Precision Measurements Offer Clues to Magnetar's Cosmic Origin
An international team of astronomers have used a powerful array of radio telescopes to discover new insights about a magnetar that's only a few hundred years old. By capturing precise measurements of the magnetar's position and velocity, new clues emerge regarding its developmental path. When a relatively high-mass star collapses at the end of its life and explodes as a supernova, it can leave behind a superdense star called a neutron star.
Metalenses phase characterization by multi-distance phase retrieval
Metalens have gained significant attention for their unique functions and potential applications, and it is important to characterize the phase modulation of metalens. We present a phase characterization method of metalens based on field scanning. We extend our investigation to measure the phase distribution of the metalens operating in NIR and identify the impact of defects on phase. Additionally, we conduct a comparative analysis of the metalens in air and ethanol and observe the variations.
Heating for fusion: Why toast plasma when you can microwave it!
Can plasma be sufficiently heated inside a tokamak using only microwaves? New research suggests it can! Eliminating the central ohmic heating coil normally used in tokamaks will free up much-needed space for a more compact, efficient spherical tokamak.
Wayne State University professor receives NSF grant to study quantum tunneling
A Wayne State University professor recently received a three-year, $626,467 grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Physics. The project, "Probing Nonadiabatic Strong Field Ionization with Phase-Resolved Attoclock," will research a quantum mechanical process known as quantum tunneling.
In Neutrinos, Quantum Entanglement Leads to Shared Flavor
Neutrinos can change their identities or "flavors" when they interact. Researchers recently found that the neutrinos in a very dense environment such as a core collapse supernova can develop strong correlations through mutual interactions. This means that over time, neutrinos with different initial flavors reach a similar equilibrium flavor and energy distribution.
Jatinder Palta Appointed Director of First-of-its-Kind Medical Physics Institute
Jatinder Palta, PhD, FAAPM, FASTRO, FACR, has been appointed as the first director to lead the Medical Physics Institute within the American Association of Physicists in Medicine. MPI was approved by the AAPM Board of Directors in 2023 to improve the quality and safety of patient care in radiology and radiation oncology.
Cryomodule Assembly Technicians Rev Up Jefferson Lab's Electron-Beam Racetrack
This article features the Jefferson Lab SRF Operations Department's cryomodule assembly technicians, a team of master craftsmen who build, test and install cryomodules in particle accelerators. Their work enables scientific discoveries at Jefferson Lab and beyond.
Yuan Ping: Then and Now / 2013 Early Career Award Winner
Yuan Ping developed a suite of measurement methods and produced data that scientists used to benchmark energy transport models. These models increase scientists' control of fusion energy losses. The research team improved the efficiency of the energy conversion from the lasers to the final hot fuel.
Discovery Sheds Light on the Origins of Matter in the Early Universe
Scientists recreate the conditions of the early universe in collisions of atoms in particle accelerators. Measuring the resulting particles allows scientists to understand how matter formed. A new calculation determined that as much as 70% of some measured particles are from reactions later than the early universe of quark-gluon plasma.
Atomic 'GPS' Elucidates Movement During Ultrafast Material Transitions
Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have created the first-ever atomic movies showing how atoms rearrange locally within a quantum material as it transitions from an insulator to a metal.
'Miracle' filter turns store-bought LEDs into spintronic devices
For the first time, scientists transformed existing optoelectronic devices into ones that can control electron spin at room temperature, without a ferromagnet or magnetic field. Researchers replaced the electrodes of store-bought LEDs with a patented spin filter made from hybrid organic-inorganic halide perovskite.
Nonreciprocal interactions go nonlinear
Using two optically trapped glass nanoparticles, researchers observed a novel collective Non-Hermitian and nonlinear dynamic driven by nonreciprocal interactions. This contribution expands traditional optical levitation with tweezer arrays by incorporating the so called non-conservative interactions.
Exciting the Alpha Particle
An important part of physics research is examining why theoretical calculations and experimental results sometimes don't match. A recent physics experiment on the helium-4 nucleus and how it transitions from its basic energy state to its first excited state found evidence of a disagreement between theory and experiment. Now new calculations of the observed transition found agreement with the recent experimental results.
Using AI, CIPHER bird flu study shows greater antibody evasion in newer H5N1 strains
University of North Carolina at Charlotte scholars have found evidence that the latest variants of H5N1 influenza -- commonly known as avian or bird flu -- are better at evading antibodies, including those of humans, than previous iterations of the virus.
3D-Printed Microstructure Forest Facilitates Solar Steam Generator Desalination
Faced with the world's impending freshwater scarcity, researchers in Singapore turned to solar steam generators, which are emerging as a promising device for seawater desalination. The team sought design inspiration from trees and harnessed the potential of 3D printing.
Scientists Discover Energy and Pressure Analogies Linking Hadrons, Superconductors, and Cosmic Expansion
Researchers have found similarities in how concepts of energy, pressure, and confinement apply to atomic nuclei and superconductivity. Specifically, in both hadrons and superconductors, how particles are confined to a specific volume can be described with the same mathematical framework derived from quantum chromodynamics.
Chasing and Counting Mesons
Karthik Suresh's doctoral dissertation on meson decay in the ongoing GlueX Collaboration at Jefferson Lab has just earned the prestigious 2023 Jefferson Science Associates (JSA) Thesis Prize.
A new material for small electronics that gives batteries longer life
Scientists have achieved a series of milestones in growing a high-quality thin film conductor, suggesting in a new study that the material is a promising candidate platform for future wearable electronics and other miniature applications.
AI Model Harnesses Physics to Autocorrect Remote Sensing Data
Scientists are using AI to counter the effects of the atmosphere and provide clearer data to satellites, using physics-informed machine learning.
New method for simultaneous high-resolution measurement of chiral molecules
A new study introduces a method for sensitive, simultaneous measurement of optical rotary dispersion (ORD) and circular dichroism (CD) from weak chiroptical signals. The technique utilizes a bowtie optical cavity with moderate finesse, eliminating the need for complex frequency locking or magnetic fields.
What Flavor Is that Neutrino? Adding Flavor Helps to Track Neutrino Movement in Astrophysical Systems
Because of the number and density of neutrinos involved, it is nearly impossible to calculate the movement of neutrinos from compact astrophysical systems such as core-collapse supernovae and neutron star mergers.
Oxygen Tweaking May be Key to Accelerator Optimization
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility are exploring how adding oxygen to the surfaces of particle accelerator cavities, one of the most critical parts of an accelerator, can help scientists custom-tailor their properties for maximum efficiency and minimum cost.
SLAC's high-speed electron camera uncovers a new 'light-twisting' behavior in an ultrathin material
Using SLAC's instrument for ultrafast electron diffraction (MeV-UED), one of the lab's world-leading tools for ultrafast science, researchers discovered how an ultrathin material can circularly polarize light. This discovery sets up a promising approach to manipulate light for applications in optoelectronic devices.
Argonne's Renaissance man accelerates innovation as a scientist and engineer
Sergey Chemerisov drives innovation at Argonne by managing accelerator operations while also conducting research across radiation chemistry, nuclear medicine, semiconductor materials and more.
The Geometry of Life: Physicists Determine What Controls Biofilm Growth
A groundbreaking new study led by Georgia Institute of Technology's Aawaz Pokhrel and published in Nature Physics has revealed that geometry influences biofilm growth more than anything else, including the rate at which cells can reproduce.