Discovery in quantum theory could solve Baryon Asymmetry problem
Quantum annealing: a rugged cost/energy landscape, from The Science Times.
One of the longstanding "errors" in the field of quantum computing is in quantum annealing: in order to operate properly, these computers have to run at a relatively slow rate. While examining the behavior of quantum annealing computers at speeds faster than those required for operation, they found something unexpected - a previously undiscovered phenomenon that could help explain the perceived imbalance between matter and antimatter in the Universe and could also guide a new approach for isolating isotopes.
"Although our discovery did not cure the annealing time restriction, it brought a class of new physics problems that can now be studied with quantum annealers without requiring they be too slow," shared Nikolai Sinitsyn, a theoretical physicist from the Los Alamos National Laboratory and one of the authors of the study. (Full Story)
Also from PhysOrg, and Newswise
Fleets of radar satellites are measuring movements on Earth like never before
InSAR data show Ethiopia’s Corbetti volcano has been rising nearly 7 centimeters per year, from Science
Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) ... correctly found simulated and historical events, including ones that had eluded human InSAR experts, says Bertrand Rouet-Leduc, a geophysicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory who presented preliminary results in December 2020 at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
Rouet-Leduc and his team now plan to monitor faults around the world using the same approach. He says it’s mostly a matter of exploiting the vast quantity of data that “sits on servers without being looked at,” because it’s simply too much for scientists to tackle. The researchers hope they will be able to answer questions like when and why slow earthquakes happen, and whether they can trigger big, damaging events by increasing stress on other parts of a fault. (Full Story)
A look into the mysteries of proton structure and the dynamics of antiquarks and gluons
Ratios in the proton (red filled circles) with their statistical (vertical bars) and systematic (yellow boxes) uncertainties extracted. LANL image.
A complex high-energy nuclear physics experiment, aiming to measure the contributions of antiquarks to the structure of the proton and neutron, has produced results that are the opposite of what had previously been understood about proton structure and the dynamics of strong interacting antiquarks and gluons.
“The main physics result of this experiment has very significant impact on our understanding of the proton structure, and also on the dynamics of strong interacting antiquarks and gluons inside the proton,” said Ming Xiong Liu, a Los Alamos National Laboratory author on the new paper, which was published in the journal Nature this week and describes results from the Fermilab E-906/SeaQuest experiment. (Full Story)
Los Alamos National Lab scientists help inform public policy
Throughout the pandemic, some of the scientists on the frontlines of the battle against COVID-19 are here in New Mexico at Los Alamos National Lab. KRQE News 13 spoke with one of the lab’s senior scientists about how their data helps inform public policy.
“We’ve modeled many other diseases, but each disease or each outbreak is a little bit different, and also each region is a little bit different,” explained Nick Hengartner, Senior Scientist at Los Alamos National Lab.
The applied mathematician works with a group at LANL to study, track, and model how fast COVID-19 is spreading. The LANL team forecasts new infections, and now the impact of vaccinations and any new viral strains. (Full Story)
Also from KRQE this week
Los Alamos National Lab reports record spending with small businesses
Los Alamos National Lab is having a record spending year with New Mexico small businesses and they say it’s having a great impact on the state’s economy — even leading to an expansion. Small businesses in the state are getting an extra boost, thanks to LANL’s spending in 2020.
“We had a record year and just completed at the end of September 2020,” said Thom Mason, Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory. “We awarded over $413 million in contracts to New Mexico small businesses. They’re really an essential part of how we get our job done.”
That’s an increase of a whopping 43% from the year before. Since the country relied even more on the lab during the pandemic, they kept going — needing help for everything from supplies to software. (Full Story)
NASA's Mars mission goal: Find evidence of past life on the red planet
Nina Lanza, LANL image.
NPR's Noel King speaks with Nina Lanza, a geologist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Adam Steltzner, chief engineer of the Perseverance Mars rover, about NASA's Mars Exploration Program.
NINA LANZA: We can learn so much from literally any sample from Mars because we've never actually brought them back. But what I'm really hoping for and what one of the biggest goals of our mission is, is to find signs of biosignatures, so evidence that there was life in the past on Mars, which would be incredible. (Full Story)
New Mexico's NASA connection
Perseverance as it was lowered to the Martian surface, NASA image.
When NASA's Perseverance rover touched down on Mars Thursday, the car-sized machine brought some New Mexico-built technology along with it.
Two of the machine's various scientific instruments were developed in part at Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of those pieces of equipment is called a "SuperCam." The equipment has a laser that can "zap" rocks as far as 25 feet away, allowing for the study of rock samples that cannot be reached with Perseverance's robotic arm. The apparatus will help identify elements in the martian dust that could be harmful to people
The second instrument aboard the Mars rover is called "SHERLOC." The tech sits on the arm of the rover and will use laser-induced fluorescence to search for molecules that may be signs of life. (Full Story)
Perseverance rover landing virtual ‘after-party’ a big hit
Virtual show introduced by John Sarrao, LANL image.
Los Alamos National Laboratory hosted a virtual after-party Thursday evening for more than 300 people to mark the successful landing of the Perseverance rover in the Jezero Crater on Mars just hours earlier, watched by millions of people around the world.
LANL deputy director for Science, Technology and Engineering John Sarrao in opening remarks said he was thrilled to be able to witness the incredible feat of science and engineering that this landing is.
“We in the Los Alamos community are especially excited because the Laboratory, once again is playing a major role in one of NASA’s Mars missions. Not only is the rover powered by a plutonium heat source developed at Los Alamos but we also helped develop two of the scientific instruments aboard the rover that will study this Martian surface and tell us whether life ever existed there,” he said. (Full Story)
Also from the Reporter this week:
Freshwater outflow from Beaufort Sea could alter global climate patterns
Dye tracer released from the Beaufort Gyre region of the western Artic Ocean, UT Austin image.
The Beaufort Sea, the Arctic Ocean’s largest freshwater reservoir, has increased its freshwater content by 40 percent over the last two decades, putting global climate patterns at risk. A rapid release of this freshwater into the Atlantic Ocean could wreak havoc on the delicate climate balance that dictates global climate.
“A freshwater release of this size into the subpolar North Atlantic could impact a critical circulation pattern, called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, which has a significant influence on northern-hemisphere climate,” said Wilbert Weijer, a Los Alamos National Laboratory author on the project. (Full Story)
And:
LANL, local groups reach out to homeless of Northern New Mexico
LANL's Selena Valencia, left, Kiwanis President Cheryl Pongratz and Kiwanian Linda Daly helppack clothing, LA Reporter photo.
The Los Alamos National Laboratory Community Partnership Office is providing 633 bags of new clothing for homeless people in the Santa Fe, Taos, Espanola and Los Alamos area. The Kiwanis Club of Los Alamos packed bags Wednesday at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church Parish Hall for delivery to seven different homeless shelters.
LANL community outreach specialist Selena Valencia Valencia was on hand with the group at IHM. Valencia made all the arrangements for the purchases of sweat pants, T-shirts, socks and a hat to be included in each bag. (Full Story)
Explosives chemist David Chavez added to editorial advisory board of Journal of American Chemical Society
Chavez at work in the lab, LANL photo.
David Chavez, deputy group leader of High Explosives Science and Technology (Q-5) group at Los Alamos National Laboratory has been added to a newly formed Editorial Advisory Board for the prestigious Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) by the new Editor-in-Chief of the Journal, Erick Carreira.
“This is a huge honor for me as JACS is one of the premier chemistry journals in the world and now I have a hand in help shaping its future,” Chavez said. “The intent is to broaden the diversity of the Associate Editors and the Editorial Advisory Board in terms of gender, ethnicity, age and subject matter expertise. I was selected to partly due to my ethnicity and age, technical accomplishments, and to serve as a voice for national laboratories and other government research labs.” (Full Story)
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