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E=mc^2 Verified In Quantum Chromodynamic Calculation

Posted by kdawson on from the tee-shirts-were-right-all-along dept.

chirishnique and other readers sent in a story in AFP about a heroic supercomputer computation that has verified Einstein's most famous equation at the level of subatomic particles for the first time. "A brainpower consortium led by Laurent Lellouch of France's Centre for Theoretical Physics, using some of the world's mightiest supercomputers, have set down the calculations for estimating the mass of protons and neutrons, the particles at the nucleus of atoms. ... [T]he mass of gluons is zero and the mass of quarks is only five per cent. Where, therefore, is the missing 95 per cent? The answer, according to the study published in the US journal Science on Thursday, comes from the energy from the movements and interactions of quarks and gluons. ... [E]nergy and mass are equivalent, as Einstein proposed in his Special Theory of Relativity in 1905." Update: 11/21 15:50 GMT by KD : New Scientist has a slightly more technical look at the accomplishment.

3 of 268 comments (clear)

  1. Re:First proton by SimonTheSoundMan · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Wow, are /. comments becoming like icanhas, digg or something.

  2. Ah, so THERE'S the dark matter everyone looks for? by waferhead · · Score: 0, Redundant

    "[T]he mass of gluons is zero and the mass of quarks is only five per cent. Where, therefore, is the missing 95 per cent? The answer, according to the study published in the US journal Science on Thursday, comes from the energy from the movements and interactions of quarks and gluons. "

    To repeat what A.C. asked...

    This is too obvious to be correct, but perhaps that explains "dark matter"???

    (Or is this missing 95% already accounted for somewhere?)

  3. Incomplete Equation by Tawnos · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I thought the full equation was
    E^2 = (mc^2)^2 + (pc)^2