PROSPECT Characterizes the Footprint of Neutrinos

Predictions based on the Standard Model of particle physics don’t always agree with what scientists see in experimental data. One way to examine these differences is emissions of neutrinos from nuclear reactors. As part of this research agenda, scientists in the PROSPECT Collaboration have reported the most precise measurement ever of the energy spectrum of antineutrinos emitted from the fission of uranium-235, providing a new reference energy spectrum and new constraints on the origin of the disagreements between data and models.

SLAC theorist Lance Dixon receives Galileo Galilei Medal

Lance Dixon, professor of particle physics and astrophysics at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University, will receive the 2023 Galileo Galilei Medal for his contributions to theoretical physics. The award was announced by the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) on Feb. 15 – the 459th birthday of Galileo.

Particles of Light May Create Fluid Flow, Data-Theory Comparison Suggests

A new computational analysis by theorists at Brookhaven National Laboratory and Wayne State University supports the idea that photons (a.k.a. particles of light) colliding with heavy ions can create a fluid of “strongly interacting” particles. In a new paper they show that calculations describing such a system match up with data collected by the ATLAS detector at Europe’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

Theoretical calculations predicted now-confirmed tetraneutron, an exotic state of matter

Iowa State University’s James Vary and an international team of nuclear physicists used supercomputers to theorize and predict that a four-neutron structure, a tetraneutron, could form for just billions of billionths of a second. Experiments in Japan have now confirmed the reality of a tetraneutron.

Research Breakthrough Means Warp Speed ‘Unruh Effect’ Can Finally Be Tested in Lab Settings

A major hurdle for work at the forefront of fundamental physics is the inability to test cutting-edge theories in a laboratory setting. But a recent discovery opens the door for scientists to see ideas in action that were previously only understood in theory or represented in science fiction.

Science Snapshots from Berkeley Lab

An experiment to study gravity at the quantum scale, insights into an antibiotic-building enzyme, and the backstory of an incredible new protein prediction algorithm are featured in this month’s roundup of science highlights.

Making a Material World Better, Faster Now: Q&A With Materials Project Director Kristin Persson

Berkeley Lab’s Kristin Persson shares her thoughts on what inspired her to launch the Materials Project online database, the future of materials research and machine learning, and how she found her own way into a STEM career.

Rutgers’ Greg Moore Elected to National Academy of Sciences

Rutgers Professor Gregory W. Moore, a renowned physicist who seeks a unified understanding of the basic forces and fundamental particles in the universe, has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences. Moore, Board of Governors Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, joins 119 other new academy members and 26 international members this year who were recognized for their distinguished and ongoing achievements in original research.

Four Years of Calculations Lead to New Insights into Muon Anomaly

Two decades ago, an experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory pinpointed a mysterious mismatch between established particle physics theory and actual lab measurements. A multi-institutional research team (including Brookhaven, Columbia University, and the universities of Connecticut, Nagoya and Regensburg, RIKEN) have used Argonne National Laboratory’s Mira supercomputer to help narrow down the possible explanations for the discrepancy, delivering a newly precise theoretical calculation that refines one piece of this very complex puzzle.

Two Brookhaven Lab Scientists Named DOE Office of Science Distinguished Fellows

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have garnered two out of five “Distinguished Scientists Fellow” awards announced today by the DOE’s Office of Science. Theoretical physicist Sally Dawson, a world-leader in calculations aimed at describing the properties of the Higgs boson, and José Rodriguez, a renowned chemist exploring and developing catalysts for energy-related reactions, will each receive $1 million in funding over three years to pursue new research objectives within their respective fields.

Heather J. Lynch, PhD

Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists Announces 2019 National Laureates

An ecologist from Stony Brook University, a theoretical physicist from University of Colorado Boulder and a chemical biologist from Harvard University Three female scientists have been named Laureates of the Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists, each receiving $250,000, the…