Posted on 05/09/2011 3:14:09 PM PDT by decimon
German and US researchers calculate a carbon nucleus of crucial importance
The researchers published their results in the coming issue of the scientific journal Physical Review Letters.
"Attempts to calculate the Hoyle state have been unsuccessful since 1954," said Professor Dr. Ulf-G. Meißner (Helmholtz-Institut für Strahlen- und Kernphysik der Universität Bonn). "But now, we have done it!" The Hoyle state is an energy-rich form of the carbon nucleus. It is the mountain pass over which all roads from one valley to the next lead: From the three nuclei of helium gas to the much larger carbon nucleus. This fusion reaction takes place in the hot interior of heavy stars. If the Hoyle state did not exist, only very little carbon or other higher elements such as oxygen, nitrogen and iron could have formed. Without this type of carbon nucleus, life probably also would not have been possible.
The search for the "slave transmitter"
The Hoyle state had been verified by experiments as early as 1954, but calculating it always failed. For this form of carbon consists of only three, very loosely linked helium nuclei - more of a cloudy diffuse carbon nucleus. And it does not occur individually, only together with other forms of carbon. "This is as if you wanted to analyze a radio signal whose main transmitter and several slave transmitters are interfering with each other," explained Prof. Dr. Evgeny Epelbaum (Institute of Theoretical Physics II at Ruhr-Universität Bochum). The main transmitter is the stable carbon nucleus from which humans - among others - are made. "But we are interested in one of the unstable, energy-rich carbon nuclei; so we have to separate the weaker radio transmitter somehow from the dominant signal by means of a noise filter."
What made this possible was a new, improved calculating approach the researchers used that allowed calculating the forces between several nuclear particles more precisely than ever. And in JUGENE, the supercomputer at Forschungszentrum Jülich, a suitable tool was found. It took JUGENE almost a week of calculating. The results matched the experimental data so well that the researchers can be certain that they have indeed calculated the Hoyle state.
More about how the Universe came into existence
"Now we can analyze this exciting and essential form of the carbon nucleus in every detail," explained Prof. Meißner. "We will determine how big it is, and what its structure is. And it also means that we can now take a very close look at the entire chain of how elements are formed."
In future, this may even allow answering philosophical questions using science. For decades, the Hoyle state was a prime example for the theory that natural constants must have precisely their experimentally determined values, and not any different ones, since otherwise we would not be here to observe the Universe (the anthropic principle). "For the Hoyle state this means that it must have exactly the amount of energy it has, or else, we would not exist," said Prof. Meißner. "Now we can calculate whether - in a changed world with other parameters - the Hoyle state would indeed have a different energy when comparing the mass of three helium nuclei." If this is so, this would confirm the anthropic principle.
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The study was jointly conducted by the University of Bonn, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, North Carolina State University, and Forschungszentrum Jülich.
E. Epelbaum, H. Krebs, D. Lee, Ulf-G. Meißner, Ab initio calculation of the Hoyle state, Physical Review Letters, 2011. Online: http://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v106/i19/e192501 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.192501
Contact: Prof. Dr. Ulf-G. Meißner Helmholtz-Institut für Strahlen- und Kernphysik der Universität Bonn Ph.: +49 228/73-2365 Email: meissner@hiskp.uni-bonn.de
Prof. Dr. Evgeny Epelbaum Institut für Theoretische Physik II Fakultät für Physik und Astronomie der Ruhr-Universität Bochum Telefon: +49 234/32-28707 E-Mail: evgeny.epelbaum@rub.de
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbE2YPwedRA&feature=related
That’s a GREAT album!
I saw Bowie back in the early 80’s and he did a fantastic show!
Uh...what was that again?
'La bonne cuisine est la base du véritable bonheur.' - Auguste Escoffier
(Good food is the foundation of genuine happiness.)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
I always imagine penumbras must look like umbrellas, don’t you?
:’D I may have to steal those...
'La bonne cuisine est la base du véritable bonheur.' - Auguste Escoffier
(Good food is the foundation of genuine happiness.)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
Thanks for linking that cool article. Pinging my favorite cosmologists.
Thanks for the ping!
You’re welcome.
Having been a serious studier of the hard sciences for a long (way, way, way too) long time I think we are due for a massive change.
Einstein, like Newton, is an approximation, in fact seems to me everything Einstein did was not material or energy physics, it was geometry. (Well, there are a few exceptions, like his descriptions of the photoelectric effect).
My fear is that many if not most mainstream scientists will not only not endorse any new ideas, but will actively oppose them. Hard to unlearn what it took a lifetime to learn.
AFAIK, they still have no decent explanation for why the Explorer spacecraft are slowing down. Or are they speeding up? I’m not sure which...
What about the heaviest, most dangerous element - Governmentium?
The article seems to be mistitled. It doesn't actually deal with "how LIFE started."
djf's link is to a very cool article indeed!
Thank you both!
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