Physics Awards

Friday, April 25, 2025

How Lasers Recreated a Cosmic Shockwave – And Solved a 40-Year Mystery of Particle Acceleration

In a dramatic leap for astrophysics, Chinese researchers have recreated a key cosmic process in the lab: the acceleration of ions by powerful collisionless shocks.

By using intense lasers to simulate space-like conditions, they captured high-speed ion beams and confirmed the decades-old theory that shock drift acceleration, not shock surfing, is the main driver behind these energy gains. This discovery connects lab physics with deep-space phenomena like cosmic rays and supernova remnants, paving the way for breakthroughs in both fusion energy and space science.

Breakthrough in Particle Acceleration Observed in Lab

Scientists at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) have made the first direct laboratory observation of ion acceleration caused by reflection off laser-generated, magnetized collisionless shocks. This key finding reveals how ions gain energy by bouncing off supercritical shocks, a critical step in the Fermi acceleration process that powers high-energy particles across the universe. The results were published in Science Advances.

Collisionless shocks are powerful astrophysical phenomena known for accelerating charged particles to extreme energies. These particles gain speed by repeatedly crossing the shock front, increasing their energy with each pass. But a long-standing question has puzzled scientists: how do particles get that initial boost to start this acceleration cycle? Two main theories, shock drift acceleration (SDA) and shock surfing acceleration (SSA), have been proposed, but limitations in both space-based observations and previous laboratory experiments left the issue unresolved.

Recreating Space Conditions with High-Powered Lasers

To tackle this, researchers at China’s Shenguang-II laser facility recreated a scaled-down version of an astrophysical shock. Using high-powered lasers, they created a magnetized ambient plasma and launched a fast-moving “piston” plasma into it. When the piston plasma struck at speeds over 400 km/s, it triggered a supercritical quasi-perpendicular shock, resembling those found near Earth.

Using advanced tools like optical interferometry and ion time-of-flight diagnostics, the team measured the structure and behavior of the shock. They observed a focused beam of high-speed ions moving upstream at 1,100 to 1,800 km/s up to four times faster than the shock itself. These ion signatures closely matched those seen in Earth’s bow shock, but were captured here with unmatched precision.

Pinpointing the True Acceleration Mechanism

Key to the discovery were particle-in-cell simulations, which tracked ion trajectories and electromagnetic fields. The simulations revealed that reflected ions gained energy primarily through the shock’s motional electric field a hallmark of SDA. During reflection, ions interacted with both the shock’s electrostatic field and the compressed magnetic field, accelerating along and perpendicular to the shock front. This dual acceleration mechanism produced a distinct high-velocity ion beam.

Notably, the experiment’s magnetic field strength (5–6 Tesla) and plasma conditions bridged the gap between previous lab studies and astrophysical shocks, enabling direct comparison with space observations. Critically, the results ruled out SSA as the dominant process, settling a decades-old debate.

Implications for Cosmic Rays and Practical Applications

By confirming SDA’s role in ion injection, the study validates models used to interpret cosmic ray origins and supernova remnants. Moreover, the experiment’s design a reproducible, tunable shock platform offers a new tool for studying high-energy particle dynamics under controlled conditions. Potential applications include optimizing laser-driven ion accelerators, where magnetic fields could enhance beam quality, and improving inertial confinement fusion by mitigating shock-induced instabilities.

Toward the Universe’s Ultimate Accelerators

This breakthrough not only advances our understanding of universal particle acceleration but also demonstrates how laboratory experiments can complement space exploration. As researchers refine these methods, future studies may unravel how repeated reflections create the extreme energies seen in cosmic rays, bringing humanity closer to decoding the universe’s most powerful accelerators.

Website: International Research Awards on High Energy Physics and Computational Science.

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Thursday, April 24, 2025

Superconductivity Mystery: Scientists Challenge a 50-Year Theory of Electron Behavior

A recent study found that the Hubbard model failed to accurately predict the behavior of a simplified one-dimensional cuprate system. According to scientists at SLAC, this suggests the model is unlikely to fully account for high-temperature superconductivity in two-dimensional cuprates.

Superconductivity, the phenomenon where certain materials can conduct electricity without any energy loss, holds great potential for revolutionary technologies, from ultra-efficient power grids to cutting-edge quantum devices.

A recent study published in Physical Review Letters by researchers at the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES) at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory offers new insights into one of the field’s most persistent puzzles: high-temperature superconductivity in cuprates.

Building on findings from an earlier SLAC study, the researchers present additional evidence that the Hubbard model the most widely used theoretical framework for describing strong electron interactions in quantum materials fails to fully capture the behavior of electrons in cuprates, even in simplified one-dimensional versions of these systems.

“Understanding what causes high-temperature superconductivity in cuprates is a decades-long problem, and we’re building on the work of many great scientists here at SLAC and Stanford,” said Jiarui Li, a SLAC postdoc and lead author of the study. “As a postdoc, I’m excited to continue pushing the frontiers of this research.”

Cuprates and the Hope for Practical Superconductors

Typically, superconductivity occurs at temperatures approaching absolute zero, -273 degrees Celsius or -459 degrees Fahrenheit. But certain copper-oxides, known as cuprates, maintain their superconductivity at temperatures reaching -138 degrees Celsius or -216.4 degrees Fahrenheit – still cold, but significantly warmer than absolute zero. Importantly, that’s also nearly a hundred degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the boiling point of liquid nitrogen, making superconducting cuprates practical for wider applications in technology.

An understanding of the mechanisms that make superconductivity possible at such relatively high temperatures could be key to developing future applications and to fabricating new materials that can superconduct at even higher temperatures, ideally closer to room temperature.

Scientists know that superconductivity occurs when electrons form pairs, called Cooper pairs, within a material. The formation of these pairs in metals, such as mercury and lead, is explained by a Nobel Prize-winning theory known as the BCS theory. But the electronic structure of cuprates is fundamentally different than metals and requires a different theory to explain how superconducting electrons form pairs.

Initially, scientists hoped that the Hubbard model, with its demonstrated ability to describe strong correlations between electrons, might be able to explain how high-temperature superconductivity works in cuprates. But this assumption was unproven, and experimental validation has proven challenging. The complexity of cuprate materials and the mathematical intricacies of the Hubbard model make it difficult to model the problem accurately with current computers and algorithms.

The chemically controlled chains reveal an ultrastrong attraction between electrons that may help cuprate superconductors carry electrical current with no loss at relatively high temperatures.

A One-Dimensional Approach Yields New Clues

An illustration of 1D copper oxide, or cuprate, chains that have been “doped” to free up some of their electrons.

In 2021, SLAC researchers found a way to simplify the problem: examining cuprate behavior in one dimension rather than two. In a first, the team created a 1D chain of cuprate atoms doped with oxygen and used X-rays to study the behavior of holons particle-like entities that represent an electron’s charge. Their analysis revealed that the attraction between neighboring electrons was ten times stronger than the Hubbard model predicted, suggesting an additional attractive force not captured in the Hubbard model.

Researchers realized that if such a force was at work, it would leave telltale fingerprints on another important property of electrons, known as spin. To approach the problem from another angle, they devised a new experiment that would give them insight into the behavior of pairs of spinons. Like holons, spinons are particle-like components that represent properties of an electron; where holons represent an electron’s charge, spinons represent an electron’s spin.

The team synthesized a 1D sample of doped cuprate chains at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource at SLAC, then examined it using resonant inelastic X-ray scattering at the Diamond Light Source in the U.K. and the National Synchrotron Light Source II at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Once again, their analysis of the behavior of spinon pairs found that the Hubbard model did not accurately predict the behavior of electrons. However, when they added the same extra attractive force seen in the earlier experiment to their calculations, the data aligned more closely with their experimental observations.

“Our work has shown that the Hubbard model is inadequate to fully account for cuprate physics, even in a simple 1D system. If the model has already failed at the 1D level, we wouldn’t expect it to hold up within the more complex 2D system, where high-temperature superconductivity occurs in cuprates,” said Wei-Sheng Lee, a SLAC staff scientist, and Zhi-Xun Shen, a SLAC and Stanford professor, co-principal investigators of the study.

The question now is what mechanism gives rise to the additional attractive force. Thomas Devereaux, a SLAC and Stanford professor and SIMES investigator who supervised the theoretical part of this work, suspects that it is due to an attraction between electrons and vibrations, known as phonons, in the lattice structure holding the cuprate together. Further experimentation is needed to investigate this idea, Devereaux said.

Website: International Research Awards on High Energy Physics and Computational Science.

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Dark matter may have formed giant black holes: Here's how

Research suggests that early cosmos had different method for creating massive black holes

Researchers have proposed in a new paper that dark matter may have contributed to the formation of giant black holes in the early universe.

Truly gigantic black holes that appeared in the relatively young universe, are being revealed by more observations, especially with the James Webb Space Telescope, reported Space.com.

It would appear just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang that our cosmos was already home to black holes billions of times more massive than the sun.

Moreover, the only known way to create black holes is through the deaths of massive stars, but that process yields black holes with a few dozen solar masses.

There was just not enough time for the first stars to form, die, and then for those little black holes to eat enough matter to become supermassive, which is the reason why the huge black holes appeared so early.

Therefore, it's possible that the early cosmos had a different method for creating massive black holes, which would have started the process. The simplest method to accomplish that is to have massive clouds of helium and hydrogen collapse on themselves, bypassing star formation entirely and proceeding directly to the development of black holes.

However, molecular hydrogen, which is highly effective at cooling the gas, is often formed when gas clouds collapse. This prevents the cloud from collapsing directly into a black hole by causing it to break up into numerous smaller pieces, creating a cluster of young stars. High-energy ultraviolet (UV) light, which was scarce in the early universe due to the lack of stars, can be used to blast molecular hydrogen to prevent its creation.

Additionally, dark matter is an unconventional answer put out by Hao Jiao of McGill University in Quebec and associates in a new work published in March and posted to the preprint database arXiv.

It has been predicted by some models of dark matter that it's extremely light, even billions of times lighter than the neutrino, the lightest known particle. If dark matter is superlight, then at galactic scales, it acts more like a quantum ocean than a beehive of discrete particles.

Website: International Research Awards on High Energy Physics and Computational Science.

Tuesday, April 22, 2025

Cosmic twist: The entire universe might be spinning

A new analysis suggests that the universe could be spinning at a speed so gentle it has escaped our notice. This proposal may offer a way to explain why researchers get conflicting numbers when measuring how quickly space has been expanding.

One of the scientists exploring the rotation theory is István Szapudi, a researcher at the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy. In a recent study, Szapudi analyzed subtle changes in cosmic expansion that might be tied to an extremely slow turn of all known matter.

Century-old puzzle about cosmic expansion

Most astronomers accept the current models that say the universe expands evenly in all directions, with no sign of rotation.

They have known about cosmic expansion for nearly a century, but there has been a lingering discrepancy called the Hubble tension.

This puzzle stems from comparing two ways of measuring the expansion rate of the universe. One method relies on supernovae in faraway galaxies to track distances, while the other depends on the cosmic microwave background, which is the afterglow from the universe’s earliest days.

In theory, both methods should give the same overall growth speed. However, they do not always match, and experts have been trying to explain this discrepancy for years.

Expansion rate of a spinning universe

A new approach suggests that a tiny spin of the universe throughout space might reconcile those conflicting numbers. If the entire cosmos had even a small swirl, it could influence how distances stretch over time.

“Much to our surprise, we found that our model with rotation resolves the paradox without contradicting current astronomical measurements,” noted Szapudi.

Scientists who favor this rotating model believe the rate of spin is much too slow to detect with current methods.

One possible estimate is that the universe completes one full turn every 500 billion years, so it would be nearly impossible to see from our vantage point.

“Therefore, perhaps, everything really does turn,” said Szapudi. They say this slight swirl could finally close the gap between our local measurements and what is observed when we look back almost 13 billion years in time.

Universe spin may fit known physics

No known laws of physics would prohibit such a phenomenon. Planets, stars, galaxies, and even black holes all rotate, so the idea of everything sharing a unified spin is not far-fetched in cosmic terms.

If a slow turning is factored into the equations of cosmic expansion, it could account for the mismatched data about how fast space has been stretching.

The findings fit within current understanding, as the rate of this twist would remain far below anything that might distort familiar observations.

Testing cosmic spin with new models

The next steps involve transforming these early calculations into a detailed computer model. Researchers will also look for subtle signatures in the large-scale structure of the universe that might hint at a gradual rotation.

If future observations confirm any sign of this cosmic turn, it would clear up one of astronomy’s biggest disagreements.

Confirmation of a spinning universe might also open up a new way of thinking about how time and matter behave on the largest possible scales.

What does all of this mean?

Going forward, experts are eager to determine whether a slowly spinning universe theory would provide better agreement between local and distant measurements of expansion.

Some feel it could refine how we study everything from galaxy formation to the layout of superclusters.

Others are cautious because many proposed solutions to the Hubble tension have come and gone. Regardless, this swirling scenario stands out as a creative effort that does not break existing theories.

Space often surprises us with discoveries that stretch our imagination. A rotating universe may add another layer of wonder to how we see our cosmic neighborhood.

It is not often that an everyday motion like spinning could clarify a problem that has puzzled researchers for years. That element of surprise keeps scientists excited about searching the skies for new answers.

Website: International Research Awards on High Energy Physics and Computational Science.

Monday, April 21, 2025

Decades-Old Mystery Solved: First-Ever Antiferromagnet Found in a Quasicrystal

Researchers have identified antiferromagnetism in a real icosahedral quasicrystal, reigniting interest in the quest to uncover antiferromagnetic quasicrystals.

Quasicrystals (QCs) are a remarkable class of solid materials characterized by a unique atomic structure. Unlike conventional crystals, which have a periodic and repeating atomic arrangement, QCs exhibit long-range order without periodicity, a property known as quasiperiodicity.

This distinct structure gives rise to symmetries that are forbidden in traditional crystallography. Since their Nobel Prize-winning discovery, QCs have attracted significant interest in condensed matter physics, both for their unconventional magnetic behavior and their potential applications in fields like spintronics and magnetic refrigeration.

Recently, ferromagnetism was discovered in a family of icosahedral QCs (iQCs) composed of gold, gallium, and rare earth elements (Au-Ga-R). This finding, while notable, was not entirely unexpected, as translational periodicity is not required for ferromagnetic order to emerge.

In contrast, antiferromagnetism, the other primary form of magnetic order, is much more sensitive to the underlying crystal symmetry, making its realization in quasiperiodic systems more elusive.

Although theoretical models have long suggested that antiferromagnetism could occur in certain QCs, direct experimental evidence has remained absent. Most magnetic iQCs studied so far display spin-glass-like behavior, characterized by disordered, frozen magnetic states without long-range order. This has led to ongoing debate over whether quasiperiodicity is fundamentally incompatible with antiferromagnetic order until now.

The First Observation of Antiferromagnetism in a Quasicrystal

In a groundbreaking study, a research team has finally discovered antiferromagnetism in a real QC. The team was led by Ryuji Tamura from the Department of Materials Science and Technology at Tokyo University of Science (TUS), along with Takaki Abe, also from TUS, Taku J. Sato from Tohoku University, and Max Avdeev from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and The University of Sydney. Their study was published in the journal Nature Physics on April 11, 2025.

“As was the case for the first report of antiferromagnetism in a periodic crystal in 1949, we present the first experimental evidence of antiferromagnetism occurring in an iQC,” says Tamura.

Building upon their recent discovery of ferromagnetism in the Au-Ga-R iQCs, the researchers identified a novel Tsai-type gold-indium-europium (Au-In-Eu) iQC, exhibiting 5-fold, 3-fold, and 2-fold rotational symmetries. The team conducted a series of bulk property measurements and neutron experiments to examine its magnetic nature. Magnetic susceptibility measurements showed a sharp cusp at a temperature of 6.5 Kelvin (K) for both the zero-field cooled and field-cooled conditions, consistent with an antiferromagnetic transition. Specific heat measurements also showed a peak at the same temperature, verifying that the cusp is due to a long-range magnetic order.

Neutron Experiments Confirm Long-Range Order

To further validate their results, the team performed neutron diffraction measurements of the iQC at temperatures of 10 K and 3 K. They observed additional magnetic Bragg peaks sharp intensity peaks in the diffraction pattern indicating an ordered magnetic structure at 3 K, which consistently showed an abrupt increase around the transition temperature of 6.5 K in temperature-dependence measurements, providing the first clear evidence of long-range antiferromagnetic order in a real QC.

As to why the Au-In-Eu iQC hosts an antiferromagnetic phase, the researchers found that, unlike previously studied iQCs, which commonly exhibit a negative Curie-Weiss temperature, this novel iQC has a positive Curie-Weiss temperature. Interestingly, they also discovered that with a slight increase in the electron-per-atom ratio through elemental substitution, the antiferromagnetic phase disappears and the iQC shows spin-glass behavior, much like previous iQCs. This suggests that iQCs with a positive Curie-Weiss temperature favor antiferromagnetic order establishment, opening new avenues for future studies to develop novel antiferromagnetic QCs by controlling the electron-per-atom ratio.

“This discovery finally resolves the longstanding issue of whether antiferromagnetic order is possible in real QCs,” adds Tamura. “Antiferromagnetic QCs could enable unprecedented functions, such as ultrasoft magnetic responses, and will bring about a revolution in spintronics and magnetic refrigeration in the future.”

The researchers’ discovery aligns with the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs) affordable and clean energy (SDG 7), industry, innovation, and infrastructure (SDG 9) by building energy-efficient electronics. Solving a decades-long mystery, this discovery not only reinvigorates the search for unexplored antiferromagnetic QCs but also opens a new research field of quasiperiodic antiferromagnets, with implications extending far beyond spintronics.

Website: International Research Awards on High Energy Physics and Computational Science.

Saturday, April 19, 2025

The Strike Equation: How Physics and Friction Unlock Bowling’s Perfect Shot

A team of researchers from top universities has developed a groundbreaking mathematical model that could change how bowling is played and analyzed.

Unlike previous methods that relied on player stats, this model factors in lane oil patterns, friction, and even ball asymmetry to pinpoint optimal strike conditions. It not only simulates ball trajectories using advanced physics but also offers a “miss-room” buffer for human error, aiming to give players a scientific edge in a sport with millions on the line.

A New Mathematical Approach to Bowling

Bowling remains one of the most popular sports in the U.S., with over 45 million people playing each year and millions of dollars awarded in tournaments. Yet despite its popularity, there’s still no widely accepted model that can accurately predict how a bowling ball moves down the lane.

In a new study published today (April 15) in AIP Advances, researchers from Princeton, MIT, the University of New Mexico, Loughborough University, and Swarthmore College present a model designed to pinpoint the optimal placement of a bowling ball. The model uses six differential equations, based on Euler’s equations for rotating rigid bodies, to generate a map of the best conditions for achieving a strike.

Why Accurate Ball Prediction Matters

“The simulation model we created could become a useful tool for players, coaches, equipment companies, and tournament designers,” said author Curtis Hooper. “The ability to accurately predict ball trajectories could lead to the discoveries of new strategies and equipment designs.”

Until now, most prediction methods have focused on analyzing statistics from real players rather than the physics of the ball’s motion. These approaches often fall short when bowlers slightly change their technique or style.

Instead, the group’s model accounts for a variety of factors. One example is the thin layer of oil applied to bowling lanes; the oil layer can vary widely in volume and shape between competitive tournaments, requiring specific styles and targeting strategies for each. The oil is seldom applied uniformly, which creates an uneven friction surface.

Bridging Instinct with Science

The issue is that bowlers and coaches can currently only rely on their own experience and instinct, which Hooper said is often imprecise and suboptimal.

“Our model provides a solution to both of these problems by constructing a bowling model that accurately computes bowling trajectories when given inputs for all significant factors that may affect ball motion,” Hooper said. “A ‘miss-room’ is also calculated to account for human inaccuracies which allows bowlers to find their own optimal targeting strategy.”

Modeling a Complex and Asymmetric Sport

Making the model posed several challenges, including how to describe the motion of the subtly asymmetric bowling ball. More challenging still was distilling the inputs required for predicting the trajectory into terms that a bowler or coach could understand and that could be measured with accessories bowlers already use.

What’s Next for Bowling Science

In the future, the group aims to improve the model’s accuracy by incorporating even more factors, including uneven bowling lanes, as well as connect with professionals in the industry to better understand how the model may be tailored to fit their applications.

Website: International Research Awards on High Energy Physics and Computational Science.

Thursday, April 17, 2025

Scientists Discover New “Hall Effect” That Could Revolutionize Electronics

Scientists discovered a new Hall effect driven by spin currents in noncollinear antiferromagnets, offering a path to more efficient and resilient spintronic devices.

A research team led by Colorado State University graduate student Luke Wernert and Associate Professor Hua Chen has identified a previously unknown type of Hall effect that could lead to more energy-efficient electronic devices.

Their study, published in Physical Review Letters, was conducted in collaboration with graduate student Bastián Pradenas and Professor Oleg Tchernyshyov of Johns Hopkins University. The researchers uncovered evidence of a new property, dubbed the “Hall mass,” in a class of complex magnetic materials known as noncollinear antiferromagnets.

The traditional Hall effect, discovered by Edwin Hall at Johns Hopkins in 1879, describes how an electric current is deflected sideways when subjected to an external magnetic field, generating a measurable voltage. This effect plays a crucial role in technologies such as vehicle speed sensors and smartphone motion detectors.

But in the CSU team’s work, electrons’ spin (a tiny, intrinsic form of angular momentum) takes center stage instead of electric charge. Noncollinear antiferromagnets, unlike more familiar magnets where spins line up parallel or antiparallel, have spins oriented in different directions but still sum to zero net magnetization. This unique spin texture enables a fresh take on the Hall effect, where spin currents can flow at right angles rather than just electric charges.

The Role of Spin Currents and Hall Mass

“Imagine pushing a spin current in one direction and getting a second spin current going sideways,” Wernert explains. “That’s the hallmark of a Hall effect.” The reason this new effect governed by the “Hall mass” appears only in noncollinear antiferromagnets is because they have three degrees of freedom describing spin orientations.

This extra complexity leads to three branches of spin waves (collective vibrations of the spins), two of which naturally flow sideways in response to a driving force.

Experimentally, researchers can measure this Hall mass either by injecting spin waves from a conventional ferromagnet into a noncollinear antiferromagnet and detecting spin accumulation along the edges, or by using scattering techniques (like neutron or x-ray) to track the low-energy spin-wave spectrum.

Implications for Spintronics and Future Technology

Because spin currents produce far less heat than electrical currents, harnessing them could revolutionize modern electronics. This prospect underlies the rapidly growing field of “spintronics,” which strives to build devices such as magnetic-based storage (Magnetoresistive Random-Access Memory, MRAM) that are more energy efficient and resistant to data corruption by external magnetic fields.

In conventional magnetic materials, a stray magnetic field can sometimes wipe out stored information; by contrast, noncollinear antiferromagnets are much less susceptible to such interference, making them potentially safer for data storage and handling. Altogether, the discovery of this new Hall effect and its associated Hall mass opens an exciting direction in condensed matter physics and could guide the development of next-generation technology powered by spin.