Nuclear physics is the branch of science that examines the properties and behaviour of atomic nuclei, the densely packed assemblies of protons and neutrons held together by the strong interaction.

The time is nigh for nuclear clocks. In a first, scientists have used a tabletop laser to bump an atomic nucleus into a higher energy state. It’s a feat that sets scientists on a path toward creating ...

When world-leading teams join forces, new findings are bound to be made. This is what happened when quantum physicists from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and the Max Planck Institute ...

Dark matter particles could be mediators of the interaction between electrons and atomic nuclei, as shown by a study ...

After winning a Breakthrough Prize, the world’s most lucrative science award, theoretical physicist David Gross is using the moment to warn of nuclear war’s existential threat—and how we can escape it ...

The nucleus of an atom is now the modern version of sand flowing through an hourglass. Researchers have spent 15 years trying to increase accuracy in timekeeping. The ...

Observations of a nucleus paired with a neutral meson could provide new insights into the theory of quantum chromodynamics ...

PTB’s ion traps (top right) and the PENTATRAP Penning trap mass spectrometer at MPIK in Heidelberg (bottom left) were used to obtain a new insight into the differences between isotopes and new limits ...

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Delve into the detail of atomic physics. As the basic units of matter, atoms are the building blocks for everything in the universe. Once thought to be indivisible, we now know they can indeed be ...