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Category: particle physics – Page 18

An international research team, working with cutting-edge technology at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, has made a discovery that may dramatically expand the materials used in next-generation, energy-efficient memory and logic devices.

The team, which includes Nebraska’s Abdelghani Laraoui, assistant professor of mechanical and materials engineering, successfully demonstrated for the first time the imaging of magnetic skyrmions at room temperature in composition engineered . The team observed the tiny, vortex-like particles in these magnetic materials using a nitrogen-vacancy scanning probe in Laraoui’s lab. The findings are published in ACS Nano.

“This discovery is a huge step forward because, until now, scientists could only observe these skyrmions in bulk chiral magnetic materials at very low temperatures,” Laraoui said. “Being able to study them at room temperature opens up a whole new world of applications and possibilities.”

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Bimetallic particles, composed of a noble metal and a base metal, exhibit unique catalytic properties in selective heterogeneous hydrogenations due to their distinct geometric and electronic structures. At the molecular level, effective and selective hydrogenation requires site-specific interactions where the active atoms on the catalyst particle selectively engage with the functional group targeted for transformation in the substrate.

Reducing the particle to nanoscale atomic clusters and single-atom alloys enhances surface dispersion and improves the efficient utilization of atoms. These size reductions also simultaneously change the electronic structure of the , which significantly impacts the intrinsic activity or product distributions.

By precisely tuning the bonding structures of noble metal single atoms with the base metal host, reactants are flexibly accommodated and the electronic properties are fine-tuned to activate specific functional groups. However, the fabrication of such atomically precise active sites remains a challenge.

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How does the Earth generate its magnetic field? While the basic mechanisms seem to be understood, many details remain unresolved. A team of researchers from the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Sandia National Laboratories (U.S.) and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission has introduced a simulation method that promises new insights into the Earth’s core.

The method, presented in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, simulates not only the behavior of atoms, but also the magnetic properties of materials. The approach is significant for geophysics and could support the development of neuromorphic computing—an approach to more efficient AI systems.

The Earth’s magnetic field is essential for sustaining life, as it shields the planet from cosmic radiation and solar wind. It is generated by the geodynamo effect. “We know that the Earth’s core is primarily composed of iron,” explains Attila Cangi, Head of the Machine Learning for Materials Design department at CASUS.

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Dive into the mesmerizing world of quantum mechanics and uncover the secrets of the quantum vacuum—a concept that challenges everything we thought we knew about empty space. This video explores the dynamic, energy-filled realm of the quantum vacuum, where virtual particles pop in and out of existence and Zero Point Energy offers tantalizing possibilities for clean, limitless power.

Learn about the Casimir Effect, a fascinating phenomenon where quantum fluctuations create forces between metal plates, and discover how these principles could revolutionize fields like nanotechnology, energy production, and even space exploration. From the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle to the Reverse Casimir Effect, this journey into quantum mechanics highlights the incredible potential of harnessing Zero Point Energy for a sustainable future.

Whether you’re a science enthusiast, a technology visionary, or just curious about the universe’s mysteries, this video will inspire you with the groundbreaking implications of the quantum vacuum and Zero Point Energy.

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As computer chips continue to get smaller and more complex, the ultrathin metallic wires that carry electrical signals within these chips have become a weak link. Standard metal wires get worse at conducting electricity as they get thinner, ultimately limiting the size, efficiency, and performance of nanoscale electronics.

In a paper published in Science, Stanford researchers show that niobium phosphide can conduct electricity better than copper in films that are only a few atoms thick. Moreover, these films can be created and deposited at sufficiently low temperatures to be compatible with modern computer chip fabrication. Their work could help make future electronics more powerful and more energy efficient.

“We are breaking a fundamental bottleneck of traditional materials like copper,” said Asir Intisar Khan, who received his doctorate from Stanford and is now a visiting postdoctoral scholar and first author on the paper.

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Physicists turn to supercomputers to help build a 3D picture of the structures of protons and neutrons.

A team of scientists has made exciting advances in mapping the internal components of hadrons. They employed complex quantum chromodynamics and supercomputer simulations to explore how quarks and gluons interact within protons, aiming to unravel mysteries like the proton’s spin and internal energy distribution.

Unveiling the Parton Landscape.

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The majority of studies on laser-driven proton–boron nuclear reaction is based on the measurement of α-particles with solid-state nuclear tracks detector (Cr39). However, Cr39’s interpretation is difficult due to the presence of several other accelerated particles which can bias the analysis. Furthermore, in some laser irradiation geometries, cross-checking measurements are almost impossible. In this case, numerical simulations can play a very important role in supporting the experimental analysis. In our work, we exploited different laser irradiation schemes (pitcher–catcher and direct irradiation) during the same experimental campaign, and we performed numerical analysis, allowing to obtain conclusive results on laser-driven proton–boron reactions. A direct comparison of the two laser irradiation schemes, using the same laser parameters is presented.

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Galaxies are not islands in the cosmos. While globally the universe expands—driven by the mysterious “dark energy”—locally, galaxies cluster through gravitational interactions, forming the cosmic web held together by dark matter’s gravity. For cosmologists, galaxies are test particles to study gravity, dark matter and dark energy.

For the first time, MPA researchers and alumni have now used a novel method that fully exploits all information in galaxy maps and applied it to simulated but realistic datasets. Their study demonstrates that this new method will provide a much more stringent test of the cosmological standard model, and has the potential to shed new light on gravity and the dark universe.

From tiny fluctuations in the primordial universe, the vast cosmic web emerged: galaxies and form at the peaks of (over)dense regions, connected by cosmic filaments with empty voids in between. Today, millions of galaxies sit across the cosmic web. Large galaxy surveys map those galaxies to trace the underlying spatial matter distribution and track their growth or temporal evolution.

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The team found that the sharing of information that defines entanglement occurs across whole groups of fundamental particles called quarks and gluons within a proton.

“Before we did this work, no one had looked at entanglement inside of a proton in experimental high-energy collision data,” team member and Brookhaven Lab physicist Zhoudunming Tu said in a statement. “For decades, we’ve had a traditional view of the proton as a collection of quarks and gluons, and we’ve been focused on understanding so-called single-particle properties, including how quarks and gluons are distributed inside the proton.

Now, with evidence that quarks and gluons are entangled, this picture has changed. We have a much more complicated, dynamic system.

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Quantum physics is a very diverse field: it describes particle collisions shortly after the Big Bang as well as electrons in solid materials or atoms far out in space. But not all quantum objects are equally easy to study. For some—such as the early universe—direct experiments are not possible at all.

However, in many cases, quantum simulators can be used instead: one quantum system (for example, a cloud of ultracold atoms) is studied in order to learn something about another system that looks physically very different, but still follows the same laws, i.e. adheres to the same mathematical equations.

It is often difficult to find out which equations determine a particular quantum system. Normally, one first has to make theoretical assumptions and then conduct experiments to check whether these assumptions prove correct.

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