Browse Physics

A laboratory analog of solar plasma offers a new tool in the search for the origin of coronal heating.

Changes in the diffusion constant of cosmic rays due to self-induced turbulence may explain unexpected features in the cosmic-ray spectrum.

Experimental measurements with an x-ray laser test models of how ions behave in plasmas, like those found in stars and laser fusion research.

Observations of the way light scatters from large astrophysical bodies provides independent confirmation of the standard model of cosmology.

Theorists predict that the matter surrounding some black holes may be hot enough for nuclear fusion, which could generate lithium and deepen the mysteries surrounding lithium in the universe.

A new analysis shows that it is possible to look for dark-matter particles with mass far below 1 giga-electron-volt by using atomic ionization.

Experiments show that magnetic waves in a plasma may be effective at controlling energetic electrons.

Interactions between primordial photons and axions may be why the accepted model of nucleosynthesis overestimates the abundance of the isotope lithium-7.

Theorists suggest that the weeks-long flare measured last year from a distant galaxy was probably beamed by a jet of material aligned with the rotational axis of a mammoth black hole.

An underground neutrino detector has found the first evidence of a nuclear reaction that produces deuterium in the sun.

Observation of shallow water motion provides a remarkably good way to simulate the shock wave instabilities that occur in exploding stars.

A crust-busting vibration of a neutron star—induced by a merger with another dense object—may explain pre-emptive flashes for some gamma-ray bursts.

An unusual excess of radio emission from outside the Milky Way may come from dark matter.

New scattering experiments provide evidence for the long-suspected existence of an excited rotational state in carbon-$12$, related to a state that’s crucial in stellar fusion reactions.

A new experiment finds structure in the cosmic ray spectrum at very high energies, supporting theories about the origin and propagation of cosmic rays.

Dense plasmas created by lasers used for inertial confinement fusion research have been used to extract precise basic nuclear physics data.

Smallish black holes left behind from the early universe might cause detectible vibrations as they pass through the sun or other stars.

Analysis of newly retrieved navigational data for the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft suggests that an anomalous acceleration in their motion is steadily decreasing, pointing to asymmetric radiation of heat as the likely cause, rather than the more exotic explanations previously proposed

Cosmic microwave background data have been combed for evidence of bubble universe collisions that might signal the existence of eternal inflation.