Newswise Feature Channel: Nuclear Physics

Argonne Researchers Crack a Key Problem with Sodium-Ion Batteries for Electric Vehicles and Grid Energy Storage

Argonne National Laboratory — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 15:05:31 EST

New method for cathode preparation prevents the particle cracking that caused performance decline with cycling of sodium-ion batteries, which offer a cheaper, more abundant alternative to lithium-ion batteries.

Nuclear Physics Experiment Helps Identify Conditions for a New Astrophysical Process

Department of Energy, Office of Science — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 14:05:14 EST

A new stellar process, the intermediate "i" process, has been proposed to explain new astronomical observations on nucleosynthesis. Scientists recently reported on the measurement of a nuclear reaction that affects the production of lanthanum in the i process. The measurement will help to improve scientific understanding of nucleosynthesis.

Smoother Surfaces Make for Better Particle Accelerators

Department of Energy, Office of Science — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 15:05:29 EST

A new toolkit helps researchers build optimal superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavities that form the backbone of advanced particle accelerators. The cavities' cleanliness, shape, and roughness of their inner surfaces contribute to their efficiency. In tests of the toolkit, scientists found that smoother cavities function more efficiently.

Mapping Out Matter's Building Blocks in 3D

Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 15:30:00 EST

Deep inside what we perceive as solid matter, the landscape is anything but stationary. The interior of the building blocks of the atom's nucleus -- particles called hadrons that most of us would recognize as protons and neutrons -- are made up of a seething mixture of interacting quarks and gluons, known collectively as partons. The HadStruc collaboration has now come together to map out these partons and disentangle how they interact to form hadrons. Their latest findings were recently published in the Journal of High Energy Physics.

Four Argonne Scientists Receive 2024 DOE Early Career Research Awards

Argonne National Laboratory — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 13:05:29 EST

As winners of the 2024 U.S. Department of Energy's Early Career Research Program, four scientists from Argonne National Laboratory are each receiving an award of $550,000 a year for five years to help them answer complex questions.

Unraveling the mystery surrounding the creation of heavy elements in stars

Argonne National Laboratory — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 14:05:37 EST

Scientists uncover new experimental data that will help them better understand how heavy elements are created in stars and the processes that shape the chemical makeup of the universe.

U.S. Department of Energy Awards $138 Million to 91 Early Career Scientists

Department of Energy, Office of Science — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 11:05:21 EST

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the selection of 91 early career scientists from across the country who will receive a combined $138 million in funding for research covering a wide range of topics including artificial intelligence, fusion energy, and quantum.

Laser-Sharp Look at Spinning Electrons Sets the Stage for New Physics Discoveries

Department of Energy, Office of Science — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 15:05:49 EST

Spin is an intrinsic property of the electron. When electrons spin in the same direction at a given time, the quantity is called polarization. Understanding polarization helps examine the structure of nuclei of heavy elements. Now, nuclear physicists have measured the polarization of an electron beam more precisely than ever before.

Postdoc Takes Multipronged Approach to Muon Detection

Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 16:05:13 EST

2024 JSA Postdoctoral Prize Winner Debaditya Biswas will combine different particle identification methods with machine learning to detect muons hidden in a sea of pions.

When it's hotter than hot, scientists know how nuclear fuel behaves, thanks to new research from Argonne

Argonne National Laboratory — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 11:05:55 EST

Experiment findings will help nuclear industry model, design and construct clean nuclear energy systems, and continue an impressive safety legacy.

Detecting the "Kick" from a Single Nuclear Decay

Department of Energy, Office of Science — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 13:05:46 EST

Scientists have for the first time mechanically detected individual nuclear decays occurring in a microparticle. The research used a new technique. Rather than detecting the radiation emitted by the nuclei, the researchers detected the occurrence of decay by measuring the tiny "kick" to the entire microparticle that contained the decaying nucleus as this radiation escaped.

Frontier simulations provide new insights into calcium-48's controversial nuclear magnetic excitation

Oak Ridge National Laboratory — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 17:05:07 EST

The world's most powerful supercomputer is helping resolve conflicting research results that have puzzled scientists for more than a decade, which could also shine new light inside collapsing stars.

New Heaviest Exotic Antimatter Nucleus

Brookhaven National Laboratory — Wed, 21 Aug 2024 11:00:00 EST

Scientists studying the tracks of particles streaming from six billion collisions of atomic nuclei at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) -- an "atom smasher" that recreates the conditions of the early universe -- have discovered a new kind of antimatter nucleus, the heaviest ever detected.

Breaking Barriers in Scientific Discovery

Department of Energy, Office of Science — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 12:05:09 EST

A billion-billion floating point operations per second-that's the power of exascale. The first exascale computer in the world, Frontier, resides at the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility. The DOE's Office of Science Advanced Scientific Computing Research program has worked for decades to build supercomputers that break barriers in scientific discovery.

No power, no operator, no problem: Argonne test facility simulates nuclear reactors to explore next-generation nuclear safety systems

Argonne National Laboratory — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 11:05:03 EST

Argonne's Natural Convection Shutdown Heat Removal Test Facility enables large-scale experimental testing of nuclear reactors. The facility explores passive safety systems, which can cool a reactor without any human intervention or power.

RPI Physicist Moussa N'Gom Is Using Light to Enhance Nuclear Security

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 10:05:40 EST

Our nation's security depends on the effective detection of nuclear materials at our borders and beyond. To address this challenge, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) physicist Moussa N'Gom, Ph.D., is leading research aimed at developing a quantum sensing probe to detect and characterize special nuclear materials precisely and without contact. Special nuclear materials are only mildly radioactive but can be used in nuclear explosives.

What Happens to the Remains of Neutron Star Mergers?

Department of Energy, Office of Science — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 16:05:04 EST

The collision of neutron stars creates an enigmatic object called a remnant. These remnants can, but don't always, collapse into a black hole. This research used supercomputer simulations to examine the internal structure of these remnants and their cooling process, primarily through neutrino emissions, and what that means for black hole formation.

University of Florida's new acting chair of materials science & engineering helps fuel Mars mission

University of Florida — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 11:05:58 EST

Michael Tonks, Ph.D., was named acting chair of the Department of Materials Science & Engineering. His work contributes to NASA's fuel development program

Thea Vijaya Kumar Coordinates Mechanical Cooling Systems for EIC

Brookhaven National Laboratory — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 11:05:54 EST

What do a particle collider and a human have in common? Not much. But both have parts that need to be kept within a certain temperature range to function properly. It's a phenomenon mechanical engineer Thea Vijaya Kumar knows well. She designs systems to keep people and machines cool -- a cool job in every sense of the word.

Discovery Sheds Light on the Origins of Matter in the Early Universe

Department of Energy, Office of Science — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 15:05:03 EST

Scientists recreate the conditions of the early universe in collisions of atoms in particle accelerators. Measuring the resulting particles allows scientists to understand how matter formed. A new calculation determined that as much as 70% of some measured particles are from reactions later than the early universe of quark-gluon plasma.