Neutron stars are among the most extreme objects in the universe. Formed from the collapsed cores of supergiant stars, they weigh more than our sun and yet are compressed into a sphere the size of a city. The dense cores of these exotic stars contain matter compressed into unique states that are impossible for us … Read more
Neutron stars are among the most extreme objects in the universe. Formed from the collapsed cores of supergiant stars, they weigh more than our sun and yet are compressed into a sphere the size of a city. The dense cores of these exotic stars contain matter compressed into unique states that are impossible for us … Read more
At the tiniest scales, our intuitive view of reality breaks down. It’s almost as if physics is fundamentally indecisive, a truth that becomes increasingly difficult to ignore as we zoom in on the particles that pixelate our universe. To understand it better, physicists had to come up with an entirely new framework to fit it … Read more
Phase diagram as a function of the total density 𝑛 and the proton fraction 𝑥 at N3LO. The neutron droplet and proton droplet phases are given by the regions enclosed by the blue and red lines. Credit: Physical assessment letters (2024). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.232701 Neutron stars are extreme and mysterious objects that astrophysicists cannot see inside. … Read more
Amaris McCarver, an intern at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s (NRL) Remote Sensing Division, and a team of astronomers have discovered a rapidly spinning neutron star that is beaming radiation across the universe like a cosmic lighthouse. The rapidly spinning neutron star, or “pulsar,” is located in the dense star cluster Glimpse-CO1, which lies in … Read more
Amaris McCarver, an intern at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s (NRL) Remote Sensing Division, and a team of astronomers have discovered a rapidly spinning neutron star that is beaming radiation across the universe like a cosmic lighthouse. The rapidly spinning neutron star, or “pulsar,” is located in the dense star cluster Glimpse-CO1, which lies in … Read more
Neutron stars are among the densest objects in the universe. The material inside them is so tightly compressed that scientists don’t yet know what shape it takes. The core of a neutron star may be a thick soup of quarks, or it may contain exotic particles that could not survive anywhere else in the universe. … Read more
Researchers have linked the periodic pulses of neutron stars to internal disturbances influenced by superfluid vortices. A new model suggests that these disturbances follow a power-law pattern observed in several natural phenomena. Credit: SciTechDaily.com A recent study has revealed the origin of the mysterious “heartbeats” observed in neutron stars, linking them to disturbances caused by … Read more
When it comes to ‘wiping out’ cosmic ghosts, only the most extreme objects in the universe are capable of doing so: neutron stars. Scientists have run simulations of collisions between these ultra-dense and dead stars, showing that such powerful events can briefly “capture” neutrinos, also known as “ghost particles.” The discovery could help scientists better … Read more
Nuclear fusion is one of the most powerful reactions known to man. It is the process that powers the sun and stars and results in high energy output. However, realizing nuclear fusion in laboratory environments is quite a challenge, as it requires extreme temperature and pressure conditions. A new study reveals a more practical alternative … Read more