A 'no-brainer Nobel Prize': Hungarian scientists may have found a fifth force of nature
Scientists at the Institute for Nuclear Research at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Atomki) have posted findings showing what could be an example of that fifth force at work.
The scientists were closely watching how an excited helium atom emitted light as it decayed. The particles split at an unusual angle -- 115 degrees -- which couldn't be explained by known physics.
The study's lead scientist, Attila Krasznahorkay, told CNN that this was the second time his team had detected a new particle, which they call X17, because they calculated its mass at 17 megaelectronvolts. "X17 could be a particle, which connects our visible world with the dark matter," he said in an email.
Jonathan Feng, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California at Irvine told CNN he's been following the Hungarian team's work for years, and believes its research is shaping up to be a game changer. If these results can be replicated, "this would be a no-brainer Nobel Prize," he said.
Also at ScienceAlert and Popular Mechanics.
2016: Observation of Anomalous Internal Pair Creation in 8Be: A Possible Indication of a Light, Neutral Boson (open, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.042501) (DX)
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 25 2019, @09:44PM
We labeled that crate of helium atoms "fragile". But the posties are a bunch of ignorant apes. I watched two of them grab the crate, and throw it into the truck. I KNEW that no good could come of this. Now, we have a bunch of silly scientists trying to take measurements from fractured atoms.
(Score: 2) by Mojibake Tengu on Monday November 25 2019, @10:00PM
That funny terminology "protophobic force" sounds like a timid euphemism for antigravity. It is nice to see this can be done with a common lithium and some lightning.
Did scientists forgot to study effects of natural lightnings for a century or what?
Or, were they denied to?
The edge of 太玄 cannot be defined, for it is beyond every aspect of design
(Score: 2) by Rupert Pupnick on Tuesday November 26 2019, @01:14AM (3 children)
Can any physicists comment on where 17 MeV falls along the continuum of naturally occurring particle energies?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @01:27AM
Slightly hotter than paprika.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @01:36AM
Electron/positron masses are 0.511 MeV and the proton/neutron is something like 1 GeV. The pion is 135 MeV and the muon is about 105 MeV. It is pretty low mass.
(Score: 3, Informative) by PiMuNu on Tuesday November 26 2019, @01:10PM
In terms of bosons (force carriers); the photon, graviton and gluon have zero mass; the W boson and Z0 boson have mass about 80 or 90 GeV/c^2 (i.e. 80,000 MeV/c^2); the Higgs has mass is about 125 GeV/c^2
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @01:28AM (2 children)
>Rearranging the Standard Model of known forces and their particles to make room for a new member of the family would be a massive shift, and not a change to make lightly.
Can it even be done? Doesn’t it have to transcend the model like the superstring theories attempt?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @02:33AM
Maybe. It might have to add a whole new section to the standard model, but it doesn't have to change what is already there. And nobody believes the standard model is complete and accurate. It doesn't account for dark matter or dark energy.
Regarding not seeing it before, it's not like they take a close-up slow-motion film of all the collisions in atomic accelerators. Some cloud chambers and photo-films show individual events, but they usually pick out the ones that clearly show what they are demonstrating. Things like the LHC mostly produce statistical data.
If this particle production is low probability enough, it could be lost in the noise. The cheapest thing to do now would be to get an estimate of how likely, and see whether it fits the historical data from accelerator runs.
The most exciting thing would be if there are charged versions, and it is stable. Replacing electrons in an atomic structure with particles 34 times as heavy would result in a material with phenomenal density, and even more phenomenal strength. We're talking strong enough for uniform cross-section skyhook ribbons here.
Might also be useful in warm fusion reactors, similar to muon-catalyzed fusion.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday November 26 2019, @02:36AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Touché) by jelizondo on Tuesday November 26 2019, @02:45AM (4 children)
Quoting Don Lincoln (Fermilab) in Forbes [forbes.com]
So, not yet confirmed and probably won't be.
To use a current term, fake news (grin)
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @03:18AM (1 child)
e.g. basically they find a possible (never 100% ;) ) link between quantum stuff and the non-quantum stuff, but it doesn't show up if you don't believe in it... ;)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Tuesday November 26 2019, @03:40PM
I like funny. A lot. But . . . Actually, seriously, that would be amazing rather than funny if something like that were to happen. Astonishing even.
Or it could be the basis of a scifi story, or overly special effects laden movie.
Like the two slit experiment, it's only waves if there is no way you can know which slit the single particle goes through.
Delayed Choice Quantum Eraser [wikipedia.org]. "Some have interpreted this result to mean that the delayed choice to observe or not observe the path of the idler photon changes the outcome of an event in the past."
If you eat an entire cake without cutting it, you technically only had one piece.
(Score: 2) by corey on Tuesday November 26 2019, @10:58AM (1 child)
Yeah, merit to that.
I was a bit turned off it when TFS mentioned the N-word. Scientist makes a potential, unverified verification of a theory - quick, Nobel prize!
(Score: 3, Informative) by FatPhil on Tuesday November 26 2019, @01:09PM
And I think I agree with him. But it's a huge "if". A six-sigma if, you might say.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by KritonK on Tuesday November 26 2019, @11:02AM
I was going to jokingly make a reference to this having something to do with dark matter, but there is one in the article, so I won't.
(Score: 2) by Muad'Dave on Tuesday November 26 2019, @02:05PM
How do you miss 17 MeV during the transition of a photon into an electron/positron pair? 17 MeV is a _lot_ of energy when you're talking about a photon. The minimum photon energy required for pair production is about 1.022 MeV [wikipedia.org] (2x electron energy). Even 1.022 MeV is way up in the gamma ray spectrum.
It would be interesting to see if there's a 'knee' in the energy vs angle data right around 18.022 MeV since below that energy production of the X17 is not energetically possible.