A view of the galaxy Centaurus A false color in the field of radiation X. It contains a supermassive black hole emits two jets containing antimatter positrons form. © Nasa
positron cannon on a bench to study black holes – 3 Photos
For now, the LHC failed to realize the hopes of high-energy physicists. Of course, the Higgs boson has indeed been discovered, but the highlight is not accompanied by any signs of new physics. It is ultimately little more advanced in the pursuit of the fundamental laws of nature that researchers in the mid-1970s. Should rise to somewhat higher energies to expect a miracle to happen.
Unfortunately, this requires larger and more expensive machines, while the global economy is not doing well. This is not to make optimistic professionals high-energy physics. At this moment, so we’re talking more and more towards research based on the technique of laser-plasma acceleration, which would miniaturize particle accelerators of all types, not just machines like the LHC.
plants antimatter with lasers
A group of researchers from the University of Michigan recently published an article on arxiv, in which scientists recount their last success in this direction. It is a kind of gun positrons which stands on a bench and uses laser beams from Hercules.
They are not the first to make a positron source using a laser. Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have done many years ago with the Titan laser whose beam was sent to a small target in gold. The first effect of these beams was to remove electrons from atoms of the target to produce a plasma with accelerated electrons at very high speeds. Passing in the electrostatic field of gold nuclei, the electrons lose energy by the well-known process called Bethe-Heitler. These energy losses taking place in the form of gamma, the latter always in the vicinity of the gold nuclei photons, can be converted to electron-positron pair.
target ). The pairs of electrons (e – ) and positrons (e + ) are separated into two beams by a magnetic field of 0.8 tesla. © University of Michigan
Simulator jets of antimatter black holes
Researchers at the University of Michigan used primarily as a target gas, helium. As in the case of physicists LLNL, the laser beam passing through the gas produces relativistic electrons. The beam of second particles is then sent to a holding device on a bench and containing a metal plate coated with Teflon. Various metals were used as the lead, but each time, the principle of the production of positrons is the same as that practiced with the target or LLNL.
Such positrons compact generator is of course interesting for collider of electrons and positrons, such as those envisaged for the ILC and Lep3. But what also makes the whole point of this machine is that it produces positron beams have characteristics that make them look like jets of antimatter particles produced by pulsars and black holes. This will better understand the astrophysics of these compact stars, and the flow characteristics of positrons in cosmic rays, such as those that measure AMS-02.
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