Nuclear scientists will present the latest research on the fundamental nature of matter at the 2021 Fall Meeting of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics.
Held fully virtually October 11 through October 14, 2021, the meeting includes talks on the neutron lifetime, quark matter, designer molecules, quantum hadrons, catastrophic astrophysical events, and nuclear fission. Sessions cover topics from hadron physics, nuclear astrophysics, and rare isotopes to quantum technology and the frontiers of nuclear science.
Members of the media and student journalists are invited to explore more than 100 live sessions and poster sessions. Featured talks and additional meeting highlights are listed below. Four live news briefings will be held virtually. Please consult the scientific program for the most up-to-date schedule.
Please note all sessions are in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).
Complimentary registration is available to those with APS press credentials on the general meeting registration page. Request press credentials through this form.
The Most Precise Measurement of the Neutron Lifetime
A multi-institutional team of physicists will present new measurements that may explain how atomic nuclei formed in the early universe. The huge improvement in precision will finally allow researchers to probe a discrepancy in the standard model. Read more and view times | Indiana University Bloomington Press Release | PRL Paper | Live News Briefing Registration
Image Credit: Los Alamos National Lab / Michael Pierce
Novel Experiment Measures Neutron Skin in Calcium
First results from a precision measurement of the neutron skin in a calcium nucleus will be announced. “We expect to set a benchmark with this measurement. The neutron skin in lead came out thick relative to our expectations, so we expect the same with calcium,” says Robert Michaels, a staff scientist at Jefferson Lab. Read more and view times | Jefferson Lab Press Release | Live News Briefing Registration
New Results From the RHIC Spin Program
Researchers will present the latest results on contributions of quarks and gluons and future measurement opportunities at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The findings will also be published in Physical Review Letters. Read more and view times
Quarks and Antiquarks at High Momentum Shake the Foundations of Visible Matter
Jefferson Lab and Fermilab experiments present new results on nucleon structure. Preliminary results using a novel tagging method could explain the origin of the longstanding nuclear paradox known as the EMC effect. Meanwhile, authors will share next steps after the recent observation of asymmetrical antimatter in the proton. Read more and view times | Live News Briefing Registration
Nuclear Physicists Track Money Crimes From Ancient Rome to Benjamin Franklin
A new project unearths the history of fraud, forgery, and currency—and might clear Emperor Nero’s name. Read more and view times
Surprising Results From Nuclear Reactions Inside Stars
When extremely high temperatures and magnetic fields meet in space, they change the environments where elements are forged. Preliminary data shows unexpected effects of magnetic fields on neutron stars. “It may actually explain some of the strange behavior that we see in stellar environments,” said Western Michigan University professor Michael Famiano. Read more and view times | Live News Briefing Registration
To Find Sterile Neutrinos, Think Small
Two small-scale experiments may beat the massive machines pursuing evidence of new physics—and could improve cancer treatment. Read more and view times
Seeking the Star Stuff That Made Us
Novel techniques provide a new picture of cosmic heavy-element formation by unifying theory, observation, and experiment. These complementary approaches are yielding surprising results. Read more and view times
A 5-Sigma Standard Model Anomaly Is Possible
From the moon to the math, latest attempts at breaking CKM matrix unitarity—and discovering new physics. Read more and view times
9:30 a.m. EDT
Designer Molecules
In July, a study of radium monofluoride reported results that might help explain nuclear phenomena and why there’s so little antimatter in the universe. Now the team shows how to customize RaF nuclei one neutron at a time—potentially allowing scientists to turn on and off interactions within molecules and explore violations of fundamental symmetries. Abstract
Contact / Image Credit: Silviu-Marian Udrescu
9:30 a.m. EDT
Primordial Flavor
Strangeness, charm, and beauty reveal the inner workings of the early universe, extreme nuclear matter, and the physics of parton showers in this mini-symposium on hadrons. “This is the first calculation of heavy flavor jet production at the Electron-Ion Collider,” said invited speaker and physicist Ivan Vitev. Abstracts | PRL Paper | Preprint
Contact / Image Credit: Ivan M. Vitev
10:54 a.m. EDT
First Hadrons on a Quantum Computer
Scientists have succeeded in simulating hadrons on a quantum computer, unlocking key elements of the lattice gauge theory that describes all matter. Abstract
Contact: Jinglei Zhang
Image Credit: Kindea Labs / https://quantum-interactions.com
10:54 a.m. EDT
Stellar Toothpaste
Why is fluorine so rare in the universe? Counting bubbles using a new detector might hold clues, illuminating the reaction rate at which stars produce the ingredient in drinking water, toothpaste, and Teflon. Abstract
Contact: David Neto
Image Credit: ESO / NAOJ / NRAO
11:45 a.m. EDT
A Single Physical Property Sets the Complexity of Quantum Simulation
New results solve a problem that remained open for two decades and bring the quantum simulation of condensed-matter, nuclear, and high-energy physics closer to reality. Abstract | Nature Paper
Contact: Burak Sahinoglu
12:33 p.m. EDT
Why Deuterons Disintegrate Differently
Baffling recent experiments on deuteron disintegration have defied known nuclear interpretations. Now theorists think they have an explanation: New structures hide in the heart of the deuteron at very short distances. The research may change what we know about neutron stars and the stability of matter in the universe. Abstract
Contact: Misak M. Sargsian
12:57 p.m. EDT
The Shape of Nuclei
Smashing deformed nuclei together takes a snapshot of the nuclei shape. The new imaging method by the STAR Collaboration, using high-energy nuclear collisions, has revealed a rugby-ball shape in ruthenium-96 and a pear shape in zirconium-96. Abstract
Contact: Chunjian Zhang
Image Credit: Jiangyong Jia
1:09 p.m. EDT
Excited Tritons
Preliminary data could reveal the first experimental evidence for an excited state in the triton, a heavier version of the proton with two extra neutrons, but alternative explanations need to be excluded. Abstract
Contact / Image Credit: Cody E. Parker
3:12 p.m. EDT
Symmetry Violations Thanks to the Neutron Electric Dipole Moment
Updated analysis on tests for the neutron electric dipole moment could shape the search for Lorentz symmetry violation. Abstract
Contact / Image Credit: Prajwal T. MohanMurthy
9:54 a.m. EDT
Nuclear Plunger
Using the Doppler effect of gamma rays, a supercompact plunger can measure lifetimes in the most interesting exotic nuclei down to 0.000000000001 seconds. The new device is built and ready to be used for upcoming experiments. Abstract
Contact: Claus Mueller Gatermann
Image Credit: Institute for Nuclear Physics, University of Cologne
10:42 a.m. EDT
Quantum Computing Comes to the Standard Model’s Rescue
A feasible quantum algorithm could finally chip away at persistent unknowns in the physics of high-energy colliders. Abstract | PRD Paper
Contact: Enrique Rico Ortega
Image Credit: Echevarria et al., Phys. Rev. D / APS (2021)
11:42 a.m. EDT
Mirror Nuclei Reflect a Quark Surprise
After two decades of planning, the MARATHON experiment has provided intriguing hints about the mysterious modifications of protons and neutrons in mirror nuclei. Changes depend on isospin, and are opposite for up quarks and down quarks. Abstract
Contact: Wally Melnitchouk
Image Credit: Christopher Cocuzza
12:06 p.m. EDT
Birth of the Quark-Gluon Plasma
A new algorithm uses global data to recreate quark-gluon plasma, which kicked off the universe—describing its evolution and simulating its shape at the moment of its creation. Early results lend support for string theory computations of the plasma. Abstract
Contact: Wilke van der Schee
Image Credit: Wilke van der Schee / Govert Nijs
2:00 p.m. EDT
Split Opinions on Nuclear Fission
A recent Nature paper suggests that fission fragments acquire their angular momenta post-scission because they were found experimentally to be uncorrelated. A subsequent article in Physical Review Letters demonstrates that this conclusion is flawed—because uncorrelated spins can naturally result when highly-correlated contributions from collective rotational modes are combined. Abstract | PRL Paper
Contact: Jorgen Randrup
3:36 p.m. EDT
Quick Quantum Correlation
Quantum field theory exposes a new effect in particle physics: When an interaction parameter of fundamental particles is changed suddenly, objects separated by large distances can correlate almost instantaneously. Abstract
Contact / Image Credit: Ivan Kukuljan
9:30 a.m. EDT
Proton Pusher
Updated results on raw beam spin asymmetry—a crucial stepping stone to measuring the proton’s internal pressure—come via deeply virtual Compton scattering, a process that propels quarks and electrons to nearly the speed of light. Abstract
Contact: Joshua Artem D. Tan
Image Credit: DOE's Jefferson Lab
10:06 a.m. EDT
Weighing the Neutrino
KATRIN scientists weigh in with the first direct model-independent, laboratory based method reaching sensitivities in the sub-eV neutrino mass regime. Abstract
Contact: John F. Wilkerson
Image Credit: Michael Zacher / KATRIN
10:18 a.m. EDT
Nickel Constrains Neutron-Skin Thickness
One slope in the nuclear equation of state reveals the radius of neutron stars, but experiments have struggled to define it. A new study to be published in Physical Review Letters uses pure electromagnetism to extract the slope from the first measurement of 54Ni’s charge radius. Abstract | Forthcoming PRL Paper
Contact: Skyy V. Pineda
Image Credit: NSF / LIGO / Sonoma State / A. Simmonet
12:42 p.m. EDT
In Neutron Stars, Quarks Roam Free
Catastrophic events captured by LIGO and Virgo brought to light a new state of matter lurking inside neutron stars: quark matter, where quarks are freed and interact directly with one another. Abstract | PRL Paper
Contact: Veronica Dexheimer
Credit: L.R. Weih / L. Rezzolla / E.R. Most / L.J. Papenfort
Live virtual news briefings for the 2021 Fall Meeting of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics will be held online. Researchers will take questions from the media. Register at the links below. Recordings of the briefings will be available upon request.
Novel Experiment Measures Neutron Skin in Calcium
Register for the news briefing
Tuesday, October 12, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. EDT
This highly-anticipated, long-awaited measurement of the neutron skin of the modestly sized, neutron rich 48Ca nucleus will provide an important benchmark for nuclear theory.
Quarks and Antiquarks at High Momentum Shake the Foundations of Visible Matter
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Tuesday, October 12, 2:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. EDT
SeaQuest’s measurement of light sea-quark flavor asymmetry is surprising as it clearly shows that even at high momentum fractions, antimatter is an important part of the proton.
Results from a new transformative measurement of a novel observable that provides direct insight into the origin of the EMC effect, with major implications for our understanding of the QCD structure of visible matter.
The Most Precise Measurement of the Neutron Lifetime
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Wednesday, October 13, 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. EDT
Gonzalez will present the most precise measurement of the lifetime of the "free" neutron, which, along with the proton, is a building block of atomic nuclei.
Surprising Results From Nuclear Reactions Inside Stars
Wednesday, October 13, 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. EDT
Register for the news briefing
Preliminary data on the effects of high magnetic fields on accreting neutron stars will be explained, including magnetar accretion and x-ray bursts.