Particle physics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    High energy nuclear collisions produce light (anti-)nuclei from the quark-gluon plasma via little-bang nucleosynthesis. Here the authors study the microscopic dynamics of little-bang nucleosynthesis producing deuterons and tritons.

    • Kai-Jia Sun
    • , Rui Wang
    •  & Chun Shen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hypothetical dark photon (DP) dark matter (DM) and axion DM might resonantly convert into electromagnetic waves in the solar corona. Here, the authors show upper limits on the axion-photon coupling and on the kinetic mixing coupling of DPDM and photon within 30-80 MHz in the solar corona radio observations.

    • Haipeng An
    • , Xingyao Chen
    •  & Yan Luo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Positronium decay events can be used to test violation of fundamental symmetries. Here, the authors use events in the J-PET to improve existing limits on P, T and CP invariance in positronium decays, thanks to a method that does not require to measure the positronium spin but determining polarization of the annihilation photons instead.

    • Paweł Moskal
    • , Eryk Czerwiński
    •  & Wojciech Wiślicki

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Neutron stars contain matter at extremely high densities, the properties of which are reflected in the corresponding equation of state (EoS). Here, the authors argue that the inferred properties of the neutron-star-matter EoS point to the likely presence of deconfined quark matter in the cores of the most massive stable neutron stars.

    • Eemeli Annala
    • , Tyler Gorda
    •  & Aleksi Vuorinen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors propose electron-positron creation by scattering of gamma-rays and polaritons, enabling the synthesis of ultrafast, localized positron sources and introducing the possibility to exploit nanophotonics for particle physics.

    • Valerio Di Giulio
    •  & F. Javier García de Abajo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Axions are hypothetical particles that constitute leading candidates for the identity of dark matter. Here, the authors improve previous exclusion bounds on axion-like particles in the range of 1.4–200 peV, and report direct terrestrial limits on the coupling of protons and neutrons with axion-like dark matter.

    • Itay M. Bloch
    • , Roy Shaham
    •  & Or Katz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The tension between measured W mass and its Standard Model prediction might arise from uncertainties in the hadronic contribution, and the same is true for the muon g − 2. Here, the authors show that such a common origin for the two anomalies is unlikely, while a model involving leptoquarks might explain them both.

    • Peter Athron
    • , Andrew Fowlie
    •  & Bin Zhu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here the authors experimentally demonstrate a maximally charged Weyl point in a three dimensional photonic crystal, with topological charge of four — the maximal charge number that a two-fold Weyl point can host, which supports quadruple-helicoid Fermi arcs

    • Qiaolu Chen
    • , Fujia Chen
    •  & Yihao Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Exotic spin-dependent force are among the possible extensions of the Standard Model that can be probed by precision measurements. Here, the authors use a spin-exchange-relaxation free (SERF) K-Rb-21Ne comagnetometer to improve limits on spin- and velocity dependent forces.

    • Kai Wei
    • , Wei Ji
    •  & Dmitry Budker

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Haloscopes aim at detecting axions by converting them into photons using high-quality resonant cavities, where the cavity resonance should be tuned with the unknown axion mass. Here, the authors improve exclusion limits using four phase-matched resonant cavities and a fast frequency scanning technique.

    • C. M. Adair
    • , K. Altenmüller
    •  & K. Zioutas

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Precisely calculating differences between muon- and electron-neutrino interactions is difficult, but is vital for correctly interpreting neutrino oscillation experiments. Here, the authors determine the effect of electromagnetic quantum corrections in the predicted ratio of ve and vμ cross sections.

    • Oleksandr Tomalak
    • , Qing Chen
    •  & Kevin S. McFarland

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The question of what axion mass would give rise to the observed dark matter abundance requires proper modelling of non-linear dynamics of the axion field in the early Universe. Here, the authors use adaptive mesh refinement simulations to predict a mass in the range in the range (40,180) microelectronvolts.

    • Malte Buschmann
    • , Joshua W. Foster
    •  & Benjamin R. Safdi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    CPT violation could manifest itself in annihilating positronium events, but searching for this effect would require to know the spin of the annihilating system. Here, the authors do this using a positron-emission tomography scanner, finding no violation with a statistical precision of 10−4.

    • P. Moskal
    • , A. Gajos
    •  & W. Wiślicki

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cherenkov detectors are used to detect high energy particles and their performance capabilities depend heavily on the material used. Here, the authors propose use of a Brewster-optics-based angular filter for a detector with increased sensitivity and particle identification capability.

    • Xiao Lin
    • , Hao Hu
    •  & Yu Luo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tensor network simulations of lattice gauge theories may overcome the limitations of the Monte Carlo approach, but results have been limited to 1+1 and 2+1 dimensions so far. Here, the authors report a tree-tensor-based numerical study of a 3+1d truncated U(1) lattice gauge theory with fermionic matter.

    • Giuseppe Magnifico
    • , Timo Felser
    •  & Simone Montangero

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Laser wakefield accelerators are compact sources of ultra-relativistic electrons which are highly sensitive to many control parameters. Here the authors present an automated machine learning based method for the efficient multi-dimensional optimization of these plasma-based particle accelerators.

    • R. J. Shalloo
    • , S. J. D. Dann
    •  & M. J. V. Streeter

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In order to detect relic neutrinos in the vicinity of the Earth, quantitative knowledge of the gravitational clustering effects on cosmic relic neutrinos in the Milky Way is necessary. Here, the authors develop a computational method capable of yielding neutrino density profiles for different neutrino masses and phase space distributions in a single simulation.

    • Jue Zhang
    •  & Xin Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Investigation of exotic electron–nucleon interactions with few-micrometers range requires micrometer-scale, highly-sensitive and well-isolated sensors. Here, the authors use an NV center to set limits on the monopole–dipole interaction between its electron spin and the nucleons of a half-ball lens.

    • Xing Rong
    • , Mengqi Wang
    •  & Jiangfeng Du

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It remains a challenge to find the structure and the distribution of the constituents of nucleons. Here the authors use a scattering method to get information about the gluons and quarks inside a proton and separate the contribution of Bethe-Heitler from the deeply virtual Compton scattering process.

    • M. Defurne
    • , A. Martí Jiménez-Argüello
    •  & P. Zhu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Antihydrogen studies are important in testing the fundamental principles of physics but producing antihydrogen in large amounts is challenging. Here the authors demonstrate an efficient and high-precision method for trapping and stacking antihydrogen by using controlled plasma.

    • M. Ahmadi
    • , B. X. R. Alves
    •  & J. S. Wurtele

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The detection of Earth’s anti neutrino emission from potassium and the mantle remain elusive. Here the authors propose a method for measuring potassium and mantle geo-neutrinos by detecting their elastic scattering on electrons with direction-sensitive detectors.

    • Michael Leyton
    • , Stephen Dye
    •  & Jocelyn Monroe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Wakefield accelerators are a cheaper and compact alternative to conventional particle accelerators for high-energy physics and coherent x-ray sources. Here, the authors demonstrate a field gradient in excess of a gigaelectron-volt-per-metre using a terahertz-frequency wakefield supported by a dielectric lined-waveguide.

    • B. D. O’Shea
    • , G. Andonian
    •  & J. B. Rosenzweig

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plasma accelerators driven by particle beams are a promising technology, but the acceleration distance and energy gain are strongly limited by head erosion in a high-ionization-potential gas. Here the authors observe up to 130% energy boost in a self-focused electron beam, with limited head erosion.

    • S. Corde
    • , E. Adli
    •  & V. Yakimenko

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plasma wakefield accelerators produce gradients that are orders of magnitude larger than in conventional particle accelerator, but beams tend to be disrupted by transverse forces. Here the authors create an extended hollow plasma channel, which accelerates positrons without generating transverse forces.

    • Spencer Gessner
    • , Erik Adli
    •  & Gerald Yocky

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Positronium negative ion is formed by two electrons bound to a positron, and experimental investigations of its states and energy levels are difficult due to its short lifetime. Here, the authors report on laser spectroscopy of positronium using a source of efficiently produced ions.

    • Koji Michishio
    • , Tsuneto Kanai
    •  & Yasuyuki Nagashima

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Skyrmions are swirling topological magnetic textures that behave as if they were particles. Here, the authors present numerical simulations that describe the creation and destruction of these spin vortices in both chiral and dipolar magnets, and show what happens when skyrmions and antiskyrmions collide.

    • Wataru Koshibae
    •  & Naoto Nagaosa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The order parameter describing the spontaneous symmetry breaking which occurs when a system becomes a superfluid is analogous to the Higgs field in particle physics from which the Higgs boson arises. Here, the authors demonstrate the existence of a light Higgs boson in the B-phase of superfluid3He.

    • V. V. Zavjalov
    • , S. Autti
    •  & G. E. Volovik

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Brownian motion of biomolecules and colloidal particles near solid walls is expected to be rather different from that in bulk, but the details have been highly controversial. Here, Huang and Szlufarska show a general breakdown of traditional no-slip boundary conditions at short timescales that clarifies the controversy.

    • Kai Huang
    •  & Izabela Szlufarska

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Skyrmions—magnetic vortices with an additional twist—have only been observed in a small number of chiral magnets, all with specific non-centrosymmetric structure. Here, the authors suggest that skyrmions can be found in many frustrated magnets as long as they meet a specific set of criteria.

    • A. O. Leonov
    •  & M. Mostovoy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bloch oscillations consist of periodic spreading and relocalization of particle wave functions, but have been so far observed only in separable states. Here the authors observe them for two-photon N00N states in integrated photonic circuits, revealing transitions from particle bunching to anitbunching.

    • Maxime Lebugle
    • , Markus Gräfe
    •  & Alexander Szameit

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Various approaches based on the iterative search have failed in the deterministic creation of bandgaps in random networks. Here Yu et al. reveal a deterministic pathway to bandgaps in random-walk potentials by applying the notion of supersymmetry to the wave equation.

    • Sunkyu Yu
    • , Xianji Piao
    •  & Namkyoo Park

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum simulation offers an unparalleled computational resource, but realizing it for fermionic systems is challenging due to their particle statistics. Here the authors report on the time evolutions of fermionic interactions implemented with digital techniques on a nine-qubit superconducting circuit.

    • R. Barends
    • , L. Lamata
    •  & John M. Martinis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnetic skyrmions are circulating topologically-protected spin textures which can arise in chiral magnets and potentially be applied in information processing. Here, the authors demonstrate the appearance of skyrmions at and above room temperature in a β-Mn-type Co-Zn-Mn alloy.

    • Y. Tokunaga
    • , X. Z. Yu
    •  & Y. Tokura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Rydberg atomic gases have proven a fertile playground for exploring exotic phases of condensed matter systems. Here, Li and Das Sarma study Rydberg-dressed atomic fermions in a 3D optical lattice and find a series of mixed topological density wave phases having no analogue in conventional materials.

    • Xiaopeng Li
    •  & S Das Sarma

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    The observation of neutrino oscillations indicates that neutrinos have mass and that their flavours are quantum mechanical mixtures. Here, the authors review the past, present and future contributions of nuclear reactor-based neutrino oscillation experiments, their accomplishments and the remaining challenges.

    • P. Vogel
    • , L.J. Wen
    •  & C. Zhang

  • Article |

    A stable plasma state with a high ratio of plasma to magnetic pressures is likely to be a key requirement for any future magnetic fusion reactor. Here, the authors create such a plasma using a field reversed configuration and active plasma boundary control and demonstrate its stability.

    • H. Y. Guo
    • , M. W. Binderbauer
    •  & E. Trask

  • Article |

    Gamma-ray bursts are short-lived luminous explosions at cosmological distances caused by jets from the deaths of massive stars. Bustamante et al. study neutrino, gamma-ray and cosmic-ray production by internal shocks, and find that multi-messenger observations are crucial to understand the evolving outflows.

    • Mauricio Bustamante
    • , Philipp Baerwald
    •  & Walter Winter

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Giant Pairing Vibration is a collective mode in an atomic nucleus caused by coherence between particle-particle excitations, which has so far eluded detection. Cappuzzello et al. present signatures for its existence via heavy-ion-induced two-neutron transfer reactions in carbon nuclei.

    • F. Cappuzzello
    • , D. Carbone
    •  & A. Vitturi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mass spectrometry (MS) involves ionization of analytes with spectra dependent upon the mass-to-charge ratio. Here, the authors demonstrate that MS based on nanoelectromechanical systems gives results that are independent of the charge state and allow the mass spectrum of neutral species to be obtained.

    • Eric Sage
    • , Ariel Brenac
    •  & Sébastien Hentz

  • Article |

    In chiral helimagnets, the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction is known to stabilize skyrmions, but the microscopic roots remain enigmatic. Here, Janson et al. apply a multi-scale approach to Cu2OSeO3and show that its skyrmions can be traced back to magnetic tetrahedra of a quantum nature.

    • Oleg Janson
    • , Ioannis Rousochatzakis
    •  & Helge Rosner

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