10 outstanding physical events in 2007

' Top Ten Physies stories 2007 ' - 10 physical events in 2007 have been recruited by a prestigious scientific agency and a great scientific influence in the United States and the world - American Institute of Physics (New York) .

This is a prestigious scientific body and a great scientific influence in the United States and the world - American Institute of Physics (New York), a ' General Assembly of many societies ' with a wide spectrum of activities, with The largest global publishing agency in the field of physics . The ten most outstanding scientific achievements of 2007 are arranged in the order of publication time (not in order of class) as follows:

1. Movement of light slows in solidified environments

Those are the results of light research that are slowed down in a Bose-E solidified environment

One corner of the experiment Cooling a coin-sized object (Photo: VNN)

This instein, then go through another solidified environment. These studies began by Lene Hau, a professor at Harvard University (USA). This invention is not only theoretically important, but also opens up the prospect of creating super-new generation computers - quantum computers.

2. Detect the penetration of electrons in atoms with real time

Electrons pass through atoms, according to an effect called tunnel effect in quantum physics, which has been observed in real time (about 1 part per billion billion seconds - 10-18 sec) by German scientists. at the Mark Planck Quantum Optics Institute and the University of Munich (Germany).

3. Cooling by laser a ' macro ' object - coin size (coin-sized object)

A team of international physicists from MIT's labs (Massachusett Institute of Technology) and Caltech, from the Max Planck Institutes in Potsdam and Hannover, used laser beams to cool a coin-sized specimen. 1 gram weight to very low temperature 0.8 degrees Kelvin. This first successful experiment aims to study the quantum properties of a large set of particulate matter (greater than 1020 atoms). The results of this study both have profound physical significance and promise to lead to future applications of material science and technology.

4. Testing Newton's second law of mechanical motion

This law (force proportional to acceleration), almost everyone knows, is the cornerstone of classical physics. Physicists at the University of Washington rechecked this law in a very small acceleration range of 5 x 10-14m / s ² . The experiment reached thousands of times higher accuracy than the best experiment to date and proved that Newton's law II remained valid in extremely small dimensions.

5. Gravity test (GB - B)

In an experiment to investigate gravity called GB-B, a laboratory was put into orbit to test Albert Eistein's general theory of relativity. The geodetic effect was measured - spacetime twisting in the area near the earth and caused by the earth - with an accuracy of 1%. This is the research result of American scientists at Stanford University (USA).

6. Exclude an unusual type of Neutrino

An experimental study, called MiniBoone, was conducted at Fermilab laboratory (USA). Physicists' results at Fermilab eliminated the existence of a fourth type of Neutrino (hypothetically) and only confirmed the existence of three other types of Neutrinos that were previously acknowledged by reason. Standard sample theory of elementary particles, e neutrino, neutrino µ (muy) and neutrino τ (tao).

Neutrino detection on Earth (Artwork: Plus.maths.org)

7. Search for Higgs Boson particles

On two-beam accelerators Tevatron at Fermilab laboratory (USA) discovered Higgs boson (or Higgs boson) and some special collision phenomena other than forming a W boson and 1 Z boson , or 2 Z boson simultaneously. Many new and significant results in the field of elementary particle physics await in ongoing experiments in the following years.

8. The shortest light pulse

Researchers in Italy produced the shortest pulse of light, a distinct flash of ultra-violet light lasting only 1.3.10-16s or 130 parts of the attosecond (billion billion seconds). This achievement is not only meaningful in basic research but also in industrial applications, such as applications to control chemical reactions .

9. The highest energy cosmic ray

Anger Astronomical Observatory studies giant cosmic rays located in Argentina, with a network of 1,600 stations (measuring secondary cosmic particles) spaced 1.5 km apart spread over an area of ​​3,000 km ² and 24 special telescopes special write fluorescent light. The researchers of this international Anger project came to the conclusion: Cosmic rays (elementary) have the highest energy known so far to anisotropic earth, which comes mainly from one direction. the galaxies are in active interest (CAN-Active Galactic Nuclei).

10. Observe copper (Cu) pairs in insulators

Copper (Cu) pairs have been known to exist in superconducting samples. But Brown University physicists have published experimental results showing that the copper couple also appears in insulators. These studies have a major role in making the necessary high quality components in the electronics industry and computer manufacturing.

Looking back at the 10 Physics achievements selected in the TOPTEN list above can imagine a special 2007 World Physics picture with rich colors.

Occupying half of the list of Topten Physics 2007 is the physical achievements of great significance for human life, in the field of technology towards the manufacture of consumer electronics or super computers. new generation isometric (works No. 1, 2, 3, 8, 10) .

There are also ' academic ' and seemingly simple studies, but are actually very sophisticated and quite complex to test a law that has existed for hundreds of years (No. 4). The results of the experiments are also very interesting and significant in the field of Physics history.

In addition to the research results going into the microscopic world at the size of nanoscale or smaller (numbers 6, 7, 8), there are also research works reaching vast space space. , in addition to Earth (No. 5), in addition to the Solar System, outside our Milky Way, reaching distant galaxies (No. 9).

So, in 2007 is passing, Physics still continues to contribute to the development of human civilization, serving human happiness with achievements, impressive inventions, valuable and extensive influence.

Tran Thanh Minh (Collection and introduction)