Exotic matter is in our sights
A new way to probe exotic matter aids the study of atomic and particle
physics

Date:
August 9, 2021
Source:
University of Tokyo
Summary:
Physicists have created a new way to observe details about the
structure and composition of materials that improves upon previous
methods.

Conventional spectroscopy changes the frequency of light shining on
a sample over time to reveal details about them. The new technique,
Rabi- oscillation spectroscopy, does not need to explore a wide
frequency range so can operate much more quickly. This method
could be used to interrogate our best theories of matter in order
to form a better understanding of the material universe.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Physicists have created a new way to observe details about the
structure and composition of materials that improves upon previous
methods. Conventional spectroscopy changes the frequency of light
shining on a sample over time to reveal details about them. The new
technique, Rabi-oscillation spectroscopy, does not need to explore a
wide frequency range so can operate much more quickly. This method could
be used to interrogate our best theories of matter in order to form a
better understanding of the material universe.


========================================================================== Though we cannot see them with the naked eye, we are all familiar with the atoms that make up everything we see around us. Collections of positive protons, neutral neutrons and negative electrons give rise to all the
matter we interact with. However, there are some more exotic forms of
matter, including exotic atoms, which are not made from these three basic components. Muonium, for example, is like hydrogen, which typically has
one electron in orbit around one proton, but has a positively charged
muon particle in place of the proton.

Muons are important in cutting-edge physics as they allow physicists
to test our best theories about matter such as quantum electrodynamics
or the Standard Model, with extremely high accuracy. This in itself
is important, as only when a robust theory is pushed to its extremes
may proverbial cracks start to form which could indicate where new,
more complete theories are needed and even what they might be. This is
why the study of muonium is of great interest to the physics community,
but up until now it has evaded detailed observation.

"Muonium is a very short-lived atom, so it is important to make quick observations with as much power as possible in order to obtain the
best signal from the limited observation time," said Associate Professor Hiroyuki A. Torii from the Graduate School of Science at the University of Tokyo. "Conventional spectroscopic methods require repeated observations
across a range of frequencies to find the particular key frequency we are looking for, known as the resonance frequency, and this takes time." So,
Torii and his team devised a new kind of spectroscopic method that makes
use of a well-understood physical effect known as Rabi oscillation. Rabi- oscillation spectroscopy does not need to search for frequency signals in
order to convey information about an atom. Instead, it looks at the raw
sensor, or time-domain, data over a shorter amount of time and delivers information based on that. This new method offers vast improvements
in precision.

"The study of exotic atoms requires knowledge of low-energy atomic
physics and high-energy particle physics. This combination of
disciplines within physics suggests we're on a path to a more complete understanding of our material universe," said Torii. "I'm eager to see physicists use Rabi-oscillation spectroscopy to peer ever deeper into
the world of exotic atoms containing unusual particles and isotopes,
and other kinds of matter created at particle accelerators around
the world." This work was supported by Japanese JSPS KAKENHI Grant
Number JP23244046, JP26247046, JP15H05742, JP17H01133, and JP19K14746 ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Tokyo. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. S. Nishimura, H. A. Torii, Y. Fukao, T. U. Ito, M. Iwasaki,
S. Kanda, K.

Kawagoe, D. Kawall, N. Kawamura, N. Kurosawa, Y. Matsuda,
T. Mibe, Y.

Miyake, N. Saito, K. Sasaki, Y. Sato, S. Seo, P. Strasser,
T. Suehara, K.

S. Tanaka, T. Tanaka, J. Tojo, A. Toyoda, Y. Ueno, T. Yamanaka, T.

Yamazaki, H. Yasuda, T. Yoshioka, K. Shimomura. Rabi-oscillation
spectroscopy of the hyperfine structure of muonium atoms. Physical
Review A, 2021; 104 (2) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.104.L020801 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210809122157.htm

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