Observing phononic skyrmions based on the hybrid spin of elastic waves

Skyrmions are extremely small with diameters in the nanoscale, and they behave as particles suited for information storage and logic technologies. In 1961, Tony Skyrme formulated a manifestation of the first topological defect to model a particle and coined it as skyrmions. Such particles with topologically stable configurations can launch a promising route toward establishing high-density magnetic and phononic (a discrete unit of quantum vibrational mechanical energy) information processing routes.

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Producing extreme ultraviolet laser pulses efficiently by wakesurfing behind electron beams

A laser pulse surfing in the wake of an electron beam pulse could get upshifted from visible to extreme ultraviolet light, simulations done at the University of Michigan have shown.

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Shape-shifting experiment challenges interpretation of how cadmium nuclei move

Atomic nuclei take a range of shapes, from spherical (like a basketball) to deformed (like an American football). Spherical nuclei are often described by the motion of a small fraction of the protons and neutrons, while deformed nuclei tend to rotate as a collective whole.

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Unusual atom helps in search for universe's building blocks

An unusual form of cesium atom is helping a University of Queensland-led research team unmask unknown particles that make up the universe.

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Neutrons reveal key to extraordinary heat transport

Warming a crystal of the mineral fresnoite, Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists discovered that excitations called phasons carried heat three times farther and faster than phonons, the excitations that usually carry heat through a material.

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Examining heat transfer in granular materials

Granular materials contain large numbers of small, discrete particles, which collectively behave like uniform media. Their thermal conductivity is crucial to understanding their overall behavior—but so far, researchers haven't considered how this value is affected by the surface roughness of their constituent particles.

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Theory can sort order from chaos in complex quantum systems

It's not easy to make sense of quantum-scale motion, but a new mathematical theory developed by scientists at Rice University and Oxford University could help—and may provide insight into improving a variety of computing, electrochemical and biological systems.

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Collapsing bubbles show new ejecta production mechanism can occur under multiple-shock conditions

New research led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) provides a better understanding of ejecta production, which has been the subject of broad interest for more than 60 years throughout the scientific community.

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On the track of the Big Bang: The most sensitive detector for measuring radioactivity is now in Dresden

What is dark matter? What are neutrinos all about? How do stars work and what was actually going on in the universe in the first minutes after the Big Bang? To answer these questions, you need very sensitive detectors and a lot of skill. Only a few laboratories in the world have been able to perform such sensitive measurements so far. Recently, however, an ultra-sensitive detector has been set up in Germany, which will enable researchers to find answers to these questions in the future.

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Physicists give the first law of thermodynamics a makeover

West Virginia University physicists have made a breakthrough on an age-old limitation of the first law of thermodynamics.

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The legacy of the Majorana Demonstrator

For nearly six years, the Majorana Demonstrator quietly listened to the universe. Nearly a mile underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), in Lead, South Dakota, the experiment collected data that could answer one of the most perplexing questions in physics: Why is the universe filled with something instead of nothing?

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Physicists create new model of ringing black holes

When two black holes collide into each other to form a new bigger black hole, they violently roil spacetime around them, sending ripples, called gravitational waves, outward in all directions. Previous studies of black hole collisions modeled the behavior of the gravitational waves using what is known as linear math, which means that the gravitational waves rippling outward did not influence, or interact, with each other. Now, a new analysis has modeled the same collisions in more detail and revealed so-called nonlinear effects.

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South Korea debuts first search for DFSZ axion dark matter

A South Korean research team at the Center for Axion and Precision Physics Research (CAPP) within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) recently announced the most advanced experimental setup to search for axions. The group has successfully taken its first step toward the search for Dine-Fischler-Srednicki-Zhitnitsky (DFSZ) axion dark matter originating from the Grand Unification Theory (GUT). Not only that, the IBS-CAPP experimental setup allows for far greater search speed compared to any other axion search experiments in the world.

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Smart streaming readout system analyzes raw data from nuclear physics experiments

Nuclear physics experiments are data intensive. Particle accelerators probe collisions of subatomic particles such as protons, neutrons, and quarks to reveal details of the bits that make up matter. Instruments that measure the particles in these experiments generate torrents of raw data. To get a better handle on the data, nuclear physicists are turning to artificial intelligence and machine learning methods.

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What physicists can learn from shark intestines

In 1920, inventor Nikola Tesla patented a type of pipe that he called a "valvular conduit," which was built to draw fluid in one direction without any moving parts or added energy, and has applications ranging from soft robotics to medical implants.

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The perfect pour: Model predicts beer head features

From creating drinks with distinctive looks to providing aromas for connoisseurs, beer foam is big business. The complex interplay between the components of a beer, the vessel from which it's poured, and the glass it's poured into has garnered plenty of attention from researchers, brewers, and drinkers. A new study looks to provide the most accurate predictions for how a beer will foam.

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Leonardo da Vinci's forgotten experiments explored gravity as a form of acceleration

Engineers from Caltech have discovered that Leonardo da Vinci's understanding of gravity—though not wholly accurate—was centuries ahead of his time.

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New analysis shows atoms slow down more within colder blackbody radiation

New analysis shows that atoms will encounter high frictional forces in the presence of blackbody radiation at lower temperatures. Accounting for this effect could help researchers to improve the accuracy of high-precision experiments.

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Mid-twentieth-century physics in the home of Galileo

Florence was a flourishing center for fundamental physics research throughout most of the twentieth century. Roberto Casalbuoni, Daniele Dominici and Massimo Mazzoni—all physicists currently working there—have reviewed the history of the city's Institute of Physics for The European Physical Journal H, concentrating on the important decades of the 1920s to 1960s.

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The first model to describe the ways variously sized particles can jam together

The ways in which particles, such as sand or liquid droplets, behave during various mechanical processes is well studied. Typically, in situations where space is constrained, jams can occur, and understanding this can be useful in various industries. However, only instances where the particles in question are similar or have a limited range of sizes have been successfully modeled. For the first time, a model has been made that describes bodies of particles with highly diverse sizes, and in different jamming scenarios.

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Mexican jumping beans exhibit diffusive motion, study finds

A pair of physicists at Seattle University has found that the path taken by Mexican jumping beans is random and benefits the moth larvae they contain. Devon McKee and Pasha Tabatabai became curious about the movements of Mexican jumping beans and decided to find out if the path they take is directed. They have published their findings in the journal Physical Review E.

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Researchers simulate bubble collapse near oscillating walls

Bubble dynamics plays a significant role in mechanics, chemistry, medicine, and biology. Understanding their interactions with the surrounding walls of the container is crucial for numerous applications, including cavitation erosion, underwater explosion, ultrasonic cleaning, shock wave lithotripsy (for treating kidney stones) and needle-free jet injection.

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New lithium-based scintillator crystal for detecting radiation can distinguish between neutrons and gamma rays

Security concerns over radioactive materials have persisted for many years. Airports and other public locations now routinely employ radiation detectors, and nuclear regulators need to be able to monitor the levels of subatomic particles like neutrons. Now, a team of researchers led by the University of Tsukuba has tested a new method of scintillation radiation detection based on wavelength information rather than waveform.

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On-chip mechanical exceptional points based on an optomechanical zipper cavity

Exceptional points are a distinct type of spectral singularity in non-Hermitian systems and their intriguing physics are in study with optical exceptional points. Exceptional points are singularities in the energy functions of a physical system, where two light modes can coalesce to produce unusual effects. Mechanical oscillators are a system beyond photonics that can couple with many physical systems to further explore within mechanical sensing, topology energy transfer and non-reciprocal dynamics.

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PREX, CREX, and nuclear models: The plot thickens

A team of theorists has extended their previous critical analysis of the Lead Radius Experiment (PREX). The experiment involved deducing the neutron size of a lead atom's nucleus by measuring a tiny left-right asymmetry in electron scattering off lead-208.

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How fish schools work in a similar manner to the brain

What do the brain and a school of fish have in common? They are both capable of efficient collective information processing, although each unit within them only has access to local information.

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Researcher finds cataracts and turbulence that seem to slow water's flow actually facilitate it

Since 1996, Duke Engineering Professor Adrian Bejan has demonstrated numerous natural phenomena that validate his constructal theory in practice.

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Optimal layout for hospital isolation rooms that contain COVID-19 includes a ceiling vent

A group of researchers recently modeled the transmission of COVID-19 within an isolation room at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, U.K. Their goal was to explore the optimal room layout to reduce the risk of infection for health care staff.

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New insights into the complex nature of the liquid-to-glass transition

In a recently published article in the journal Nature Physics, a team of researchers with the participation of the University of Augsburg reports about unexpectedly universal correlations between the thermal expansion and the glass-transition temperatures of glass-forming materials, providing new insights into the complex nature of the transition from liquid into solid glass.

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Why icicles are rippled

Winter is coming to an end; the last nights of below zero temperatures are here. In the morning, one still spots the occasional icicle on a gutter or car bumper. When you look at these icicles carefully, you may notice that they show a characteristic pattern of ripples—always around one centimeter wide. What causes these ripples? Using an icicle machine of their own design, physicists and chemists from the University of Amsterdam investigated this question, and discovered that salt plays an important part in the formation process of the ripples.

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Using muon detectors to remotely create a 3D image of the inside of a nuclear reactor

A team of physicists affiliated with several institutions in France has developed a way to use muon detectors to create 3D images of difficult-to-access objects, such as a reactor inside a nuclear plant. The research is published in the journal Science Advances.

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Researchers uncover a new method for generating spinning thermal radiation

Researchers at Purdue University have made a groundbreaking discovery in the field of thermal radiation, uncovering a new method for generating spinning thermal radiation in a controlled and efficient manner using artificially structured surfaces, known as metasurfaces.

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Deep in a South Dakota gold mine, physicists prospect for dark matter

Nestled in the mountains of western South Dakota is the little town of Lead, which bills itself as "quaint" and "rough around the edges." Visitors driving past the hair salon or dog park may never guess that an unusual—even otherworldly—experiment is happening a mile below the surface.

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Researchers uncover physics involved in a key process in Huntington's disease

Researchers from Princeton University have uncovered the physics of a cellular process linked to aggregation diseases, including Huntington's disease, paving the way to a deeper understanding of neurodegenerative disorders at the molecular level.

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Researchers find the key to reducing drag on superhydrophobic surfaces can come down to a single parameter

Sometimes, the most complex problems can be solved with the simplest approaches. Such was the case for researchers at UC Santa Barbara as they tried to resolve a longstanding issue of fluid friction—the resistance between an object moving through fluid, or conversely, a stationary object with fluid flowing around or through it. It's also known as drag.

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A precise X-ray thermometer for warm dense matter

Warm dense matter (WDM) measures thousands of degrees in temperature and is under the pressure of thousands of Earth's atmospheres. Found in many places throughout the universe, it is expected to have beneficial applications on Earth. However, its investigation is a challenge.

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Building particle accelerators takes more than a village

Each year, thousands of people travel far and wide to see architectural marvels such as the towering steps of the Kukulcán temple in in Chichen Itza or the intricate facade of the Cologne Cathedral in Germany. Like these marvels of history and culture, thousands of researchers travel to the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) five light source facilities each year. They don't come for the views, though, they come to push the boundaries of science—in fields ranging from batteries to pharmaceuticals—by using the ultrabright synchrotron light, mostly X-rays, from these facilities to conduct experiments.

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The bubbling universe: A previously unknown phase transition in the early universe

Think of bringing a pot of water to the boil: As the temperature reaches the boiling point, bubbles form in the water, burst and evaporate as the water boils. This continues until there is no more water changing phase from liquid to steam.

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Powering neutron science: Laser-driven neutron generation realizing single-shot resonance spectroscopy

Scientists from the Institute of Laser Engineering at Osaka University determined the mechanism and functional form for the yield of neutrons from a laser-driven source and used it to carry out a neutron resonance analysis much faster than conventional methods. This work may help bring non-invasive testing to more applications in manufacturing and medicine.

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