ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories physicist Marcus Knudson is the first joint faculty appointee to serve both Sandia and Washington State University (WSU). In the position, Knudson will enhance fundamental research into the compression of materials under extreme conditions, using Sandia’s unique Z machine. “The science of dynamic material compression is a core capability […]
Category Archives: Physics
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Sandia physicist accepts first joint faculty appointment with Washington State University
September 3, 2015 – 5:00 am
Sandia’s Z machine receives funding aimed at fusion energy
June 29, 2015 – 10:20 am
Laser beam ‘smoothing’ with University of Rochester to play key role ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A two-year, $3.8 million award has been received by Sandia National Laboratories and the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) to hasten the day of low-cost, high-yield fusion reactions for energy purposes. High-yield means much more energy emerging from […]
Sandia’s Z machine helps solve Saturn’s 2-billion-year age gap
June 26, 2015 – 8:35 am
Research supports 80-year-old prediction ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Planets tend to cool as they get older, but Saturn is hotter than astrophysicists say it should be without some additional energy source. The unexplained heat has caused a two-billion-year discrepancy for computer models estimating Saturn’s age. “Models that correctly predict Jupiter to be 4.5 billion years old […]
Pulsed-power physicist receives IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Science award
May 5, 2015 – 1:30 pm
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — William Stygar, manager of Sandia National Laboratories’ Advanced Accelerator Physics department, has been selected to receive the Erwin Marx Award by the Pulsed Power Science and Technology Committee of the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Science Society. The award’s previous recipients “are a who’s who of the leaders in pulsed power science and […]
Iron rain fell on early Earth, new Z machine data supports
March 18, 2015 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories’ Z machine have helped untangle a long-standing mystery of astrophysics: why iron is found spattered throughout Earth’s mantle, the roughly 2,000-mile thick region between Earth’s core and its crust. At first blush, it seemed more reasonable that iron arriving from collisions between Earth and planetesimals — ranging […]
‘Iron Sun’ is not a rock band, but a key to how stars transmit energy
January 6, 2015 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M — Working at temperatures matching the interior of the sun, researchers at Sandia National Laboratories’ Z machine have been able to determine experimentally, for the first time in history, iron’s role in inhibiting energy transmission from the center of the sun to near the edge of its radiative band — the section of […]
MINER shines in urban emergency response exercise
October 30, 2014 – 5:00 am
Mobile imager of fast neutrons spots radiation source at a distance and through shielding LIVERMORE, Calif. — A nuclear device has been hidden in a high-rise building in a major metropolitan area. Emergency responders have intelligence that narrows down the location to a single city block, but it isn’t safe to search door-to-door. Can they […]
Sandia magnetized fusion technique produces significant results
September 22, 2014 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories’ Z machine have produced a significant output of fusion neutrons, using a method fully functioning for only little more than a year. The experimental work is described in a paper to be published in the Sept. 24 Physical Review Letters online. A theoretical PRL paper to be […]
DOE Early Career award won by Sandia researcher Stephanie Hansen
June 9, 2014 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A $2.5 million, five-year Early Career Research Program award from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science has been won by Sandia National Laboratories researcher Stephanie Hansen for her fundamental science proposal to improve existing atomic-scale models for high-energy-density matter. Thirty-five winners were chosen by peer review from about 750 proposals […]
American Physical Society names four Sandia fellows
May 7, 2014 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Four Sandia researchers have been named Fellows of the American Physical Society, an honor that indicates recognition by scientific peers of exceptional contributions to physics. No more than one half of 1 percent of APS membership can be elected in a given year. Those honored are: Charles Barbour, for outstanding contributions to […]
Fusion instabilities lessened by unexpected effect
January 9, 2014 – 5:00 am
Control of widely recognized distortion may allow greater output at Sandia’s Z machine ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A surprising effect created by a 19th century device called a Helmholtz pair offers clues about how to achieve controlled nuclear fusion at Sandia National Laboratories’ powerful Z machine. A Helmholz coil produces a magnetic field when electrified. In […]