AI Tool Could Accelerate Discovery of Advanced Superconductors

Credit: iStock.Original story from Emory University, Using artificial intelligence shortens the time needed to identify complex phases in quantum materials.Using artificial intelligence shortens the time to identify complex quantum phases in materials from months to minutes, finds a new study published in Newton. The breakthrough could significantly speed up research into quantum materials, particularly low-dimensional superconductors.The study was led by theorists at Emory University and experimentalists at Yale University. Senior authors include Fang Liu and Yao Wang, assistant professors in Emory’s Department of Chemistry, and Yu He, assistant professor in Yale’s Department of Applied Physics.The team applied machine-learning techniques to detect clear spectral signals that indicate phase transitions in quantum materials — systems where electrons are strongly entangled. These materials are notoriously difficult to model with traditional physics because of their unpredictable fluctuations.“Our method gives a fast and accurate snapshot of a very complex phase transition, at virtually no cost,” says Xu Chen, the study’s first author and an Emory PhD student in chemistry. “We hope this can dramatically speed up discoveries in the field of superconductivity.”One of the challenges in applying machine learning to quantum materials is...
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A guide: Uranium and the nuclear fuel cycle

A guide: Uranium and the nuclear fuel cycle Yellowcake (Image: Dean Calma/IAEA)The nuclear fuel cycle is the series of industrial processes that turns uranium into electricity. Claire Maden takes a look at the steps that make up the cycle, the major players and the potential pinch-points.The nuclear fuel cycle starts with the mining of uranium ore and ends with the disposal of nuclear waste. (Ore is simply the naturally occurring material from which a mineral or minerals of economic value can be extracted).We talk about the front end of the fuel cycle - that is, the processes needed to mine the ore, extract uranium from it, refine it, and turn it into a fuel assembly that can be loaded into a nuclear reactor - and the back end of the fuel cycle - what happens to the fuel after it's been used. If the used fuel is treated as waste, and disposed of, this is known as an "open" fuel cycle. It can also be reprocessed to recover uranium and other fissile materials which can be reused in what is known as a "closed" fuel cycle.The World Nuclear Association's Information Library has a detailed overview of the fuel cycle here. But in a nutshell, the front end of the fuel cycle is made up of mining and milling, conversion, enrichment and fuel fabrication. Fuel then spends typically about three years inside a reactor, after which it may go into...
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