A quantum experiment that could separate a particle’s properties from its mass has physicists arguing over how reality works in the quantum world Source link
Read More »Tiniest particle accelerator is so small it could fit into a pen tip
A side view of the tiny particle accelerator Tomáš Chlouba, Roy Shiloh, Stefanie Kraus, et al. A particle accelerator just 0.2 millimetres long is the smallest device of its kind ever built. It is the first tiny accelerator that can produce fast and well-focused bunches of electrons, and could have …
Read More »An alternative way to picture the standard model of particle physics
The standard model of particle physics is often illustrated as a simple grid showing the 17 basic particles (shown above). But an alternative way of visualising it reveals the complex rules that govern how the particles and forces interact. This article is part of a special series on the standard …
Read More »Muons are still behaving oddly, which could break particle physics
Fermilab’s Muon g-2 experiment is adding to evidence that the standard model is incomplete Ryan Postel/Fermilab The standard model of particle physics is beginning to show cracks. A fundamental particle called the muon has been caught behaving strangely, and new experimental results from Fermilab in Illinois have shown that it …
Read More »‘Demon’ particle found in superconductor could explain how they work
It is unclear exactly how superconductors work SeniMelihat/Shutterstock A mysterious particle has been discovered inside a superconducting crystal, more than 60 years after it was first predicted. The particle, called Pines’s demon, could explain why some materials superconduct, meaning they have zero electrical resistance, and help guide the search for …
Read More »Exotic pentaquark particle found at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider
An illustration of a pentaquark CERN/Science Photo Library Researchers at the CERN particle physics laboratory’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland have discovered a new type of particle called a strange pentaquark. Finding exotic particles like this could help us figure out how hadrons – subatomic particles such as protons …
Read More »Protons: Five of the biggest unanswered questions about the ubiquitous particle
DEEP in the heart of every atom lurk protons, tiny particles from which the chemical elements were forged, first in the searing heat of the big bang and then in the nuclear furnaces of stars. The number of protons in an atom determines whether it is hydrogen, carbon, oxygen or …
Read More »Microsoft says its weird new particle could improve quantum computers
A strange quasiparticle could make error-proof quantum computers Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images Microsoft researchers have made a controversial claim that they have seen evidence of an elusive particle that could solve some of the biggest headaches in quantum computing, but some experts are questioning the discovery. Quantum computers process information using …
Read More »W boson: Physicists still don’t understand 2022’s most shocking particle
The Collider Detector at Fermilab, which measured the mass of the W boson Corbis via Getty Images A shock measurement of the mass of a fundamental particle called the W boson ignited the physics world in April, as it appeared to flout the standard model of particle physics. Hundreds of …
Read More »Crystal device could be used to build tiny particle accelerators
An illustration of photonic crystals, materials that can trap and direct light J. Joannopoulous/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY A micrometre-sized device that produces light by firing a beam of electrons over a slab of crystal could be used to build tiny particle accelerators and X-ray machines. Such chip-sized devices could be manufactured …
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