"Physics World" announces its Breakthrough of the Year finalists for 2020

One of the highlights in the Physics World calendar is the announcement of their Breakthrough of the Year. Today ten finalists for 2020 have been revealed, from which the Breakthrough of the Year will be picked on Thursday 17 December. This year’s Top 10 Breakthroughs were selected by a crack team of five Physics World editors, who have sifted through hundreds of research updates published on the website this year. In addition to having been reported in Physics World in 2020, the selections must meet the following criteria: • Significant advance in knowledge or understanding. • Importance of the work for scientific progress and/or development of real-world applications. • Of general interest to Physics World readers.

Shutdown of the Detector of the Daya Bay Reactor Antineutrino Experiment

On Saturday, 12 December 2020, a special ceremony of the shutdown of the facility of the Daya Bay international neutrino experiment will take place. Scientists will proceed with final data analysis.

Preparation for the JUNO Experiment Reaches Its Final Stage

The main goal of the international JUNO experiment, in which DLNP scientists and engineers are actively involved, is to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy. This is currently one of the crucial problems in neutrino physics. The preparation for the JUNO experiment is in its final stage.

Congratulations to Sergey Nikolaevich Dolya and Viktor Ivanovich Smirnov on Receiving a Patent!

The JINR Department of Licensing and Intellectual Property announces that on 26 October 2020 the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research got a patent for the invention “Resonant capacitor charger”. The authors are Sergey Nikolaevich Dolya and Viktor Ivanovich Smirnov.

"Beer for Trade Union Members Only!"

This quote from “The Twelve Chairs” has long become a meme. It reflected the reality of the late 1920s— trade union members enjoyed not only beer but also other benefits. Benefit distribution was the trade union domain for all long decades of the USSR existence. Since every employee of the country was a trade union member starting with a student, so benefits could be enjoyed by everyone.

First Experimental Proof of Theorized Nuclear Fusion Processes in Massive Stars

The international Borexino Collaboration has announced the first observation of neutrinos from the CNO process in the Sun, which experimentally confirms the second mechanism for energy generation in stars. Earlier, only neutrinos from the proton–proton cycle were observed. This discovery is highly important for astrophysics since in stars more massive than the Sun energy is mainly produced through the CNO cycle. The results of the investigation are published in Nature.

A New Method for Measurement of Low Neutron Fluxes using Iodine-Containing Scintillators

One of the most important objectives pursued in low-background experiments on the search for rare events is the study and continuous monitoring of neutron fluxes in the vicinity of the detection setup. The problem is that neutron fluxes in low-background experiments are thousands of times lower than on the ground. The gold standard for neutron flux measurement is the 3He-based counter due to a large cross section for thermal neutron capture (5333 b) and extremely low sensitivity of these counters to the gamma background. Unfortunately, there are no commercial 3He sources: its content in natural helium is only 0.000137%. All the available amount of 3He is produced at nuclear reactors, and its cost is more than $2000 per litre.

Adjustment and Preparation for Commissioning of the Electron Linear Accelerator LINAC-200

At DLNP, the adjustment and commissioning work is well under way at LINAC-200, the first stage of the electron linear accelerator LINAC-800. The accelerator is intended for carrying out methodological investigations of detectors developed at JINR, solving applied problems with the use of electron beams, and implementing educational programmes of the JINR University Centre. The accelerator will produce electron beams with energies of 10 MeV to 200 MeV in a wide intensity range.

Eighth Lecture by Igor Ivanov “Zeptoseconds and yoctoseconds” from the Series “Time Scales: Travelling Deep into the Second with Historical Sketches”

Nuclear time scale. Lifetime of isotopes. Crystal blocking technique. Collision of relativistic nuclei.

Seventh Lecture by Igor Ivanov “The atom from inside” from the Series “Time Scales: Travelling Deep into the Second with Historical Sketches”

Presentation Series of Educational Lectures by Igor Ivanov “Time Scales: Travelling Deep into the Second with Historical Sketches” 

Congratulations to Yulian Aramovich Budagov and Mikhail Vasilyevich Lyablin on Receiving a Patent!

The JINR Department of Licensing and Intellectual Property announces that on 16 October 2020 the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research got a patent for the invention “Device for measuring surface inclination angles”. The authors are Yulian Aramovich Budagov and Mikhail Vasilyevich Lyablin.  

Sixth Lecture by Igor Ivanov “Femtoworld” from the Series “Time Scales: Travelling Deep into the Second with Historical Sketches”

Scales of the world of atoms. Motion of electrons and light. Pump-probe method. The first picosecond of melting. Femtochemistry and femtobiology.