High Energy Physics and Computational Science: April 2025

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

New research suggests gravity might emerge from quantum information theory

A new theoretical framework proposes that gravity may arise from entropy, offering a fresh perspective on the deep connections between geometry, quantum mechanics and statistical physics. Developed by Ginestra Bianconi, a mathematical physicist at Queen Mary University of London, UK, and published in Physical Review D, this modified version of gravity provides new quantum information theory insights on the well-established link between statistical mechanics and gravity that is rooted in the thermodynamic properties of black holes.

Quantum relative entropy

At the heart of Bianconi’s theory is the concept of quantum relative entropy (QRE). This is a fundamental concept of information theory, and it quantifies the difference in information encoded in two quantum states. More specifically, QRE is a measure of how much information of one quantum state is carried by another quantum state.

Bianconi’s idea is that the metrics associated with spacetime are quantum operators that encode the quantum state of its geometry. Building on this geometrical insight, she proposes that the action for gravity is the QRE between two different metrics: one defined by the geometry of spacetime and another by the matter fields present within it. In this sense, the theory takes inspiration from John Wheeler’s famous description of gravity: “Matter tells space how to curve, and space tells matter how to move.” However, it also goes further, as it aims to make this relationship explicit in the mathematical formulation of gravity, framing it in a statistical mechanics and information theory action.

Additionally, the theory adapts QRE to the Dirac-Kähler formalism extended to bosons, allowing for a more nuanced understanding of spacetime. The Dirac-Kähler formalism is a geometric reformulation of fermions using differential forms, unifying spinor and tensor descriptions in a coordinate-free way. In simpler terms, it offers an elegant way to describe particles like electrons using the language of geometry and calculus on manifolds.

The role of the G-field

For small energies and low values of spacetime curvature (the “low coupling” regime), the equations Bianconi presents reduce to the standard equations of Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Beyond this regime, the full modified Einstein equations can be written in terms of a new field, the G-field, that gives rise to a non-zero cosmological constant. Often associated with the accelerated expansion of the universe, the cosmological constant contributes to the still-mysterious substance known as dark energy, which is estimated to make up 68% of the mass-energy in the universe. A key feature of Bianconi’s entropy-based theory is that the cosmological constant is actually not constant, but dependent on the G-field. Hence, a key feature of the G-field is that it might provide new insight into what the cosmological constant really is, and where it comes from.

The G-field also has implications for black hole physics. In a follow-up work, Bianconi shows that a common solution in general relativity known as the Schwarzschild metric is an approximation, with the full solution requiring consideration of the G-field’s effects.

What does this mean for quantum gravity and cosmology?

The existence of a connection between black holes and entropy also raises the possibility that Bianconi’s framework could shed new light on the black hole information paradox. Since black holes are supposed to evaporate due to Hawking radiation, the paradox addresses the question of whether information that falls into a black hole is truly lost after evaporation. Namely, does a black hole destroy information forever, or is it somehow preserved?

The general theory predicts that the QRE for the Schwarzschild black hole follows the area law, a key feature of black hole thermodynamics, suggesting that further exploration of this framework might lead to new answers about the fundamental nature of black holes.

Unlike other approaches to quantum gravity that are primarily phenomenological, Bianconi’s framework seeks to understand gravity from first principles by linking it directly to quantum information and statistical mechanics. When asked how she became interested in this line of research, she emphasizes the continuity between her previous work on the topology and geometry of higher-order networks, her work on the topological Dirac operator and her current pursuits.

“I was especially struck by a passage in Gian Francesco Giudice’s recent book Before the Big Bang, where a small girl asks, ‘If your book speaks about the universe, does it also speak about me?’” Bianconi says. “This encapsulates the idea that new bridges between different scientific domains could be key to advancing our understanding.”

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

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Tuesday, April 29, 2025

"Black Hole Bomb": Energy-Stealing Zel’dovich Effect Confirmed In The Lab

Fifty years after it was proposed, scientists have finally created a black hole bomb in the lab.

For the first time, physicists have created a "black hole bomb" in the lab, providing evidence for the "Zel’dovich effect" proposed half a century ago.

The idea behind the Zel’dovich effect came from an unusual place. In 1969, British physicist and mathematician Roger Penrose suggested that energy could be extracted from black holes by lowering an object into the ergosphere (the region just outside of the event horizon) and allowing it to accelerate the object, stealing some of the black hole's energy. The idea, known as the Penrose process, requires negative energy to be acquired by the object in order for it to be recovered from the black hole – otherwise, all you'd be doing is feeding the black hole.

"Let’s imagine that we launch a particle from very far away into the ergosphere of a Kerr black hole, following a retrograde orbit, that is, a trajectory directed against the black hole’s rotational direction," Jorge Pinochet, professor in the physics department of the Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación, explains of the process in a recent preprint paper. "Suppose we calculate the trajectory so that upon entering the ergosphere, the particle fragments into two pieces, one of which is absorbed by the black hole, and the other escapes outward, moving an arbitrarily large distance away."

"Due to the extreme intensity of gravity inside a black hole, general relativity allows the absorbed fragment to have negative energy."

Under these circumstances, Penrose showed that the escaping fragment would have more energy than the fragment absorbed by the black hole. That may sound like conservation of energy laws are being broken, but according to what we know of general relativity, that is not the case.

"The trick to obtain this result is that the black hole absorbs negative energy, which leads to a reduction in its mass-energy, which translates into a decrease in its rotational speed," Pinochet continues. "In other words, we have extracted rotational energy from the black hole."

We don't have any conveniently close black holes to play with (probably thankfully), but a few years later, Belarusian physicist Yakov Zel’dovich came up with a far more practical way to test the concept of stealing extra energy from a rotating system. The idea has links to the Doppler effect, which can make light appear red or blue shifted depending on how the emitting object is moving relative to us, as well as the rotational Doppler effect.

"The linear version of the doppler effect is familiar to most people as the phenomenon that occurs as the pitch of an ambulance siren appears to rise as it approaches the listener but drops as it heads away. It appears to rise because the sound waves are reaching the listener more frequently as the ambulance nears, then less frequently as it passes," study lead author Dr Marion Cromb, now Research Fellow at the University of Southampton, explained in a statement concerning a previous study.

"The rotational doppler effect is similar, but the effect is confined to a circular space. The twisted sound waves change their pitch when measured from the point of view of the rotating surface. If the surface rotates fast enough then the sound frequency can do something very strange it can go from a positive frequency to a negative one, and in doing so steal some energy from the rotation of the surface."

To test the idea, the team previously bounced sound waves off a spinning disc, and listened for a shift in frequency that indicated energy had been gained from the disc's rotation. Then, the team conducted the experiment using electromagnetic waves.

"The Zel’dovich effect works on the principle that waves with angular momentum, that would usually be absorbed by an object, actually become amplified by that object instead, if it is rotating at a fast enough angular velocity. In this case, the object is an aluminium cylinder and it must rotate faster than the frequency of the incoming radiation," Cromb said in a statement about that previous study.

"Colleagues and I successfully tested this theory in sound waves a few years ago, but until this most recent experiment it hadn’t been proven with electromagnetic waves. Using relatively simple equipment a resonant circuit interacting with a spinning metal cylinder and by creating the specific conditions required, we have now been able to do this."

To conduct the experiment, the team needed to rotate the aluminum cylinder so fast that, from its perspective, it sees a twisted wave shifted in angular rotation with a "negative frequency".

"The condition for amplification is from the rotating perspective of the object," Cromb explained. "Twisting electromagnetic fields hitting it have become rotationally Doppler shifted, so much (or so low) that they’ve gone through zero and into a ‘negative’ angular frequency. Negative frequency then means negative absorption, and this means amplification."

Following that study, the team got even more ambitious, attempting to make a so-called "black hole bomb" analogue. In a "black hole bomb", energy is reflected back at the black hole and amplified, and reflected back again, leading to runaway signal amplification from where there was only noise.

The team managed to create such an analogue black hole bomb, using a reflective aluminum cylinder rotating slower than a surrounding electromagnetic field.

"Here, we demonstrate experimentally that a mechanically rotating metallic cylinder not only definitively acts as an amplifier of a rotating electromagnetic field mode but also, when paired with a low-loss resonator, becomes unstable and acts as a generator, seeded only by noise. The system exhibits an exponential runaway amplification of spontaneously generated electromagnetic modes thus demonstrating the electromagnetic analogue of Press and Teukolsky’s ‘black hole bomb’," the team writes in their paper, which has not yet been peer reviewed.

While this isn't exactly stealing energy from a black hole levels of cool, the analogue suggests that black holes could amplify energy in this way.

"A challenge for the future remains the observation of spontaneous [electromagnetic] wave generation and runaway amplification seeded from the vacuum," the team writes in their discussion. "However, based on the results presented here, this now remains a purely technological (even if very hard) feat."

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

Monday, April 28, 2025

Gravity-Defying Breakthrough: Floating Sensor Unmasks Dark Energy’s Secrets

Scientists have made a groundbreaking leap in detecting dark energy by developing a magnetically levitated precision force system.

Their experiments vastly surpassed previous methods, reaching a new level of precision that opens up unexplored realms of dark energy research. The work was so impactful it earned a featured highlight in Nature Astronomy.

Breakthrough in Dark Energy Detection

Recently, a research team from the Department of Physics at Nanjing University, working alongside collaborators from the School of Astronomy and Space Science at Nanjing University, the University of Science and Technology of China, and Zhejiang University, achieved a major breakthrough in dark energy detection.

The team developed a magnetically levitated precision force measurement system, enabling high-precision experimental tests of the symmetron dark energy theory.

Unprecedented Leap in Experimental Precision

Their new system pushed the boundaries of experimental precision, improving the international state-of-the-art by six orders of magnitude. This advance allowed the researchers to explore a wide range of parameters that had been inaccessible to previous experimental setups.

The findings, published in Nature Astronomy under the title “Experimental constraints on symmetron field with magnetically levitated force sensor,” were highlighted as a featured article in the journal’s Research Briefings.

Dark energy is the mysterious force that makes up about 68% of the universe and is believed to be responsible for its accelerating expansion. Unlike ordinary matter and dark matter, dark energy doesn’t clump into galaxies or structures it acts more like a uniform energy field spread throughout space.

The concept emerged in the late 1990s when astronomers studying distant supernovae discovered that the universe’s expansion wasn’t slowing down (as expected due to gravity), but actually speeding up. This surprising discovery led to the idea that some unknown energy must be working against gravity on cosmic scales.

Scientists don’t yet know what dark energy actually is. It could be:

A cosmological constant (a built-in energy of empty space itself, as Albert Einstein once proposed),
A dynamic field (similar to “quintessence”),
Or something entirely different, possibly pointing to new laws of physics.

Despite its huge role in shaping the cosmos, dark energy remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in modern science, inspiring experiments and theories around the world to try to understand its true nature.

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

Saturday, April 26, 2025

New framework suggests stars dissolve into neutrons to forge heavy elements

Understanding the origin of heavy elements on the periodic table is one of the most challenging open problems in all of physics. In the search for conditions suitable for these elements via "nucleosynthesis," a Los Alamos National Laboratory-led team is going where no researchers have gone before: the gamma-ray burst jet and surrounding cocoon emerging from collapsed stars.

As proposed in an article in The Astrophysical Journal, high-energy photons produced deep in the jet could dissolve the outer layers of a star into neutrons, causing a series of physical processes that result in the formation of heavy elements.

"The creation of heavy elements such as uranium and plutonium necessitates extreme conditions," said Matthew Mumpower, physicist at Los Alamos. "There are only a few viable yet rare scenarios in the cosmos where these elements can form, and all such locations need a copious amount of neutrons. We propose a new phenomenon where those neutrons don't pre-exist but are produced dynamically in the star."

Free neutrons have a short half-life of about 15 minutes, limiting scenarios in which they are available in the abundance required to form heavy elements. The key to producing the heaviest elements on the periodic table is known as the rapid neutron-capture process, or "r process," and it is thought to be responsible for the production of all naturally occurring thorium, uranium and plutonium in the universe.

The team's framework takes on the challenging physics of the r process and resolves them by proposing reactions and processes around star collapses that could result in heavy element formation.

In addition to understanding the formation of heavy elements, the proposed framework helps address critical questions around neutron transport, multiphysics simulations, and the observation of rare events all of which are of interest for national security applications that can glean insights from the research.

Like a freight train plowing through snow

In the scenario Mumpower proposes, a massive star begins to die as its nuclear fuel runs out. No longer able to push up against its own gravity, a black hole forms at the star's center. If the black hole is spinning fast enough, frame-dragging effects from the extremely strong gravity near the black hole wind up the magnetic field and launch a powerful jet. Through subsequent reactions, a broad spectrum of photons is created, some of which are at high energy.

The jet blasts through the star ahead of it, creating a hot cocoon of material around the jet, "like a freight train plowing through snow," Mumpower said. At the interface of the jet with the stellar material, high-energy photons (that is, light) can interact with atomic nuclei, transmuting protons to neutrons.

Existing atomic nuclei may also be dissolved into individual nucleons, creating more free neutrons to power the r process. The team's calculations suggest the interaction with light and matter can create neutrons incredibly fast, on the order of a nanosecond.

Because of their charge, protons get trapped in the jet by the strong magnetic fields. Neutrons, which are chargeless, are plowed out of the jet into the cocoon. Having experienced a relativistic shock, the neutrons are extremely dense compared with the surrounding stellar material, and thus the r process may ensue, with heavy elements and isotopes forged and then expelled out into space as the star is ripped apart.

The process of protons converting into neutrons, along with free neutrons escaping into the surrounding cocoon to form heavy elements, involves a broad range of physics principles and encompasses all four fundamental forces of nature: a true multiphysics problem, combining areas of atomic and nuclear physics with hydrodynamics and general relativity.

Despite the team's efforts, more challenges remain as the heavy isotopes created during the r-process have never been made on Earth. Researchers know little about their properties, such as their atomic weight, half-life, etc.

An explanation for unusual phenomena?

The high-energy jet framework proposed by the team may help explain the origination of kilonova a glow of optical and infrared electromagnetic radiation associated with long-duration gamma-ray bursts. Kilonovas have been primarily associated with the collision of two neutron stars or the merger of a neutron star and a black hole.

These intense collisions are one possible method for confirming with observations the cosmic factories of heavy-element formation. Star dissolution via high-energy photon jet offers an alternative origin for the production of heavy elements and the kilonova they may manufacture, a possibility not previously thought to be associated with collapsing stars.

Relatedly, scientists have observed iron and plutonium in deep-sea sediment. These deposits, after study, are confirmed to be from extraterrestrial sources, though as with the phenomena producing kilonova, the specific location or cosmic event remains elusive. The collapsar high-energy jet scenario represents an intriguing possibility as the source of these heavy elements found under the sea.

To more fully understand the proposed framework, Mumpower and his team hope to run simulations on their models, including the complex microphysics interactions.

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

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.

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.

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

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

“Scientists Stunned as CERN Unveils Tiny Particle”: Groundbreaking Discovery at Large Hadron Collider Sends Shockwaves Through Physics Community

In a groundbreaking development at the Large Hadron Collider, scientists at CERN have potentially identified the elusive toponium particle, a discovery that could significantly reshape our understanding of particle physics and the fundamental forces of the universe.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN has once again captured global attention with a groundbreaking discovery in particle physics. This time, researchers have potentially identified the elusive toponium, a composite particle formed from top quark-antiquark pairs. Such discoveries are not just milestones; they redefine our understanding of the universe’s building blocks. At the heart of this exciting development lies the CMS collaboration, one of the LHC’s key experiments, which has been diligently analyzing data to unearth such intricate details. The significance of this discovery cannot be overstated, as it not only challenges existing theories but also opens new avenues for exploration in the realm of particle physics.

The Role of the CMS Collaboration

The CMS collaboration has been pivotal in the pursuit of understanding the universe’s fundamental particles. As one of the four main experiments at the LHC, the CMS has a history of contributing significantly to particle physics, including the monumental discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012. This collaboration focuses on detecting particles through high-energy collisions, allowing scientists to observe phenomena that were previously considered beyond reach.

In their recent work, the CMS collaboration detected an unexpected excess of top quark-antiquark pairs at the threshold energy. This anomaly hinted at the possible formation of toponium, a particle that scientists had long theorized but never observed due to its extremely short-lived nature. The discovery of toponium is particularly exciting because it represents the last of the heavy quarkonia to be identified, marking a significant step forward in our understanding of quark interactions.

Understanding the Standard Model and Its Limitations

The Standard Model of particle physics is the best framework we have for understanding the fundamental particles and forces in the universe. However, it is not without its limitations. The model does not account for phenomena like dark matter, dark energy, or gravity. This gap has led scientists to explore beyond the Standard Model, searching for additional particles and forces that could complete our understanding.

Theoretical physicists have speculated the existence of additional Higgs boson particles that could interact strongly with top quarks. The CMS collaboration’s search for these particles led them to detect more top quark-antiquark pairs than expected, prompting the hypothesis of toponium’s presence. This discovery, if confirmed, could provide critical insights into the interactions between quarks and other fundamental particles, potentially leading to a more comprehensive theory of particle physics.

Challenges in Detecting Toponium

Detecting toponium is a formidable challenge due to its fleeting existence. The particle decays almost immediately after formation, leaving behind subtle traces that require sophisticated detection methods. The CMS collaboration has meticulously analyzed two years of data from proton-proton collisions at 13 Tera electronvolts, the standard operating energy at the LHC.

By examining how particles dispersed post-collision, researchers could infer the quantum states of the particles involved. The team also employed a simplified toponium model to compare with experimental results. The findings suggested a production rate of 8.8 picobarns, with a 15% uncertainty sufficient to meet the five-sigma threshold required for claiming a discovery in particle physics. However, researchers remain cautious, as the particle might also be an additional Higgs boson, necessitating further experimentation and model refinement.

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

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Electrons Tamed: The Breakthrough That Could Shrink Particle Accelerators

DESY scientists have taken a major step in refining laser plasma acceleration, a technology that could revolutionize particle accelerators by making them smaller, cheaper, and more versatile.

Their recent success in using a clever magnetic correction system has dramatically improved the beam quality reducing energy variation and improving consistency. With these improvements, laser-plasma accelerators could soon power advanced applications like next-generation X-ray sources, transforming research and medicine alike.

A Leap Toward Compact Accelerators

Laser-plasma acceleration is an emerging technology with the potential to revolutionize particle accelerators. By enabling much more compact designs, it could pave the way for new applications in fundamental research, industry, and healthcare. However, current prototype systems still face challenges, particularly in producing high-quality electron beams with the consistency and precision needed for real-world use.

Researchers at DESY’s LUX experiment have now taken a major step forward. By implementing a smart correction system, they significantly improved the quality of the electron bunches produced by their laser-plasma accelerator. This advance moves the technology closer to practical applications, such as serving as a compact injector for a synchrotron storage ring. The team published their findings on April 9 in the journal Nature.

How Laser-Plasma Acceleration Works

Traditional electron accelerators rely on radio waves sent through special resonator cavities to energize electrons. To reach high energies, these systems must be built in long series, making them large and expensive. Laser-plasma acceleration offers a promising alternative. It works by firing short, powerful laser pulses into a narrow, hydrogen-filled capillary to create a plasma, an ionized gas. As the laser travels through the plasma, it generates a wake, similar to the ripple left behind by a speeding boat. This wake can accelerate a bunch of electrons to very high energies in just a few millimeters.

Tackling Uniformity and Energy Spread

To date, the innovative technology has had some drawbacks. “The electron bunches produced are not yet uniform enough,” explains Andreas Maier, lead scientist for plasma acceleration at DESY. “We would like each bunch to look precisely like the next one.” Another challenge concerns the energy distribution within a bunch. Figuratively speaking, some electrons fly faster than others which is unsuitable for practical applications. In modern accelerators, these problems have long been solved by using clever machine control systems.

Precision Beam Control Through Magnetic Sorting

Using a two-stage correction, the DESY team has now succeeded in significantly improving the properties of the electron bunches produced by their laser-plasma accelerator. To achieve this, electrons accelerated by the LUX plasma accelerator are sent through a chicane consisting of four deflecting magnets. By forcing the particles to take a detour, the pulses are stretched in time and sorted according to their energy. “After the particles have passed the magnetic chicane, the faster, higher-energy electrons are at the front of the pulse,” explains Paul Winkler, first author of the study. “The slower, relatively low-energy particles are at the back.”

Fine-Tuning for Maximum Beam Quality

The stretched and energy-sorted bunch is then sent into a single accelerator module similar to those used in modern radiofrequency-based facilities. In this resonator, the electron bunches are slightly decelerated or further accelerated. “If you time the beam arrival carefully to the radio frequency, the low-energy electrons at the back of the bunch can be accelerated and the high-energy electrons at the front can be decelerated,” explains Winkler. “This compresses the energy distribution.” The team was able to reduce the energy spread by a factor of 18 and the fluctuation in the central energy by a factor of 72. Both values are smaller than one permille making them comparable to those of conventional accelerators.

“This project is a fantastic example of the collaboration between theory and experiment,” says Wim Leemans, Director of the Accelerator Division at DESY. “The theoretical concept was recently proposed and has now been implemented for the first time.” Most of the components used were from existing DESY stocks. The project team had to invest a great effort in setting up the correction stage and synchronizing the extremely rapid processes. “But once that was done things went surprisingly well,” says Winkler. “On the very first day when everything was set up, we switched on the system and immediately observed an effect.” After a few days of fine-tuning, it was clear that the correction system was working as intended.

Toward Real-World Applications

“This is also a result of the successful synergy between plasma acceleration and modern accelerator technology, as well as the collaboration between a large number of technical teams at DESY, who have extensive experience in building accelerators,” says Reinhard Brinkmann, former director of the accelerator division. “The results will help to further strengthen confidence in the young technology of laser-plasma acceleration,” adds Maier.

The research team already has concrete ideas for a potential application: the new technique could be used to generate and accelerate electron bunches to be injected into X-ray sources such as PETRA III or its planned successor, PETRA IV. To date, such particle injection has required relatively large and energy-intensive conventional accelerators. Laser-plasma technology now appears to offer a more compact and economical alternative. “What we have achieved is a big step forward for plasma accelerators. We still have a lot of development work to do, such as improving the lasers and achieving continuous operation,” says Wim Leemans. “But in principle, we have shown that a plasma accelerator is suitable for this type of application.”