Atoms are 7 times smaller than we have ever known

In 2010, a group of scientists found a difference in the method of traditional proton measurement when they performed a new measurement technique on an atom called deuteron.

Protons are particles found inside atomic nuclei. According to the International Commission for Science and Technology Data (CODATA), measured years ago, the radius of the proton is thought to be about 0.877 femtomet (1 femtometre is 1 × 10 ^ -15 meters). .

However, scientist Randolf Pohl and colleagues from Max Planck Research Institute on Quantum Optics in Garching, Germany found a big difference from the previously accepted figure in 2010 and again. in 2013 after using new measurement techniques.

Protons are particles found inside atomic nuclei.

Pohl and his team used new technology to analyze energy changes around hydrogen nuclei at muon scale.Muons are unstable subatomic particles with the same class as electrons, but have about 200 times the mass.

By transferring hydrogen atom electrons to heavier muons, the researchers replaced the atom and proton components of an atom. After recording an image of the atom's change with a laser beam, the researchers measured the change in energy levels, allowing them to calculate the atom's proton nucleus.

Measured by Pohl and his team, the result is 4% smaller than CODATA's figure. This causes a debate about the radius of the proton. But before scientists went into the question of why its radius was so small, they found a difference in the results from CODATA's spectrophotometer.

Deuteron is an isotope of hydrogen atoms, having a proton and neutron at its nucleus.

According to a paper in Science, scientists said that the calculation of CODATA on the deuterium atomic nucleus, or deuteron, could be flawed after being verified with the new measurement technique.Deuteron is an isotope of hydrogen atoms, having a proton and neutron at its nucleus.

By combining practical and theoretical measurements, the researchers introduced a deuteron radius of 2,125 femtometres - 0.8% smaller than the deuteron radius measured by CODATA.

The deuteron radius is 2,125 femtometres - 0.8% smaller than the deuteron radius measured by CODATA.

"Thus, both the size of the proton and the deuteron atom according to the old results when the electrons are in conflict with the value obtained when measuring with the new technique on muons," excerpts a paragraph in the paper. posted on Science.

However, despite the new results, scientists still have no way to solve them in accordance with the current theory."This difference indicates test errors or theoretical errors, or even related physical problems beyond the standard model".

Instead of simply proving CODATA's measurement results are flaws, the researchers thought about the problem of something wrong in the atomic center, and making the problem of proton radius confusing become more and more more confusing.