Tag

Physics

All articles tagged with #physics

physics-and-chemistry9 days ago•16 min saved

AI-Fueled Breakthrough Clears Decades-Old Jamming Mystery

Physicists Parisi and Zamponi credit Claude, an AI model, with sparking a simple idea that, despite initial errors, guided a clean proof that two parameters in the jamming (granular) model sum to one. The researchers refined Claude’s premise and published their result in the Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment, illustrating AI’s potential to surface patterns and literature while underscoring that human verification remains essential.

via Gizmodo|

#artificial-intelligence #claude #jamming

physics11 days ago•6 min saved

Hidden Synchrony: Two Quantum Clocks Align via Dissipation in Trapped Ions

Physicists demonstrated synchronization between two quantum van der Pol oscillators realized as shared vibrational modes in a trapped-ion pair. The fixed relative phase emerges only in the joint state, not in either oscillator alone, thanks to engineered gain/loss processes and a collective dissipative channel. This hidden synchronization, detected through joint Wigner-function maps, points toward scalable quantum oscillator networks with potential uses in quantum sensors and clocks beyond classical limits.

via American Physical Society|

#dissipation-engineering #physics #quantum-sensors

science13 days ago•5 min saved

Lugworms Unveil Universal Poop Coiling Rules

A Nature Communications study by Mehdi Habibi, Neil Ribe, and Daniel Bonn shows lugworms defecate against gravity and produce a constant-width poop coil that follows elastic rope-coiling physics, revealing universal patterns in fecal morphology and linking Darwin’s worm-focused work to broader functional morphology and soil fertility, with researchers even planning a second poop emoji for Unicode.

via ScienceAlert|

#coiling #darwin #feces

entertainment15 days ago•122 min saved

Was F9’s space-car stunt plausible? Experts weigh in

Space.com debunks the idea that Tej and Roman’s rocket‑powered Pontiac Fiero is a literal orbital mission, noting the scene nods to real air‑launch concepts (ALTO) like SpaceShipTwo and Pegasus, but several details are implausible: the carrier aircraft and release timing are cinematic, the car’s heat shield and fiberglass body wouldn’t survive reentry, steering in vacuum makes no physical sense, and significant G‑forces would risk unconsciousness. Still, the moment captures genuine astronaut awe and uses credible elements (air‑launch concepts, suits) to ground the spectacle. The piece adds that F9 (2021) remains entertainment, now streaming on Prime Video.

via Space|

#aerospace #entertainment #fast-and-furious

physics-and-chemistry17 days ago•16 min saved

Lugworm Poop Maps Gravity-Driven Elastic Coiling, Science Confirms Emoji Shape

Physicists show lugworms defy gravity with upward-defecating poop whose shape follows elastic rope-coiling physics, explaining why the poop emoji’s cone form emerges from gravity and suggesting biology leverages basic physical laws rather than requiring special biological design.

via Gizmodo|

#elastic-coiling #gravity #lugworm

physics17 days ago•8 min saved

Bootstrapping String Theory: From Minimal Constraints to a Unique High-Energy Description

A bootstrap analysis shows that, under ultrasoft high-energy behavior and the assumption that Regge zeros are the only zeros, the 4- and 5-point scattering amplitudes for identical scalars are uniquely fixed to the string-theory form, implying string dynamics may emerge from fundamental consistency principles rather than being assumed a priori. Built on Lorentz invariance, crossing symmetry, positivity, and analyticity, the result supports string universality but depends on whether these inputs can be independently justified or if other assumptions yield the same outcome.

via American Physical Society|

#bootstrap #high-energy-physics #physics

science23 days ago•41 min saved

One Photon, a Cascade of Particles: Quantum Split Defies Simple Expectations

Physicists attempted to split a single photon and instead observed a surprisingly large swarm of particles arising from the process, revealing complex quantum-field dynamics and particle-creation effects that go beyond a straightforward division of light. The finding challenges simple intuitions about how photons behave when energy is redistributed and points to richer pathways for light–matter interactions at extreme conditions.

via Yahoo|

#experiment #particle #photon

physics23 days ago•82 min saved

Cutting a Photon Unveils a Cloud of Zero-to-Infinity States

Physicists simulated slicing a single photon with a shutter and found that the global quantum state becomes a complex mixture spanning zero to infinitely many photons. Locally, measurements on one side can reveal a single-photon state while the other side appears as vacuum, illustrating a paradoxical, nonlocal distribution and raising questions about the nature of particles and causality. The work, reported in Physical Review Letters, could lead to a clearer way to describe particle interactions and extend to other quantum particles like electrons; in realistic setups the infinite case requires an idealized infinitely fast shutter.

via Live Science|

#causality #measurement #photon

physics24 days ago•84 min saved

First functional thorium nuclear clock hints at new physics

Scientists report the first functioning thorium-229 nuclear clock, which uses a low-energy nuclear transition excited by UV lasers and operates continuously in a crystal at room temperature. The clock promises long-term stability that could surpass some optical clocks, enabling tests of fundamental forces beyond the Standard Model and offering a new avenue to search for dark matter, with potential future uses in navigation and communications as the technology matures.

via Live Science|

#dark-matter #fundamental-physics #nuclear-clock

physics1 month ago•6 min saved

JUNO sharpens neutrino-oscillation picture, edging toward mass hierarchy

With about two months of data, the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) measured two key reactor-neutrino oscillation parameters with 1.6× better precision than decades of previous experiments. The results, published in Nature, advance the effort to determine the neutrino mass ordering and shed light on the origin of neutrino masses, using a 20,000‑ton scintillator detector instrumented with 43,000 photomultiplier tubes observing reactor antineutrinos ~53 km away.

via Nature|

#juno #neutrino-mass #neutrino-oscillation

physics1 month ago•46 min saved

Antihydrogen hyperfine splitting measured to 4 ppm, tightening CPT tests and antimatter structure probes

A CERN ALPHA Collaboration study reports a four-parts-per-million measurement of the antihydrogen ground-state hyperfine splitting (a1S/h) using microwave spectroscopy on ~24,000 trapped anti-atoms in a flattened 1 T magnetic trap. By comparing two spin-flip transitions at magnetic minimums in 1.03 T and 1.07 T, the team determines a1S/h = 1,420,404.8 ± 1.1 (stat) ± 5.6 (sys) kHz, consistent with hydrogen and CPT invariance. The result probes the antiproton’s internal structure (Zemach corrections) at ~40 ppm and complements ongoing 1S–2S measurements, with future plans to push precision further (e.g., Sternheim interval, 0.65 T transitions). Achieving this precision relies on improved magnetic-field control, spin-state manipulation, and antihydrogen accumulation, as well as careful handling of magnetic-field drift and lineshape modeling.

via Nature|

#alpha-collaboration #antihydrogen #cpt-symmetry

science1 month ago•3 min saved

Sperm Harness Odd Elasticity to Swim Through Viscous Fluids

Researchers show human sperm and algae like Chlamydomonas propel through viscous fluids by internal energy creating traveling waves via odd elasticity, a non-reciprocal response that can overcome the scallop theorem; the odd elastohydrodynamics framework separates internal flagellar forces from external drag and could inspire bio‑inspired micro‑robots.

via SciTechDaily|

#active-matter #biology #biomechanics

gaming1 month ago•11 min saved

BeamNG.drive lands on PS5 in 2026 with a major 0.39 graphics/physics refresh

BeamNG.drive will bring its physics‑driven driving sim to PlayStation 5 in 2026, while the PC Early Access title’s 0.39 update delivers a comprehensive graphics overhaul (Direct3D 12 renderer, HDR, volumetric atmosphere/lighting, improved shadows/textures) and memory/performance optimizations, plus new content and aero/drag improvements; official multiplayer is in development but not ready yet, with a trailer showcased in coverage.

via Gematsu|

#beamngdrive #early-access #gaming

physics1 month ago•7 min saved

CERN Detects Excited Bc*+ Meson at the LHC

ATLAS physicists at CERN observed the excited Bc*+ meson, a heavy-quark bound state (charm quark with a bottom antiquark), produced in high-energy proton-proton collisions at the LHC. The Bc*+ rapidly decays to a Bc+ meson and a photon, which was identified indirectly when the photon converted into an electron–positron pair in the detector. The measured mass difference between Bc*+ and Bc+ is 64.5 ± 1.4 MeV, consistent with theoretical expectations and providing new data to refine models of heavy-quark dynamics and the strong force. Publication is set for Physical Review Letters.

via Sci.News|

#atlas-collaboration #bc-meson #large-hadron-collider

science1 month ago•5 min saved

Four-Dimensional Ghost Unmasked in CERN's SPS

Physicists at CERN traced a time-evolving resonance inside the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) that quietly degrades particle beams. Using a four-dimensional Poincaré surface-of-section, they map fixed harmonic lines that predict where particles cluster, revealing the hidden ‘ghost’ and offering strategies to dampen its effects and guide the design of future accelerators.

via Indian Defence Review|

#accelerator #beam-degradation #cern