Physicists at MIT analyzed data from earlier experiments in particle accelerators, in order to probe the workings of the strong nuclear force that operates inside atoms. Their work sheds light on this force – one of the 4 fundamental forces of nature – and also illuminates the structure of a neutron star’s core. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/neutron-stars-strong-nuclear-force…
Tag: nuclear physics
Quantum logic spectroscopy unlocks potential of highly charged ions
Scientists from the PTB and the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK), both Germany, have carried out pioneering optical measurements of highly charged ions with unprecedented precision. To do this, they isolated a single Ar13 + ion from an extremely hot plasma and brought it practically to rest inside an ion trap together with a laser-cooled, singly charged ion. Employing…
New Boson Appears In Nuclear Decay, Breaks Standard Model
An anonymous reader shares an excerpt from an Ars Technica article: In November, people started polishing a Nobel prize for a group of physicists who seemed to have found new boson. […] This result has been cooking for quite some time. The first experimental results date back to 2015, with publication in 2016. Essentially, the scientists took some lithium and shot…
The 2nd-fastest pulsar, now with gamma rays
Pulsars are the compact remnants of supernovae. They have strong magnetic fields and rotate rapidly. This one is spinning 707 times a second! Astronomers just discovered this pulsar is emitting high-energy gamma rays. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/2nd-fastest-pulsar-j0952-0607-gamma-rays…
New measurements imply dramatically higher abundance of helium hydride ions in the early universe
Physicists report the first laboratory measurements of electron reactions with helium hydride ions in the cryogenic storage ring CSR at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg. At temperatures down to 6 K, the reaction rates destroying the molecule were found to be significantly lower compared to previous measurements at room temperature. This translates into a strongly enhanced abundance…
Moon dust is not to be sneezed at
When the astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission returned to Earth, they had almost 22 kilograms of rock from the surface of the moon in their baggage. Josef Zähringer from the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg was one of the first researchers allowed to analyze the material in the US. Two months later, Heinrich Wänke’s team at the…
Can we model heavy nuclei from first principles?
Modelling the properties of atomic nuclei is a demanding task. It requires a theory that we can apply to a large variety of nuclear species regardless of their masses. M.Sc. Gianluca Salvioni’s doctoral dissertation on theoretical nuclear physics attempts formulating such a theory by using inputs from accurate first-principle calculations available for light nuclei. …