Science Highlights

Quantum information scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory successfully demonstrated a device that combines key quantum photonic capabilities on a single chip for the first time.

Researchers have been working for decades to understand the details of where the proton gets its intrinsic angular momentum, otherwise referred to as its spin. Recently, there have been indications that the spin contribution of the gluons could either be positive or negative. Now, a new approach that avoids assumptions and re-analyzes observational data with lattice quantum chromodynamics points strongly toward a positive gluon spin contribution, ∆g, to the proton spin.

Researchers at Argonne have discovered that superconducting nanowire photon detectors can also be used as highly accurate particle detectors, and they have found the optimal nanowire size for high detection efficiency.

Physicists know from previous experiments that what happens at the nuclear scale to protons and neutrons also affects their constituent quarks and gluons. A novel new framework has tapped on short-range correlations – brief pairings of protons and neutrons - to decipher the particles’ choreography and reveal this connection.

New studies have found that using louvers at the bottom of a fusion device creates local conditions that can reduce the temperature of the edge plasma, ensuring the plasma is not hot enough to damage the device. Specifically, the louvers allow the hot plasma to “detach” from the walls of the device, spreading out the heat. The work, on the SPARC machine, aids in progress toward fusion energy production.

A team of scientists investigate an exotic, light-induced phase transformation within a material using advanced X-ray and laser capabilities.

Lanthanum strontium manganite (LSMO) is a quantum material that is magnetic and conducts electricity at low temperature but is nonmagnetic and an insulator at room temperature. Researchers discovered that applying voltage to LSMO in its magnetic phase causes the material to split into regions with distinct magnetic properties whose properties depend on the applied voltage. This means that both resistance and magnetism can be tuned in LSMO, creating a new path toward neuromorphic devices.