s intricate and ethereal beauty in unprecedented detail, providing scientists and the public with a mesmerizing view of this celestial wonder. For many sky enthusiasts,…
Discovery inspired by experiments of Einstein and de Haas. A common metal paper clip will stick to a magnet. Scientists classify such iron-containing materials as ferromagnets. A little over a century ago, physicists Albert Einstein and Wander de Haas reported a surprising effect with a ferromagnet. If you suspend an iron cylinder from a wire and expose it to a magnetic field, it will start rotating if you simply reverse the direction of the magnetic field. “Einstein and de Haas’s…
New method improves proton acceleration with high power laser. Bringing protons up to speed with strong laser pulses – this still young concept promises many advantages over conventional accelerators. For instance, it seems possible to build much more compact facilities. Prototypes to date, however, in which laser pulses are fired at ultra-thin metal foils, show weaknesses – especially in the frequency with which they can accelerate protons. At the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), an international working group has tested a new…
Researchers observe an effect in the quantum world that does not exist in the macrocosm. Many substances change their properties when they are cooled below a certain critical temperature. Such a phase transition occurs, for example, when water freezes. However, in certain metals there are phase transitions that do not exist in the macrocosm. They arise because of the special laws of quantum mechanics that apply in the realm of nature’s smallest building blocks. It is thought that the concept…
Topology plays an enormous role in modern condensed matter physics and beyond. It describes how solid materials can combine two very different and somewhat contradictory properties – for example, topological insulators are materials whose bulk acts as an insulator, but whose surfaces and edges can conduct electricity nonetheless. In the last few decades, the concept of topology has changed the way scientists think of electronic structure and material properties altogether. Moreover, it has paved the way towards technological applications that…
They are mysterious, exciting and inescapable – black holes are some of the most exotic objects in the Universe. With gravitational-wave detectors, it is possible to detect the chirp sound that two black holes produce when they merge, approximately 70 such chirps have been found so far. A team of researchers at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) now predicts that in this “ocean of voices” chirps preferentially occur in two universal frequency ranges. The study has been published…
Feedback
