Thanks 2ndDivisionVet.Superconductivity ping.
· String Theory Ping List ·
· Join · Bookmark · Topics · Google ·
· View or Post in 'blog · post a topic · subscribe ·
Posted on 07/25/2015 5:31:56 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
They can theoretically carry charge 1,000 times faster than ordinary electrons.
After 85 years of searching, researchers have confirmed the existence of a massless particle called the Weyl fermion for the first time ever. With the unique ability to behave as both matter and anti-matter inside a crystal, this strange particle can create electrons that have no mass.
The discovery is huge, not just because we finally have proof that these elusive particles exist, but because it paves the way for far more efficient electronics, and new types of quantum computing. "Weyl fermions could be used to solve the traffic jams that you get with electrons in electronics - they can move in a much more efficient, ordered way than electrons," lead researcher and physicist M. Zahid Hasan from Princeton University in the US told Anthony Cuthbertson over at IBTimes. "They could lead to a new type of electronics we call 'Weyltronics'."
So what exactly is a Weyl fermion? Although we're often taught in high school science that the Universe is made up of atoms, from a particle physics point of view, everything is actually made up of fermions and bosons. Put very simply, fermions are the building blocks that make up all matter, such as electrons, and bosons are the things that carry force, such as photons.
Electrons are the backbone of today's electronics, and while they carry charge pretty well, they also have the tendency to bounce into each other and scatter, losing energy and producing heat. But back in 1929, a German physicist called Hermann Weyl theorised that a massless fermion must exist, that could carry charge far more efficiently than regular electrons.
And now the team at Princeton has shown that they do indeed exist. In fact, they've shown that in a test medium, Weyl electrons can carry charge at least 1,000 times faster than electrons in ordinary semiconductors, and twice as fast as inside wonder-material graphene.
They're also far more efficient than electrons, the team reports in Science, because the particle's spin is both in the same direction as its motion (which physicists call 'right-handed) and opposite its direction ('left-handed') at the same time. This means that all the fermions move in exactly the same way and can traverse through and around obstacles that scatter normal electrons.
"It's like they have their own GPS and steer themselves without scattering," Hasan said in a press release. "They will move and move only in one direction since they are either right-handed or left-handed and never come to an end because they just tunnel through. These are very fast electrons that behave like unidirectional light beams and can be used for new types of quantum computing."
What's particularly cool about the discovery is that the researchers found the Weyl fermion in a synthetic crystal in the lab, unlike most other particle discoveries, such as the famous Higgs boson, which are only observed in the aftermath of particle collisions. This means that the research is easily reproducible, and scientists will be able to immediately begin figuring out how to use the Weyl fermion in electronics.
The team found the particle after specially formulating a semi-metal crystal called tantalum arsenide, which had previously been flagged by researchers in China as a potential 'home' for the Weyl fermion. After finding traces of the elusive particle in their lab, they took the crystals to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, where they fired high-energy photon beams through them. The signature of the beams on the other side confirmed that the crystals did indeed contain the Weyl fermion.
Weyl fermions are what's known as quasiparticles, which means they can only exist in a solid such as a crystal, and not as standalone particles. But further research will help scientists work out just how useful they could be. "The physics of the Weyl fermion are so strange, there could be many things that arise from this particle that we're just not capable of imagining now," said Hasan.
We can't wait to find out.
Dilithium here we come!
I'm quasi-excited.
Will they speed up page downloads?!
Thanks 2ndDivisionVet.Superconductivity ping.
Looks to me like “Scotty - beam me up” may become a reality.
How in the name of Pete did this German physicist Weyl imagine this existed in 1929?
That’s what’s mind boggling - the intelligence and imagination of some of these guys: Newton, Weyl, Einstein, etc. is WAY beyond my comprehension level.
Not sure but if it results in lower latency between my audio interface and my rack synths I’m gonna go fine me a Green chick in Kirk’s honor ;)
I’ve been waiting a weyl for this.
This only confirms what Julian Simon said was the ultimate resource: the human mind. If you have never read his book you should. He made a fool of Paul Ehrlich from Stanford, a fool by any measure. Here it is: http://www.juliansimon.com/writings/Ultimate_Resource/
There is only one thing I can figure. Most of them are very not normal. Einstein and shoe laces etc. I have to believe their brains are wired toward exactly one thing/area. When it works you get these guys. When it doesn’t, you get mental illness/autism and such.
That means we will have artificial intelligence soon.
We are so screwed.
Facinating...;)
No, but they will speed up your bathroom breaks!
I’ll check it out. I have some of the “crazy science for dummies” books by Kaiku, Kip thorne and those guys. Anything that rips an eco population idiot is something I’m interested.
Don’t think of it as demon puppies. Think of it as “Normie gets Lydia” and everything will be just fine ;)
Democrats have been around a long time.
Bookmark
lol ...and if it allows me to run mix down sessions in Pro Tools 12 where playbacks can be heard in my studio and my partners remote California studio simultaneously and synchronously, I’m a fan of the massless particle.
That’s a “Brainless” particle”. Unless you meant testically.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.