Huzhou, September 30, 2025 — The International Research Laboratory for Strongly Coupled Physics at Huzhou University has achieved important progress at the intersection of cold-atom and nuclear physics. The team’s paper, “Observation of Universal Expansion Anisotropy from Cold Atoms to Hot Quark–Gluon Plasma,” was published in Newton (Cell Press). The first and corresponding author is Dr. Li Ke, Associate Researcher at the College of Science, with Professor Wang Fuqiang serving as co-corresponding author. Co-authors include Assistant Researcher Song Hongfang, Researcher Xu Haojie, and Associate Professor Sun Yuliang.

　　The study reports a universal scaling law for anisotropic expansion in momentum space—arising from initial spatial anisotropy—that holds for both cold atomic gases and hot quark–gluon plasma, and exhibits characteristics analogous to a “random walk.” These findings challenge the conventional hydrodynamic paradigm of expansion in interacting systems and deepen understanding of anisotropic expansion mechanisms. Despite vast differences in scale, temperature, and underlying physics, the work bridges cold-atom systems and quark–gluon plasma. Given the experimental limitations in probing quark–gluon plasma—believed to reflect the universe’s earliest state—while cold-atom platforms offer broad, precise tunability, the research demonstrates the advantages of using cold-atom experiments to investigate quark–gluon plasma, potentially advancing studies of the early universe.

　　Established in 2017, Huzhou University’s International Research Laboratory for Strongly Coupled Physics has, with sustained university support, recruited outstanding talent, independently designed and built cold-atom experimental platforms, and advanced integrated research in cold atoms and nuclear physics. The laboratory actively collaborates with international peers and has achieved a series of outcomes in key national projects and provincial-level international programs.

　　Link to the paper: www.cell.com/newton/fulltext/S2950-6360(25)00229-4