Nuclear & Particles

“Boson Clouds” Could Explain Dark Matter

Credit:  Brian KoberleinThe nature of dark matter stills astonishes astronomers. As the search for dark matter particles keeps on turning up nothing, it is tempting to throw away the dark matter model altogether, but indirect evidence for the stuff remains to be strong. So what is it? One team has an idea, and they...

Xparticles generated in a star explosion

First Detection of Exotic ‘X’ Particles in Quark-Gluon Plasma

Physicists have found evidence of rare X particles in the quark-gluon plasma produced in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The findings could redefine the kinds of particles that were abundant in the early universe. Credit: CERNIn the initial millionths of a second after the Big Bang, our universe was an agitated pull...

Uncovering the Secrets of the Big Bang With Machine Learning

A quark gluon plasma after the collision of two heavy nuclei. Credit: TU WienCan machine learning be used to reveal the secrets of the quark-gluon plasma?Yes, it can. However, only with advanced new methods.It can hardly be more complicated. Little particles whir around wildly with extremely high energy, many interactions happen in the...

Introduction to Particle Physics

Fragment ZooPhysical scientists thought there were only three basic elements for most of the first half of the twentieth century: the known proton, neutron, and electron. Nonetheless, by the mid-1960s, that image had shifted. Improvements to particle accelerators and detector technology set the stage for the discovery of a seemingly infinite number of new...

MIT Magnet Allows Path to Commercial Fusion Power

Community Fusion System (CFS) and MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center claimed that a high-temperature superconducting magnet was successfully tested. The 20-tesla field intensity, according to MIT researchers and CFS, is the most intense electromagnetic field ever created on Earth, paving the way for the construction of the first fusion power generator.Magnet design is...

A Dive Into The Standard Model

Particles of the Standard Model of particle physics. Credit: Daniel Dominguez/CERNThe theories and findings of countless physicists since the 1930s led to an excellent insight into the basic structure of matter. They found that there are a few basic building blocks known as fundamental particles that compose everything in the universe, ruled by four...