Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: particle physics – Page 10

In a recent study, researchers made a significant observation of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) phase transition in a 2D dipolar gas of ultracold atoms. This work marks a milestone in understanding how 2D superfluids behave with long-range and anisotropic dipolar interactions. The researchers are an international team of physicists, led by Prof. Jo Gyu-Boong from the Department of Physics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).

Their findings are published in the journal Science Advances.

In conventional three-dimensional (3D) systems, , such as ice melting into water, are governed by the spontaneous breakdown of symmetries. However, pioneering work in the 1970s predicted that two-dimensional (2D) systems could host a unique topological phase transition known as the BKT transition, where vortex-antivortex pairs drive superfluidity without conventional symmetry breaking, with interaction playing a crucial role. Since then, this phenomenon had primarily been studied in various quantum systems with only short-range isotropic contact interactions.

Read more | >

Researchers at the European XFEL have developed a new device for X-ray measurements at high photon energies—a so-called Laue spectrometer. It enables X-ray light with photon energies of more than 15 kiloelectronvolts to be detected with improved efficiency and highest precision.

This is important for researching technically significant materials that, for example, transport electricity without losses or ensure that chemical processes run more efficiently. The findings are published in the Journal of Synchrotron Radiation.

To unravel the secrets of the world of atoms, molecules and materials in general, scientists often use special measurement devices known as spectrometers. They work by recording the light that objects emit. From the way in which the objects do that, researchers learn a lot about the physical processes that take place in the materials.

Read more | >

Over the past decades, researchers have been trying to develop increasingly advanced and powerful quantum computers, which could outperform classical computers on some tasks. To attain this, they have been trying to identify new ways to store and manipulate qubits, which are the fundamental units of information in quantum computing systems.

So far, most studies have developed that store qubits using superconducting materials, trapped ions, and the spin of electrons confined in quantum dots (i.e., tiny semiconductor-based structures).

Another promising and yet so far rarely explored platform for the storage and manipulation of qubits relies on polar polyatomic molecules, which are molecules with more than two atoms and an uneven distribution of electric charge.

Read more | >

Crime scene investigation may soon become significantly more accurate and efficient thanks to a new method for detecting gunshot residues. Researchers from the groups of Wim Noorduin (AMOLF/University of Amsterdam) and Arian van Asten (University of Amsterdam) developed the technique that converts lead particles found in gunshot residue into light-emitting semiconductors. This method is faster, more sensitive, and easier to use than current alternatives.

Forensic experts at the Amsterdam police force are already testing it in actual crime scene investigations. The researchers published their findings in Forensic Science International on March 9.

Read more | >

The study notes, “These findings underscore the complexity of Europa’s plume activity. Our results provide a framework to explore various plume characteristics, including gas drag, particle size, initial ejection velocities, and gas production rates, and the resulting plume morphologies and deposition outcomes.”

How do the water vapor plumes on Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, contribute to the interaction between the moon’s surface and subsurface environments? This is what a recent study published in The Planetary Science Journal hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated how gas drag could influence the direction of particles being emitted by Europa’s water vapor plumes, specifically regarding where they land on the surface, either near the plumes or farther out. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand the surface-subsurface interactions on Europa and what this could mean for finding life as we know it.

Artist’s illustration of Europa’s water vapor plumes. (Credit: NASA/ESA/K. Retherford/SWRI)

For the study, the researchers used a series of computer models to simulate how the speed and direction of dust particles emitted from the plumes could be influenced by a process called gas drag, which could decrease the speed and direction of dust particles exiting the plumes. In the end, the researchers found that gas drag greatly influences dust behavior, with smaller dust particles ranging in size from 0.001 to 0.1 micrometers becoming more spread out after eruption and larger dust particles ranging in size from 0.1 to 10 micrometers landing near the plume sites.

Read more | >

Supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, physicists have revealed the presence of a previously unobserved type of subatomic phenomenon called a fractional exciton. Their findings confirm theoretical predictions of a quasiparticle with unique quantum properties that behaves as though it is made of equal fractions of opposite electric charges bound together by mutual attraction.

The discovery was supported by NSF through multiple grants and laboratory work performed at the NSF National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida. The results are published in Nature and show potential for developing new ways to improve how information is stored and manipulated at the quantum level, which could lead to faster and more reliable quantum computers.

“Our findings point toward an entirely new class of quantum particles that carry no overall charge but follow unique quantum statistics,” says Jia Li, leader of the research team and associate professor of physics at Brown University. “The most exciting part is that this discovery unlocks a range of novel quantum phases of matter, presenting a new frontier for future research, deepening our understanding of fundamental physics and even opening up new possibilities in quantum computation.”

Read more | >

CERN scientists have detected top quark pairs in lead-lead collisions for the first time, confirming their presence in the early universe’s quark-gluon plasma. This groundbreaking discovery unlocks new insights into how matter formed just microseconds after the Big Bang. Join us as we explore the science, history, and future implications of this monumental finding.

Paper link : https://arxiv.org/pdf/2411.10186
paper link : https://arxiv.org/pdf/0810.5529
paper link : https://arxiv.org/pdf/2005.

Visit our website for up-to-the-minute updates:
www.nasaspacenews.com.

Follow us.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nasaspacenews.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SpacenewsNasa.

Join this channel to get access to these perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEuhsgmcQRbtfiz8KMfYwIQ/join.

#NSN #NASA #Astronomy#TopQuark.

Continue reading “Physicists Shock the World: Top Quark Discovery Sheds Light on the Universe’s First Moments” | >

🧠💥 Quantum Particle Zeta‑9 Just Broke the Human Thought Barrier.
A newly discovered particle is doing something no subatomic entity should be capable of — reacting to human thought before it happens. Welcome to the edge of physics, where consciousness and quantum mechanics collide.

In this video, we unpack the stunning results from recent Fermilab experiments involving Zeta‑9, a particle that appears to anticipate human intention. Is it just quantum weirdness—or evidence that the human mind is more than biology?

You’ll discover:

What Zeta‑9 is and how it was discovered.

Why its behavior defies causality and classical physics.

Read more | >