CERN

The CERN already has the first cubit of antimatter

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Antimatter is fascinating not only for its essence; It is also due to the still enigmatic role that he played in The origin of the universe. Scientists still do not have the necessary tools to understand the role of this form of matter with some precision In the formation of the cosmos and the mechanisms that govern the faint line that delimits the imbalance between matter and antimatter. Fortunately what they know are their constituent elements and some of their properties. Understand What is antimatter It is not difficult. And we can observe it as an exotic type of matter that is constituted by antiparticles, which are particles with the same mass and spin as the particles with which we are familiar, but with opposite electric charge. In this way the antiparticle of the electron is the positron or antielectron. And the proton antiparticle is the antiproton. The CERN has taken a step forward in the understanding of antimatter The antimatter has a surprising property: when they come into direct contact with the matter, both are annihilated, releasing a large amount of energy in the form of high-energy photons, as well as other possible particle-antiparticle pairs. It is currently being studied in much of the research centers specialized in physics of most important particles in the world in the hope that knowing it better helps us understand some of the mysteries of the cosmos that remain out of our reach. The CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), the particle physics laboratory hosted in the vicinity of Geneva and next to the border between Switzerland and France, has the necessary resources for produce and manipulate antimatter. Two of the experiments that have already delivered important results to the physicists who work in them are Gbar (Gravitational behaviour of antimatter at rest) and alpha-g (Antihydrogen Laser Physics Aparatus-Gravity). To carry out the measures with great precision it is essential to cool the antiprotones to less than 200 millikelvins However, the authentic protagonist of this article is the base experiment (Baryon Antibaryon Symmetry Experiment). It has been designed with the purpose of measuring with the maximum possible precision the fundamental properties of antiprotones, such as their load-mandy relationship or intrinsic magnetic moment. The problem is that to carry out these measures with great precision it is essential to cool these particles to less than 200 millikelvins. Cooling antiprotones until they reach such a low temperature is difficult, but CERN physicists know how to do it. The problem is that so far the device that was responsible for carrying out this process of extreme freezing needed to invest no less than 15 hours to cool an antiproton, and this period of time degraded the accuracy of the measures. Fortunately, physicists and CERN engineers They have devised a new device that is capable of carrying out This same task in just 8 minutes. It is surprising, but this technology allows in 8 minutes to achieve the same in which the previous technique invested 15 hours. Thanks to some extent to this innovation, base physicists have managed to maintain an antiproton oscillating between two different quantum states for almost a complete minute while they had it caught. It is amazing. In practice, what they have achieved is to put an antimatter a cubit, although we are still far from having the necessary technology for make a quantum computer able to bring together several of these cubits. Even so, this achievement is very important for a reason: from now on it will allow the physicists of the base experiment to carry out measurements of the antiproton moment with a precision between 10 and 100 times higher. Image | Cern More information | Cern In Xataka | European science becomes serious: Eurofusion and CERN will work together in nuclear fusion and new collider

CERN physicists believed that symmetry between quarks up and down is broken. Is much more than they expected

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The quarks, the elementary particles that constitute the protons and neutrons of the atomic nucleus, are fermions. And the electrons, too. There are several typesalthough physicists like to talk about ‘flavors’: up (UP), below (Down), charm (Charm), strange (Strange), Cima (top) and background (Bottom). The most frequent in ordinary matter They are the quarks up and downalthough top is very interesting for a curious reason: it is The heaviest elementary particle that we can find in nature. An interesting note since we move in the field of fermions: supersymmetry is a theoretical model of particle physics that proposes the existence of a hypothetical particle that is matched with each of the fundamental particles we know. PSIANS EXPLAIN THE EXISTING RELATIONSHIP Among the bosonsthat have a spin with whole value, and the fermions, which have a semientero spin. However, it is important that we do not overlook that it is a hypothetical theoretical framework that, therefore, has not yet been observed in nature. Not even experimentally. Physicists still do not understand how quarks and gluons combine The strong nuclear interaction, which is one of the four fundamental forces of nature, is the “glue” that keeps the quarks together to give rise to protons, neutrons and other hadrons. It is also responsible for the cohesion and stabilization of the nucleus of atoms. Until now, particle physicists considered that this force interacts with all quarks, regardless of its flavor, in the same way. This mechanism is known as isospin symmetry and respects, yes, the differences that exist between the masses and the electric charges of the quarks. A kaon is a subatomic particle constituted by a quark and an antiquark, but not by any quark; It is a strange quark According to Isospin symmetry, the collision of heavy ions, which are atoms or molecules that have acquired positive or negative global electric charge due to the loss or gain of electrons, should essentially generate the same amount of kaons with electric charge and neutral kaons because The mass of the quarks up and down is similar. An note before moving forward: a kaon is a subatomic particle that is constituted by a quark and an antiquark, but not by any quark; It is a strange quark. The presence of the latter gives them very peculiar properties, so studying them is very useful to understand the characteristics of the subject a little better. What has surprised CERN physicists is that The Na61/Shine experiment has evidenced that Isospin’s symmetry is not fulfilled. And does not do so because heavy ion collisions generate a very large imbalance between the production of loaded kaons and neutral kaons. In recent years, physicists suspected that a certain degree of imbalance could be given, but what they did not expect is that this difference was so great. This is very important for a reason: current theoretical models have difficulty explaining it. It may seem like a problem, but it is not at all; It is an opportunity. In particle physics when such a discrepancy appears What is happening in your experiments. This particular disparity has the ability to help them better understand how strong nuclear interaction works and how quarks and gluons are combined to give rise to the production of hadrons. Image | Cern More information | Cern In Xataka | “If we get our goal, a revolution in physics will be triggered”: we talk to Santiago Folgueras, a physicist of CERN

The CERN prepares a colossal bet by 2070. Some physicists believe it can take it to ruin

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Santiago Folgueras is a young Spanish physicist who is leading an interesting project in CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research). During The conversation I had with him Several months ago he told me in detail What is your Intrepid projectwhich will be linked to the future HL LHC (High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider or high luminosity LHC). However, what caught my attention was the enthusiasm with which he told me about FCC (future circular colliding), which will be the machine that will presumably happen to HL LHC. If the itinerary that has planned the CERN continues its course as has done so far the HL LHC will be ready at the end of this decade. In 2030. and will be able to produce no less than 40 million collisions per second. The amount of information that will generate will be so huge that it will be necessary to put a system that is able to analyze the data in real time and make a decision regarding the collision that has just been produced. This is precisely the purpose of the HL LHC: drastically increase the number of collisions if we compare them with those that have occurred in the previous LHC iterations. The luminosity measures, in fact, how many potential particle collisions are produced by surface and time unit. It is measured in reverse femtobarns, so that each of them is equivalent to 100 billion collisions between protons. Of course, these are billion on a long scale, so an reverse femtobarn are 100 million million collisions. FCC design is under discussion Since the accelerator experiments began, in 2010, until the end of 2018, which was the moment in which its activity ceased, 150 reverse femtobarns occurred inside. According to the current planning of CERN technicians, the modifications required by LHC to increase its luminosity should be able to produce 250 reverse femtobarns every year until reaching 4,000 during the entire period of activity. The purpose of CERN physicists is that the FCC is able to reach a 100 tev energy during the second stage of the project In any case, the most interesting is to remember that the improvements that CERN technicians are introducing in the LHC respond to the need to find fissures in the standard model with the purpose of Expand our understanding of the world of particles. Some of the questions that CERN’s physicists have the hope of being able to answer with the help of HL LHC are what it is and what properties it has The dark matterbecause Neutrinos have mass And why There is no antimatter In the universe. There is no doubt that they are exciting questions. However, CERN’s physicists plan does not end the LHC HL. When all its operation cycles finally conclude this institution plans to build the FCC, an accelerator much larger than the LHC HL and capable of reaching much higher energies. Presumably will have a circle of 100 km (that of the current LHC measures 27 km), and its construction will start in 2038. The purpose of CERN physicists is that the FCC is capable of reaching during the second stage of the project an energy of 100 TEV (Telelectronvoltios). To train a precise idea about what we are talking about we just have to remember that the current LHC works with an energy of 16 TEV. If everything goes as scheduled, the FCC should be prepared not beyond 2070. According to the CERN, the first phase of the project, which does not the complete plan, will cost about 17,000 million dollars. Vladimir Shiltsev, a physicist specialized in accelerators at the University of Northern Illinois (USA), calculates that the entire project will cost At least 30,000 million dollars. According to Nature Some physicists, such as Jenny List, a researcher in the Hamburg Electron Syntron (Germany), criticize this plan and defend the construction of a linear accelerator of up to 33 km instead of a circular one. According to them, the linear option will be much cheaper and will allow the same experiments as a circular installation. We will see why option finally opt, but there is no doubt that these discussions are necessary to make the right decisions. Scientists still have plenty of time to weigh everything and direct the project by the most conducive path. Image | Piotr Traczyk/Cern More information | Nature In Xataka | The CERN has an ambitious plan: it wants to demolish the special theory of Einstein’s relativity

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