Mathematics & Physics articles

Raiders of the lost dimension
A team of scientists working at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory's Pulsed Field Facility at Los Alamos has uncovered an intriguing phenomenon while studying magnetic waves in barium copper silicate, a 2,500-year-old pigment known as Han purple

Physicists persevere in quest for inexhaustible energy source
As gas prices soar and greenhouse gases continue to blanket the atmosphere, the need for a clean, safe and cheap source of energy has never seemed more pressing

3-D insulator loses a dimension to enter magnetic 'flatland'
In a scrambled Rubik's cube, colorful squares clash without order. As pieces click into place in the hands of a skilled puzzle solver, the individual characters of squares dissolve as solid faces of uniform color emerge

Scientists predict how to detect a fourth dimension of space
Scientists at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and Duke University have developed a mathematical framework they say will enable astronomers to test a new five-dimensional theory of gravity that competes with Einstein's General Theory of Relativity

Scientists predict how to detect a fourth dimension of space
Scientists at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and Duke University have developed a mathematical framework they say will enable astronomers to test a new five-dimensional theory of gravity that competes with Einstein's General Theory of Relativity

Composer reveals musical chords' hidden geometry
Composers often speak of fitting chords and melodies together, as though sounds were physical objects with geometric shape -- and now a Princeton University musician has shown that advanced geometry actually does offer a tool for understanding musical structure

Composer reveals musical chords' hidden geometry
Composers often speak of fitting chords and melodies together, as though sounds were physical objects with geometric shape -- and now a Princeton University musician has shown that advanced geometry actually does offer a tool for understanding musical structure

Curtain may be closing on scientific water controversy
The curtain may be ringing down on a scientific controversy regarding the structure of water which arose two years ago. A new study by scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has provided further evidence that the traditional structure of liquid water, in which the average water molecule is hydrogen-bonded to approximately four other water molecules in a tetrahedral arrangement, is correct

Curtain may be closing on scientific water controversy
The curtain may be ringing down on a scientific controversy regarding the structure of water which arose two years ago. A new study by scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has provided further evidence that the traditional structure of liquid water, in which the average water molecule is hydrogen-bonded to approximately four other water molecules in a tetrahedral arrangement, is correct

Quantum dots pose minimal impact to cells
Nano-sized fluorescent probes that can slip inside living cells and elucidate life's most fundamental processes, or track the effectiveness of cancer-fighting drugs, are barely noticed by the cells they enter, according to a team of researchers led by the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)

Scientists shed new light on superfluidity
For the first time, MIT scientists have directly observed the transition of a gas to a superfluid, a form of matter closely related to the superconductors that allow electrical currents to travel without resistance.

Scientists shed new light on superfluidity
For the first time, MIT scientists have directly observed the transition of a gas to a superfluid, a form of matter closely related to the superconductors that allow electrical currents to travel without resistance.

Long-lived magnetic fluctuations in a crystal
One of the most familiar magnetic materials is magnetized iron. Much of the observed behaviour of iron and related magnetic materials can be understood using existing theoretical results. However, due to limitations of the experimental techniques that were previously available, important characteristics of the excited states of such compounds could not be measured.

Researchers pursue a narrow particle with wide implications
Northeastern University researchers Pran Nath, Daniel Feldman and Zuowei Liu have shown that the discovery of a proposed particle, dubbed the Stueckelberg Z prime.

Atoms looser than expected
All the atoms in the universe just got looser, at least in the eyes of humans. No, the laws of physics didn't change overnight, but our knowledge of how strong atoms are held together did have to be readjusted a bit in light of a new experiment conducted at Harvard University.

Physicist discovers exotic superconductivity
A University of Arizona physicist has discovered that powerful magnetic fields change the physical nature of superconductivity, with intrinsic properties of electrons flowing through superconductors

Imaging high-temp superconductivity
By observing events at the scale of single atoms, Cornell researchers have found evidence that the mechanism in high-temperature superconductors may be much more like that in low-temperature superconductors than was previously thought.

Researchers solve mystery of attractive surfaces
When smooth surfaces that hate water approach each other underwater, scientists have observed that they snap into contact. This is apparently due to attractive forces that extend for tens to hundreds of nanometers.

Mathematicians maximize knowledge of minimal surfaces
For most people, soap bubbles are little more than ethereal, ephemeral childhood amusements, or a bit of kitsch associated with the Lawrence Welk Show.Darfur is headed for a disaster unless the Sudanese Government changes its mind and allows a force of United Nations peacekeepers to take over from the existing African Union (AU) operation in the strife-torn region, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today

Spinning new theory on particle spin brings science closer to quantum computing
Physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have devised a potentially groundbreaking theory demonstrating how to control the spin of particles without using superconducting magnets — a development that could advance the field of spintronics and bring scientists a step closer to quantum computing.