Particle that only has mass when moving in one direction observed for first time
Particle that only has mass when moving in one direction observed for first time
For the first time, scientists have observed a collection of particles, also known as a quasiparticle, that's massless when moving one direction but has mass in the other direction. The quasiparticle, called a semi-Dirac fermion, was first theorized 16 years ago, but was only recently spotted inside...
The important thing here is that this is about a quasi particle, something that behaves sort of like a particle but is not (like a hole in the electron distribution), in a 2D crystal lattice. This only happens because the lattice is not isotropic, you see a different pattern depending in the direction you look, so having properties change with direction is not totally unexpected. We already have materials with anisotropic thermal conductivity for example.
This won't happen in vacuum as vacuum is isotropic.
this is such an important thing to note that i feel the headline is just outright a lie
Finally some quality content.
I'm not sure what it would be used for but this is a brand new compound into humanities toolbox that advances physics at the same time. Unexplained phenomena that is also confirming a particle theorised 16y ago. Give Nobel please.
This is how we get to warp drive... Make it so number 1.
We might be able to make a warp drive within the crystal structure. đ«
I like quality content, even if I canât understand sometimes
- Find shiny rock.
- Make rock cold.
- Place cold rock in invisible field that can levitate water droplets
- Shine energy on cold rock we can't even see
How is this not summoning mythical creatures or opening portals to other dimensions?
All I'm saying is things started getting weird after the turned the LHC on
Tales from the Loop...
Is it down? I bet it's down.
Ooh ah ah ah ah
You gotta get up to get down
if particles only have mass during certain conditions... could particles be used to compute?
We're talking... 3034 kinda tech here, but, hear me out.
Gravity Vents/ Inertial Damening come to mind. Having momentum moving in one direction but not when reversing would mean infinite acceleration.
The computer you're using is made out of particles. You have to be more specific.
Hell, if it's a newer device, it's a series of switches operating on nearly-single electrons.
....Holy shit
Is it, dangerous to hold this sort of power?
Only if you use generative Ai
Why does this feel like forbidden knowledge
Hmm... is this what could change space-flight? Imagine having a material that is nigh weighless when moving away from gravity but gains mass again when moving towards it. It would make it much more feasible to transport heavier stuff into space.
Misleading headline. Article goes badly wrong in its attempt to ELI5 âŠ..
Itâs not âdirectionââthatâs affected, but electron transitions to either higher or lower states âŠ.. I think. This article is horribly written if they wanted to communicate anything
Edit: the article does link to the original paper but someone else will need to translate that. It looks more like they were able to produce a formerly theoretical quantum particle (not electron) and show weird behavior. I still donât know what âdirectionâ means, because itâs relative to how its quantum state changes. I donât think direction means direction in the macro sense but I donât know what it does mean
I was misled in the posted article with hints about energy levels that reminded of electron shells. The original article makes it clear these are not electrons but talks about quantum states in a vaguely similar way (at least according to my limited understanding)
I don't think that's what they're saying. They're measuring a property that should scale linearly with Landau levels and the strength of the magnetic field by a known factor. There's one possible factor for massive particles, and another for massless ones. In this experiment they observed a third value for the factor that lies between those two, one which matches the predictions of these semi-Dirac fermions. The particles in question are electrons in a semi-metal, so I think that can mean actual movement in the sense that we usually think of the word
That said this is waaay beyond my level of physics, even with the professor attempting to dumb it down for us
For sure directions is related to different planes or lines along the crystal.
They quote in the article that when moving in certain directions, the fermion's energy is completely derived from motion. So it's essentially taking the m out of E = mcÂČ, which is still neat, but not really something you can scale up
Itâs been a while since I took a physics class, but Iâm pretty sure everything becomes more weightless as it gets farther from a gravitational pull. Things donât normally become more mass-less though.
Or, is this a âwhooshâ moment for me?
Unfortunately we can't just build something out of particles like this. Consider electrons or neutrinos, something similar is what we're dealing with here.
A spinning ring or torus of these particles would make a great propulsion system! When moving toward the back of the ship, they're reaction mass, moving the ship forward. Then they masslessly move back toward the front of the ship. Basically like a rocket that keeps reusing its own exhaust.
