Scientists have made a real breakthrough in physics. They managed to make the nucleus of a thorium atom absorb a certain amount of energy by going into an excited state. It is expected that the application of this technology will allow not only to accurately measure time, but also to learn a lot of interesting things about the fundamental constants of the Universe.
Why don’t the nuclei of atoms absorb energy?
A team of scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles, led by Eric Hudson, says they have managed to make a major breakthrough in physics. As stated in a paper published in Physical Review Letters, they were able to get the thorium nucleus to absorb and emit photons.
Scientists have expected this result for almost 50 years. In general, the fact that elementary particles are able to move into an excited state by absorbing photons has long been known. So far, however, this has only been possible for the tiny electrons that surround the nucleus of an atom like a cloud. Much of modern technology, such as lasers and most electronics, is based on this principle.
Theoretically, the same should happen to the protons and neutrons that make up the nucleus itself. However, its binding energy is very high, and the electrons around it intercept most of the protons. However, Hudson’s team managed to get around this limitation.
To do this, they placed thorium-229 nuclei in a crystal composed of fluorine and began firing lasers at it. The electrons inside such a crystal were firmly bound to fluorine atoms. This allowed photons to reach protons and neutrons.
Why it’s important
The significance of the study for science lies precisely in the fact that scientists were able to teach how to absorb and emit photons from an object as coherent as a thorium nucleus. The high binding energy of protons and neutrons in it means that they are safely separated from the effects of the external environment.
That is, any change in their state will testify to the state of the Universe at that local point better than anything hitherto available to humans. So the first use of this advance in physics is to create incredibly accurate clocks. Although the ones at the disposal of scientists are already quite advanced, it is still not enough to investigate and control some processes.
However, scientists believe that the technology to excite atoms with photons is capable of much more. It can provide them with the opportunity to explore the physical constants that govern our universe. Usually their values are considered to be unchanging, whence they got their name. And not a single experiment on Earth has given reason to doubt this conclusion.
However, astronomical evidence indicates that, for at least some of them, the values may differ in different parts of the universe. It is true that it is extremely difficult to get there and make measurements. However, if variability exists, then experiments with photon absorption by the nucleus should reveal it.
According to indiaeducationdiary.in
