Browse Physics

New arguments based on astrophysical phenomena constrain the possibility that dangerous black holes will be produced at the CERN Large Hadron Collider.

Forty years ago, it was predicted that there would be a sharp cutoff in the intensity of the very-high-energy cosmic rays that strike the earth’s surface. Two collaborations—the HiRes and Auger telescopes—are providing compelling evidence for this so-called “GZK effect.”

The mixture of a superconductor and a superfluid–as may occur inside a neutron star–could respond to the star’s magnetic field in ways never seen in earthly superconductors, according to a new theory. The strange material doesn’t fit into the two standard superconducting categories.

A new theory may explain what triggers solar flares, explosions of solar energy that can affect earthly communications.

In 1960 physicists finally verified Einstein’s 1911 prediction that gravity could change light’s frequency. Understanding the effect is essential to modern navigational technology.

Gravitational waves from merging neutron star pairs could help reveal their mysterious and exotic material properties.

A neutron star may have formed quietly from a white dwarf, rather than from a supernova, as the standard theory predicts.

A rocket experiment suggests that dust grains in the infant solar system first assembled into chains, not clumps.

New astronomical observations contradict the claim that fundamental constants were different in the early universe.

Computer simulations support the controversial theory that the magnetic fields enveloping galaxies are as old as the Universe.

A supernova simulated using state-of-the-art equations doesn’t explode, exposing astrophysicists’ ignorance about neutrino physics.

A new method may help ensure the accuracy of simulations of galactic evolution.

Bare quark stars may give off a unique signal that could soon be detected.

The clustering of galaxies in space places the tightest bound yet on the mass of the wispy neutrino.

A theory inspired by chemical reactions may give researchers a new tool for understanding the flow of asteroids and comets across the solar system.

The closest view yet of the process that connects the magnetic fields of the Earth and Sun hints at unexpected phenomena.

An ion crystal simulates the ‘starquakes’ of neutron stars.

Neutrino observatories may be able to detect exotic matter in proto-neutron stars or witness the births of black holes.

An ultracold plasma can form spontaneously from a cloud of cold, excited atoms.

A new theory proposes that dark matter consists of particles so light that their quantum, wavelike nature dominates.