Study Provides Insight into the Physics of the Higgs Particle
Researchers at the
University of
For their
experiments, scientists at the University
of Bonn
The lithium gas changes to a more orderly state at its phase transition. This includes the formation of so-called Cooper pairs, which are combinations of two atoms that behave like a single particle to the outside.
Partner-dancing atoms
These pairs behave fundamentally differently from individual atoms: They move together and can do so without scattering on other atoms or pairs. This is the reason for the superconductivity. But what happens when you try to excite the pairs?
“We illuminated the gas with microwave radiation,” explains Prof. Dr. Michael Köhl from the Physics Institute at theUniversity
of Bonn
This common oscillation of the Cooper pairs corresponds to the Higgs boson discovered at the CERN Accelerator in 2013. As this state is very unstable, only a handful of working groups worldwide have succeeded in producing it.
The experiments allow an insight into certain physical properties of the Higgs boson. For example, the physicists hope that studies like these will enable them to better understand the decay of this extremely short-lived particle in the medium term.
Fast-switchable superconductors
But the experiments are also interesting for another reason: They show a way to switch superconductivity on and off very quickly. Superconductors normally try to remain in their conductive state for as long as possible. They can be dissuaded by heating, but this is a very slow process. The experiments show that in principle this can also be over a thousand times faster. This insight may open up completely new applications for superconductors.
The success of theBonn scientists is also based on a successful cooperation
between theory and experiment: “We theoretically predicted the phenomena,”
explains Prof. Dr. Corinna Kollath from the Helmholtz-Institut für Strahlen-
und Kernphysik at the University
of Bonn
Researchers at the University of Bonn
University of Bonn –
June 27, 2018 -- Physicists at the University
of Bonn
For their
experiments, scientists at the The lithium gas changes to a more orderly state at its phase transition. This includes the formation of so-called Cooper pairs, which are combinations of two atoms that behave like a single particle to the outside.
Partner-dancing atoms
These pairs behave fundamentally differently from individual atoms: They move together and can do so without scattering on other atoms or pairs. This is the reason for the superconductivity. But what happens when you try to excite the pairs?
“We illuminated the gas with microwave radiation,” explains Prof. Dr. Michael Köhl from the Physics Institute at the
This common oscillation of the Cooper pairs corresponds to the Higgs boson discovered at the CERN Accelerator in 2013. As this state is very unstable, only a handful of working groups worldwide have succeeded in producing it.
The experiments allow an insight into certain physical properties of the Higgs boson. For example, the physicists hope that studies like these will enable them to better understand the decay of this extremely short-lived particle in the medium term.
Fast-switchable superconductors
But the experiments are also interesting for another reason: They show a way to switch superconductivity on and off very quickly. Superconductors normally try to remain in their conductive state for as long as possible. They can be dissuaded by heating, but this is a very slow process. The experiments show that in principle this can also be over a thousand times faster. This insight may open up completely new applications for superconductors.
The success of the
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