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U.S. Heavy-Ion Collision Research Suggests Protons and Neutrons May Not Be Just "Three Quarks"

The STAR Collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory recently proposed, based on heavy-ion collision data studies, that baryons such as protons and neutrons may not be simply composed of three valence quarks, and that their baryon number may be more closely related to "baryon junctions" in the gluon field. The findings were published in the journal *Science*. In the traditional valence quark model, each quark is assigned a baryon number of 1/3, so baryons such as protons and neutrons, composed of three quarks, carry a baryon number of +1. However, this model is not a fundamental requirement of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). As early as the 1970s, alternative explanations had been proposed in the theoretical community; in 1996, Dmitri Kharzeev proposed a model suggesting that the baryon number is not necessarily carried by the quarks themselves, but may instead be concentrated at the Y-shaped junction formed by the gluon field—the "baryon junction."

2026-08-31

Russian Research Team Proposes New Method for Measuring Proton and Deuteron Electric Dipole Moments in a Single Storage Ring

Physicists from several Russian research institutions have proposed a new method for searching for the electric dipole moments of protons and deuterons, potentially enabling the study of both particle types in a single storage ring. The participating institutions include the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, the Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, and the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The research was published in the journal *Nuclear Science and Technology* and was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation. The electric dipole moment reflects whether there is a tiny asymmetry between the internal charge distribution of a particle and its spin direction. According to Standard Model predictions, the electric dipole moments of the proton and deuteron are nonzero but extremely small, on the order of 10...

2026-08-31

U.S. Electron-Ion Collider ePIC Detector Completes First Batch of Lead Tungstate Crystal Procurement and Acceptance

The U.S. Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) project recently achieved its first long-lead procurement milestone: 1,069 custom lead tungstate crystals for the new ePIC detector have been delivered, tested, and accepted. These crystals will be used in the Electron Endcap Electromagnetic Calorimeter (EEEMCAL) to help precisely measure the energy of scattered electrons during collisions. The EIC is being built by the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, in collaboration with the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The facility will circulate electron and ion beams in opposite directions, colliding them inside the ePIC detector. The ePIC detector records information about particles produced in the collisions, providing data for studying the fundamental constituents of visible matter...

2026-08-31

Japanese team achieves high-precision mass measurements of argon isotopes, revealing variations in the strength of the new magic number N=32

An international collaborative research team comprising RIKEN and the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), among others, conducted high-precision mass measurements of short-lived argon isotopes far from the line of nuclear stability, using the superconducting RI beam generation and separation device BigRIPS at the RI Beam Factory (RIBF) of RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science, as well as the CRISMASS system, a stationary slow radioactive isotope precision mass spectrometer jointly developed by the two institutions. The research team directly measured the mass of argon-50 (^50Ar, 18 protons, 32 neutrons) for the first time, and improved the mass measurement precision of argon-49 (^49Ar) by approximately 250-fold compared to previous measurements, providing insights into the energy of the two-neutron shell gap near the new magic number N=32. The results have been...

2026-08-31

U.S. STREAMLINE Project Advances Nuclear Quantum Many-Body Research with Artificial Intelligence

On August 25, 2026, a new project named STREAMLINE is combining artificial intelligence, machine learning, and supercomputing to address the nuclear quantum many-body problem in nuclear physics research, aiming to more accurately simulate the interactions between protons and neutrons within atomic nuclei and provide theoretical support for frontier topics such as neutron stars and fundamental interactions. The difficulty of the nuclear quantum many-body problem lies in the fact that as the number of particles increases, the possible interactions among them grow rapidly, and traditional computational methods quickly hit the ceiling of computing power. Even with high-performance supercomputers, only quantum systems of relatively limited scale can typically be handled. The STREAMLINE project hopes to...

2026-08-26

Lancaster University in the UK receives EPSRC funding to study antimatter production in intense laser pulses

Christopher Arran, a lecturer at Lancaster University and the Cockcroft Institute in the UK, has recently been awarded a three-year New Investigator Award from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to study electron-positron pair production in the extremely intense electromagnetic fields of high-power lasers. The research focuses on matter-antimatter production processes under intense laser pulse conditions. Similar interactions are believed to exist in extreme cosmic environments, such as near pulsars and black hole accretion disks. Previously, such interactions had only been measured at large particle accelerator facilities such as Stanford University and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), but the electric and magnetic field strengths used in those experiments were far weaker than the strong-field conditions achievable with current high-power lasers.

2026-08-26

Rare Germanium Isotope Infrared Spectral Signatures Elucidated in Detail for the First Time

The press service of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science reported on August 25 that scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University, in collaboration with an international research team, have for the first time conducted a detailed study of the infrared spectra of two rare germanium isotopes and identified characteristic spectral signatures that can be used to recognize the relevant isotopes in complex gas mixtures. The research team selected two highly enriched isotopes—germanium-72 and germanium-73—as the subjects of the study, recording their spectral information using a high-resolution Fourier transform spectrometer. This instrument is capable of resolving closely spaced spectral lines, providing the conditions for analyzing subtle spectral changes induced by isotopic substitution. The researchers stated that precise spectral data for different germanium isotopes remain relatively scarce in the scientific literature, and such data are of significant importance for identifying molecules in planetary atmospheres and for producing ultra-pure germanium isotopes for quantum technologies and modern electronics.

2026-08-26

Ketterle Team: "Neutrino Laser" Based on Quantum-Entangled Atomic Clouds Theoretically Infeasible

Nobel laureate Wolfgang Ketterle and his team have conducted a theoretical examination of a neutrino laser concept and concluded that the scheme is fundamentally difficult to realize. The research findings have been published in *Physical Review Letters*. The concept was previously proposed by American physicists, with the core idea being the use of rubidium-87 atomic clouds or other unstable isotopes, placing them into specific quantum states to generate highly directional neutrino beams. According to the concept, if a neutrino source analogous to a laser could be constructed, it would help accelerate neutrino mass measurements and advance observational studies of the interconversion phenomena among different types of neutrinos. The Ketterle team's key focus this time was whether a large number of atoms could cooperatively emit neutrinos and other fermions, similar to the synchronized release of photons in a conventional laser.

2026-08-25

Russian Scientists Propose New Scheme for Measuring Proton and Deuteron Electric Dipole Moments in a Single Storage Ring

August 21 news, researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, the Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, and the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences have proposed a new experimental scheme to study the electric dipole moments of protons and deuterons in a single storage ring. The scheme can be implemented both in specially constructed new facilities and, potentially, in upgraded existing accelerator complexes. The electric dipole moments of protons and deuterons reflect the asymmetry of the internal charge distribution relative to the spin direction. According to Standard Model predictions, their values are non-zero but extremely small, on the order of 10⁻³¹ e·cm, far below current experimental sensitivity...

2026-08-24

CERN Large Hadron Collider Data Challenge Models of Oxygen and Neon Nucleus Structure

Physicists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), analyzing a new batch of collision data from the CMS detector at the Large Hadron Collider, have found that oxygen and neon nuclei do not behave entirely as predicted by existing models in high-energy collisions. This result indicates that the scientific community's understanding of the shapes and internal structures of certain light nuclei still requires further refinement. In high-energy nuclear collisions, a quark-gluon plasma is briefly formed in the collision region. This state of matter decays rapidly, but the collective flow characteristics of its particles can be used to infer the collision geometry and indirectly provide information about nuclear structure. Researchers believe that symmetric collisions of light ions help better control the initial collision conditions, making them suitable for studying collective responses in small systems.

2026-08-24

U.S. Department of Energy Selects Fermilab to Lead AI Project to Enhance Superconducting Radio-Frequency Cavity Control in Particle Accelerators

The U.S. Department of Energy's Genesis Program recently selected an artificial intelligence project led by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, supporting its collaboration with national laboratories, universities, and industry to use AI and machine learning technologies to improve resonance control in particle accelerators. The project aims to enhance accelerator operational performance and beam stability while reducing energy consumption and operating costs. Superconducting radio-frequency cavities are being assembled and tested, ready for installation on the Proton Improvement Plan-II at the Fermilab Accelerator Complex. By finely tuning the resonant frequency of the cavities, scientists can optimize acc...

2026-08-21

Large Hadron Collider experiments reveal neon nucleus may be bowling-pin shaped

A recent experimental result from the Large Hadron Collider at CERN suggests that the internal structure of the neon-20 nucleus may not be approximately spherical as commonly depicted in traditional textbooks, but rather closer to a "bowling pin" shape. This finding provides new experimental clues for studying deformation of light atomic nuclei and collective behavior in high-energy nuclear collisions. Atomic nuclei are composed of protons and neutrons, determining the elemental identity of atoms and carrying most of their mass. Although nuclei are often simplistically depicted as spherical, nuclear physics research has shown that some nuclei exhibit pronounced non-spherical deformation, such as the pear-shaped nuclei mentioned in previous studies. Accurately understanding these shapes helps physicists...

2026-08-21

US FRIB Experiment Reveals Magnetic Origin of Anomalous Low-Energy Gamma-Ray Enhancement

According to an August 21 announcement from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a new study led by the U.S. Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) with participation from researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and other institutions has provided a new experimental explanation for the long-standing low-energy enhancement phenomenon in nuclear physics. The findings were published in the journal Nature. An experiment at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) has yielded new results, answering a fundamental question about nuclear structure. (Image: FRIB) Gamma rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation. When an excited nucleus loses energy during radioactive decay and transitions to a lower, more stable energy level, it emits gamma rays. Over the past few decades, scientists have discovered that certain nuclei emit anomalously large numbers of low-energy gamma rays, but this phenomenon does not occur in all nuclei, and its occurrence conditions have been difficult to predict reliably in theory.

2026-08-21

CERN measures niobium-94 neutron capture for the first time, shedding new light on the mystery of molybdenum abundance in ancient stardust

The n_TOF collaboration at CERN recently reported that researchers have for the first time measured the probability of neutron capture by niobium-94. The results, published in Physical Review Letters, provide new experimental evidence for explaining the anomalous abundance of molybdenum-94 in presolar grains. The EAR2 facility in the n_TOF experiment at CERN produces intense neutron beams, opening new possibilities for nuclear research. Credit: CERN Niobium-94 is a niobium isotope containing 41 protons and 53 neutrons, occupying a critical juncture in the nuclear reaction chain that produces heavy elements in dying stars. Researchers are interested in it because niobium-94 is very close to molybdenum-94, differing by just one fewer proton and one more neutron. Under the high-temperature, high-pressure conditions inside stars, niobium-94 may either transform into molybdenum-94 through beta decay or form niobium-95 through neutron capture. The competition between these two reaction pathways directly affects scientists' understanding of the origin of molybdenum-94.

2026-08-20

RHIC Collision Data Provides New Evidence for the Existence of the "Baryon Bridge"

August 18 news, an international team of physicists, by analyzing nuclear collision data from the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), has presented strong evidence that baryon number may not be carried directly by quarks, but rather transmitted by a baryon bridge formed by gluons inside protons. The related paper has been published in the journal Science. Valerie A. Lentz, Brookhaven National Laboratory Baryons, including protons and neutrons, are generally considered to be composed of three quarks. In the existing understanding, the baryon number is viewed as being uniformly distributed among the three quarks. Meanwhile, gluons also exist inside protons; they are the carriers of the strong interaction. According to the description of quantum chromodynamics, gluons may form a Y-shaped structure known as a "baryon junction" or "gluon bridge" within the proton, but this structure has long lacked direct experimental evidence.

2026-08-19