Majorana Fermions Discovered

A Majorana fermion (/maɪəˈrɒnə ˈfɛərmiːɒn/^[1]), also referred to as a Majorana particle, is a fermion that is its own antiparticle. They were hypothesized by Ettore Majorana in 1937. The term is sometimes used in opposition to a Dirac fermion, which describes fermions that are not their own antiparticles.

All of the Standard Model fermions except the neutrino behave as Dirac fermions at low energy (after electroweak symmetry breaking), but the nature of the neutrino is not settled and it may be either Dirac or Majorana. In condensed matter physics, Majorana fermions exist as quasiparticle excitations in superconductors and can be used to form Majorana bound states governed by non-abelian statistics.

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Princeton University physicists built a powerful imaging device called a scanning-tunneling microscope and used it to capture an image of an elusive particle that behaves simultaneously like matter and antimatter. To avoid vibration, the microscope is cooled close to absolute zero and is suspended like a floating island in the floor above. The setup includes a 40-ton block of concrete, which is visible above the researchers. The research team includes, from left, graduate student Ilya Drozdov, postdoctoral researcher Sangjun Jeon, and professors of physics B. Andrei Bernevig and Ali Yazdani. (Photo by Denise Applewhite, Office of Communications)

Princeton University scientists have observed an exotic particle that behaves simultaneously like matter and antimatter, a feat of math and engineering that could eventually enable powerful computers based on quantum mechanics. Capping decades of searching, Princeton scientists observe elusive particle that is its own antiparticle.

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 Majorana fermions are predicted to localize at the edge of a topological superconductor, a state of matter that can form when a ferromagnetic system is placed in proximity to a conventional superconductor with strong spin-orbit interaction. With the goal of realizing a one-dimensional topological superconductor, we have fabricated ferromagnetic iron (Fe) atomic chains on the surface of superconducting lead (Pb). Using high-resolution spectroscopic imaging techniques, we show that the onset of superconductivity, which gaps the electronic density of states in the bulk of the Fe chains, is accompanied by the appearance of zero energy end states. This spatially resolved signature provides strong evidence, corroborated by other observations, for the formation of a topological phase and edge-bound Majorana fermions in our atomic chains. Observation of Majorana fermions in ferromagnetic atomic chains on a superconductor

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Then, A Theory in the Abstract

ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment)Image Credit by CERN

Collisions in the LHC generate temperatures more than 100,000 times hotter than the centre of the Sun. For part of each year the LHC provides collisions between lead ions, recreating in the laboratory conditions similar to those just after the big bang. See: Alice

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You have to reach a certain point in which the experiments bring you to the question of what arises in the beginning and then update(See Susskind's Lecture 1: Theoretical Minimum.) So you figured out the time line here and saw that preceding this point in time there is a fundamental question about how the universe begins.

Your aware that the reductionist agenda has a dual purpose, to not only tell us about the matters at hand, but reveals something about the very nature of creation in the cosmos. All these satellites are sensor attributed to the spectrum allocations which we have given to in sensor design.   These satellites then track for us. They give us  information about what is evident as we examine  the cosmos. People for some reason have totally missed this point about sensor development and cosmos related journeys.You develop what you need too,  in order to examine exactly where we are living. Where you might one day hope to live? Rocks, become important because they may hold the value of what is needed while you are on that other planet or moon.

Why AMS given you can use the extended environment, or,  design experiments given the weightlessness of space?

It may be hoped given the encouragement I give my grandson(very subtle) that he will give himself to the physics with which my later life has occupied me. Its a tough thing even as a parent, or grandparent to see these children become the new generation( the choices we could have made at their age) with which they can now become what we are so fondly attached.

But you know the rules right,  about setting them free?:) At the same time,  I know something that is needed,  that he has, and if he chooses to "see further" then the experiment with which I can so easily shown above, then he will be able to venture further "if"  he chooses to go into the abstract. But given that he might be 1 of 100, does this mean we should stop updating?

Just maybe, you young physicists of the white cloak today, will some day meet your younger counterparts and say hello to my grandson.

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See Also:

• Detailed Characterization of Jets in Heavy Ion Collisions Using Jet Shapes and Jet Fragmentation Functions
• QGP Advances

Studying the Perfect Fluid

A simulated collision of lead ions, courtesy the ALICE experiment at CERN

A simulated collision of lead ions, courtesy the ALICE experiment at CERN - See more at: http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2010/11/04/lhc-lead/#sthash.yxm9loVb.dpuf

Within five different approaches to parton propagation and energy loss in dense matter, a phenomenological study of experimental data on suppression of large-pT single inclusive hadrons in heavy-ion collisions at both the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was carried out. The evolution of bulk medium used in the study for parton propagation was given by 2 + 1 dimensional or 3 + 1 dimensional hydrodynamic models which are also constrained by experimental data on bulk hadron spectra. Values for the jet transport parameter qˆ at the center of the most central heavy-ion collisions are extracted or calculated within each model, with parameters for the medium properties that are constrained by experimental data on the hadron suppression factor  See: Extracting the jet transport coefficient from jet quenching in high-energy heavy-ion collisions

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See Also:

• JET Collaboration Wiki

LHChamber Music

LHChamber Music, CERN scientists perform musical compositions created using data sonification of LHC experimental results (Video: CERN)

See Also:

• CERN scientists perform their data

Lecture 1: The Theoretical Minimum

Published on Feb 16, 2012 (January 9, 2012) Leonard Susskind provides an introduction to quantum mechanics. See: Lecture 1: The Theoretical Minimum

Stellar flares seen from a nearby red dwarf star.

On April 23, NASA's Swift satellite detected the strongest, hottest, and longest-lasting sequence of stellar flares ever seen from a nearby red dwarf star. The initial blast from this record-setting series of explosions was as much as 10,000 times more powerful than the largest solar flare ever recorded. At its peak, the flare reached temperatures of 360 million degrees Fahrenheit (200 million Celsius), more than 12 times hotter than the center of the sun. The "superflare" came from one of the stars in a close binary system known as DG Canum Venaticorum, or DG CVn for short, located about 60 light-years away. Both stars are dim red dwarfs with masses and sizes about one-third of our sun's. They orbit each other at about three times Earth's average distance from the sun, which is too close for Swift to determine which star erupted. See: NASA | Swift Catches Mega Flares from a Mini Star

Problems with Your Blog Page?

I have notice black areas appearing on my blog page when accessing site through my laptop. I am wondering if this is a problem that I am just experiencing or if others Are having the same issue?

When will the Compass Point South?

If all the compasses in the world started pointing south rather than north, many people might think something very strange, very unusual, and possibly very dangerous was going on. Doomsayers would have a field day proclaiming the end is nigh, while more rational persons might head straight to scientists for an explanation.See:When Compasses Point South also Nova and Interactive

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Deep inside the Earth, the magnetic field arises as the fluid core oozes with hot currents of molten iron and this mechanical energy gets converted into electromagnetism. It is known as the geodynamo. In a car's generator, the same principle turns mechanical energy into electricity. No one knows precisely why the field periodically reverses, but scientists say the responsibility probably lies with changes in the turbulent flows of molten iron, which they envision as similar to the churning gases that make up the clouds of Jupiter. In theory, a reversal could have major effects because over the ages many aspects of nature and society have come to rely on the field's steadiness.See: Will Compasses Point South?-By WILLIAM J. BROAD Published: July 13, 2004-New York Times

Particles in Peace

This was in May of 2013.

Yaron Herman plays piano jazz that is utterly unique. He learned to play based on a method using math and philosophy.

Bijan Chemirani, French-born percussionist, was initiated into the art of Iranian percussion by his father, Djamchid Chemirani, at an early age and has acquired enormous experience in adapting his playing style to other genres of music.

Here they perform together for the first time at TEDxCERN.

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See Also:

• Performance of "Particles in Peace" Part 2: Yaron Herman & Bijan Chemirani at TEDxCERN

Latest Results of AMS

View of the AMS detector on the International Space Station (Image credit: NASA)

 (AMS) collaboration has today presented its latest results. These are based on the analysis of 41 billion particles detected with the space-based AMS detector aboard the International Space Station. The results, presented during a seminar at CERN, provide new insights into the nature of the mysterious excess of positrons (antielectrons) observed in the flux of cosmic rays. The findings are published today in the journal Physical Review Letters. See: New result from AMS experiment in Space|Cern