Clear Sign that QGP Production ‘Turns Off’ at Low Energy

Physicists report new evidence that production of an exotic state of matter in collisions of gold nuclei at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) can be ‘turned off’ by lowering the collision energy. The findings will help physicists map out the conditions of temperature and density under which the exotic matter, known as a quark-gluon plasma (QGP), can exist and identify key features of the phases of nuclear matter.

Department of Energy Announces $11.24 Million for Research on Nuclear Theory Topical Collaborations

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $11.24 million for five topical theory collaborations in nuclear physics (NP). These projects bring together leading nuclear theorists to collaboratively focus on solving challenging problems central to advancing knowledge in nuclear physics.

Collisions of Light Produce Matter/Antimatter from Pure Energy

Scientists studying particle collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider have produced definitive evidence for two physics phenomena predicted more than 80 years ago: that matter/antimatter can be generated directly from collisions of photons and that a magnetic field can bend polarized light along different paths in a vacuum.

Supercomputers Aid Scientists Studying the Smallest Particles in the Universe

Using the nation’s fastest supercomputer, Summit at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a team of nuclear physicists developed a promising method for measuring quark interactions in hadrons and applied the method to simulations using quarks with close-to-physical masses.

Top-10 Science and Technology Achievements of 2019

In 2019, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory dove deeper into proton spin, took a leap in quantum communication, and uncovered new details of plant biochemistry, battery cathodes, catalysts, superconductors, and more. Here, in no particular order, are the biggest advances of the year.