Fundamental physics

In scientific circles, “mock” is not always a four-letter word. To test that they’re interpreting their massive amounts of data correctly, astrophysicists create even more data: “mock” data. And while that may be counterintuitive at first, it actually makes a...

SLAC and Stanford physicists played a key role in monitoring and analyzing the brightest gamma ray burst ever measured, and suggest that its never-before-seen features could call for a rewrite of current theories.

On Dec. 2-4, scientists from around the United States will meet at SLAC to discuss some of the most pressing scientific questions in particle physics and the experiments needed to answer them. You’re invited!

Scientists in SLAC's Integrated Circuits Department reach a new frontier in ultrafast X-ray science with intricately designed signal-processing chips that translate particles of light into bits of data.

Particle astrophysicists are helping illuminate the dark side of the universe for a new show at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

Traces of iron spread smoothly throughout a massive galaxy cluster tell the 10 billion-year-old story of exploding supernovae and fierce outbursts from supermassive black holes sowing heavy elements throughout the early cosmos.

Through the “Snowmass” process, US particle physicists thoroughly considered the field’s most compelling unanswered questions and ways to realistically answer them.

SLAC particle theorist Lance Dixon has been named co-winner of the 2014 J.J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics, awarded each year by the American Physical Society.