It typically lasts for only 142 billionths of a second, making it incredibly unusual.
Positronium is incredibly energy-efficient. The study of it has the potential to transform physics, treat cancer, and possibly even space flight. It can provide light on “antimatter,” which was present at the beginning of the Universe. However, due to the mysterious substance’s extremely high atomic mobility, analysis of it has proven nearly impossible up until now.
Scientists now have a workaround: using lasers to freeze it “The positronium has captured the hearts and minds of physicists,” stated Dr. Ruggero Caravita to the BBC, the research leader at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern), located close to Geneva. “It is the perfect atom to do experiments with antimatter.
“Now the entire field of study is unblocked.”
What actually is positronium, then?
This atom is made up of both matter and antimatter, making it extremely unique material.
Everything in our immediate environment, including the stars, planets, and ourselves, is composed of matter. Which is opposite of antimatter. It was produced in equal measure at the beginning of the universe, but it now only sometimes appears in the natural world, with very little of it happening there.
Lisa Gloggler, a Ph.D. student working on the project, believes that positronium may hold the key to understanding why there is more matter than antimatter in the universe today and, consequently, why we exist. This discovery would go a long way towards advancing a new, more comprehensive view of how the universe evolved.
The positronium system is really basic. It is made up of 50% matter and 50% antimatter, according to PhD candidate Lisa Gloggler. “We are hoping that if there is any difference between the two we can see it more easily than in more complex systems.”
Determining if the antimatter component of frozen positronium adheres to Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity in the same manner as the matter component is one of the first tests that might be conducted with it.
The most common element in the universe, hydrogen, is the simplest of the atoms that make up matter, which is what makes up the world around us. This consists of a negatively charged electron and a positively charged proton. Conversely, positronium is made up of an electron and a positron, which is the antimatter counterpart of an electron.
In 1951, researchers in the US made the first detection of it. However, because it is the lightest known atom, the atoms move about a lot, making study challenging.
However, cooling it causes the atoms to slow down, which facilitates scientific investigation. The lowest temperatures at which positronium has been found in a vacuum so far have been close to 100C. Now, the Cern team has used a method known as laser cooling to reduce it to more than -100C. The procedure of stopping the atoms from jiggling so much involves shining a laser light at them, which can be challenging and complex. Physical Review Letters, a scientific journal, has published the research.
Positronium needs to be frozen even deeper, to about -260C, in order to be used for study. However, Prof. Michael Charlton, a positronium expert at Swansea University who was not involved in the present accomplishment, says that the laser approach has provided researchers a route forward.
There are many applications for this new discovery like cancer therapies and medical imaging. In the far future, some even propose using it to drive spacecraft near the speed of light, which would enable space travel. What do you think about this new discovery? Answer in the comments below.
By Ieuan Yr9
Carre’s Grammar School, Sleaford
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