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US and India Expand Partnership in Search of Neutrinos

Scientists from the United States and India have a long history of scientific collaboration—including the discovery of the top quark— and now US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and India’s Atomic Energy Secretary Dr. Sekhar Basu have signed an agreement to expand cutting-edge neutrino science projects underway in both countries.

MiniBooNE Probes the Nucleus with Muon Neutrinos

Scientists working on the MiniBooNE experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (CSA CSM) report that they were able to identify exactly-known-energy muon neutrinos hitting the atoms at the heart of the particle detector. The result, published in Physical Review Letters, eliminates a major source of uncertainty when testing theoretical models...

IARPA Moving Forward with SuperTools Project

The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) has announced research contracts for its “SuperTools” program, a multi-year research effort to develop comprehensive software tools for designing and analyzing superconducting electronics circuits.

Physicists Build New Molecules in Ultracold Soup

Using lasers, a team of US and Austrian physicists have coaxed ultracold strontium atoms into complex “Rydberg polarons." The molecules are only stable near absolute zero, where the millikelvin temperatures keep the constituent atoms still long enough to become “glued together” in new, complex structures.

Global Physics Photowalk 2018

Major science laboratories from around the world have announced the 2018 Global Physics Photowalk, a competition open to amateur and professional photographers. For the event, physics facilities in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America will open their doors for a rare opportunity to see behind the scenes of some of...

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Regenerators

Regenerators or regenerative heat exchangers are a key component of cryocoolers such as pulse tube cryocoolers (Cold Facts, August 2014). Regenerator performance greatly affects the coefficient of performance of cryocoolers. Improvements in regenerator design and, in particular, regenerator materials have been an important factor in the improvement of the performance...

Pulse Tube Cryocoolers

The development of pulse tube cryocoolers has been a significant topic of research and development over the past 20 or so years. Pulse tube cryocoolers have a number of advantages over other types of cryocoolers and are now available commercially. In order to understand pulse tube cryocoolers, it’s best to...

Thermal Expansion

Thermal expansion refers to the change in size (length or volume) that a material undergoes as its temperature changes. In cryogenic systems this effect can be quite large and must be allowed for in the design. In isotropic materials, which include most engineering materials, the thermal expansion is the same...

Cryogenic Electronics

Randall Kirschman, consulting physicist, Mountain View, California ExtElect@gmail.com Cryogenic electronics—the operation of electronic devices, circuits, and systems at cryogenic temperatures—has been a valuable technology for decades. Cryogenic electronics (also referred to as low-temperature electronics, or cold electronics) can be based on semiconductive devices, on superconductive devices, or on a combination...

Particle Physics: High Energy Physics

Cryogenics and High-Energy Physics 1. From symmetry magazine: http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/cms/?pid=1000627: Cryogenics is the study of how materials behave at temperatures near absolute zero. In high-energy particle accelerators, such frigid temperatures reduce the electrical resistance of wires in superconducting magnets, increasing the magnet strength and allowing faster particle acceleration. The same holds...

HTS Degaussing Systems

From the Spring 2009 issue of Cold Facts (Volume 25, Number 2): Thanks to a joint project by the US Navy and a number of industry partners, high temperature superconducting (HTS) technology is now at the heart of an advanced degaussing system aboard the USS Higgins at the naval station...

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

From http://www.superconductors.org: An area where superconductors can perform a life-saving function is in the field of biomagnetism. Doctors need a non-invasive means of determining what’s going on inside the human body. By impinging a strong superconductor-derived magnetic field into the body, hydrogen atoms that exist in the body’s water and...

An Issue of Pressure and Flow Rate in a Supply Tank

Please help solve this problem: A supply tank requires a vaporizer to generate sufficient pressure to pump stored fluid up into a vehicle or tank. The available head is limited as the tank level falls and it is important to minimize the system pressure drop to maintain the desired flow...

Using MLI on VJ Line Joints or Cryo Storage Tanks

When installing Multi Layer Insulation (MLI) blankets on VJ line joints or cryo storage tanks should they be wrapped and tied down tight or loose? These are usually pre-cut to size. Also should they have an access hole at the point of where the molecular sieve is installed to help...