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Tetraneutron Discovered

Posted by michael on from the lost-and-found dept.

Caid Raspa writes "According to this Press Release the French have (accidentally) produced six nuclei of tetraneutron (nucleus with four neutrons and no protons). Theoreticians have previously thought that tetraneutron does not exist. As there is no electric charge in these nuclei, they allow better studies of the nuclear forces. The scientific article is also available at arXiv.org."

2 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Accidentally? by dpilot · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This was a big concern when the Large Hadron Collider was about to go into action. Some feared that the energies would be high enough to create mini black holes, which would promptly fall out of the chamber and begin eating the Earth. Eventually someone realized that higher energy collisions from cosmic rays take place above the Earth every day, and we haven't gotten eaten, yet.

    In other words, whatever we can do is already being done in that great laboratory in the sky. Literally in the sky - a few hundred miles over our heads.

    --
    The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
  2. Line between Quantum and Classical by dpilot · · Score: 5, Interesting

    One recurring theme is where you cross the line between quantum and classical behavior. How many Fe atoms to you need before it behaves like the Iron we all are familiar with.

    This appears to be another case. At some point of glomming neutrons together you get a neutron star, though that's still an odd beast. Where do you cross the line between Tetra/Penta/Hexa-neutrons and a teeny-tiny neutron star? (I suspect this one's easy to figure, in terms balancing gravity against residual strong and weak forces, but I don't know how to do it.)

    --
    The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.