news 2021

The German-French Cooperation Programme GENESIS describes the complex structure of the interstellar medium using a new mathematical method / The dispersion of interstellar turbulence in gas clouds before star formation unfolds in a cosmically small space In interstellar dust clouds, turbulence must first dissipate before a star can form through gravity.

Neutrons show a connection between lithium concentration and depression Depressive disorders are among the most frequent illnesses worldwide. The causes are complex and to date only partially understood. The trace element lithium appears to play a role. Using neutrons of the research neutron source at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), a research team has now proved that the distribution of lithium in the brains of depressive people is different from the distribution found in healthy humans.

International research team develops new method for studying atomic structures in material surfaces Light Researchers from Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the University of California Berkeley and the Institut Polytechnique de Paris use intense laser light in the extreme ultraviolet spectrum to generate a non-linear optical process on a laboratory scale - a process which until now has only been possible in a large-scale research facility.

A team of physicists and chemists has developed a highly sensitive sensor, which was made possible by a new heterostructure consisting of atomically precise graphene nanoribbons / Publication in 'Nature Communications' An international research team led by the University of Cologne has succeeded for the first time in connecting several atomically precise nanoribbons made of graphene, a modification of carbon, to form complex structures.

Experimental hints of possible new physical phenomena beyond the Standard Model Using data acquired on the worldwide biggest and strongest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the CERN European particle physics laboratory in Geneva (Switzerland), scientists involved in the LHCb experiment have found hints of possible new physical phenomena.

Neutrons "see" internal stress in components from additive manufacturing 3D printing has opened up a completely new range of possibilities. One example is the production of novel turbine buckets. However, the 3D printing process often induces internal stress in the components which can in the worst case lead to cracks.

Astronomers from the Netherlands, Belgium, Chile, the USA and Germany have imaged the newly discovered exoplanet "YSES 2b" right next to its host star Light An international research team with the participation of Dr Markus Mugrauer from the Astrophysical Institute of Friedrich Schiller University Jena has succeeded in the direct imaging of a young exoplanet.

A quantum spin liquid is a state of matter in which interacting quantum spins do not align even at lowest temperatures, but remain disordered. Research on this state has been going on for almost 50 years, but whether it really exists has never been proven beyond doubt. An international team led by physicist Prof. Martin Dressel at the University of Stuttgart has now put an end to the dream of a quantum spin liquid for the time being.

Using a new microscope and methods from biophysics and biochemistry, scientists from the IRI Life Sciences at Humboldt-Universität and the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Light succeeded in visualizing the density of the spindle and the surrounding cell interior Left: A new imaging setup allows for correlative fluorescence and quantitative phase imaging.

The properties of carbon-based nanomaterials can be altered and engineered through the deliberate introduction of certain structural "imperfections" or defects. The challenge, however, is to control the number and type of these defects. In the case of carbon nanotubes - microscopically small tubular compounds that emit light in the near-infrared - chemists and materials scientists at Heidelberg University led by Jana Zaumseil have now demonstrated a new reaction pathway to enable such defect control.

A team of scientists has been using DESY's X-ray source PETRA III to analyze the structural changes that take place in an egg when you cook it. The work reveals how the proteins in the white of a chicken egg unfold and cross-link with each other to form a solid structure when heated. Their innovative method can be of interest to the food industry as well as to the broad field of research surrounding protein analysis.

Materials such as gallium arsenide are extremely important for the production of electronic devices. As supplies of it are limited, or they can present health and environmental hazards, specialists are looking for alternative materials. So-called conjugated polymers are candidates. These organic macromolecules have semi-conductor properties, i.e. they can conduct electricity under certain conditions.

Measurements at the Research Neutron Source help with the development of intelligent welding equipment When a rocket is launched, the weld seams on the enormous fuel tanks must withstand immense forces. To produce joints with the necessary strength, a process known as "friction stir welding" is used.

Astrophysicists at the Universities of Göttingen and Auckland simulate microscopic clusters from the Big Bang The very first moments of the Universe can be reconstructed mathematically even though they cannot be observed directly. Physicists from the Universities of Göttingen and Auckland (New Zealand) have greatly improved the ability of complex computer simulations to describe this early epoch.

The flying observatory SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy) was stationed at Cologne Bonn Airport until 16 March 2021 / A research team from the University of Cologne used it to observe regions of the sky in which stars are forming The flying observatory SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy) has successfully completed its observation flights from Cologne Bonn Airport.

The European Research Council will support the research of Prof. Tilman Pfau with an ERC Advanced Grant for his new approach to understanding fermionic matter with long-range interactions using innovative quantum gas microscopy techniques. The ERC Advanced Grants are highly-prestigious grants awarded to well-established, leading scientists with a track record of groundbreaking research achievements over the past decade.

Astrophysicist at Göttingen University discovers new theoretical hyper-fast soliton solutions If travel to distant stars within an individual's lifetime is going to be possible, a means of faster-than-light propulsion will have to be found. To date, even recent research about superluminal (faster-than-light) transport based on Einstein's theory of general relativity would require vast amounts of hypothetical particles and states of matter that have -exotic- physical properties such as negative energy density.

A German-polish research team from Augsburg, Münster, Munich and Wrocław successfully mixed nanoscale sound waves and light quanta. In their study published in Optica the scientists use an 'artificial atom' that converts the vibrations of the sound wave to single light quanta - photons - with unprecedented precision.

Researchers from the University of Jena and University of Florence, develop cobalt compound with special quantum properties In quantum computers, instead of electrical circuits being switched on or off, quantum mechanical states are altered.

Nuclear physicists at the University of Cologne have contributed to an international research collaboration to show the way the spin of the two fragments, resulting from the splitting of an atomic nucleus, is generated / publication in Nature A series of experiments at the ALTO particle accelerator facility in Orsay, France, has revealed that the fragments resulting from nuclear fission obtain their intrinsic angular momentum (or spin) after fission, not before, as is widely assumed.