\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAdditionally, when they reduced the temperature of the liquid helium to values below the temperature at which the liquid becomes a superfluid\u2014 when it flows without any resistance\u2014they found an abrupt additional narrowing of the spectral lines.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis behaviour was unexpected,\u201d observed Anna S\u00f3t\u00e9r, principal PhD student working on the experiment, and now an assistant Professor at ETHZ. \u201cThe optical response of the hybrid helium atom in superfluid helium is starkly different to that of the same hybrid atom in high-density gaseous helium, as well as that of many normal atoms in liquids or superfluids.\u201d<\/p>\n
What do these results mean for future physics experiments?<\/h3>\n The researchers believe that this surprising behaviour is linked to the radius of the electronic orbital, which is the distance at which the hybrid helium atom\u2019s electron is located.<\/p>\n
In contrast to that of many normal atoms, the radius of the hybrid atom\u2019s electronic orbital changes very little when laser light is shone on the atom, and thus does not impact the spectral lines even when the atom is immersed in superfluid helium. However, further studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis.<\/p>\n
The result has several ramifications. Firstly, researchers may create other hybrid helium atoms, such as pionic helium atoms, in superfluid helium utilising different antimatter and exotic particles, to study their response to laser light in detail and measure the particle masses.<\/p>\n
Additionally, the substantial narrowing of the lines in superfluid helium implies that hybrid helium atoms could be used to study this form of matter and potentially other condensed-matter phases.<\/p>\n
Conclusively, the narrow spectral lines could be utilised to search for cosmic antiprotons or antideuterons (a nucleus made of an antiproton and an antineutron) of particularly low velocity that hit the liquid or superfluid helium that is utilised to cool experiments in space or in high-altitude balloons. However, numerous technical challenges must be overcome before the method becomes complementary to existing techniques for searching for these forms of antimatter.<\/p>\n
To keep up to date with our content,\u00a0subscribe for updates<\/a>\u00a0on our digital publication and newsletter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A collaborative study conducted by CERN and ASACUSA has revealed that hybrid matter-antimatter atoms have an unexpected response to laser light when immersed in superfluid helium. What has been discovered about the hybrid matter-antimatter atoms? \u201cOur study suggests that hybrid matter\u2013antimatter helium atoms could be used beyond particle physics, in particular in condensed-matter physics and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":19470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[766,24429],"tags":[814,821],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Behaviour of hybrid matter-antimatter atoms in superfluid helium revealed<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n