High Energy Physics and Computational Science

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Scientists Stunned by Alien Mineral That Breaks the Rules of Heat

A rare mineral found in a centuries-old meteorite and even on Mars has stunned scientists with its bizarre heat behavior. Neither fully crystal nor fully glass, this hybrid material conducts heat in a way unlike anything else known: it stays constant across temperatures instead of rising or falling. Why Heat-Conduction Matters in Modern Technology Crystals and glasses handle heat in completely different ways, a property that plays an important role in many modern technologies . These include everything from making electronics smaller and more efficient, to recovering wasted heat for energy, to extending the life of thermal shields used in aerospace. Improving the performance and durability of the materials behind these technologies depends on understanding how their chemistry and atomic arrangement (for example, crystalline, glassy, or nanostructured) affects the way they carry heat. Michele Simoncelli, an assistant professor of applied physics and applied mathematics at Columbia Engi...

The Universe’s Most Elusive Particles Might Be Talking to Themselves

Collapsing stars might act as cosmic laboratories for discovering hidden neutrino interactions. Neutrinos are among the most puzzling particles in the universe. Nearly massless and incredibly elusive, they rarely interact with anything, yet they play a deadly role in the life cycle of stars far larger than our sun. These subatomic particles exist in three known types electron, muon, and tau and despite decades of study, many of their behaviors remain poorly understood. Because neutrinos interact so weakly, it is nearly impossible to make them collide under laboratory conditions. As a result, scientists still do not know whether they follow the interaction rules laid out by the standard model of particle physics or if they engage in theorized “secret” interactions exclusive to neutrinos. In a new study, researchers with the Network for Neutrinos, Nuclear Astrophysics , and Symmetries (N3AS), including members from UC San Diego, have used theoretical models to demonstrate that massive s...

Scientists May Have Found the Ultimate Dark Matter Detector

Physicists are harnessing thorium-229’s unusual nuclear properties to develop an ultra-precise “nuclear clock” capable of detecting forces 10 trillion times weaker than gravity. Such sensitivity could make it the ultimate tool for spotting the elusive influence of dark matter, which subtly distorts the properties of ordinary matter. The Long Quest for Dark Matter For nearly 100 years, researchers worldwide have been attempting to uncover the nature of dark matter , an invisible substance believed to comprise roughly 80 percent of the universe’s total mass. This mysterious substance is essential for explaining many observed cosmic phenomena, yet it remains undetected in any direct experiment. Scientists have explored a wide range of approaches to find it, from attempting to create dark matter particles in high-energy particle accelerators to searching for faint cosmic radiation it might emit. Despite these efforts, its core characteristics are still largely unknown. While it does not in...

Quantum Breakthrough: Scientists Find “Backdoor” to 60-Year-Old Superconducting Mystery

A Copenhagen team has unlocked a clever “backdoor” into studying rare quantum states once thought beyond reach. Scientists at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, have discovered a new approach for investigating rare quantum states that occur within superconducting vortices . These states were first proposed in the 1960s, but confirming their existence has proven extremely challenging because they occur at energy levels too small for most experiments to detect directly. This breakthrough was achieved through a mix of creative problem-solving and the advanced development of custom-made materials in the Niels Bohr Institute’s laboratories. The research findings have been published in Physical Review Letters. Synthetic superconducting vortices – finding a “backdoor.” Instead of trying to observe the elusive states in their original setting, the researchers, led by a professor at the Niels Bohr Institute, Saulius Vaitiekėnas, built a completely new material system that mimic...

Quantum Leap in Measurement: New System Nears the Theoretical Limit of Physics

Fast, precise, and ready for use in the field: a quantum-level optical frequency comb system capable of measuring 0.34 nanometers in just 25 microseconds. The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science has developed a cutting-edge system for measuring length with a level of precision that comes remarkably close to the fundamental quantum limit. This new system delivers exceptional measurement accuracy and is built to be both compact and durable, making it well-suited for use outside of laboratory settings. Its performance positions it as a promising candidate for establishing the next standard in advanced length metrology. At present, the highest-precision tools for measuring length are known as national length measurement standards, which define the meter. These instruments, managed by top metrology organizations such as KRISS, rely on interferometers that use single-wavelength lasers to achieve nanometer-scale precision. The problem with single-wavelength lasers Single-wavele...

Scientists just recreated the universe's first ever molecules and the results challenge our understanding of the early cosmos

In a first, scientists have recreated the formation of the first ever molecules in the universe to learn more about early star formation. For the first time, researchers have recreated the universe's first ever molecules by mimicking the conditions of the early universe. The findings shake up our understanding of the origin of stars in the early universe and "calls for a reassessment of the helium chemistry in the early universe," the researchers wrote in the new study, published July 24 in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics . The first stars in the universe Just after the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago, the universe was subject to extremely high temperatures. A few seconds later, though, temperatures decreased enough for hydrogen and helium to form as the first ever elements. Hundreds of thousands of years after those elements formed, temperatures became cool enough for their atoms to combine with electrons in a variety of different configurations, forging molecules...