Scientists have reported the creation of "Rydberg polarons":
What is inside an atom, between the nucleus and the electron? Usually there is nothing, but why could there not be other particles too? If the electron orbits the nucleus at a great distance, there is plenty of space in between for other atoms. A "giant atom" can be created, filled with ordinary atoms. All these atoms form a weak bond, creating a new, exotic state of matter at cold temperatures, referred to as "Rydberg polarons".
A team of researchers has now presented this state of matter in the journal "Physical Review Letters". The theoretical work was done at TU Wien (Vienna) and Harvard University, the experiment was performed at Rice University in Houston (Texas).
Two very special fields of atomic physics, which can only be studied at extreme conditions, have been combined in this research project: Bose-Einstein condensates and Rydberg atoms. A Bose-Einstein condensate is a state of matter created by atoms at ultracold temperatures, close to absolute zero. Rydberg atoms are atoms, in which one single electron is lifted into a highly excited state and orbits the nucleus at a very large distance.
[...] First, a Bose-Einstein condensate was created with strontium atoms. Using a laser, energy was transferred to one of these atoms, turning it into a Rydberg atom with a huge atomic radius. The perplexing thing about this atom: the radius of the orbit, on which the electron moves around the nucleus, is much larger than the typical distance between two atoms in the condensate. Therefore the electron does not only orbit its own atomic nucleus, numerous other atoms lie inside its orbit too. Depending on the radius of the Rydberg atom and the density of the Bose-Einstein condensate, as many as 170 additional strontium atoms may be enclosed by the huge electronic orbit.
Creation of Rydberg Polarons in a Bose Gas (DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.083401) (DX)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 27 2018, @06:09AM (2 children)
And is it possible to fuse atoms inside of this outer orbit until you end up with some super-huge element which we haven't previously considered the theoretical existence of?
Inquiring minds, yada yada.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 27 2018, @06:16AM
The man nervously got up in front of the podium. Once he noticed the audience's warm, caring gaze, the man calmed down and smiled. That's right: This was a Human Rights Convention where those who have less common sexual preferences could come out and be accepted for who they are. This place was a testament to the fact that society decided to stand against bigotry and injustice! The man began speaking.
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A single tear ran down the speaker's face. Support. Such immense support would allow the man to freely express his sexuality for the rest of his life. Finally, the man could feel safe from those who might wish to oppress him. True happiness.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday February 27 2018, @08:22AM
What exactly do you mean by 'to fuse atoms'?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Funny) by Bot on Tuesday February 27 2018, @08:03AM (1 child)
As the orbiting electron sings:
So many nuclei, so little time...
Account abandoned.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 28 2018, @03:33AM
Looks like I'm going to have to buy the White Album, again.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Tuesday February 27 2018, @09:32AM (7 children)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Informative) by c0lo on Tuesday February 27 2018, @11:12AM (6 children)
Phil! Phil!! Stop playing silly, you risk sliding into becoming one.
Check the radial distribution for the s orbitals [utexas.edu], they all have a value of zero in origin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Informative) by FatPhil on Wednesday February 28 2018, @08:04AM (5 children)
The *density* is proportional to Psi^2. And note how I *explicitly* said "density".
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday February 28 2018, @08:54AM (4 children)
Mmmm... I see... Strange, indeed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday February 28 2018, @09:28AM (3 children)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday February 28 2018, @09:40AM (2 children)
Raindrops aren't raindrop shaped (they flatten, rather than getting extended). Electrons don't orbit the nucleus. It's time to chose better words when teaching science. I think it's time to start teaching wave-particle duality earlier, and de-epmhasising the "particle" part as soon as possible. Everything's a wave. Billiard balls are too wrong.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday February 28 2018, @11:21AM (1 child)
Let's make it even more strange - a density of probability of zero in a "separating" region doesn't mean the electron cannot "travel" between the two separated areas - tunnelling effects and all that.
It's like the impulse iof the particle n those separating region will need to be high (theoretically infinite), with a "classical interpretation" of "the electron travels so fast there, the probability of finding it at any given time in any infinitesimal volume of the separation region vanishes" (one will need to sprinkle the ergodic hypothesis for this interpretation)
Hmmm... I wonder.
Doesn't seem that the pilot-wave theory [wikipedia.org] is totally refuted, it just competes on scientific mind-share with the orthodoxy of the Copenhagen interpretation.
If zero-point field is accepted as a working hypothesis for the Hawking radiation (those vacuum fluctuations), why wouldn't the same work for "the surface of water on which the oil droplets/ping-pong balls interact with the waves created by their own bouncing on that surface" [wikipedia.org]?
Like the electron causing a wave on the zero-point field deformed by the nucleus and then "catching" that wave on its motion only to be "reflected" back "around" the nucleus of the atom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday February 28 2018, @04:22PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves