Bosons

Scientists working on CERN’s Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment have published the latest data in their search for a long-lived exotic particle known as the dark photon.Let’s Eat a Chocolate Xbox ControllerDark photons (also called hidden photons) differ from regular photons—particles of light—in that they are thought to have mass, making them a prime candidate to explain dark matter. Dark matter is the catchall term to describe seemingly invisible stuff in space that has only been observed via its gravitational…

Plasma could be wrangled to collide photons and yield matter, according to physicists who ran simulations to explore the practical applications of a world-famous equation.Gizmodo’s Top Five Gadgets of 2023The equation at work here is Einstein’s E = mc^2, which establishes a relationship between energy and mass; specifically, the equation holds that energy and mass are equivalent when the latter is multiplied by the speed of light, squared. A team led by scientists at Osaka University and UC San Diego recently simulated…

Candidate Higgs boson decays into two photons in the ATLAS experiment. Credit: CERNNew result from the ATLAS experiment at <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>CERN</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>Established in 1954 and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, CERN is a European research organization that operates the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Its full name is the…

Scientists have discovered a new state of matter, termed a “bosonic correlated insulator,” through the interaction of bosonic particles called excitons. This research could pave the way for new understandings in condensed matter physics and the creation of new bosonic materials.Take a lattice — a flat section of a grid of uniform cells, like a window screen or a honeycomb — and lay another, similar lattice above it. But instead of trying to line up the edges or the cells of both lattices, give the top grid a twist so that…

Long tubes, strong magnets, and bright lasers. Is that all it takes to entice the shyest particles in the universe to reveal themselves?First Full-Color Images From Webb Space TelescopePhysicists working on the ALPS II experiment certainly hope so, as they kicked off their search for axionic (or axion-like) dark matter on Tuesday, May 23. ALPS (Any Light Particle Search) is a 820-foot experiment at the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, or DESY.ALPS II is looking for elementary particles that have as of yet eluded human…

A team of researchers at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider have measured the mass of the W boson and found it to be in line with the Standard Model of particle physics, the overarching theory that describes the four fundamental forces and the characteristics of the smallest units of matter.What Is Carbon Capture? With Gizmodo’s Molly Taft | TechmodoThe team’s finding counters a precise measurement taken last year by a collaboration of hundreds of scientists atthe CDF Collaboration, who were happily surprised to find that the…