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News
Speckles expose magnet's noisy secrets (May 7)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/11/5/5
Physicists have long been able to measure the tiny thermal fluctuations
in the magnetization of ferromagnetic materials like iron, but measuring
similar âEURoenoiseâEUR? from antiferromagnetic materials like chromium
has proved far harder. Now, however, physicists in the US and the UK
have measured these fluctuations in an antiferromagnet for the first
time and found that they occur at surprisingly low temperatures. This
means that it could be difficult to use antiferromagnets in certain
data-storage and spintronic devices (Nature 447 68).
Molten core solves mystery of Mercury's magnetic field (May 4)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/11/5/7
Being the closest p***t to the Sun, you might think Mercury would be
the most likely rocky p***t in the Solar System to have a molten core,
but for the past three decades physicists have not been quite so sure.
By taking radar measurements of Mercury using ground-based radio
telescopes, however, physicists in the US and Russia claim to have
proved that the variation in the p***t's spin rate is indeed
characteristic of a molten core. Their work also lends weight to the
idea that Mercury, like Earth, produces its magnetic field in the molten
core through dynamo action (Science 316 710).
Chilling out with polaritons (May 8)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/11/5/8
Shining light on an object might seem like a strange way of reducing its
temperature, but laser cooling is routinely used in physics,
particularly to create samples of ultracold atoms. Now, however, a
physicist in the US has devised a way to laser-cool a semiconductor.
Although Jacob Khurgin from Johns Hopkins University has not yet proved
his technique experimentally, he reckons it could lead to more efficient
ways of cooling infrared detectors and other electronic devices (Phys.
Rev. Lett. 98 177401).
Hunt for fifth force focuses on Bullet Cluster (May 9)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/11/5/9
Many physicists will happily tell you that the universe is primarily
made up of a substance called dark matter, but ask for a definite answer
on why we haven't directly glimpsed it yet and you would be met with a
blank face. Researchers in the US, however, believe that the answer
could lie in remnants of the collision of two galaxy clusters, where
they may have caught a glimpse of dark matter interacting via a
long-range "fifth force". If the fifth force does exist, it would
require a major revision of the current Standard Model of particle
physics, which has been with us for nearly 30 years (Phys. Rev. Lett. 98
171302).
Laser pioneer dies (May 10)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/11/5/10
Theodore Maiman, who built the first working laser, passed away on 5 May
aged 79. Maiman made his breakthrough in 1960 by generating pulses of
coherent light from a fingertip-sized lump of ruby illuminated by a
flash lamp. In doing so he beat a number of other physicists to the
post, including Charles Townes, who had earlier developed the maser, the
microwave forerunner of the laser. However, Maiman struggled to gain
recognition for his achievement and it was Townes who went on to win the
Nobel prize.
Fermions pair up without superfluidity (May 10)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/11/5/11
In recent years physicists have realized that fermions can exhibit
superfluid behaviour because of their ability to pair up at very low
temperatures. Now a US group has shown that if a mixture of fermions is
prepared with the majority in the same spin state, they can appear to
pair up without behaving as a superfluid at all. This discovery might
eventually enable a greater insight into high-temperature
superconductivity, which also involves pairing but is often too complex
to study directly (Science 316 867).
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Physics World is looking for funny, off-beat and thought-provoking articles for the “Lateral Thoughts” section of the magazine. Articles in this section can cover any topic under the Sun, as long as it appeals to physicists.
We will award £100 to the best entry and £100 to the best article by a student. Entries, which must be 900-950 words long, can be e-mailed to pwld@iop.org by 31 May 2007 – so start thinking laterally.
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