Tag

Domain Walls

All articles tagged with #domain walls

science-and-technology2 years ago

Unveiling Nanoscale Vibrations: Listening to Avalanches and Earthquakes in Crystals

Researchers from UNSW and the University of Cambridge have developed a new method for listening to nanoscale avalanches of atoms in crystals. The method, based on scanning probe microscopy (SPM) nanoindentation, allows for the study of crackling noise in individual nanoscale features of materials, such as domain walls in ferroelectrics. By imaging the material surface before indenting it, researchers can identify and study specific nanoscale features. This new technique provides insights into the behavior of materials at the nanoscale and has potential applications in various fields, including electronics and material science.

science-and-astronomy2 years ago

Primordial fractures in space-time may cause faint gravitational waves.

Astronomers have discovered evidence for domain walls in the early universe, which could have released floods of gravitational waves. The GUT phase transition of the universe may have left behind a network of boundaries between different configurations of space-time, which could have decayed into other particles, releasing a flood of gravitational waves that could persist to the present-day universe. Pulsar timing arrays have already found hints of a signal, which could be explained by domain walls decaying in the early universe. Future pulsar timing measurements should be able to distinguish this model from the traditional picture of colliding supermassive black holes.