Temporal measurements in conditions similar to those in the Sun rebut a leading hypothesis for why models and experiments disagree on how much light iron absorbs. Read More »
Shooting a laser pulse at a porous silver target generates more intense x rays than previous targets, which will help studies of matter in extreme conditions. Read More »
A laser-driven electron accelerator delivers beams of ∼10-GeV electrons—an approach that could lead to cheaper, more compact alternatives to large-scale x-ray sources and particle accelerators. Read More »
Observations confirm a theoretical model explaining how—in Earth’s magnetosphere—large-scale magnetic waves heat up the magnetosphere’s plasma by transferring their energy to smaller-scale acoustic waves. Read More »
Breaking the problem into pieces makes it easier to design a fusion reactor’s coils for optimum energy confinement. Read More »
An automatic, algorithmic technique can find optimal laser configurations for inertial-confinement fusion—one of two main fusion approaches. Read More »
Applying data mining tools to a rich observational dataset has enabled researchers to track the turbulent plasma clouds that accompany the aurora. Read More »
A proposed experiment involving an x-ray beam and two optical beams could determine the values of fundamental constants in quantum electrodynamics. Read More »
New solar observations indicate that plasma waves are responsible for the Sun’s outer atmosphere having different abundances of chemical elements than the Sun’s other layers. Read More »
A particle-beam-generating method—called wakefield acceleration—uses proton bunches, which can fragment into high-density filaments as a result of their interactions with plasma, new experiments show. Read More »
Sign up to receive weekly email alerts from Physics Magazine.
Sign Up
