Physics and Matter News

Bright lights of purity

Thursday, February 02, 2012 00:00 MST

Berkeley Lab researchers have discovered why a promising technique for making quantum dots and nanorods has so far been a disappointment. Better still, they've also discovered how to correct the problem.

Many bodies make 1 coherent burst of light

Wednesday, February 01, 2012 00:00 MST

In a flash, the world changed for Tim Noe -- and for physicists who study what they call many-body problems. The Rice University graduate student was the first to see, in the summer of 2010, proof of a theory that solid-state materials are capable of producing an effect known as superfluorescence.

How seawater could corrode nuclear fuel

Tuesday, January 31, 2012 00:00 MST

Japan used seawater to cool nuclear fuel at the stricken Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant after the tsunami in March 2011 -- and that was probably the best action to take at the time, says Professor Alexandra Navrotsky at UC Davis. But Navrotsky and others have since discovered a new way in which seawater can corrode nuclear fuel, forming uranium compounds that could potentially travel long distances, either in solution or as very small particles.

Does antimatter weigh more, less or the same as matter?

Monday, January 30, 2012 00:00 MST

Does antimatter weigh more than matter? UC Riverside physicists want to know. Their finding could explain why the universe seems to have no antimatter and why it is expanding at an ever increasing rate. In the lab, the researchers took the first step towards measuring the free fall of positronium -- a bound state between a positron and an electron. They separated the positron from the electron long enough to measure gravity's effect on them.

Scientists create first free-standing 3-D cloak

Sunday, January 29, 2012 00:00 MST

Researchers in the US have, for the first time, cloaked a three-dimensional object standing in free space, bringing the much-talked-about invisibility cloak one step closer to reality.

Scientists create first atomic X-ray laser

Saturday, January 28, 2012 00:00 MST

Scientists have created the shortest, purest X-ray laser pulses ever achieved, fulfilling a 45-year-old prediction and opening the door to a new range of scientific discovery. The researchers aimed SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source at a capsule of neon gas, setting off an avalanche of X-ray emissions to create the world's first "atomic X-ray laser."

Jupiter's 'Trojans' on an atomic scale

Friday, January 27, 2012 00:00 MST

The Bohr Model describes the atom as a nucleus circled by electrons, much like a star circled by planets -- but quantum theory taught us that particles do not travel on well-defined trajectories but behave as a quantum wave. Now scientists succeeded in preparing atoms which indeed behave like a miniature version of a solar system.

Chemists find new material to remove radioactive gas from spent nuclear fuel

Thursday, January 26, 2012 00:00 MST

Research by a team of Sandia National Laboratories chemists could impact worldwide efforts to produce clean, safe nuclear energy and reduce radioactive waste.

A new class of electron interactions in quantum systems

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 00:00 MST

Physicists at the University of New South Wales have observed a new kind of interaction that can arise between electrons in a single-atom silicon transistor, offering a more complete understanding of the mechanisms that govern electron conduction in nano-structures at the atomic scale.

Physicists use ion beams to detect art forgery

Tuesday, January 24, 2012 00:00 MST

University of Notre Dame nuclear physicists Philippe Collon and Michael Wiescher are using accelerated ion beams to pinpoint the age and origin of material used in pottery, painting, metalwork and other art. The results of their tests can serve as powerful forensic tools to reveal counterfeit art work, without the destruction of any sample as required in some chemical analysis.

World's longest superconductor cable

Monday, January 23, 2012 00:00 MST

The "AmpaCity" project has been kicked off: The RWE Group and its partners are just about to replace a 1-kilometer-long high-voltage cable connecting two transformer stations in the Ruhr city of Essen with a state-of-the-art superconductor solution. This will mark the longest superconductor cable installation in the world. As part of this project, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology will analyze suitable superconducting and insulating materials.

Neutron scattering provides window into surface interactions

Sunday, January 22, 2012 00:00 MST

To better understand the fundamental behavior of molecules at surfaces, researchers at the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are combining the powers of neutron scattering with chemical analysis.

'Spooky action at distance' in particle physics?!

Saturday, January 21, 2012 00:00 MST

Researchers have devised a proposal for the first conclusive experimental test of a phenomenon known as 'Bell's nonlocality.' This test is designed to reveal correlations that are stronger than any classical correlations, and do so between high-energy particles that do not consist of ordinary matter and light. These results are relevant to the so-called 'CP violation' principle, which is used to explain the dominance of matter over antimatter.

Are you certain, Mr. Heisenberg?

Friday, January 20, 2012 00:00 MST

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle is one of the foundations of quantum physics. Recent experiments show that Heisenberg's view of quantum uncertainty was not complete.

The perfect liquid -- now even more perfect

Thursday, January 19, 2012 00:00 MST

Ultra hot quark-gluon-plasma, generated by heavy-ion collisions in particle accelerators, is supposed to be the "most perfect fluid" in the world. Previous theories imposed a limit on how "liquid" fluids can be. Recent results at the Vienna University of Technology suggest that this limit can be broken -- making the world's "most perfect fluid" even more perfect.