http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/majorana-particle-matter-and-antimatte...

New Particle Is Both Matter and Antimatter
Researchers see signature of “Majorana particles” inside superconducting iron
Oct 2, 2014 |By Clara Moskowitz


Physicists used a scanning-tunneling microscope to image a thin chain of iron atoms atop a superconductor made of lead (yellow bar). The colors here represent the quantum probability that any given spot contains a so-called Majorana particle, which is both matter and antimatter. The zoomed-in portion shows that the propability of finding a Majorana particle increases greatly at the ends of the wire, as theory predicts it should.
Yazdani Lab, Princeton University

Since the 1930s scientists have been searching for particles that are simultaneously matter and antimatter. Now physicists have found strong evidence for one such entity inside a superconducting material. The discovery could represent the first so-called Majorana particle, and may help researchers encode information for quantum computers.

Physicists think that every particle of matter has an antimatter counterpart with equal mass but opposite charge. When matter meets its antimatter equivalent, the two annihilate one another. But some particles might be their own antimatter partners, according to a 1937 prediction by Italian physicist Ettore Majorana. For the first time researchers say they have imaged one of these Majorana particles, and report their findings in the October 3 Science.

The new Majorana particle showed up inside a superconductor, a material in which the free movement of electrons allows electricity to flow without resistance. The research team, led by Ali Yazdani of Princeton University, placed a long chain of iron atoms, which are magnetic, on top of a superconductor made of lead. Normally, magnetism disrupts superconductors, which depend on a lack of magnetic fields for their electrons to flow unimpeded. But in this case the magnetic chain turned into a special type of superconductor in which electrons next to one another in the chain coordinated their spins to simultaneously satisfy the requirements of magnetism and superconductivity. Each of these pairs can be thought of as an electron and an antielectron, with a negative and a positive charge, respectively. That arrangement, however, leaves one electron at each end of the chain without a neighbor to pair with, causing them to take on the properties of both electrons and antielectrons—in other words, Majorana particles.

As opposed to particles found in a vacuum, unattached to other matter, these Majoranas are what’s called “emergent particles.” They emerge from the collective properties of the surrounding matter and could not exist outside the superconductor.

The new study shows a convincing signature of Majorana particles, says Leo Kouwenhoven of the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands who was not involved in the research but previously found signs of Majorana particles in a different superconductor arrangement. “But to really speak of full proof, unambiguous evidence, I think you have to do a DNA test.” Such a test, he says, must show the particles do not obey the normal laws of the two known classes of particles in nature—fermions (protons, electrons and most other particles we are familiar with) and bosons (photons and other force-carrying particles, including the Higgs boson). “The great thing about Majoranas is that they are potentially a new class of particle,” Kouwenhoven adds. “If you find a new class of particles, that really would add a new chapter to physics.”

Physicist Jason Alicea of California Institute of Technology, who also did not participate in the research, said the study offers “compelling evidence” for Majorana particles but that “we should keep in mind possible alternative explanations—even if there are no immediately obvious candidates.” He praised the experimental setup for its apparent ability to easily produce the elusive Majoranas. “One of the great virtues of their platform relative to earlier works is that it allowed the researchers to apply a new type of microscope to probe the detailed anatomy of the physics.”

The discovery could have implications for searches for free Majorana particles outside of superconducting materials. Many physicists suspect neutrinos—very lightweight particles with the strange ability to alter their identities, or flavors—are Majorana particles, and experiments are ongoing to investigate whether this is the case. Now that we know Majorana particles can exist inside superconductors, it might not be surprising to find them in nature, Yazdani says. “Once you find the concept to be correct, it’s very likely that it shows up in another layer of physics. That’s what’s exciting.”

The finding could also be useful for constructing quantum computers that harness the laws of quantum mechanics to make calculations many times faster than conventional computers. One of the main issues in building a quantum computer is the susceptibility of quantum properties such as entanglement (a connection between two particles such that an action on one affects the other) to collapse due to outside interference.

bodhisattva ~ : ) =


it_is_the_light wrote on Mar 14^th, 2014 at 11:06pm:

Other civilisations around the universe have discovered the same thing, before making 'black holes' of themselves. 

Black Holes are just enormous gravity compacting machines.

They drain in all 'matter' from one part, crush into a density far greater than the gravity it uses to gain the matter. Such density of matter is thus released as jet-like explosion(s) of vast power and speed in the opposing direction of the inward gravity plane.

They are not time portals, alternative universes, etc.

Just think of a boat propeller: sucks in the liquid, it condenses to a smaller area and is aimed, with force in one direction. That's all that Black Holes do. I guess 'simple' answers hurt the EGO's of Scientists who think their profession must always have an omnipotent complex meaning behind their existence. 

Now, because Black Holes are what they are - 'its quite obvious' that Scientists want to create a 'controlled' Black Hole as a means to exploit that 'power' for their own 'device' and hence why global public opinion is often wary and if not a bit worried about this sort of thing.
Humanity has made many 'catastrophic' mistakes over the recent century...
...don't you agree     

Bobby. wrote on Oct 11^th, 2014 at 11:16am:


many blessings

it is not upon one such as I am

to decide for you

all are forgiven

.....so be it

namaste

- : ) =

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/oct/16/dark-matter-detected-sun-axions

Dark matter may have been detected – streaming from the sun’s core
First direct detection of dark matter, thought to make up most of the matter in the universe, would be a historic breakthrough

Ian Sample, science editor

The Guardian, Friday 17 October 2014 02.05 AEST



Particles of dark matter called axions may stream from the core of the sun and produce x-rays when they slam into the Earth’s magnetic field. Illustration: Alamy
An unusual signal picked up by a European space observatory could be the first direct detection of dark matter particles, astronomers say.

The findings are tentative and could take several years to check, but if confirmed they would represent a dramatic advance in scientists’ understanding of the universe.

Dark matter cannot be seen, but the mysterious substance is thought to make up about 85% of all the matter in the universe. The web of dark matter that stretches through space is believed to give the cosmos its structure, although so far it has eluded direct detection by physicists.

Researchers at Leicester University spotted the curious signal in 15 years of measurements taken by the European Space Agency’s orbiting XMM-Newton observatory. They noticed that the intensity of x-rays recorded by the spacecraft rose by about 10% whenever it observed the boundary of Earth’s magnetic field that faces towards the sun.

Andy Read, an astronomer on the team, said that conventional models of the universe failed to explain the effect. Once galaxies, stars and other bright x-ray sources have been filtered out, he said, the intensity of x-rays in space was expected to be the same whenever measurements were taken.

With no explanation in traditional physics, the scientists looked to more outlandish theories. One seemed to fit the bill. It called for theoretical particles of dark matter called axions streaming from the core of the sun and producing x-rays when they slammed into Earth’s magnetic field.

“If the model is right then it could well be axions that we are seeing and they could explain a component of the dark matter that everyone thinks exists,” Read told the Guardian.

“The variation in background x-rays is solid and really interesting. What could it be down to? Well, we tried all the traditional explanations, but none of those worked, so we went to these more exotic ideas.”.



Dark matter particles known as axions streaming from the sun, converting in Earth’s magnetic field (red) to x-rays, which are detected by the XMM-Newton observatory. Photograph: University of Leicester
Martin Barstow, president of the Royal Astronomical Society, said: “This is an amazing result. If confirmed, it will be the first direct detection and identification of the elusive dark matter particles and will have a fundamental impact on our theories of the universe.”

The senior author on the study, George Fraser, died the day after the report was submitted to the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. In the paper, he wrote: “It appears plausible that axions – dark matter particle candidates – are indeed produced in the core of the sun and do indeed convert to x-rays in the magnetic field of the Earth.”

Researchers have debated the existence of dark matter since 1933 when the Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky noticed that some unseen material exerted a gravitational pull on a distant galaxy. Several experiments are currently searching for dark matter, but none has found concrete evidence for the particles.

“The x-ray background – the sky, after the bright x-ray sources are removed – appears to be unchanged whenever you look at it,” said Read. “However, we have discovered a seasonal signal in this x-ray background, which has no conventional explanation, but is consistent with the discovery of axions.”

“These exciting discoveries, in George’s final paper, could be truly groundbreaking, potentially opening a window to new physics, and could have huge implications, not only for our understanding of the true x-ray sky, but also for identifying the dark matter that dominates the mass content of the cosmos,” he added.

If the Leicester group has detected axion particles, the ghostly entities are incredibly light, with a mass of around a hundred billionth of an electron.

Read said that a similar signal had been detected by Nasa’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. It could take some time to confirm the signal, though. “In a few years, we might be able to double the dataset from XMM-Newton and look at this with more precision,” he said.

Christian Beck, who has worked on axions at Queen Mary, University of London, said: “Dark matter axions, or axion-like particles, could be responsible for this as they can convert to photons in the magnetic field of the Earth. The discovery could potentially be very important.”

“What’s less clear, however, is whether any other explanation of the measured effect can be excluded,” he added. “A true discovery of dark matter that is convincing for most scientists would require consistent results from several different experiments using different detection methods, in addition to what has been observed by the Leicester group.”

New Quantum Mechanics Theory Says Parallel Universes Exist!

Published on Nov 4, 2014
http://www.undergroundworldnews.com
To the average person, quantum mechanics is the convoluted, science fiction-y branch of physics. A radical new theory plays into that, proposing that parallel universes exist and interact with each other ‒ and that scientists may be able to test for them.

Prof. Howard Wiseman, a physicist at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, along with his collaborators Dr. Michael Hall, also of Griffith University, and University of California, Davis mathematician Dr. Dirk-Andre Deckert, published their new "many interacting worlds" (MIW) theory in the journal Physical Review X. They posited that other universes are real, exist in vast numbers and exert influence on each other.

http://rt.com/usa/202255-many-interacting-worlds-quantum-mechanics/