Physicists Are About to Attempt The Impossible Turning Light Into Matter

[Olivia_charles]

E=mc² becomes m=E/c²

Theoretically, it should be possible to turn light into matter. In practice, well - "easier said than done" is an understatement.

Now, 84 years after the process was first theorized, some researchers reckon they're going to be able to do it - and they're about to start the experiment.

It's called the Breit-Wheeler process, and it all has to do with E=mc².

The process was first described in 1934, by a pair of physicists named Gregory Breit and John A. Wheeler, in the journal Physical Review.

In their paper, Breit and Wheeler proposed that, if you smashed two photons - particles of light - together, the collision would result in a positron and an electron. You would have created matter out of light.

... (article trimmed by mod - see link below) 

We're eagerly awaiting the results. In the meantime, you can read more about the experiment in the team's 2014 paper, published in the journal Nature Photonics.

Credit: https://graptechpedia.com/2040/science/the-impossible-turning-light-into-matter/ &

Phys.org: https://phys.org/news/2018-03-underway.html

Edited April 3, 2018 by Olivia_charles
credit

[swansont]

!

Moderator Note

Posting news articles should be done in Science News, you need to link to the article (posting without attribution, as if it's your own work, is plagiarism) and you can't just post the whole thing (that's a copyright violation)

(moved and trimmed)

 

http://www.realitybeyondmatter.com/2018/03/physicists-are-about-to-attempt.html

[Silvestru]

Hello and welcome to the forum. 

Hmm. You have copied word for word the news or article more like it from an external website without quoting or giving credit to the person who wrote this. (In this case "MICHELLE STARR" I guess.)

Spoiler

https://www.sciencealert.com/light-into-matter-breit-wheeler-process-hohlraum-experiment-start-2018

After quoting an article it's nice to add your own opinion/question/doubt or anything like that so we can start a discussion.

 

Sorry swansont, I cross posted.

[Olivia_charles]

ok guys , i wanted to share the article , next time i won't do this. Promise

[Silvestru]

6 minutes ago, Olivia_charles said:

ok guys , i wanted to share the article , next time i won't do this. Promise

Don't take it the wrong way  . Just attribute the work and choose the right section. 

Please continue posting if you run into an interesting article!  And don't be afraid to engage in a discussion on the subject.

[Sensei]

Quote

Physicists Are About to Attempt The Impossible Turning Light Into Matter

Even you can turn light into matter and anti-matter.. It's called pair-production. You just need high enough energetic gamma photons.

[math]\gamma + 1.022 MeV \rightarrow e^- + e^+[/math]

On the left of equation there is 1.022 MeV,

on the right of equation there is 2m_ec²

m_e = ~ 510998.928 eV/c^2 (rest-mass of electron/positron)

and 2* 510998.928 eV/c^2 * c^2 = 1.022 MeV

Electron is matter particle, positron is anti-matter particle. Positron is anti-particle of electron.

Edited April 3, 2018 by Sensei

[Strange]

3 minutes ago, Sensei said:

Even you can turn light into matter.. It's called pair-production. You just need high enough energetic gamma photon.

It says that in the article. 

[Olivia_charles]

Spoiler

 

I didn't know that thanks for the information. (Sensei)

 

[smokequitterv2]

I thought light was already matter with electron in it ?

[Silvestru]

Photons and Electrons are very different particles.

 

4 minutes ago, smokequitterv2 said:

I thought light was already matter with electron in it ?

The first 3 columns are fermions (matter).Fermions are massive.

Photons are Bosons that have no rest mass (massless and as such, always travel at c).

Edited April 3, 2018 by Silvestru

[smokequitterv2]

 I am not a physicist , but isn't light an electro magnetic radiation traveling at very high speed like every other electro magnetic radiation ? Like helium coming out of the sun after fusion of hydrogen atoms ?

[Strange]

6 minutes ago, smokequitterv2 said:

 I am not a physicist , but isn't light an electro magnetic radiation traveling at very high speed like every other electro magnetic radiation ? Like helium coming out of the sun after fusion of hydrogen atoms ?

Light is the visible range of electromagnetic radiation (although physicists often use "light" as a shorthand for all electromagnetic radiation).

Helium is made of atoms which are made of protons, neutrons and electrons. (And most of it stays in the sun!)

[smokequitterv2]

Thanks for the explanation .

I thought electromagnetic radiation or  electromagnetism means it has the property or characteristics of electricity and magnetism , for that to happen i thought it must have at least an electron in it like a hydrogen atom .

I don't completely understand the concept of masslessness  of a point particle very well .

I don't want to deviate too much from the topic

Its ok .

 

[swansont]

25 minutes ago, smokequitterv2 said:

 I am not a physicist , but isn't light an electro magnetic radiation traveling at very high speed like every other electro magnetic radiation ? Like helium coming out of the sun after fusion of hydrogen atoms ?

Different kind of radiation; the various kinds are named after the energetic particle involved. Alpha, beta, gamma (photons, aka EM radiation), neutron, neutrino...

EM radiation has an electric and magnetic field, but is uncharged and has no mass. (it's caused by the same interaction that involves charges)

 

The part of the OP that is most interesting is that photons don't usually interact with each other. While a photon can turn into a particle/antiparticle pair, it doesn't happen in free space — it needs a massive particle nearby in order to conserve momentum. Two photons colliding would not — if you can get them to interact.

[smokequitterv2]

Thanks a lot swansont , I don't understand all the things you said , but i understand parts of it .