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Researchers Study the Demagnetization Dynamics of a Three-Dimensional Fermi Gas

Fermi gases in the so-called unitary regime—where the diverging interactions between atoms make their thermodynamics universal—are an excellent test bed for an array of strongly interacting matter systems. Two places to find a unitary Fermi gas are in the crust of a neutron start, and in basement of McLennan.

26 May 2014

Researchers Test Universality of Free Fall by Measuring Acceleration of Two Different Atomic Species

Two major theories exist in modern physics: general relativity, the principle which governs our current understanding of gravity, and quantum mechanics, which explains the nature of extremely tiny objects such as electrons.

23 May 2014

Dark, Dense and Dusty Cosmic Clumps Throw Deepest Shadows

Astronomers have found cosmic clumps so dark, dense and dusty that they throw the deepest shadows ever recorded. Infrared observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of these blackest-of-black regions paradoxically light the way to understanding how the brightest stars form.

23 May 2014

First Direct Confirmation of Wolf-Rayet Star’s Death in a Type IIb Supernova

Our Sun may seem pretty impressive: 330,000 times as massive as Earth, it accounts for 99.86 percent of the Solar System's total mass; it generates about 400 trillion trillion watts of power per second; and it has a surface temperature of about 10,000 degrees Celsius. Yet for a star, it's a lightweight.

23 May 2014

Wolf-Rayet Star may be Likely Progenitor of Recently Exploded Supernova

Wolf-Rayet stars are very large and very hot. Astronomers have long wondered whether Wolf-Rayet stars are the progenitors of certain types of supernovae. New work from the Palomar Transient Factory team, including Carnegie’s Mansi Kasliwal, is homing in on the answer. They have identified a Wolf-Rayet star as the likely progenitor of a recently exploded supernova. This work is published by Nature.

23 May 2014