PDF generated using the open source mwlib toolkit. See http://code.pediapress.com/ for more information.

PDF generated at: Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:56:35 UTC

Matter
Contents
Articles
Main article
1
Matter 1
Phases of ordinary matter
15
Phase 15
Phase diagram 19
State of matter 25
Solid 33
Liquid 44
Gas 51
Plasma 62
Astrophysical plasma 77
BoseEinstein condensate 80
Fermionic condensate 89
Superconductivity 91
BCS theory 104
Neutron star 107
Pulsar 115
Magnetar 123
Quarkgluon plasma 127
QCD matter 132
Gluon 136
Hadron 140
Structure of ordinary matter
143
Quark 143
Baryon 154
Degenerate matter 160
Lepton 165
Other types of matter
174
Antimatter 174
Dark matter 180
Lambda-CDM model 197
WIMPs 202
Galaxy formation and evolution 206
Dark matter halo 212
Dark energy 214
Exotic matter 223
References
Article Sources and Contributors 225
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 232
Article Licenses
License 236
1
Main article
Matter
Matter


Matter is usually classified into three classical states of matter, with plasma sometimes added as a fourth state for scientific purposes. From left to
right: grains of refined sucrose (a solid), water (a liquid), depiction of particles in a gas, and a plasma globe (plasma).
Matter, generally is a substance (often a particle) that has rest mass and (usually) also volume. The volume is
determined by the three-dimensional space it occupies, while the mass is defined by the usual ways that mass is
measured. Matter is also a general term for the substance that makes up all observable physical objects.
[1][]
All objects we see with the naked eye are composed of atoms. This atomic matter is in turn made up of interacting
subatomic particlesusually a nucleus of protons and neutrons, and a cloud of orbiting electrons.
[2][3]
Typically,
science considers these composite particles matter because they have both rest mass and volume. By contrast,
massless particles, such as photons, are not considered matter, because they have neither rest mass or volume.
However, not all particles with rest mass have a classical volume, and fundamental particles such as quarks and
leptons (sometimes equated with matter) are considered "point particles" with no effective size or volume.
Nevertheless, quarks and leptons together make up "ordinary matter," and their interactions contribute to the
effective volume of the composite particles that make up ordinary matter.
Matter commonly exists in four states (or phases): solid, liquid and gas, and plasma. . However, advances in
experimental techniques have revealed other phases that were previously only theoretical constructs, such as
BoseEinstein condensates and fermionic condensates. A focus on an elementary-particle view of matter also leads
to new phases of matter, such as the quarkgluon plasma.
[4]
For much of the history of the natural sciences people
have contemplated the exact nature of matter. The idea that matter was built of discrete building blocks, the so-called
particulate theory of matter, was first put forward by the Greek philosophers Leucippus (~490 BC) and Democritus
(~470380 BC).
[5]
Albert Einstein showed
[6]
that ultimately all matter is capable of being converted to energy (known as mass-energy
equivalence) by the famous formula E = mc
2
, where E is the energy of a piece of matter of mass m, times c
2
the
speed of light squared. As the speed of light is 299,792,458 metre per second (186,282mi/s), a relatively small
amount of matter may be converted to a large amount of energy. An example is that positrons and electrons (matter)
may transform into photons (non-matter). However, although matter may be created or destroyed in such processes,
Matter
2
neither the quantity of mass or energy change during the process.
Matter should not be confused with mass, as the two are not quite the same in modern physics.
[7]
For example, mass
is a conserved quantity, which means that its value is unchanging through time, within closed systems. However,
matter is not conserved in such systems, although this is not obvious in ordinary conditions on Earth, where matter is
approximately conserved. Still, special relativity shows that matter may disappear by conversion into energy, even
from closed systems, and it can also be created from energy, within such systems. However, because mass (like
energy) can neither be created nor destroyed, the quantity of mass and the quantity of energy remain the same during
a transformation of matter (which represents a certain amount of energy) into non-material (i.e., non-matter) energy.
This is also true in the reverse transformation of energy into matter.
Different fields of science use the term matter in different, and sometimes incompatible, ways. Some of these ways
are based on loose historical meanings, from a time when there was no reason to distinguish mass and matter. As
such, there is no single universally-agreed scientific meaning of the word "matter." Scientifically, the term "mass" is
well-defined, but "matter" is not. Sometimes in the field of physics "matter" is simply equated with particles that
exhibit rest mass (i.e., that cannot travel at the speed of light), such as quarks and leptons. However, in both physics
and chemistry, matter exhibits both wave-like and particle-like properties, the so-called waveparticle duality.
[8][9][]
Definition
Common definition
The DNA molecule is an example of matter under the "atoms and molecules"
definition.
The common definition of matter is
anything that has both mass and volume
(occupies space).
[10][11]
For example, a
car would be said to be made of matter,
as it occupies space, and has mass.
The observation that matter occupies
space goes back to antiquity. However,
an explanation for why matter occupies
space is recent, and is argued to be a
result of the Pauli exclusion
principle.
[12][13]
Two particular
examples where the exclusion principle
clearly relates matter to the occupation of
space are white dwarf stars and neutron
stars, discussed further below.
Relativity
In the context of relativity, mass is not an
additive quantity.
[1]
Thus, in relativity
usually a more general view is that it is
not mass, but the energymomentum
tensor that quantifies the amount of
matter. Matter therefore is anything that
contributes to the energymomentum of
a system, that is, anything that is not purely gravity.
[14][15]
This view is commonly held in fields that deal with
general relativity such as cosmology.
Matter
3
Atoms and molecules definition
A definition of "matter" based on its physical and chemical structure is: matter is made up of atoms and
molecules.
[16]
As an example, deoxyribonucleic acid molecules (DNA) are matter under this definition because they
are made of atoms. This definition can extend to include charged atoms and molecules, so as to include plasmas
(gases of ions) and electrolytes (ionic solutions), which are not obviously included in the atoms and molecules
definition. Alternatively, one can adopt the protons, neutrons, and electrons definition.
Protons, neutrons and electrons definition
A definition of "matter" more fine-scale than the atoms and molecules definition is: matter is made up of what atoms
and molecules are made of, meaning anything made of positively charged protons, neutral neutrons, and negatively
charged electrons.
[17]
This definition goes beyond atoms and molecules, however, to include substances made from
these building blocks that are not simply atoms or molecules, for example white dwarf mattertypically, carbon and
oxygen nuclei in a sea of degenerate electrons. At a microscopic level, the constituent "particles" of matter such as
protons, neutrons, and electrons obey the laws of quantum mechanics and exhibit waveparticle duality. At an even
deeper level, protons and neutrons are made up of quarks and the force fields (gluons) that bind them together (see
Quarks and leptons definition below).
Quarks and leptons definition
Under the "quarks and leptons" definition, the elementary and composite particles made
of the quarks (in purple) and leptons (in green) would be matterwhile the gauge bosons
(in red) would not be matter. However, interaction energy inherent to composite particles
(for example, gluons involved in neutrons and protons) contribute to the mass of ordinary
matter.
As seen in the above discussion, many
early definitions of what can be called
ordinary matter were based upon its
structure or building blocks. On the
scale of elementary particles, a
definition that follows this tradition
can be stated as: ordinary matter is
everything that is composed of
elementary fermions, namely quarks
and leptons.
[18][19]
The connection
between these formulations follows.
Leptons (the most famous being the
electron), and quarks (of which
baryons, such as protons and neutrons,
are made) combine to form atoms,
which in turn form molecules. Because
atoms and molecules are said to be
matter, it is natural to phrase the
definition as: ordinary matter is
anything that is made of the same
things that atoms and molecules are
made of. (However, notice that one
also can make from these building
blocks matter that is not atoms or
molecules.) Then, because electrons are leptons, and protons, and neutrons are made of quarks, this definition in turn
leads to the definition of matter as being quarks and leptons, which are the two types of elementary fermions.
Matter
4
Carithers and Grannis state: Ordinary matter is composed entirely of first-generation particles, namely the [up] and
[down] quarks, plus the electron and its neutrino.
[20]
(Higher generations particles quickly decay into
first-generation particles, and thus are not commonly encountered.
[21]
)
This definition of ordinary matter is more subtle than it first appears. All the particles that make up ordinary matter
(leptons and quarks) are elementary fermions, while all the force carriers are elementary bosons.
[22]
The W and Z
bosons that mediate the weak force are not made of quarks or leptons, and so are not ordinary matter, even if they
have mass.
[23]
In other words, mass is not something that is exclusive to ordinary matter.
The quarklepton definition of ordinary matter, however, identifies not only the elementary building blocks of
matter, but also includes composites made from the constituents (atoms and molecules, for example). Such
composites contain an interaction energy that holds the constituents together, and may constitute the bulk of the mass
of the composite. As an example, to a great extent, the mass of an atom is simply the sum of the masses of its
constituent protons, neutrons and electrons. However, digging deeper, the protons and neutrons are made up of
quarks bound together by gluon fields (see dynamics of quantum chromodynamics) and these gluons fields
contribute significantly to the mass of hadrons.
[24]
In other words, most of what composes the "mass" of ordinary
matter is due to the binding energy of quarks within protons and neutrons.
[25]
For example, the sum of the mass of
the three quarks in a nucleon is approximately 12.5MeV/c
2
, which is low compared to the mass of a nucleon
(approximately 938MeV/c
2
).
[21][26]
The bottom line is that most of the mass of everyday objects comes from the
interaction energy of its elementary components.
Smaller building blocks issue
The Standard Model groups matter particles into three generations, where each generation consists of two quarks and
two leptons. The first generation is the up and down quarks, the electron and the electron neutrino; the second
includes the charm and strange quarks, the muon and the muon neutrino; the third generation consists of the top and
bottom quarks and the tau and tau neutrino.
[27]
The most natural explanation for this would be that quarks and
leptons of higher generations are excited states of the first generations. If this turns out to be the case, it would imply
that quarks and leptons are composite particles, rather than elementary particles.
[]
Structure
In particle physics, fermions are particles that obey FermiDirac statistics. Fermions can be elementary, like the
electronor composite, like the proton and neutron. In the Standard Model, there are two types of elementary
fermions: quarks and leptons, which are discussed next.
Quarks
Quarks are particles of spin-
1

2
, implying that they are fermions. They carry an electric charge of
1

3
e (down-type
quarks) or +
2

3
e (up-type quarks). For comparison, an electron has a charge of 1e. They also carry colour charge,
which is the equivalent of the electric charge for the strong interaction. Quarks also undergo radioactive decay,
meaning that they are subject to the weak interaction. Quarks are massive particles, and therefore are also subject to
gravity.
Matter
5
Quark properties
[28]
name symbol spin electric
charge
(e)
mass
(MeV/c
2
)
mass comparable to antiparticle antiparticle
symbol
up-type quarks
up u 1

2
+
2

3
1.5 to 3.3 ~ 5 electrons antiup u
charm c 1

2
+
2

3
1160 to 1340 ~ 1 proton anticharm c
top t 1

2
+
2

3
169,100 to 173,300 ~ 180 protons or
~ 1 tungsten atom
antitop t
down-type quarks
down d 1

3
3.5 to 6.0 ~ 10 electrons antidown d
strange s 1

3
70 to 130 ~ 200 electrons antistrange s
bottom b 1

3
4130 to 4370 ~ 5 protons antibottom b
Quark structure of a proton: 2 up
quarks and 1 down quark.
Baryonic matter
Baryons are strongly interacting fermions, and so are subject to Fermi-Dirac
statistics. Amongst the baryons are the protons and neutrons, which occur in atomic
nuclei, but many other unstable baryons exist as well. The term baryon usually
refers to triquarksparticles made of three quarks. "Exotic" baryons made of four
quarks and one antiquark are known as the pentaquarks, but their existence is not
generally accepted.
Baryonic matter is the part of the universe that is made of baryons (including all
atoms). This part of the universe does not include dark energy, dark matter, black
holes or various forms of degenerate matter, such as compose white dwarf stars and
neutron stars. Microwave light seen by Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), suggests that only about
4.6% of that part of the universe within range of the best telescopes (that is, matter that may be visible because light
could reach us from it), is made of baryonic matter. About 23% is dark matter, and about 72% is dark energy.
[]
A comparison between the white dwarf IK Pegasi B (center), its
A-class companion IK Pegasi A (left) and the Sun (right). This white
dwarf has a surface temperature of 35,500K.
Degenerate matter
In physics, degenerate matter refers to the ground
state of a gas of fermions at a temperature near absolute
zero.
[29]
The Pauli exclusion principle requires that
only two fermions can occupy a quantum state, one
spin-up and the other spin-down. Hence, at zero
temperature, the fermions fill up sufficient levels to
accommodate all the available fermionsand in the
case of many fermions, the maximum kinetic energy
(called the Fermi energy) and the pressure of the gas
becomes very large, and depends on the number of
fermions rather than the temperature, unlike normal
states of matter.
Matter
6
Degenerate matter is thought to occur during the evolution of heavy stars.
[30]
The demonstration by Subrahmanyan
Chandrasekhar that white dwarf stars have a maximum allowed mass because of the exclusion principle caused a
revolution in the theory of star evolution.
[]
Degenerate matter includes the part of the universe that is made up of neutron stars and white dwarfs.
Strange matter
Strange matter is a particular form of quark matter, usually thought of as a liquid of up, down, and strange quarks.
It is contrasted with nuclear matter, which is a liquid of neutrons and protons (which themselves are built out of up
and down quarks), and with non-strange quark matter, which is a quark liquid that contains only up and down
quarks. At high enough density, strange matter is expected to be color superconducting. Strange matter is
hypothesized to occur in the core of neutron stars, or, more speculatively, as isolated droplets that may vary in size
from femtometers (strangelets) to kilometers (quark stars).
Two meanings of the term "strange matter"
In particle physics and astrophysics, the term is used in two ways, one broader and the other more specific.
1. The broader meaning is just quark matter that contains three flavors of quarks: up, down, and strange. In this
definition, there is a critical pressure and an associated critical density, and when nuclear matter (made of protons
and neutrons) is compressed beyond this density, the protons and neutrons dissociate into quarks, yielding quark
matter (probably strange matter).
2. The narrower meaning is quark matter that is more stable than nuclear matter. The idea that this could happen is
the "strange matter hypothesis" of Bodmer
[31]
and Witten.
[32]
In this definition, the critical pressure is zero: the
true ground state of matter is always quark matter. The nuclei that we see in the matter around us, which are
droplets of nuclear matter, are actually metastable, and given enough time (or the right external stimulus) would
decay into droplets of strange matter, i.e. strangelets.
Leptons
Leptons are particles of spin-
1

2
, meaning that they are fermions. They carry an electric charge of 1e (charged
leptons) or 0e (neutrinos). Unlike quarks, leptons do not carry colour charge, meaning that they do not experience
the strong interaction. Leptons also undergo radioactive decay, meaning that they are subject to the weak interaction.
Leptons are massive particles, therefore are subject to gravity.
Lepton properties
name symbol spin electric
charge
(e)
mass
(MeV/c
2
)
mass comparable to antiparticle antiparticle
symbol
charged leptons
[33]
electron e 1

2
1 0.5110 1 electron antielectron e+
muon 1

2
1 105.7 ~ 200 electrons antimuon +
tau 1

2
1 1,777 ~ 2 protons antitau +
neutrinos
[34]
electron neutrino
e
1

2
0 < 0.000460
<
1

1000
electron
electron antineutrino
e
muon neutrino

2
0 < 0.19
<
1

2
electron
muon antineutrino

Matter
7
tau neutrino

2
0 < 18.2 < 40 electrons tau antineutrino

Phases
Phase diagram for a typical substance at a fixed volume. Vertical axis
is Pressure, horizontal axis is Temperature. The green line marks the
freezing point (above the green line is solid, below it is liquid) and
the blue line the boiling point (above it is liquid and below it is gas).
So, for example, at higher T, a higher P is necessary to maintain the
substance in liquid phase. At the triple point the three phases; liquid,
gas and solid; can coexist. Above the critical point there is no
detectable difference between the phases. The dotted line shows the
anomalous behavior of water: ice melts at constant temperature with
increasing pressure.
[]
In bulk[35], matter can exist in several different forms,
or states of aggregation, known as phases,
[36]
depending on ambient pressure, temperature and
volume.
[37]
A phase is a form of matter that has a
relatively uniform chemical composition and physical
properties (such as density, specific heat, refractive
index, and so forth). These phases include the three
familiar ones (solids, liquids, and gases), as well as
more exotic states of matter (such as plasmas,
superfluids, supersolids, BoseEinstein condensates,
...). A fluid may be a liquid, gas or plasma. There are
also paramagnetic and ferromagnetic phases of
magnetic materials. As conditions change, matter may
change from one phase into another. These phenomena
are called phase transitions, and are studied in the field
of thermodynamics. In nanomaterials, the vastly
increased ratio of surface area to volume results in
matter that can exhibit properties entirely different
from those of bulk material, and not well described by
any bulk phase (see nanomaterials for more details).
Phases are sometimes called states of matter, but this
term can lead to confusion with thermodynamic states.
For example, two gases maintained at different pressures are in different thermodynamic states (different pressures),
but in the same phase (both are gases).
Antimatter
Baryon asymmetry. Why is there far more matter than antimatter in the observable universe?
In particle physics and quantum chemistry, antimatter is matter that is composed of the antiparticles of those that
constitute ordinary matter. If a particle and its antiparticle come into contact with each other, the two annihilate; that
is, they may both be converted into other particles with equal energy in accordance with Einstein's equation E = mc
2
.
These new particles may be high-energy photons (gamma rays) or other particleantiparticle pairs. The resulting
particles are endowed with an amount of kinetic energy equal to the difference between the rest mass of the products
of the annihilation and the rest mass of the original particle-antiparticle pair, which is often quite large.
Antimatter is not found naturally on Earth, except very briefly and in vanishingly small quantities (as the result of
radioactive decay, lightning or cosmic rays). This is because antimatter that came to exist on Earth outside the
confines of a suitable physics laboratory would almost instantly meet the ordinary matter that Earth is made of, and
be annihilated. Antiparticles and some stable antimatter (such as antihydrogen) can be made in tiny amounts, but not
in enough quantity to do more than test a few of its theoretical properties.
Matter
8
There is considerable speculation both in science and science fiction as to why the observable universe is apparently
almost entirely matter, and whether other places are almost entirely antimatter instead. In the early universe, it is
thought that matter and antimatter were equally represented, and the disappearance of antimatter requires an
asymmetry in physical laws called the charge parity (or CP symmetry) violation. CP symmetry violation can be
obtained from the Standard Model,
[38]
but at this time the apparent asymmetry of matter and antimatter in the visible
universe is one of the great unsolved problems in physics. Possible processes by which it came about are explored in
more detail under baryogenesis.
Other types of matter
Pie chart showing the fractions of energy in the universe contributed by different
sources. Ordinary matter is divided into luminous matter (the stars and luminous
gases and 0.005% radiation) and nonluminous matter (intergalactic gas and about
0.1% neutrinos and 0.04% supermassive black holes). Ordinary matter is
uncommon. Modeled after Ostriker and Steinhardt.
[39]
For more information, see
NASA
[40]
.
Ordinary matter, in the quarks and leptons
definition, constitutes about 4% of the
energy of the observable universe. The
remaining energy is theorized to be due to
exotic forms, of which 23% is dark
matter
[41][42]
and 73% is dark energy.
[43][]
Matter
9
Galaxy rotation curve for the Milky Way. Vertical axis is speed of rotation about
the galactic center. Horizontal axis is distance from the galactic center. The sun is
marked with a yellow ball. The observed curve of speed of rotation is blue. The
predicted curve based upon stellar mass and gas in the Milky Way is red. The
difference is due to dark matter or perhaps a modification of the law of
gravity.
[44][45][46]
Scatter in observations is indicated roughly by gray bars.
Dark matter
In astrophysics and cosmology, dark
matter is matter of unknown composition
that does not emit or reflect enough
electromagnetic radiation to be observed
directly, but whose presence can be inferred
from gravitational effects on visible
matter.
[47][48]
Observational evidence of the
early universe and the big bang theory
require that this matter have energy and
mass, but is not composed of either
elementary fermions (as above) OR gauge
bosons. The commonly accepted view is
that most of the dark-matter is non-baryonic
in nature.
[47]
As such, it is composed of
particles as yet unobserved in the laboratory.
Perhaps they are supersymmetric
particles,
[49]
which are not Standard Model
particles, but relics formed at very high
energies in the early phase of the universe and still floating about.
[47]
Dark energy
In cosmology, dark energy is the name given to the antigravitating influence that is accelerating the rate of
expansion of the universe. It is known not to be composed of known particles like protons, neutrons or electrons, nor
of the particles of dark matter, because these all gravitate.
[50][]
Fully 70% of the matter density in the universe appears to be in the form of dark energy. Twenty-six percent is
dark matter. Only 4% is ordinary matter. So less than 1 part in 20 is made out of matter we have observed
experimentally or described in the standard model of particle physics. Of the other 96%, apart from the
properties just mentioned, we know absolutely nothing.
Lee Smolin: The Trouble with Physics, p. 16
Exotic matter
Exotic matter is a hypothetical concept of particle physics. It covers any material that violates one or more classical
conditions or is not made of known baryonic particles. Such materials would possess qualities like negative mass or
being repelled rather than attracted by gravity.
Historical development
Origins
The pre-Socratics were among the first recorded speculators about the underlying nature of the visible world. Thales
(c. 624 BCc. 546 BC) regarded water as the fundamental material of the world. Anaximander (c. 610 BCc. 546
BC) posited that the basic material was wholly characterless or limitless: the Infinite (apeiron). Anaximenes
(flourished 585 BC, d. 528 BC) posited that the basic stuff was pneuma or air. Heraclitus (c. 535c. 475 BC) seems
to say the basic element is fire, though perhaps he means that all is change. Empedocles (c. 490430 BC) spoke of
Matter
10
four elements of which everything was made: earth, water, air, and fire.
[51]
Meanwhile, Parmenides argued that
change does not exist, and Democritus argued that everything is composed of minuscule, inert bodies of all shapes
called atoms, a philosophy called atomism. All of these notions had deep philosophical problems.
[52]
Aristotle (384 BC 322 BC) was the first to put the conception on a sound philosophical basis, which he did in his
natural philosophy, especially in Physics book I.
[53]
He adopted as reasonable suppositions the four Empedoclean
elements, but added a fifth, aether. Nevertheless these elements are not basic in Aristotle's mind. Rather they, like
everything else in the visible world, are composed of the basic principles matter and form.
The word Aristotle uses for matter, (hyle or hule), can be literally translated as wood or timber, that is, "raw
material" for building.
[54]
Indeed, Aristotle's conception of matter is intrinsically linked to something being made or
composed. In other words, in contrast to the early modern conception of matter as simply occupying space, matter
for Aristotle is definitionally linked to process or change: matter is what underlies a change of substance.
For example, a horse eats grass: the horse changes the grass into itself; the grass as such does not persist in the horse,
but some aspect of itits matterdoes. The matter is not specifically described (e.g., as atoms), but consists of
whatever persists in the change of substance from grass to horse. Matter in this understanding does not exist
independently (i.e., as a substance), but exists interdependently (i.e., as a "principle") with form and only insofar as it
underlies change. It can be helpful to conceive of the relationship of matter and form as very similar to that between
parts and whole. For Aristotle, matter as such can only receive actuality from form; it has no activity or actuality in
itself, similar to the way that parts as such only have their existence in a whole (otherwise they would be independent
wholes).
Early modernity
Ren Descartes (15961650) originated the modern conception of matter. He was primarily a geometer. Instead of,
like Aristotle, deducing the existence of matter from the physical reality of change, Descartes arbitrarily postulated
matter to be an abstract, mathematical substance that occupies space:
So, extension in length, breadth, and depth, constitutes the nature of bodily substance; and thought constitutes
the nature of thinking substance. And everything else attributable to body presupposes extension, and is only a
mode of extended
Ren Descartes, Principles of Philosophy
[55]
For Descartes, matter has only the property of extension, so its only activity aside from locomotion is to exclude
other bodies:
[56]
this is the mechanical philosophy. Descartes makes an absolute distinction between mind, which he
defines as unextended, thinking substance, and matter, which he defines as unthinking, extended substance.
[57]
They
are independent things. In contrast, Aristotle defines matter and the formal/forming principle as complementary
principles that together compose one independent thing (substance). In short, Aristotle defines matter (roughly
speaking) as what things are actually made of (with a potential independent existence), but Descartes elevates matter
to an actual independent thing in itself.
The continuity and difference between Descartes' and Aristotle's conceptions is noteworthy. In both conceptions,
matter is passive or inert. In the respective conceptions matter has different relationships to intelligence. For
Aristotle, matter and intelligence (form) exist together in an interdependent relationship, whereas for Descartes,
matter and intelligence (mind) are definitionally opposed, independent substances.
[58]
Descartes' justification for restricting the inherent qualities of matter to extension is its permanence, but his real
criterion is not permanence (which equally applied to color and resistance), but his desire to use geometry to explain
all material properties.
[59]
Like Descartes, Hobbes, Boyle, and Locke argued that the inherent properties of bodies
were limited to extension, and that so-called secondary qualities, like color, were only products of human
perception.
[60]
Matter
11
Isaac Newton (16431727) inherited Descartes' mechanical conception of matter. In the third of his "Rules of
Reasoning in Philosophy," Newton lists the universal qualities of matter as "extension, hardness, impenetrability,
mobility, and inertia."
[61]
Similarly in Optics he conjectures that God created matter as "solid, massy, hard,
impenetrable, movable particles," which were "...even so very hard as never to wear or break in pieces."
[62]
The
"primary" properties of matter were amenable to mathematical description, unlike "secondary" qualities such as color
or taste. Like Descartes, Newton rejected the essential nature of secondary qualities.
[63]
Newton developed Descartes' notion of matter by restoring to matter intrinsic properties in addition to extension (at
least on a limited basis), such as mass. Newton's use of gravitational force, which worked "at a distance," effectively
repudiated Descartes' mechanics, in which interactions happened exclusively by contact.
[]
Though Newton's gravity would seem to be a power of bodies, Newton himself did not admit it to be an essential
property of matter. Carrying the logic forward more consistently, Joseph Priestley argued that corporeal properties
transcend contact mechanics: chemical properties require the capacity for attraction.
[]
He argued matter has other
inherent powers besides the so-called primary qualities of Descartes, et al.
[64]
Since Priestley's time, there has been a massive expansion in knowledge of the constituents of the material world
(viz., molecules, atoms, subatomic particles), but there has been no further development in the definition of matter.
Rather the question has been set aside. Noam Chomsky summarizes the situation that has prevailed since that time:
What is the concept of body that finally emerged?[...] The answer is that there is no clear and definite
conception of body.[...] Rather, the material world is whatever we discover it to be, with whatever properties it
must be assumed to have for the purposes of explanatory theory. Any intelligible theory that offers genuine
explanations and that can be assimilated to the core notions of physics becomes part of the theory of the
material world, part of our account of body. If we have such a theory in some domain, we seek to assimilate it
to the core notions of physics, perhaps modifying these notions as we carry out this enterprise.
Noam Chomsky, 'Language and problems of knowledge: the Managua lectures, p. 144
[]
So matter is whatever physics studies and the object of study of physics is matter: there is no independent general
definition of matter, apart from its fitting into the methodology of measurement and controlled experimentation. In
sum, the boundaries between what constitutes matter and everything else remains as vague as the demarcation
problem of delimiting science from everything else.
[65]
Late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
In the 19th century, following the development of the periodic table, and of atomic theory, atoms were seen as being
the fundamental constituents of matter; atoms formed molecules and compounds.
[]
The common definition in terms of occupying space and having mass is in contrast with most physical and chemical
definitions of matter, which rely instead upon its structure and upon attributes not necessarily related to volume and
mass. At the turn of the nineteenth century, the knowledge of matter began a rapid evolution.
Aspects of the Newtonian view still held sway. James Clerk Maxwell discussed matter in his work Matter and
Motion.
[66]
He carefully separates "matter" from space and time, and defines it in terms of the object referred to in
Newton's first law of motion.
However, the Newtonian picture was not the whole story. In the 19th century, the term "matter" was actively
discussed by a host of scientists and philosophers, and a brief outline can be found in Levere.
[67]
Wikipedia:Please
clarify A textbook discussion from 1870 suggests matter is what is made up of atoms:
[]
Three divisions of matter are recognized in science: masses, molecules and atoms.
A Mass of matter is any portion of matter appreciable by the senses.
A Molecule is the smallest particle of matter into which a body can be divided without losing its
identity.
An Atom is a still smaller particle produced by division of a molecule.
Matter
12
Rather than simply having the attributes of mass and occupying space, matter was held to have chemical and
electrical properties. The famous physicist J. J. Thomson wrote about the "constitution of matter" and was concerned
with the possible connection between matter and electrical charge.
[]
Later developments
There is an entire literature concerning the "structure of matter", ranging from the "electrical structure" in the early
20th century,
[68]
to the more recent "quark structure of matter", introduced today with the remark: Understanding the
quark structure of matter has been one of the most important advances in contemporary
physics.
[69]
Wikipedia:Please clarify In this connection, physicists speak of matter fields, and speak of particles as
"quantum excitations of a mode of the matter field".
[8][9]
And here is a quote from de Sabbata and Gasperini: "With
the word "matter" we denote, in this context, the sources of the interactions, that is spinor fields (like quarks and
leptons), which are believed to be the fundamental components of matter, or scalar fields, like the Higgs particles,
which are used to introduced mass in a gauge theory (and that, however, could be composed of more fundamental
fermion fields)."
[70]
Wikipedia:Please clarify
The modern conception of matter has been refined many times in history, in light of the improvement in knowledge
of just what the basic building blocks are, and in how they interact.
In the late 19th century with the discovery of the electron, and in the early 20th century, with the discovery of the
atomic nucleus, and the birth of particle physics, matter was seen as made up of electrons, protons and neutrons
interacting to form atoms. Today, we know that even protons and neutrons are not indivisible, they can be divided
into quarks, while electrons are part of a particle family called leptons. Both quarks and leptons are elementary
particles, and are currently seen as being the fundamental constituents of matter.
[71]
These quarks and leptons interact through four fundamental forces: gravity, electromagnetism, weak interactions,
and strong interactions. The Standard Model of particle physics is currently the best explanation for all of physics,
but despite decades of efforts, gravity cannot yet be accounted for at the quantum-level; it is only described by
classical physics (see quantum gravity and graviton).
[72]
Interactions between quarks and leptons are the result of an
exchange of force-carrying particles (such as photons) between quarks and leptons.
[73]
The force-carrying particles
are not themselves building blocks. As one consequence, mass and energy (which cannot be created or destroyed)
cannot always be related to matter (which can be created out of non-matter particles such as photons, or even out of
pure energy, such as kinetic energy). Force carriers are usually not considered matter: the carriers of the electric
force (photons) possess energy (see Planck relation) and the carriers of the weak force (W and Z bosons) are
massive, but neither are considered matter either.
[74]
However, while these particles are not considered matter, they
do contribute to the total mass of atoms, subatomic particles, and all systems that contain them.
[75][]
Summary
The term "matter" is used throughout physics in a bewildering variety of contexts: for example, one refers to
"condensed matter physics",
[76]
"elementary matter",
[77]
"partonic" matter, "dark" matter, "anti"-matter, "strange"
matter, and "nuclear" matter. In discussions of matter and antimatter, normal matter has been referred to by Alfvn
as koinomatter.
[78]
It is fair to say that in physics, there is no broad consensus as to a general definition of matter, and
the term "matter" usually is used in conjunction with a specifying modifier.
Matter
13
References
[6] . See also the English translation. (http:/ / www. fourmilab. ch/ etexts/ einstein/ E_mc2/ www/ )
[20] [20] See p.7 in
[23] [23] The W boson mass is 80.398 GeV; see Figure 1 in
[35] http:/ / toolserver.org/ %7Edispenser/ cgi-bin/ dab_solver. py?page=Matter& editintro=Template:Disambiguation_needed/ editintro&
client=Template:Dn
[40] http:/ / map. gsfc.nasa. gov/ news/ index.html
[52] Discussed by Aristotle in Physics, esp. book I, but also later; as well as Metaphysics I-II.
[53] [53] For a good explanation and elaboration, see
[56] though even this property seems to be non-essential (Rene Descartes, Principles of Philosophy II [1644], On the Principles of Material
Things, no. 4.)
[59] E.A. Burtt, Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science (Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1954), 117-118.
[60] J.E. McGuire and P.M. Heimann, "The Rejection of Newton's Concept of Matter in the Eighteenth Century," The Concept of Matter in
Modern Philosophy ed. Ernan McMullin (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1978), 104-118 (105).
[61] Isaac Newton, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, trans. A. Motte, revised by F. Cajori (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1934), pp. 398-400. Further analyzed by Maurice A. Finocchiaro, "Newton's Third Rule of Philosophizing: A Role for Logic in
Historiography," Isis 65:1 (Mar. 1974), pp. 66-73.
[62] Isaac Newton, Optics, Book III, pt. 1, query 31.
[63] [63] McGuire and Heimann, 104.
[64] [64] McGuire and Heimann, 113.
[65] [65] Nevertheless, it remains true that the mathematization regarded as requisite for a modern physical theory carries its own implicit notion of
matter, which is very like Descartes', despite the demonstrated vacuity of the latter's notions.
[71] The history of the concept of matter is a history of the fundamental length scales used to define matter. Different building blocks apply
depending upon whether one defines matter on an atomic or elementary particle level. One may use a definition that matter is atoms, or that
matter is hadrons, or that matter is leptons and quarks depending upon the scale at which one wishes to define matter.
[74] [74] See for example, , and
Further reading
Lillian Hoddeson, Michael Riordan, ed. (1997). The Rise of the Standard Model (http:/ / books. google. com/
?id=klLUs2XUmOkC& printsec=frontcover). Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-57816-7.
Timothy Paul Smith (2004). "The search for quarks in ordinary matter" (http:/ / books. google. com/
?id=Pc1A0qJio88C& pg=PA1). Hidden Worlds. Princeton University Press. p.1. ISBN0-691-05773-7.
Harald Fritzsch (2005). Elementary Particles: Building blocks of matter (http:/ / books. google. com/
?id=KFodZ8oHz2sC& pg=PA1). World Scientific. p.1. ISBN981-256-141-2.
Bertrand Russell (1992). "The philosophy of matter" (http:/ / books. google. com/ ?id=R7GauFXXedwC&
pg=PA88). A Critical Exposition of the Philosophy of Leibniz (Reprint of 1937 2nd ed.). Routledge. p.88.
ISBN0-415-08296-X.
Stephen Toulmin and June Goodfield, The Architecture of Matter (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962).
Richard J. Connell, Matter and Becoming (Chicago: The Priory Press, 1966).
Ernan McMullin, The Concept of Matter in Greek and Medieval Philosophy (Notre Dame, IN: Univ. of Notre
Dame Press, 1965).
Ernan McMullin, The Concept of Matter in Modern Philosophy (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame
Press, 1978).
Matter
14
External links
Visionlearning Module on Matter (http:/ / www. visionlearning. com/ library/ module_viewer. php?mid=49& l=&
c3=)
Matter in the universe (http:/ / www. newuniverse. co. uk/ Matter. html) How much Matter is in the Universe?
NASA on superfluid core of neutron star (http:/ / imagine. gsfc. nasa. gov/ docs/ ask_astro/ answers/ 970213.
html)
15
Phases of ordinary matter
Phase
In the physical sciences, a phase is a region of space (a thermodynamic system), throughout which all physical
properties of a material are essentially uniform.
[1]
Examples of physical properties include density, index of
refraction, magnetization and chemical composition. A simple description is that a phase is a region of material that
is chemically uniform, physically distinct, and (often) mechanically separable. In a system consisting of ice and
water in a glass jar, the ice cubes are one phase, the water is a second phase, and the humid air over the water is a
third phase. The glass of the jar is another separate phase. (See State of Matter#Glass)
The term phase is sometimes used as a synonym for state of matter. Also, the term phase is sometimes used to refer
to a set of equilibrium states demarcated in terms of state variables such as pressure and temperature by a phase
boundary on a phase diagram. Because phase boundaries relate to changes in the organization of matter, such as a
change from liquid to solid or a more subtle change from one crystal structure to another, this latter usage is similar
to the use of "phase" as a synonym for state of matter. However, the state of matter and phase diagram usages are not
commensurate with the formal definition given above and the intended meaning must be determined in part from the
context in which the term is used.
A small piece of rapidly melting argon ice shows
the transition from solid to liquid.
Phase
16
Types of phases
Iron-carbon phase diagram, showing the conditions necessary to form different phases
Distinct phases may be described as
different states of matter such as gas,
liquid, solid, plasma or BoseEinstein
condensate. Useful mesophases
between solid and liquid form other
states of matter.
Distinct phases may also exist within a
given state of matter. As shown in the
diagram for iron alloys, several phases
exist for both the solid and liquid
states. Phases may also be
differentiated based on solubility as in
polar (hydrophilic) or non-polar
(hydrophobic). A mixture of water (a
polar liquid) and oil (a non-polar
liquid) will spontaneously separate into
two phases. Water has a very low
solubility (is insoluble) in oil, and oil
has a low solubility in water. Solubility
is the maximum amount of a solute
that can dissolve in a solvent before the solute ceases to dissolve and remains in a separate phase. A mixture can
separate into more than two liquid phases and the concept of phase separation extends to solids, i.e., solids can form
solid solutions or crystallize into distinct crystal phases. Metal pairs that are mutually soluble can form alloys,
whereas metal pairs that are mutually insoluble cannot.
As many as eight immiscible liquid phases have been observed.
[2]
Mutually immiscible liquid phases are formed
from water (aqueous phase), hydrophobic organic solvents, perfluorocarbons (fluorous phase), silicones, several
different metals, and also from molten phosphorus. Not all organic solvents are completely miscible, e.g. a mixture
of ethylene glycol and toluene may separate into two distinct organic phases.
[3]
Phases do not need to macroscopically separate spontaneously. Emulsions and colloids are examples of immiscible
phase pair combinations that do not physically separate.
Phase equilibrium
Left to equilibration, many compositions will form a uniform single phase, but depending on the temperature and
pressure even a single substance may separate into two or more distinct phases. Within each phase, the properties are
uniform but between the two phases properties differ.
Water in a closed jar with an air space over it forms a two phase system. Most of the water is in the liquid phase,
where it is held by the mutual attraction of water molecules. Even at equilibrium molecules are constantly in motion
and, once in a while, a molecule in the liquid phase gains enough kinetic energy to break away from the liquid phase
and enter the gas phase. Likewise, every once in a while a vapor molecule collides with the liquid surface and
condenses into the liquid. At equilibrium, evaporation and condensation processes exactly balance and there is no net
change in the volume of either phase.
At room temperature and pressure, the water jar reaches equilibrium when the air over the water has a humidity of
about 3%. This percentage increases as the temperature goes up. At 100 C and atmospheric pressure, equilibrium is
Phase
17
not reached until the air is 100% water. If the liquid is heated a little over 100 C, the transition from liquid to gas
will occur not only at the surface, but throughout the liquid volume: the water boils.
Number of phases
A typical phase diagram for a single-component material, exhibiting solid,
liquid and gaseous phases. The solid green line shows the usual shape of the
liquidsolid phase line. The dotted green line shows the anomalous behavior
of water.
For a given composition, only certain phases are
possible at a given temperature and pressure.
The number and type of phases that will form is
hard to predict and is usually determined by
experiment. The results of such experiments can
be plotted in phase diagrams.
The phase diagram shown here is for a single
component system. In this simple system, which
phases that are possible depends only on
pressure and temperature. The markings show
points where two or more phases can co-exist in
equilibrium. At temperatures and pressures away
from the markings, there will be only one phase
at equilibrium.
In the diagram, the blue line marking the
boundary between liquid and gas does not
continue indefinitely, but terminates at a point
called the critical point. As the temperature and
pressure approach the critical point, the properties of the liquid and gas become progressively more similar. At the
critical point, the liquid and gas become indistinguishable. Above the critical point, there are no longer separate
liquid and gas phases: there is only a generic fluid phase referred to as a supercritical fluid. In water, the critical point
occurs at around 647 K (374 C or 705 F) and 22.064 MPa.
An unusual feature of the water phase diagram is that the solidliquid phase line (illustrated by the dotted green line)
has a negative slope. For most substances, the slope is positive as exemplified by the dark green line. This unusual
feature of water is related to ice having a lower density than liquid water. Increasing the pressure drives the water
into the higher density phase, which causes melting.
Another interesting though not unusual feature of the phase diagram is the point where the solidliquid phase line
meets the liquidgas phase line. The intersection is referred to as the triple point. At the triple point, all three phases
can coexist.
Experimentally, the phase lines are relatively easy to map due to the interdependence of temperature and pressure
that develops when multiple phases forms. See Gibbs' phase rule. Consider a test apparatus consisting of a closed
and well insulated cylinder equipped with a piston. By charging the right amount of water and applying heat, the
system can be brought to any point in the gas region of the phase diagram. If the piston is slowly lowered, the system
will trace a curve of increasing temperature and pressure within the gas region of the phase diagram. At the point
where liquid begins to condense, the direction of the temperature and pressure curve will abruptly change to trace
along the phase line until all of the water has condensed.
Phase
18
Interfacial phenomena
Between two phases in equilibrium there is a narrow region where the properties are not that of either phase.
Although this region may be very thin, it can have significant and easily observable effects, such as causing a liquid
to exhibit surface tension. In mixtures, some components may preferentially move toward the interface. In terms of
modeling, describing, or understanding the behavior of a particular system, it may be efficacious to treat the
interfacial region as a separate phase.
Crystal phases
A single material may have several distinct solid states capable of forming separate phases. Water is a well-known
example of such a material. For example, water ice is ordinarily found in the hexagonal form ice Ih, but can also
exist as the cubic ice Ic, the rhombohedral ice II, and many other forms. Polymorphism is the ability of a solid to
exist in more than one crystal form. For pure chemical elements, polymorphism is known as allotropy. For example,
diamond, graphite, and fullerenes are different allotropes of carbon.
Phase transitions
When a substance undergoes a phase transition (changes from one state of matter to another) it usually either takes
up or releases energy. For example, when water evaporates, the kinetic energy expended as the evaporating
molecules escape the attractive forces of the liquid is reflected in a decrease in temperature. The amount of energy
required to induce the transition is more than the amount required to heat the water from room temperature to just
short of boiling temperature, which is why evaporation is useful for cooling. See Enthalpy of vaporization. The
reverse process, condensation, releases heat. The heat energy, or enthalpy, associated with a solid to liquid transition
is the enthalpy of fusion and that associated with a solid to gas transition is the enthalpy of sublimation.
Notes and references
[2] One such system is, from the top, paraffin oil, silicone oil, water, aniline, perfluoro(dimethylcyclohexane), white phosphorus, gallium and
mercury. The system remains indefinitely separated at , where gallium and phosphorus are in the molten state. From
[3] This phenomenon can be used to help with catalyst recycling in Heck vinylation. See
External links
French physicists find a solution that reversibly solidifies with a rise in temperature (http:/ / physicsweb. org/
articles/ news/ 8/ 9/ 15/ 1) -cyclodextrin, water, and 4-methylpyridine
Phase diagram
19
Phase diagram
A phase diagram in physical chemistry, engineering, mineralogy, and materials science is a type of chart used to
show conditions at which thermodynamically distinct phases can occur at equilibrium. In mathematics and physics,
"phase diagram" is used with a different meaning: a synonym for a phase space.
Overview
Common components of a phase diagram are lines of equilibrium or phase boundaries, which refer to lines that mark
conditions under which multiple phases can coexist at equilibrium. Phase transitions occur along lines of
equilibrium.
Triple points are points on phase diagrams where lines of equilibrium intersect. Triple points mark conditions at
which three different phases can coexist. For example, the water phase diagram has a triple point corresponding to
the single temperature and pressure at which solid, liquid, and gaseous water can coexist in a stable equilibrium.
The solidus is the temperature below which the substance is stable in the solid state. The liquidus is the temperature
above which the substance is stable in a liquid state. There may be a gap between the solidus and liquidus; within the
gap, the substance consists of a mixture of crystals and liquid (like a "slurry").
[1]
Types of phase diagrams
2D phase diagrams
The simplest phase diagrams are pressure-temperature diagrams of a single simple substance, such as water. The
axes correspond to the pressure and temperature. The phase diagram shows, in pressure-temperature space, the lines
of equilibrium or phase boundaries between the three phases of solid, liquid, and gas.
A typical phase diagram. The solid green line applies to most
substances; the dotted green line gives the anomalous behavior of
water. The green lines mark the freezing point and the blue line the
boiling point, showing how they vary with pressure.
The curves on the phase diagram show the points
where the free energy (and other derived properties)
becomes non-analytic: their derivatives with respect to
the coordinates (temperature and pressure in this
example) change discontinuously (abruptly). For
example, the heat capacity of a container filled with ice
will change abruptly as the container is heated past the
melting point. The open spaces, where the free energy
is analytic, correspond to single phase regions. Single
phase regions are separated by lines of non-analytical,
where phase transitions occur, which are called phase
boundaries.
In the diagram on the left, the phase boundary between
liquid and gas does not continue indefinitely. Instead, it
terminates at a point on the phase diagram called the
critical point. This reflects the fact that, at extremely
high temperatures and pressures, the liquid and gaseous
phases become indistinguishable,
[2]
in what is known as a supercritical fluid. In water, the critical point occurs at
around T
c
= 647.096 K (373.946C), p
c
= 22.064MPa (217.75atm) and
c
= 356kg/m.
[3]
The existence of the liquid-gas critical point reveals a slight ambiguity in labelling the single phase regions. When
going from the liquid to the gaseous phase, one usually crosses the phase boundary, but it is possible to choose a path
Phase diagram
20
that never crosses the boundary by going to the right of the critical point. Thus, the liquid and gaseous phases can
blend continuously into each other. The solid-liquid phase boundary can only end in a critical point if the solid and
liquid phases have the same symmetry group
[citation needed]
.
The solid-liquid phase boundary in the phase diagram of most substances has a positive slope; the greater the
pressure on a given substance, the closer together the molecules of the substance are brought to each other, which
increases the effect of the substance's intermolecular forces. Thus, the substance requires a higher temperature for its
molecules to have enough energy to break out the fixed pattern of the solid phase and enter the liquid phase. A
similar concept applies to liquid-gas phase changes.
[]
Water, because of its particular properties, is one of the several
exceptions to the rule.
Other thermodynamic properties
In addition to just temperature or pressure, other thermodynamic properties may be graphed in phase diagrams.
Examples of such thermodynamic properties include specific volume, specific enthalpy, or specific entropy. For
example, single-component graphs of Temperature vs. specific entropy (T vs. s) for water/steam or for a refrigerant
are commonly used to illustrate thermodynamic cycles such as a Carnot cycle, Rankine cycle, or vapor-compression
refrigeration cycle.
In a two-dimensional graph, two of the thermodynamic quantities may be shown on the horizontal and vertical axes.
Additional thermodymic quantities may each be illustrated in increments as a series of lines - curved, straight, or a
combination of curved and straight. Each of these iso-lines represents the thermodynamic quantity at a certain
constant value.
Temperature vs. specific entropy phase diagram for water/steam. In the area under the red dome, liquid water and steam coexist in equilibrium.
The critical point is at the top of the dome. Liquid water is to the left of the dome. Steam is to the right of the dome. The blue lines/curves are
isobars showing constant pressure. The green lines/curves are isochors showing constant specific volume. The red curves show constant
quality.
Phase diagram
21
enthalpy-entropy (h-s) diagram for steam pressure-enthalpy (p-h) diagram for steam temperature-entropy (T-s) diagram for steam
3D phase diagrams
p-V-T 3D diagram for fixed amount of pure material
It is possible to envision three-dimensional (3D) graphs showing
three thermodynamic quantities.
[4][5][6]
For example for a single
component, a 3D Cartesian coordinate type graph can show
temperature (T) on one axis, pressure (P) on a second axis, and
specific volume (v) on a third. Such a 3D graph is sometimes
called a P-v-T diagram. The equilibrium conditions would be
shown as a 3D curved surface with areas for solid, liquid, and
vapor phases and areas where solid and liquid, solid and vapor, or
liquid and vapor coexist in equilibrium. A line on the surface
called a triple line is where solid, liquid and vapor can all coexist
in equilibrium. The critical point remains a point on the surface
even on a 3D phase diagram. An orthographic projection of the 3D
P-v-T graph showing pressure and temperature as the vertical and
horizontal axes effectively collapses the 3D plot into a 2D
pressure-temperature diagram. When this is done, the solid-vapor,
solid-liquid, and liquid-vapor surfaces collapse into three
corresponding curved lines meeting at the triple point, which is the collapsed orthographic projection of the triple
line.
Binary phase diagrams
Other much more complex types of phase diagrams can be constructed, particularly when more than one pure
component is present. In that case, concentration becomes an important variable. Phase diagrams with more than two
dimensions can be constructed that show the effect of more than two variables on the phase of a substance. Phase
diagrams can use other variables in addition to or in place of temperature, pressure and composition, for example the
strength of an applied electrical or magnetic field, and they can also involve substances that take on more than just
three states of matter.
Phase diagram
22
The ironiron carbide (FeFe
3
C) phase diagram. The percentage of
carbon present and the temperature define the phase of the iron
carbon alloy and therefore its physical characteristics and mechanical
properties. The percentage of carbon determines the type of the
ferrous alloy: iron, steel or cast iron
A phase diagram for a binary system displaying a eutectic point.
One type of phase diagram plots temperature against
the relative concentrations of two substances in a
binary mixture called a binary phase diagram, as
shown at right. Such a mixture can be either a solid
solution, eutectic or peritectic, among others. These
two types of mixtures result in very different graphs.
Another type of binary phase diagram is a boiling point
diagram for a mixture of two components, i. e.
chemical compounds. For two particular volatile
components at a certain pressure such as atmospheric
pressure, a boiling point diagram shows what vapor
(gas) compositions are in equilibrium with given liquid
compositions depending on temperature. In a typical
binary boiling point diagram, temperature is plotted on
a vertical axis and mixture composition on a horizontal
axis.
Phase diagram
23
Boiling point diagram
A simple example diagram with hypothetical
components 1 and 2 in a non-azeotropic mixture is
shown at right. The fact that there are two separate
curved lines joining the boiling points of the pure
components means that the vapor composition is
usually not the same as the liquid composition the
vapor is in equilibrium with. See Vapor-Liquid
Equilibrium for more information.
In addition to the above mentioned types of phase
diagrams, there are thousands of other possible
combinations. Some of the major features of phase
diagrams include congruent points, where a solid phase
transforms directly into a liquid. There is also the
peritectoid, a point where two solid phases combine
into one solid phase during cooling. The inverse of this,
when one solid phase transforms into two solid phases
during heating, is called the eutectoid.
A complex phase diagram of great technological importance is that of the iron-carbon system for less than 7%
carbon (see steel).
The x-axis of such a diagram represents the concentration variable of the mixture. As the mixtures are typically far
from dilute and their density as a function of temperature is usually unknown, the preferred concentration measure is
mole fraction. A volume-based measure like molarity would be inadvisable.
Phase diagram
24
Crystal phase diagrams
Polymorphic and polyamorphic substances have multiple crystal or amorphous phases, which can be graphed in a
similar fashion to solid, liquid, and gas phases.
Log-lin Pressure-temperature phase diagram of water. The Roman numerals indicate various ice phases.
Mesophase diagrams
Some organic materials pass through intermediate states between solid and liquid; these states are called
mesophases. Attention has been directed to mesophases because they enable display devices and have become
commercially important through the so-called liquid crystal technology. Phase diagrams are used to describe the
occurrence of mesophases.
[7]
References
[2] P. Papon, J. Leblond, and P.H.E. Meijer, The Physics of Phase Transition - Concepts and Applications Springer 1999.
[3] The International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam "Guideline on the Use of Fundamental Physical Constants and Basic
Constants of Water" (http:/ / www. iapws.org/ relguide/ fundam. pdf), 2001, p. 5
[4] Heat and Thermodynamics, Mark W. Zemansky, Richard H. Dittman, McGraw-Hill, 6th ed., 1981, Figures 2-3, 2-4, 2-5, 10-10, P10-1, ISBN
0-07-072808-9.
[5] Web applet: 3D Model: Water Phase Diagram (http:/ / www. che. utoledo. edu/ meb/ applet/ Phasediagram3D/ Phasediagram. html).
[6] Web applet: 3D Phase Diagrams for Water, Carbon Dioxide and Ammonia (http:/ / biomodel. uah. es/ Jmol/ plots/ phase-diagrams/ ).
Described in A. Herrez, R.M. Hanson, and L. Glasser J. Chem. Educ. 86 (5), 566 (May 2009) (http:/ / jchemed. chem. wisc. edu/ journal/
issues/ 2009/ May/ abs566. html).
[7] Sivaramakrishna Chandrasekhar (1992) Liquid Crystals, 2nd edition,pages 279, 356, Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-41747-3 .
Phase diagram
25
External links
Iron-Iron Carbide Phase Diagram Example (http:/ / www. sv. vt. edu/ classes/ MSE2094_NoteBook/ 96ClassProj/
examples/ kimcon. html)
How to build a phase diagram (http:/ / www. soton. ac. uk/ ~pasr1/ build. htm)
Phase Changes: Phase Diagrams: Part 1 (http:/ / www. chm. davidson. edu/ ChemistryApplets/ PhaseChanges/
PhaseDiagram1. html)
Equilibrium Fe-C phase diagram (http:/ / www. matter. org. uk/ steelmatter/ metallurgy/ 6_1_3_1. html)
Phase diagrams for lead free solders (http:/ / mtdata. software. googlepages. com/ periodictableSolders. htm)
DoITPoMS Phase Diagram Library (http:/ / www. doitpoms. ac. uk/ miclib/ phase_diagrams. php)
DoITPoMS Teaching and Learning Package- "Phase Diagrams and Solidification" (http:/ / www. doitpoms. ac.
uk/ tlplib/ phase-diagrams/ index. php)
State of matter
States of matter in physics are the distinct forms that different phases of matter take on. Four states of matter are
observable in everyday life: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. Many other states are known such as BoseEinstein
condensates and neutron-degenerate matter but these only occur in extreme situations such as ultra cold or ultra
dense matter. Other states, such as quark-gluon plasmas, are believed to be possible but remain theoretical for now.
For a complete list of all exotic states of matter, see the list of states of matter.
Historically, the distinction is made based on qualitative differences in properties. Matter in the solid state maintains
a fixed volume and shape, with component particles (atoms, molecules or ions) close together and fixed into place.
Matter in the liquid state maintains a fixed volume, but has a variable shape that adapts to fit its container. Its
particles are still close together but move freely. Matter in the gaseous state has both variable volume and shape,
adapting both to fit its container. Its particles are neither close together nor fixed in place. Matter in the plasma state
has variable volume and shape, but as well as neutral atoms, it contains a significant number of ions and electrons,
both of which can move around freely. Plasma is the most common form of visible matter in the universe.
[1]
The four fundamental states of matter.
The four fundamental
states
State of matter
26
Solid
A crystalline solid: atomic resolution image of
strontium titanate. Brighter atoms are Sr and
darker ones are Ti.
The particles (ions, atoms or molecules) are packed closely together.
The forces between particles are strong enough so that the particles
cannot move freely but can only vibrate. As a result, a solid has a
stable, definite shape, and a definite volume. Solids can only change
their shape by force, as when broken or cut.
In crystalline solids, the particles (atoms, molecules, or ions) are
packed in a regularly ordered, repeating pattern. There are many
different crystal structures, and the same substance can have more than
one structure (or solid phase). For example, iron has a body-centred
cubic structure at temperatures below 912 C, and a face-centred cubic
structure between 912 and 1394 C. Ice has fifteen known crystal structures, or fifteen solid phases, which exist at
various temperatures and pressures.
[2]
Glasses and other non-crystalline, amorphous solids without long-range order are not thermal equilibrium ground
states; therefore they are described below as nonclassical states of matter.
Solids can be transformed into liquids by melting, and liquids can be transformed into solids by freezing. Solids can
also change directly into gases through the process of sublimation.
Liquid
Structure of a classical monatomic liquid. Atoms
have many nearest neighbors in contact, yet no
long-range order is present.
A liquid is a nearly incompressible fluid that conforms to the shape of
its container but retains a (nearly) constant volume independent of
pressure. The volume is definite if the temperature and pressure are
constant. When a solid is heated above its melting point, it becomes
liquid, given that the pressure is higher than the triple point of the
substance. Intermolecular (or interatomic or interionic) forces are still
important, but the molecules have enough energy to move relative to
each other and the structure is mobile. This means that the shape of a
liquid is not definite but is determined by its container. The volume is
usually greater than that of the corresponding solid, the most well
known exception being water, H
2
O. The highest temperature at which
a given liquid can exist is its critical temperature.
[]
Gas
The spaces between gas molecules are very big.
Gas molecules have very weak or no bonds at all.
The molecules in "gas" can move freely and fast.
A gas is a compressible fluid. Not only will a gas conform to the shape
of its container but it will also expand to fill the container.
In a gas, the molecules have enough kinetic energy so that the effect of
intermolecular forces is small (or zero for an ideal gas), and the typical
distance between neighboring molecules is much greater than the
molecular size. A gas has no definite shape or volume, but occupies the
entire container in which it is confined. A liquid may be converted to a
gas by heating at constant pressure to the boiling point, or else by
reducing the pressure at constant temperature.
State of matter
27
At temperatures below its critical temperature, a gas is also called a vapor, and can be liquefied by compression
alone without cooling. A vapor can exist in equilibrium with a liquid (or solid), in which case the gas pressure equals
the vapor pressure of the liquid (or solid).
A supercritical fluid (SCF) is a gas whose temperature and pressure are above the critical temperature and critical
pressure respectively. In this state, the distinction between liquid and gas disappears. A supercritical fluid has the
physical properties of a gas, but its high density confers solvent properties in some cases, which leads to useful
applications. For example, supercritical carbon dioxide is used to extract caffeine in the manufacture of decaffeinated
coffee.
[]
Plasma
In a plasma, electrons are ripped away from their
nuclei, forming an electron "sea". This gives it
the ability to conduct electricity.
Like a gas, plasma does not have definite shape or volume. Unlike
gases, plasmas are electrically conductive, produce magnetic fields and
electric currents, and respond strongly to electromagnetic forces.
Positively charged nuclei swim in a "sea" of freely-moving
disassociated electrons, similar to the way such charges exist in
conductive metal. In fact it is this electron "sea" that allows matter in
the plasma state to conduct electricity.
The plasma state is often misunderstood, but it is actually quite
common on Earth, and the majority of people observe it on a regular
basis without even realizing it. Lightning, electric sparks, fluorescent
lights, neon lights, plasma televisions, and the Sun are all examples of
illuminated matter in the plasma state.
A gas is usually converted to a plasma in one of two ways, either from a huge voltage difference between two points,
or by exposing it to extremely high temperatures.
When matter heated to high temperatures such as in a flame electrons begin to leave the atoms resulting in the
presence of free electrons. At very high temperatures, such as those present in stars, it is assumed that essentially all
electrons are "free," and that a very high-energy plasma is essentially bare nuclei swimming in a sea of electrons.
Phase transitions
This diagram illustrates transitions between the four fundamental states of matter.
A state of matter is also characterized by phase transitions. A phase transition indicates a change in structure and can
be recognized by an abrupt change in properties. A distinct state of matter can be defined as any set of states
distinguished from any other set of states by a phase transition. Water can be said to have several distinct solid
states.
[3]
The appearance of superconductivity is associated with a phase transition, so there are superconductive
State of matter
28
states. Likewise, ferromagnetic states are demarcated by phase transitions and have distinctive properties. When the
change of state occurs in stages the intermediate steps are called mesophases. Such phases have been exploited by
the introduction of liquid crystal technology.
[4][5]
The state or phase of a given set of matter can change depending on pressure and temperature conditions,
transitioning to other phases as these conditions change to favor their existence; for example, solid transitions to
liquid with an increase in temperature. Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this
substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point, boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough
would enter a plasma state in which the electrons are so energized that they leave their parent atoms.
Forms of matter that are not composed of molecules and are organized by different forces can also be considered
different states of matter. Superfluids (like Fermionic condensate) and the quarkgluon plasma are examples.
In a chemical equation, the state of matter of the chemicals may be shown as (s) for solid, (l) for liquid, and (g) for
gas. An aqueous solution is denoted (aq). Matter in the plasma state is seldom used (if at all) in chemical equations,
so there is no standard symbol to denote it.
Non-classical states
Glass
Schematic representation of a random-network glassy form (left) and ordered crystalline lattice (right) of identical
chemical composition.
Glass is a non-crystalline or amorphous solid material that exhibits a glass transition when heated towards the liquid
state. Glasses can be made of quite different classes of materials: inorganic networks (such as window glass, made of
silicate plus additives), metallic alloys, ionic melts, aqueous solutions, molecular liquids, and polymers.
Thermodynamically, a glass is in a metastable state with respect to its crystalline counterpart. The conversion rate,
however, is practically zero.
State of matter
29
Crystals with some degree of disorder
A plastic crystal is a molecular solid with long-range positional order but with constituent molecules retaining
rotational freedom; in an orientational glass this degree of freedom is frozen in a quenched disordered state.
Similarly, in a spin glass magnetic disorder is frozen.
Liquid crystal states
Liquid crystal states have properties intermediate between mobile liquids and ordered solids. Generally, they are able
to flow like a liquid, but exhibiting long-range order. For example, the nematic phase consists of long rod-like
molecules such as para-azoxyanisole, which is nematic in the temperature range 118136 C.
[6]
In this state the
molecules flow as in a liquid, but they all point in the same direction (within each domain) and cannot rotate freely.
Other types of liquid crystals are described in the main article on these states. Several types have technological
importance, for example, in liquid crystal displays.
Magnetically ordered
Transition metal atoms often have magnetic moments due to the net spin of electrons that remain unpaired and do
not form chemical bonds. In some solids the magnetic moments on different atoms are ordered and can form a
ferromagnet, an antiferromagnet or a ferrimagnet.
In a ferromagnetfor instance, solid ironthe magnetic moment on each atom is aligned in the same direction
(within a magnetic domain). If the domains are also aligned, the solid is a permanent magnet, which is magnetic
even in the absence of an external magnetic field. The magnetization disappears when the magnet is heated to the
Curie point, which for iron is 768 C.
An antiferromagnet has two networks of equal and opposite magnetic moments, which cancel each other out so that
the net magnetization is zero. For example, in nickel(II) oxide (NiO), half the nickel atoms have moments aligned in
one direction and half in the opposite direction.
In a ferrimagnet, the two networks of magnetic moments are opposite but unequal, so that cancellation is incomplete
and there is a non-zero net magnetization. An example is magnetite (Fe
3
O
4
), which contains Fe
2+
and Fe
3+
ions with
different magnetic moments.
Microphase-separated
SBS block copolymer in TEM
Copolymers can undergo microphase separation to form a diverse array
of periodic nanostructures, as shown in the example of the
styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymer shown at right. Microphase
separation can be understood by analogy to the phase separation
between oil and water. Due to chemical incompatibility between the
blocks, block copolymers undergo a similar phase separation.
However, because the blocks are covalently bonded to each other, they
cannot demix macroscopically as water and oil can, and so instead the
blocks form nanometer-sized structures. Depending on the relative
lengths of each block and the overall block topology of the polymer,
many morphologies can be obtained, each its own phase of matter.
State of matter
30
Low-temperature states
Superfluid
Liquid helium in a superfluid phase creeps up on
the walls of the cup in a Rollin film, eventually
dripping out from the cup.
Close to absolute zero, some liquids form a second liquid state
described as superfluid because it has zero viscosity (or infinite
fluidity; i.e., flowing without friction). This was discovered in 1937 for
helium, which forms a superfluid below the lambda temperature of
2.17 K. In this state it will attempt to "climb" out of its container.
[7]
It
also has infinite thermal conductivity so that no temperature gradient
can form in a superfluid. Placing a superfluid in a spinning container
will result in quantized vortices.
These properties are explained by the theory that the common isotope
helium-4 forms a BoseEinstein condensate (see next section) in the
superfluid state. More recently, Fermionic condensate superfluids have
been formed at even lower temperatures by the rare isotope helium-3
and by lithium-6.
[8]
BoseEinstein condensate
Velocity in a gas of rubidium as it is cooled: the
starting material is on the left, and BoseEinstein
condensate is on the right.
In 1924, Albert Einstein and Satyendra Nath Bose predicted the
"BoseEinstein condensate" (BEC), sometimes referred to as the fifth
state of matter. In a BEC, matter stops behaving as independent
particles, and collapses into a single quantum state that can be
described with a single, uniform wavefunction.
In the gas phase, the BoseEinstein condensate remained an unverified
theoretical prediction for many years. In 1995, the research groups of
Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman, of JILA at the University of Colorado
at Boulder, produced the first such condensate experimentally. A
BoseEinstein condensate is "colder" than a solid. It may occur when
atoms have very similar (or the same) quantum levels, at temperatures
very close to absolute zero (273.15 C).
Fermionic condensate
A fermionic condensate is similar to the BoseEinstein condensate but composed of fermions. The Pauli exclusion
principle prevents fermions from entering the same quantum state, but a pair of fermions can behave as a boson, and
multiple such pairs can then enter the same quantum state without restriction.
Rydberg molecule
One of the metastable states of strongly non-ideal plasma is Rydberg matter, which forms upon condensation of
excited atoms. These atoms can also turn into ions and electrons if they reach a certain temperature. In April 2009,
Nature reported the creation of Rydberg molecules from a Rydberg atom and a ground state atom,
[9]
confirming that
such a state of matter could exist.
[10]
The experiment was performed using ultracold rubidium atoms.
State of matter
31
Quantum Hall state
A quantum Hall state gives rise to quantized Hall voltage measured in the direction perpendicular to the current
flow. A quantum spin Hall state is a theoretical phase that may pave the way for the development of electronic
devices that dissipate less energy and generate less heat. This is a derivation of the Quantum Hall state of matter.
Strange matter
Strange matter is a type of quark matter that may exist inside some neutron stars close to the
TolmanOppenheimerVolkoff limit (approximately 23 solar masses). It may be stable at lower energy states once
formed.
High-energy states
Color-glass condensate
Color-glass condensate is a type of matter theorized to exist in atomic nuclei traveling near the speed of light.
According to Einsteins theory of relativity, a high-energy nucleus appears length contracted, or compressed, along
its direction of motion. As a result, the gluons inside the nucleus appear to a stationary observer as a "gluonic wall"
traveling near the speed of light. At very high energies, the density of the gluons in this wall is seen to increase
greatly. Unlike the quark-gluon plasma produced in the collision of such walls, the color-glass condensate describes
the walls themselves, and is an intrinsic property of the particles that can only be observed under high-energy
conditions such as those at RHIC and possibly at the Large Hadron Collider as well.
Quark-gluon plasma
Quark-gluon plasma is a phase in which quarks become free and able to move independently (rather than being
perpetually bound into particles) in a sea of gluons (subatomic particles that transmit the strong force that binds
quarks together); this is similar to splitting molecules into atoms. This state may be briefly attainable in particle
accelerators, and allows scientists to observe the properties of individual quarks, and not just theorize. See also
Strangeness production.
Weakly symmetric matter: for up to 10
12
seconds after the Big Bang the strong, weak and electromagnetic forces
were unified. Strongly symmetric matter: for up to 10
36
seconds after the Big Bang the energy density of the
universe was so high that the four forces of nature strong, weak, electromagnetic, and gravitational are thought
to have been unified into one single force. As the universe expanded, the temperature and density dropped and the
gravitational force separated, a process called symmetry breaking.
Quark-gluon plasma was discovered at CERN in 2000.
State of matter
32
Very high energy states
The gravitational singularity predicted by general relativity to exist at the center of a black hole is not a phase of
matter; it is not a material object at all (although the mass-energy of matter contributed to its creation) but rather a
property of spacetime at a location. It could be argued, of course, that all particles are properties of spacetime at a
location,
[11]
leaving a half-note of controversy on the subject.
Other proposed states
Degenerate matter
Under extremely high pressure, ordinary matter undergoes a transition to a series of exotic states of matter
collectively known as degenerate matter. In these conditions, the structure of matter is supported by the Pauli
exclusion principle. These are of great interest to astrophysicists, because these high-pressure conditions are believed
to exist inside stars that have used up their nuclear fusion "fuel", such as the white dwarfs and neutron stars.
Electron-degenerate matter is found inside white dwarf stars. Electrons remain bound to atoms but are able to
transfer to adjacent atoms. Neutron-degenerate matter is found in neutron stars. Vast gravitational pressure
compresses atoms so strongly that the electrons are forced to combine with protons via inverse beta-decay, resulting
in a superdense conglomeration of neutrons. (Normally free neutrons outside an atomic nucleus will decay with a
half life of just under 15 minutes, but in a neutron star, as in the nucleus of an atom, other effects stabilize the
neutrons.)
Supersolid
A supersolid is a spatially ordered material (that is, a solid or crystal) with superfluid properties. Similar to a
superfluid, a supersolid is able to move without friction but retains a rigid shape. Although a supersolid is a solid, it
exhibits so many characteristic properties different from other solids that many argue it is another state of matter.
[12]
String-net liquid
In a string-net liquid, atoms have apparently unstable arrangement, like a liquid, but are still consistent in overall
pattern, like a solid. When in a normal solid state, the atoms of matter align themselves in a grid pattern, so that the
spin of any electron is the opposite of the spin of all electrons touching it. But in a string-net liquid, atoms are
arranged in some pattern that requires some electrons to have neighbors with the same spin. This gives rise to
curious properties, as well as supporting some unusual proposals about the fundamental conditions of the universe
itself.
Superglass
A superglass is a phase of matter characterized, at the same time, by superfluidity and a frozen amorphous structure.
Dark matter
While dark matter is estimated to comprise 83% of the mass of matter in the universe, most of its properties remain a
mystery due to the fact that it neither absorbs nor emits electromagnetic radiation, and there are many competing
theories regarding what dark matter is actually made of. Thus, while it is hypothesized to exist and comprise the vast
majority of matter in the universe, almost all of its properties are unknown and a matter of speculation, because it has
only been observed through its gravitational effects.
[][13]
State of matter
33
Notes and references
[1] It is often stated that more than 99% of the material in the visible universe is plasma. See, for example, and . Essentially, all of the visible
light from space comes from stars, which are plasmas with a temperature such that they radiate strongly at visible wavelengths. Most of the
ordinary (or baryonic) matter in the universe, however, is found in the intergalactic medium, which is also a plasma, but much hotter, so that it
radiates primarily as X-rays. The current scientific consensus is that about 96% of the total energy density in the universe is not plasma or any
other form of ordinary matter, but a combination of cold dark matter and dark energy.
[11] Jonathon Schaffer's article in Metametaphysics: http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=6nqzIi16CY0C& pg=PA378& lpg=PA378&
dq=metametaphysics+ properties+ of+ spacetime& source=bl& ots=DlRRpweeBx& sig=TTTdmtzuWfJ1s1H3y24zP_gY3kQ& hl=en&
sa=X& ei=kcx4T8-MEOHj0QGMjYHADQ& ved=0CCIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage& q& f=false
External links
2005-06-22, MIT News: MIT physicists create new form of matter (http:/ / web. mit. edu/ newsoffice/ 2005/
matter. html) Citat: "... They have become the first to create a new type of matter, a gas of atoms that shows
high-temperature superfluidity."
2003-10-10, Science Daily: Metallic Phase For Bosons Implies New State Of Matter (http:/ / www. sciencedaily.
com/ releases/ 2003/ 10/ 031010075634. htm)
2004-01-15, ScienceDaily: Probable Discovery Of A New, Supersolid, Phase Of Matter (http:/ / www.
sciencedaily.com/ releases/ 2004/ 01/ 040115074553. htm) Citat: "...We apparently have observed, for the first
time, a solid material with the characteristics of a superfluid...but because all its particles are in the identical
quantum state, it remains a solid even though its component particles are continually flowing..."
2004-01-29, ScienceDaily: NIST/University Of Colorado Scientists Create New Form Of Matter: A Fermionic
Condensate (http:/ / www. sciencedaily. com/ releases/ 2004/ 01/ 040129073547. htm)
Short videos demonstrating of States of Matter, solids, liquids and gases by Prof. J M Murrell, University of
Sussex (http:/ / vega. org. uk/ video/ subseries/ 30)
Solid
Single crystalline form of solid Insulin.
Continuum mechanics
Solid
34
Solid is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and plasma). It is characterized by
structural rigidity and resistance to changes of shape or volume. Unlike a liquid, a solid object does not flow to take
on the shape of its container, nor does it expand to fill the entire volume available to it like a gas does. The atoms in
a solid are tightly bound to each other, either in a regular geometric lattice (crystalline solids, which include metals
and ordinary water ice) or irregularly (an amorphous solid such as common window glass).
The branch of physics that deals with solids is called solid-state physics, and is the main branch of condensed matter
physics (which also includes liquids). Materials science is primarily concerned with the physical and chemical
properties of solids. Solid-state chemistry is especially concerned with the synthesis of novel materials, as well as the
science of identification and chemical composition.
Microscopic description
Model of closely packed atoms within a
crystalline solid.
The atoms, molecules or ions which make up a solid may be arranged
in an orderly repeating pattern, or irregularly. Materials whose
constituents are arranged in a regular pattern are known as crystals. In
some cases, the regular ordering can continue unbroken over a large
scale, for example diamonds, where each diamond is a single crystal.
Solid objects that are large enough to see and handle are rarely
composed of a single crystal, but instead are made of a large number of
single crystals, known as crystallites, whose size can vary from a few
nanometers to several meters. Such materials are called polycrystalline.
Almost all common metals, and many ceramics, are polycrystalline.
Schematic representation of a random-network glassy form (left) and ordered crystalline lattice (right) of identical
chemical composition.
Solid
35
In other materials, there is no long-range order in the position of the atoms. These solids are known as amorphous
solids; examples include polystyrene and glass.
Whether a solid is crystalline or amorphous depends on the material involved, and the conditions in which it was
formed. Solids which are formed by slow cooling will tend to be crystalline, while solids which are frozen rapidly
are more likely to be amorphous. Likewise, the specific crystal structure adopted by a crystalline solid depends on
the material involved and on how it was formed.
While many common objects, such as an ice cube or a coin, are chemically identical throughout, many other
common materials comprise a number of different substances packed together. For example, a typical rock is an
aggregate of several different minerals and mineraloids, with no specific chemical composition. Wood is a natural
organic material consisting primarily of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of organic lignin. In materials science,
composites of more than one constituent material can be designed to have desired properties.
Classes of solids
The forces between the atoms in a solid can take a variety of forms. For example, a crystal of sodium chloride
(common salt) is made up of ionic sodium and chlorine, which are held together by ionic bonds. In diamond or
silicon, the atoms share electrons and form covalent bonds. In metals, electrons are shared in metallic bonding. Some
solids, particularly most organic compounds, are held together with van der Waals forces resulting from the
polarization of the electronic charge cloud on each molecule. The dissimilarities between the types of solid result
from the differences between their bonding.
Metals
The pinnacle of New York's Chrysler Building,
the world's tallest steel-supported brick building,
is clad with stainless steel.
Metals typically are strong, dense, and good conductors of both
electricity and heat. The bulk of the elements in the periodic table,
those to the left of a diagonal line drawn from boron to polonium, are
metals. Mixtures of two or more elements in which the major
component is a metal are known as alloys.
People have been using metals for a variety of purposes since
prehistoric times. The strength and reliability of metals has led to their
widespread use in construction of buildings and other structures, as
well as in most vehicles, many appliances and tools, pipes, road signs
and railroad tracks. Iron and aluminium are the two most commonly
used structural metals, and they are also the most abundant metals in
the Earth's crust. Iron is most commonly used in the form of an alloy,
steel, which contains up to 2.1% carbon, making it much harder than
pure iron.
Because metals are good conductors of electricity, they are valuable in
electrical appliances and for carrying an electric current over long
distances with little energy loss or dissipation. Thus, electrical power
grids rely on metal cables to distribute electricity. Home electrical
systems, for example, are wired with copper for its good conducting properties and easy machinability. The high
thermal conductivity of most metals also makes them useful for stovetop cooking utensils.
The study of metallic elements and their alloys makes up a significant portion of the fields of solid-state chemistry,
physics, materials science and engineering.
Metallic solids are held together by a high density of shared, delocalized electrons, known as "metallic bonding". In
a metal, atoms readily lose their outermost ("valence") electrons, forming positive ions. The free electrons are spread
Solid
36
over the entire solid, which is held together firmly by electrostatic interactions between the ions and the electron
cloud.
[]
The large number of free electrons gives metals their high values of electrical and thermal conductivity. The
free electrons also prevent transmission of visible light, making metals opaque, shiny and lustrous.
More advanced models of metal properties consider the effect of the positive ions cores on the delocalised electrons.
As most metals have crystalline structure, those ions are usually arranged into a periodic lattice. Mathematically, the
potential of the ion cores can be treated by various models, the simplest being the nearly free electron model.
Minerals
A collection of various minerals.
Minerals are naturally occurring solids formed through various
geological processes under high pressures. To be classified as a true
mineral, a substance must have a crystal structure with uniform
physical properties throughout. Minerals range in composition from
pure elements and simple salts to very complex silicates with
thousands of known forms. In contrast, a rock sample is a random
aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids, and has no specific chemical
composition. The vast majority of the rocks of the Earth's crust consist
of quartz (crystalline SiO
2
), feldspar, mica, chlorite, kaolin, calcite,
epidote, olivine, augite, hornblende, magnetite, hematite, limonite and
a few other minerals. Some minerals, like quartz, mica or feldspar are
common, while others have been found in only a few locations worldwide. The largest group of minerals by far is
the silicates (most rocks are 95% silicates), which are composed largely of silicon and oxygen, with the addition of
ions of aluminium, magnesium, iron, calcium and other metals.
Ceramics
Si
3
N
4
ceramic bearing parts
Ceramic solids are composed of inorganic compounds, usually oxides
of chemical elements. They are chemically inert, and often are capable
of withstanding chemical erosion that occurs in an acidic or caustic
environment. Ceramics generally can withstand high temperatures
ranging from 1000 to 1600 C (1800 to 3000 F). Exceptions include
non-oxide inorganic materials, such as nitrides, borides and carbides.
Traditional ceramic raw materials include clay minerals such as
kaolinite, more recent materials include aluminium oxide (alumina).
The modern ceramic materials, which are classified as advanced
ceramics, include silicon carbide and tungsten carbide. Both are valued
for their abrasion resistance, and hence find use in such applications as
the wear plates of crushing equipment in mining operations.
Most ceramic materials, such as alumina and its compounds, are formed from fine powders, yielding a fine grained
polycrystalline microstructure which is filled with light scattering centers comparable to the wavelength of visible
light. Thus, they are generally opaque materials, as opposed to transparent materials. Recent nanoscale (e.g. sol-gel)
technology has, however, made possible the production of polycrystalline transparent ceramics such as transparent
alumina and alumina compounds for such applications as high-power lasers. Advanced ceramics are also used in the
medicine, electrical and electronics industries.
Ceramic engineering is the science and technology of creating solid-state ceramic materials, parts and devices. This
is done either by the action of heat, or, at lower temperatures, using precipitation reactions from chemical solutions.
The term includes the purification of raw materials, the study and production of the chemical compounds concerned,
Solid
37
their formation into components, and the study of their structure, composition and properties.
Mechanically speaking, ceramic materials are brittle, hard, strong in compression and weak in shearing and tension.
Brittle materials may exhibit significant tensile strength by supporting a static load. Toughness indicates how much
energy a material can absorb before mechanical failure, while fracture toughness (denoted K
Ic
) describes the ability
of a material with inherent microstructural flaws to resist fracture via crack growth and propagation. If a material has
a large value of fracture toughness, the basic principles of fracture mechanics suggest that it will most likely undergo
ductile fracture. Brittle fracture is very characteristic of most ceramic and glass-ceramic materials which typically
exhibit low (and inconsistent) values of K
Ic
.
For example of applications of ceramics, the extreme hardness of Zirconia is utilized in the manufacture of knife
blades, as well as other industrial cutting tools. Ceramics such as alumina, boron carbide and silicon carbide have
been used in bulletproof vests to repel large-caliber rifle fire. Silicon nitride parts are used in ceramic ball bearings,
where their high hardness makes them wear resistant. In general, ceramics are also chemically resistant and can be
used in wet environments where steel bearings would be susceptible to oxidation (or rust).
As another example of ceramic applications, in the early 1980s, Toyota researched production of an adiabatic
ceramic engine with an operating temperature of over 6000 F (3300 C). Ceramic engines do not require a cooling
system and hence allow a major weight reduction and therefore greater fuel efficiency. In a conventional metallic
engine, much of the energy released from the fuel must be dissipated as waste heat in order to prevent a meltdown of
the metallic parts. Work is also being done in developing ceramic parts for gas turbine engines. Turbine engines
made with ceramics could operate more efficiently, giving aircraft greater range and payload for a set amount of fuel.
However, such engines are not in production because the manufacturing of ceramic parts in the sufficient precision
and durability is difficult and costly. Processing methods often result in a wide distribution of microscopic flaws
which frequently play a detrimental role in the sintering process, resulting in the proliferation of cracks, and ultimate
mechanical failure.
Glass ceramics
A high strength glass-ceramic cooktop with
negligible thermal expansion.
Glass-ceramic materials share many properties with both
non-crystalline glasses and crystalline ceramics. They are formed as a
glass, and then partially crystallized by heat treatment, producing both
amorphous and crystalline phases so that crystalline grains are
embedded within a non-crystalline intergranular phase.
Glass-ceramics are used to make cookware (originally known by the
brand name CorningWare) and stovetops which have both high
resistance to thermal shock and extremely low permeability to liquids.
The negative coefficient of thermal expansion of the crystalline
ceramic phase can be balanced with the positive coefficient of the
glassy phase. At a certain point (~70% crystalline) the glass-ceramic has a net coefficient of thermal expansion close
to zero. This type of glass-ceramic exhibits excellent mechanical properties and can sustain repeated and quick
temperature changes up to 1000C.
Glass ceramics may also occur naturally when lightning strikes the crystalline (e.g. quartz) grains found in most
beach sand. In this case, the extreme and immediate heat of the lightning (~2500 C) creates hollow, branching
rootlike structures called fulgurite via fusion.
Solid
38
Organic solids
The individual wood pulp fibers in this sample are around 10 m in
diameter.
Organic chemistry studies the structure, properties,
composition, reactions, and preparation by synthesis (or
other means) of chemical compounds of carbon and
hydrogen, which may contain any number of other
elements such as nitrogen, oxygen and the halogens:
fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine. Some organic
compounds may also contain the elements phosphorus
or sulfur. Examples of organic solids include wood,
paraffin wax, naphthalene and a wide variety of
polymers and plastics.
Wood
Wood is a natural organic material consisting primarily
of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin.
Regarding mechanical properties, the fibers are strong in tension, and the lignin matrix resists compression. Thus
wood has been an important construction material since humans began building shelters and using boats. Wood to be
used for construction work is commonly known as lumber or timber. In construction, wood is not only a structural
material, but is also used to form the mould for concrete.
Wood-based materials are also extensively used for packaging (e.g. cardboard) and paper which are both created
from the refined pulp. The chemical pulping processes use a combination of high temperature and alkaline (kraft) or
acidic (sulfite) chemicals to break the chemical bonds of the lignin before burning it out.
Polymers
STM image of self-assembled supramolecular
chains of the organic semiconductor quinacridone
on graphite.
One important property of carbon in organic chemistry is that it can
form certain compounds, the individual molecules of which are
capable of attaching themselves to one another, thereby forming a
chain or a network. The process is called polymerization and the chains
or networks polymers, while the source compound is a monomer. Two
main groups of polymers exist: those artificially manufactured are
referred to as industrial polymers or synthetic polymers (plastics) and
those naturally occurring as biopolymers.
Monomers can have various chemical substituents, or functional
groups, which can affect the chemical properties of organic
compounds, such as solubility and chemical reactivity, as well as the
physical properties, such as hardness, density, mechanical or tensile strength, abrasion resistance, heat resistance,
transparency, color, etc.. In proteins, these differences give the polymer the ability to adopt a biologically active
conformation in preference to others (see self-assembly).
Solid
39
Household items made of various kinds of plastic.
People have been using natural organic polymers for
centuries in the form of waxes and shellac which is
classified as a thermoplastic polymer. A plant polymer
named cellulose provided the tensile strength for
natural fibers and ropes, and by the early 19th century
natural rubber was in widespread use. Polymers are the
raw materials (the resins) used to make what we
commonly call plastics. Plastics are the final product,
created after one or more polymers or additives have
been added to a resin during processing, which is then
shaped into a final form. Polymers which have been
around, and which are in current widespread use,
include carbon-based polyethylene, polypropylene,
polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, nylons, polyesters, acrylics, polyurethane, and polycarbonates, and silicon-based
silicones. Plastics are generally classified as "commodity", "specialty" and "engineering" plastics.
Composite materials
Simulation of the outside of the Space Shuttle as it heats up to over
1500 C during re-entry
A cloth of woven carbon fiber filaments, a common element in
composite materials
Composite materials contain two or more macroscopic
phases, one of which is often ceramic. For example, a
continuous matrix, and a dispersed phase of ceramic
particles or fibers.
Applications of composite materials range from
structural elements such as steel-reinforced concrete, to
the thermally insulative tiles which play a key and
integral role in NASA's Space Shuttle thermal
protection system which is used to protect the surface
of the shuttle from the heat of re-entry into the Earth's
atmosphere. One example is Reinforced
Carbon-Carbon (RCC), the light gray material which
withstands reentry temperatures up to 1510 C (2750
F) and protects the nose cap and leading edges of
Space Shuttle's wings. RCC is a laminated composite
material made from graphite rayon cloth and
impregnated with a phenolic resin. After curing at high
temperature in an autoclave, the laminate is pyrolized
to convert the resin to carbon, impregnated with
furfural alcohol in a vacuum chamber, and
cured/pyrolized to convert the furfural alcohol to
carbon. In order to provide oxidation resistance for
reuse capability, the outer layers of the RCC are
converted to silicon carbide.
Domestic examples of composites can be seen in the
"plastic" casings of television sets, cell-phones and so
Solid
40
on. These plastic casings are usually a composite made up of a thermoplastic matrix such as acrylonitrile butadiene
styrene (ABS) in which calcium carbonate chalk, talc, glass fibers or carbon fibers have been added for strength,
bulk, or electro-static dispersion. These additions may be referred to as reinforcing fibers, or dispersants, depending
on their purpose.
Thus, the matrix material surrounds and supports the reinforcement materials by maintaining their relative positions.
The reinforcements impart their special mechanical and physical properties to enhance the matrix properties. A
synergism produces material properties unavailable from the individual constituent materials, while the wide variety
of matrix and strengthening materials provides the designer with the choice of an optimum combination.
Semiconductors
Semiconductor chip on crystalline silicon
substrate.
Semiconductors are materials that have an electrical resistivity (and
conductivity) between that of metallic conductors and non-metallic
insulators. They can be found in the periodic table moving diagonally
downward right from boron. They separate the electrical conductors
(or metals, to the left) from the insulators (to the right).
Devices made from semiconductor materials are the foundation of
modern electronics, including radio, computers, telephones, etc.
Semiconductor devices include the transistor, solar cells, diodes and
integrated circuits. Solar photovoltaic panels are large semiconductor
devices that directly convert light into electrical energy.
In a metallic conductor, current is carried by the flow of electrons", but in semiconductors, current can be carried
either by electrons or by the positively charged "holes" in the electronic band structure of the material. Common
semiconductor materials include silicon, germanium and gallium arsenide.
Nanomaterials
Bulk silicon (left) and silicon nanopowder (right)
Many traditional solids exhibit different properties when they shrink to
nanometer sizes. For example, nanoparticles of usually yellow gold
and gray silicon are red in color; gold nanoparticles melt at much lower
temperatures (~300 C for 2.5nm size) than the gold slabs (1064
C);
[1]
and metallic nanowires are much stronger than the
corresponding bulk metals.
[][2]
The high surface area of nanoparticles
makes them extremely attractive for certain applications in the field of
energy. For example, platinum metals may be provide improvements
as automotive fuel catalysts, as well as proton exchange membrane
(PEM) fuel cells. Also, ceramic oxides (or cermets) of lanthanum,
cerium, manganese and nickel are now being developed as solid oxide
fuel cells (SOFC). Lithium, lithiumtitanate and tantalum nanoparticles are being applied in lithium ion batteries.
Silicon nanoparticles have been shown to dramatically expand the storage capacity of lithium ion batteries during the
expansion/contraction cycle. Silicon nanowires cycle without significant degradation and present the potential for
use in batteries with greatly expanded storage times. Silicon nanoparticles are also being used in new forms of solar
energy cells. Thin film deposition of silicon quantum dots on the polycrystalline silicon substrate of a photovoltaic
(solar) cell increases voltage output as much as 60% by fluorescing the incoming light prior to capture. Here again,
surface area of the nanoparticles (and thin films) plays a critical role in maximizing the amount of absorbed
radiation.
Solid
41
Biomaterials
Collagen fibers of woven bone
Many natural (or biological) materials are complex
composites with remarkable mechanical properties.
These complex structures, which have risen from
hundreds of million years of evolution, are inspiring
materials scientists in the design of novel materials.
Their defining characteristics include structural
hierarchy, multifunctionality and self-healing
capability. Self-organization is also a fundamental
feature of many biological materials and the manner by
which the structures are assembled from the molecular
level up. Thus, self-assembly is emerging as a new
strategy in the chemical synthesis of high performance
biomaterials.
Physical properties
Physical properties of elements and compounds which provide conclusive evidence of chemical composition include
odor, color, volume, density (mass per unit volume), melting point, boiling point, heat capacity, physical form and
shape at room temperature (solid, liquid or gas; cubic, trigonal crystals, etc.), hardness, porosity, index of refraction
and many others. This section discusses some physical properties of materials in the solid state.
Mechanical
Granite rock formation in the Chilean Patagonia. Like most inorganic minerals
formed by oxidation in the Earth's atmosphere, granite consists primarily of
crystalline silica SiO
2
and alumina Al
2
O
3
.
The mechanical properties of materials
describe characteristics such as their
strength and resistance to deformation. For
example, steel beams are used in
construction because of their high strength,
meaning that they neither break nor bend
significantly under the applied load.
Mechanical properties include elasticity and
plasticity, tensile strength, compressive
strength, shear strength, fracture toughness,
ductility (low in brittle materials), and
indentation hardness. Solid mechanics is the
study of the behavior of solid matter under
external actions such as external forces and
temperature changes.
A solid does not exhibit macroscopic flow,
as fluids do. Any degree of departure from
its original shape is called deformation. The proportion of deformation to original size is called strain. If the applied
stress is sufficiently low, almost all solid materials behave in such a way that the strain is directly proportional to the
stress (Hooke's law). The coefficient of the proportion is called the modulus of elasticity or Young's modulus. This
region of deformation is known as the linearly elastic region. Three models can describe how a solid responds to an
applied stress:
Solid
42
Elasticity When an applied stress is removed, the material returns to its undeformed state.
Viscoelasticity These are materials that behave elastically, but also have damping. When the applied stress is
removed, work has to be done against the damping effects and is converted to heat within the material. This
results in a hysteresis loop in the stressstrain curve. This implies that the mechanical response has a
time-dependence.
Plasticity Materials that behave elastically generally do so when the applied stress is less than a yield value.
When the stress is greater than the yield stress, the material behaves plastically and does not return to its previous
state. That is, irreversible plastic deformation (or viscous flow) occurs after yield which is permanent.
Many materials become weaker at high temperatures. Materials which retain their strength at high temperatures,
called refractory materials, are useful for many purposes. For example, glass-ceramics have become extremely useful
for countertop cooking, as they exhibit excellent mechanical properties and can sustain repeated and quick
temperature changes up to 1000 C. In the aerospace industry, high performance materials used in the design of
aircraft and/or spacecraft exteriors must have a high resistance to thermal shock. Thus, synthetic fibers spun out of
organic polymers and polymer/ceramic/metal composite materials and fiber-reinforced polymers are now being
designed with this purpose in mind.
Thermal
Normal modes of atomic vibration in a crystalline solid.
Because solids have thermal energy, their atoms vibrate
about fixed mean positions within the ordered (or
disordered) lattice. The spectrum of lattice vibrations in
a crystalline or glassy network provides the foundation
for the kinetic theory of solids. This motion occurs at
the atomic level, and thus cannot be observed or
detected without highly specialized equipment, such as
that used in spectroscopy.
Thermal properties of solids include thermal
conductivity, which is the property of a material that
indicates its ability to conduct heat. Solids also have a
specific heat capacity, which is the capacity of a
material to store energy in the form of heat (or thermal
lattice vibrations).
Electrical
Electrical properties include conductivity, resistance,
impedance and capacitance. Electrical conductors such as metals and alloys are contrasted with electrical insulators
such as glasses and ceramics. Semiconductors behave somewhere in between. Whereas conductivity in metals is
caused by electrons, both electrons and holes contribute to current in semiconductors. Alternatively, ions support
electric current in ionic conductors.
Many materials also exhibit superconductivity at low temperatures; they include metallic elements such as tin and
aluminium, various metallic alloys, some heavily doped semiconductors, and certain ceramics. The electrical
resistivity of most electrical (metallic) conductors generally decreases gradually as the temperature is lowered, but
remains finite. In a superconductor however, the resistance drops abruptly to zero when the material is cooled below
its critical temperature. An electric current flowing in a loop of superconducting wire can persist indefinitely with no
power source.
Solid
43
A dielectric, or electrical insulator, is a substance that is highly resistant to the flow of electric current. A dielectric,
such as plastic, tends to concentrate an applied electric field within itself which property is used in capacitors. A
capacitor is an electrical device that can store energy in the electric field between a pair of closely spaced conductors
(called 'plates'). When voltage is applied to the capacitor, electric charges of equal magnitude, but opposite polarity,
build up on each plate. Capacitors are used in electrical circuits as energy-storage devices, as well as in electronic
filters to differentiate between high-frequency and low-frequency signals.
Electro-mechanical
Piezoelectricity is the ability of crystals to generate a voltage in response to an applied mechanical stress. The
piezoelectric effect is reversible in that piezoelectric crystals, when subjected to an externally applied voltage, can
change shape by a small amount. Polymer materials like rubber, wool, hair, wood fiber, and silk often behave as
electrets. For example, the polymer polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) exhibits a piezoelectric response several times
larger than the traditional piezoelectric material quartz (crystalline SiO
2
). The deformation (~0.1%) lends itself to
useful technical applications such as high-voltage sources, loudspeakers, lasers, as well as chemical, biological, and
acousto-optic sensors and/or transducers.
Optical
Materials can transmit (e.g. glass) or reflect (e.g. metals) visible light.
Many materials will transmit some wavelengths while blocking others. For example, window glass is transparent to
visible light, but much less so to most of the frequencies of ultraviolet light that cause sunburn. This property is used
for frequency-selective optical filters, which can alter the color of incident light.
For some purposes, both the optical and mechanical properties of a material can be of interest. For example, the
sensors on an infrared homing ("heat-seeking") missile must be protected by a cover which is transparent to infrared
radiation. The current material of choice for high-speed infrared-guided missile domes is single-crystal sapphire. The
optical transmission of sapphire does not actually extend to cover the entire mid-infrared range (35m), but starts
to drop off at wavelengths greater than approximately 4.5m at room temperature. While the strength of sapphire is
better than that of other available mid-range infrared dome materials at room temperature, it weakens above 600 C.
A long standing trade-off exists between optical bandpass and mechanical durability; new materials such as
transparent ceramics or optical nanocomposites may provide improved performance.
Guided lightwave transmission involves the field of fiber optics and the ability of certain glasses to transmit,
simultaneously and with low loss of intensity, a range of frequencies (multi-mode optical waveguides) with little
interference between them. Optical waveguides are used as components in integrated optical circuits or as the
transmission medium in optical communication systems.
Opto-electronic
A solar cell or photovoltaic cell is a device that converts light energy into electrical energy. Fundamentally, the
device needs to fulfill only two functions: photo-generation of charge carriers (electrons and holes) in a
light-absorbing material, and separation of the charge carriers to a conductive contact that will transmit the electricity
(simply put, carrying electrons off through a metal contact into an external circuit). This conversion is called the
photoelectric effect, and the field of research related to solar cells is known as photovoltaics.
Solar cells have many applications. They have long been used in situations where electrical power from the grid is
unavailable, such as in remote area power systems, Earth-orbiting satellites and space probes, handheld calculators,
wrist watches, remote radiotelephones and water pumping applications. More recently, they are starting to be used in
assemblies of solar modules (photovoltaic arrays) connected to the electricity grid through an inverter, that is not to
act as a sole supply but as an additional electricity source.
Solid
44
All solar cells require a light absorbing material contained within the cell structure to absorb photons and generate
electrons via the photovoltaic effect. The materials used in solar cells tend to have the property of preferentially
absorbing the wavelengths of solar light that reach the earth surface. However, some solar cells are optimized for
light absorption beyond Earth's atmosphere as well.
References
External links
Wiki on equipment for handling and processing Bulk Solids (http:/ / www. solidswiki. com)
Liquid
The formation of a spherical droplet of liquid water minimizes the surface area,
which is the natural result of surface tension in liquids.
Continuum mechanics
Liquid is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, gas, and plasma), and is the only state
with a definite volume but no fixed shape. A liquid is made up of tiny vibrating particles of matter, such as atoms
and molecules, held together by intramolecular bonds. Water is, by far, the most common liquid on Earth. Like a gas,
a liquid is able to flow and take the shape of a container. Some liquids resist compression, while others can be
compressed. Unlike a gas, a liquid does not disperse to fill every space of a container, and maintains a fairly constant
density. A distinctive property of the liquid state is surface tension, leading to wetting phenomena.
The density of a liquid is usually close to that of a solid, and much higher than in a gas. Therefore, liquid and solid
are both termed condensed matter. On the other hand, as liquids and gases share the ability to flow, they are both
Liquid
45
called fluids. Although liquid water is abundant on Earth, this state of matter is actually the least common in the
known universe, because liquids require a relatively narrow temperature/pressure range to exist. Most known matter
in the universe is in gaseous form (with traces of detectable solid matter) as interstellar clouds or in plasma form
within stars.
Introduction
Thermal image of a sink full of hot water with
cold water being added, showing how the hot and
the cold water flow into each other.
Liquid is one of the three primary states of matter, with the others
being solid and gas. A liquid is a fluid. Unlike a solid, the molecules in
a liquid have a much greater freedom to move. The forces that bind the
molecules together in a solid are only temporary in a liquid, allowing a
liquid to flow while a solid remains rigid.
A liquid, like a gas, displays the properties of a fluid. A liquid can
flow, assume the shape of a container, and, if placed in a sealed
container, will distribute applied pressure evenly to every surface in the
container. Unlike a gas, a liquid may not always mix readily with
another liquid, will not always fill every space in the container,
forming its own surface, and will not compress significantly, except
under extremely high pressures. These properties make a liquid
suitable for applications such as hydraulics.
Liquid particles are bound firmly but not rigidly. They are able to move around one another freely, resulting in a
limited degree of particle mobility. As the temperature increases, the increased vibrations of the molecules causes
distances between the molecules to increase. When a liquid reaches its boiling point, the cohesive forces that bind
the molecules closely together break, and the liquid changes to its gaseous state (unless superheating occurs). If the
temperature is decreased, the distances between the molecules become smaller. When the liquid reaches its freezing
point the molecules will usually lock into a very specific order, called crystallizing, and the bonds between them
become more rigid, changing the liquid into its solid state (unless supercooling occurs).
Examples
Only two elements are liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure: mercury and bromine. Four more
elements have melting points slightly above room temperature: francium, caesium, gallium and rubidium.
[1]
Metal
alloys that are liquid at room temperature include NaK, a sodium-potassium metal alloy, galinstan, a fusible alloy
liquid, and some amalgams (alloys involving mercury).
Pure substances that are liquid under normal conditions include water, ethanol and many other organic solvents.
Liquid water is of vital importance in chemistry and biology; it is believed to be a necessity for the existence of life.
Important everyday liquids include aqueous solutions like household bleach, other mixtures of different substances
such as mineral oil and gasoline, emulsions like vinaigrette or mayonnaise, suspensions like blood, and colloids like
paint and milk.
Many gases can be liquefied by cooling, producing liquids such as liquid oxygen, liquid nitrogen, liquid hydrogen
and liquid helium. Not all gases can be liquified at atmospheric pressure, for example carbon dioxide can only be
liquified at pressures above 5.1 atm.
Some materials cannot be classified within the classical three states of matter; they possess solid-like and liquid-like
properties. Examples include liquid crystals, used in LCD displays, and biological membranes.
Liquid
46
Applications
Liquids have a variety of uses, as lubricants, solvents, and coolants. In hydraulic systems, liquid is used to transmit
power.
In tribology, liquids are studied for their properties as lubricants. Lubricants such as oil are chosen for viscosity and
flow characteristics that are suitable throughout the operating temperature range of the component. Oils are often
used in engines, gear boxes, metalworking, and hydraulic systems for their good lubrication properties.
[2]
Many liquids are used as solvents, to dissolve other liquids or solids. Solutions are found in a wide variety of
applications, including paints, sealants, and adhesives. Naptha and acetone are used frequently in industry to clean
oil, grease, and tar from parts and machinery. Body fluids are water based solutions.
Surfactants are commonly found in soaps and detergents. Solvents like alcohol are often used as antimicrobials.
They are found in cosmetics, inks, and liquid dye lasers. They are used in the food industry, in processes such as the
extraction of vegetable oil.
[3]
Liquids tend to have better thermal conductivity than gases, and the ability to flow makes a liquid suitable for
removing excess heat from mechanical components. The heat can be removed by channeling the liquid through a
heat exchanger, such as a radiator, or the heat can be removed with the liquid during evaporation.
[4]
Water or glycol
coolants are used to keep engines from overheating.
[5]
The coolants used in nuclear reactors include water or liquid
metals, such as sodium or bismuth.
[6]
Liquid propellant films are used to cool the thrust chambers of rockets.
[7]
In
machining, water and oils are used to remove the excess heat generated, which can quickly ruin both the work piece
and the tooling. During perspiration, sweat removes heat from the human body by evaporating. In the heating,
ventilation, and air-conditioning industry (HVAC), liquids such as water are used to transfer heat from one area to
another.
[8]
Liquid is the primary component of hydraulic systems, which take advantage of Pascal's law to provide fluid power.
Devices such as pumps and waterwheels have been used to change liquid motion into mechanical work since ancient
times. Oils are forced through hydraulic pumps, which transmit this force to hydraulic cylinders. Hydraulics can be
found in many applications, such as automotive brakes and transmissions, heavy equipment, and airplane control
systems. Various hydraulic presses are used extensively in repair and manufacturing, for lifting, pressing, clamping
and forming.
[9]
Liquids are sometimes used in measuring devices. A thermometer often uses the thermal expansion of liquids, such
as mercury, combined with their ability to flow to indicate temperature. A manometer uses the weight of the liquid to
indicate air pressure.
[10]
Mechanical properties
Volume
Quantities of liquids are commonly measured in units of volume. These include the SI unit cubic metre (m
3
) and its
divisions, in particular the cubic decimetre, more commonly called the litre (1 dm
3
= 1 L = 0.001 m
3
), and the cubic
centimetre, also called millilitre (1cm
3
= 1 mL = 0.001 L = 10
6
m
3
).
The volume of a quantity of liquid is fixed by its temperature and pressure. Liquids generally expand when heated,
and contract when cooled. Water between 0C and 4C is a notable exception. Liquids have little compressibility:
water, for example, requires a pressure of the order of 200 bar to increase its density by 1/1000. In the study of fluid
dynamics, liquids are often treated as incompressible, especially when studying incompressible flow.
Liquid
47
Pressure and buoyancy
In a gravitational field, liquids exert pressure on the sides of a container as well as on anything within the liquid
itself. This pressure is transmitted in all directions and increases with depth. If a liquid is at rest in a uniform
gravitational field, the pressure, p, at any depth, z, is given by
where:
is the density of the liquid (assumed constant)
is the gravitational acceleration.
Note that this formula assumes that the pressure at the free surface is zero, and that surface tension effects may be
neglected.
Objects immersed in liquids are subject to the phenomenon of buoyancy. (Buoyancy is also observed in other fluids,
but is especially strong in liquids due to their high density.)
Surfaces
Surface waves in water
Unless the volume of a liquid exactly matches the
volume of its container, one or more surfaces are
observed. The surface of a liquid behaves like an elastic
membrane in which surface tension appears, allowing
the formation of drops and bubbles. Surface waves,
capillary action, wetting, and ripples are other
consequences of surface tension.
Flow
Viscosity measures the resistance of a liquid which is
being deformed by either shear stress or extensional
stress.
When a liquid is supercooled towards the glass transition, the viscosity increases dramatically! The liquid then
becomes a viscoelastic medium that shows both the elasticity of a solid and the fluidity of a liquid, depending on the
time scale of observation or on the frequency of perturbation.
Liquid
48
Sound propagation
In a fluid the only non-zero stiffness is to volumetric deformation (a fluid does not sustain shear forces). Hence the
speed of sound in a fluid is given by where K is the bulk modulus of the fluid, and the density. To
give a typical value, in fresh water c=1497m/s at 25C.
Thermodynamics
Phase transitions
A typical phase diagram. The dotted line gives the anomalous behaviour of water.
The green lines show how the freezing point can vary with pressure, and the blue
line shows how the boiling point can vary with pressure. The red line shows the
boundary where sublimation or deposition can occur.
At a temperature below the boiling point,
any matter in liquid form will evaporate
until the condensation of gas above reach an
equilibrium. At this point the gas will
condense at the same rate as the liquid
evaporates. Thus, a liquid cannot exist
permanently if the evaporated liquid is
continually removed. A liquid at its boiling
point will evaporate more quickly than the
gas can condense at the current pressure. A
liquid at or above its boiling point will
normally boil, though superheating can
prevent this in certain circumstances.
At a temperature below the freezing point, a
liquid will tend to crystallize, changing to its
solid form. Unlike the transition to gas,
there is no equilibrium at this transition
under constant pressure, so unless
supercooling occurs, the liquid will
eventually completely crystallize. Note that
this is only true under constant pressure, so e.g. water and ice in a closed, strong container might reach an
equilibrium where both phases coexist. For the opposite transition from solid to liquid, see melting.
Solutions
Liquids can display immiscibility. The most familiar mixture of two immiscible liquids in everyday life is the
vegetable oil and water in Italian salad dressing. A familiar set of miscible liquids is water and alcohol. Liquid
components in a mixture can often be separated from one another via fractional distillation.
Liquid
49
Microscopic properties
Static structure factor
Structure of a classical monatomic liquid. Atoms have
many nearest neighbors in contact, yet no long-range
order is present.
In a liquid, atoms do not form a crystalline lattice, nor do they
show any other form of long-range order. This is evidenced by the
absence of Bragg peaks in X-ray and neutron diffraction. Under
normal conditions, the diffraction pattern has circular symmetry,
expressing the isotropy of the liquid. In radial direction, the
diffraction intensity smoothly oscillates. This is usually described
by the static structure factor S(q), with wavenumber q=(4/)sin
given by the wavelength of the probe (photon or neutron) and the
Bragg angle . The oscillations of S(q) express the near order of
the liquid, i.e. the correlations between an atom and a few shells of
nearest, second nearest, ... neighbors.
A more intuitive description of these correlations is given by the
radial distribution function g(r), which is basically the Fourier transform of S(q). It represents a spatial average of a
temporal snapshot of pair correlations in the liquid.
Radial distribution function of the Lennard-Jones model fluid.
Sound dispersion and structural
relaxation
The above expression for the sound velocity
contains the bulk modulus K.
If K is frequency independent then the liquid
behaves as a linear medium, so that sound
propagates without dissipation and without
mode coupling. In reality, any liquid shows
some dispersion: with increasing frequency,
K crosses over from the low-frequency,
liquid-like limit to the high-frequency,
solid-like limit . In normal liquids,
most of this cross over takes place at
frequencies between GHz and THz,
sometimes called hypersound.
At sub-GHz frequencies, a normal liquid cannot sustain shear waves: the zero-frequency limit of the shear modulus
is . This is sometimes seen as the defining property of a liquid.
[11][12]
However, just as the bulk modulus
K, the shear modulus G is frequency dependent, and at hypersound frequencies it shows a similar cross over from the
liquid-like limit to a solid-like, non-zero limit .
According to the Kramers-Kronig relation, the dispersion in the sound velocity (given by the real part of K or G)
goes along with a maximum in the sound attenuation (dissipation, given by the imaginary part of K or G). According
to linear response theory, the Fourier transform of K or G describes how the system returns to equilibrium after an
external perturbation; for this reason, the dispersion step in the GHz..THz region is also called structural relaxation.
According the fluctuation-dissipation theorem, relaxation towards equilibrium is intimately connected to fluctuations
in equilibrium. The density fluctuations associated with sound waves can be experimentally observed by Brillouin
scattering.
Liquid
50
On supercooling a liquid towards the glass transition, the crossover from liquid-like to solid-like response moves
from GHz to MHz, kHz, Hz, ...; equivalently, the characteristic time of structural relaxation increases from ns to s,
ms, s, ... This is the microscopic explanation for the above mentioned viscoelastic behaviour of glass-forming
liquids.
Effects of association
The mechanisms of atomic/molecular diffusion (or particle displacement) in solids are closely related to the
mechanisms of viscous flow and solidification in liquid materials. Descriptions of viscosity in terms of molecular
"free space" within the liquid
[13]
were modified as needed in order to account for liquids whose molecules are known
to be "associated" in the liquid state at ordinary temperatures. When various molecules combine together to form an
associated molecule, they enclose within a semi-rigid system a certain amount of space which before was available
as free space for mobile molecules. Thus, increase in viscosity upon cooling due to the tendency of most substances
to become associated on cooling.
[]
Similar arguments could be used to describe the effects of pressure on viscosity, where it may be assumed that the
viscosity is chiefly a function of the volume for liquids with a finite compressibility. An increasing viscosity with
rise of pressure is therefore expected. In addition, if the volume is expanded by heat but reduced again by pressure,
the viscosity remains the same.
The local tendency to orientation of molecules in small groups lends the liquid (as referred to previously) a certain
degree of association. This association results in a considerable "internal pressure" within a liquid, which is due
almost entirely to those molecules which, on account of their temporary low velocities (following the Maxwell
distribution) have coalesced with other molecules. The internal pressure between several such molecules might
correspond to that between a group of molecules in the solid form.
References
[1] [1] Theodore Gray, The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe New York: Workman Publishing, 2009 p. 127
ISBN 1-57912-814-9
[2] Theo Mang, Wilfried Dressel Lubricants and lubrication (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=UTdfxf2rkNcC& ), Wiley-VCH 2007
ISBN 3-527-31497-0
[3] George Wypych Handbook of solvents (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=NzhUTvUkpDQC& pg=PA847) William Andrew
Publishing 2001 pp. 847881 ISBN 1-895198-24-0
[4] N. B. Vargaftik Handbook of thermal conductivity of liquids and gases CRC Press 1994 ISBN 0-8493-9345-0
[5] Jack Erjavec Automotive technology: a systems approach (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=U4TBoJB2zgsC& pg=PA309) Delmar
Learning 2000 p. 309 ISBN 1-4018-4831-1
[6] Gerald Wendt The prospects of nuclear power and technology D. Van Nostrand Company 1957 p. 266
[7] Modern engineering for design of liquid-propellant rocket engines by Dieter K. Huzel, David H. Huang American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics 1992 p. 99 ISBN 1-56347-013-6
[8] Thomas E Mull HVAC principles and applications manual McGraw-Hill 1997 ISBN 0-07-044451-X
[9] R. Keith Mobley Fluid power dynamics (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=8DyLdlfJzoMC& pg=PA1) Butterworth-Heinemann 2000 p.
vii ISBN 0-7506-7174-2
[10] Bela G. Liptak Instrument engineers handbook: process control (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=pPMursVsxlMC& pg=PA807)
CRC Press 1999 p. 807 ISBN 0-8493-1081-4
Gas
51
Gas
Gas phase particles (atoms, molecules, or ions)
move around freely in the absence of an applied
electric field.
Continuum mechanics
Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be
made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas or atomic gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of
atom (e.g. oxygen), or compound molecules made from a variety of atoms (e.g. carbon dioxide). A gas mixture
would contain a variety of pure gases much like the air. What distinguishes a gas from liquids and solids is the vast
separation of the individual gas particles. This separation usually makes a colorless gas invisible to the human
observer. The interaction of gas particles in the presence of electric and gravitational fields are considered negligible
as indicated by the constant velocity vectors in the image.
The gaseous state of matter is found between the liquid and plasma states,
[1]
the latter of which provides the upper
temperature boundary for gases. Bounding the lower end of the temperature scale lie degenerative quantum gases
[2]
which are gaining increased attention these days.
[3]
High-density atomic gases super cooled to incredibly low
temperatures are classified by their statistical behavior as either a Bose gas or a Fermi gas. For a comprehensive
listing of these exotic states of matter see list of states of matter.
Etymology
The word gas is a neologism first used by the early 17th century Flemish chemist J.B. Van Helmont.
[4]
Van
Helmont's word appears to have been simply a phonetic transcription of the Greek word Chaos the g in
Dutch being pronounced like the English ch in which case Van Helmont was simply following the established
alchemical usage first attested in the works of Paracelsus. According to Paracelsus's terminology, chaos meant
something like "ultra-rarefied water".
[]
Gas
52
Physical characteristics
Drifting smoke particles provide clues to the
movement of the surrounding gas.
As most gases are difficult to observe directly, they are described
through the use of four physical properties or macroscopic
characteristics: pressure, volume, number of particles (chemists
group them by moles) and temperature. These four characteristics
were repeatedly observed by scientists such as Robert Boyle,
Jacques Charles, John Dalton, Joseph Gay-Lussac and Amedeo
Avogadro for a variety of gases in various settings. Their detailed
studies ultimately led to a mathematical relationship among these
properties expressed by the ideal gas law (see simplified models
section below).
Gas particles are widely separated from one another, and
consequently have weaker intermolecular bonds than liquids or
solids. These intermolecular forces result from electrostatic interactions between gas particles. Like-charged areas of
different gas particles repel, while oppositely charged regions of different gas particles attract one another; gases that
contain permanently charged ions are known as plasmas. Gaseous compounds with polar covalent bonds contain
permanent charge imbalances and so experience relatively strong intermolecular forces, although the molecule while
the compound's net charge remains neutral. Transient, randomly-induced charges exist across non-polar covalent
bonds of molecules and electrostatic interactions caused by them are referred to as Van der Waals forces. The
interaction of these intermolecular forces varies within a substance which determines many of the physical properties
unique to each gas.
[5][6]
A comparison of boiling points for compounds formed by ionic and covalent bonds leads us
to this conclusion.
[7]
The drifting smoke particles in the image provides some insight into low pressure gas behavior.
Compared to the other states of matter, gases have low density and viscosity. Pressure and temperature influence the
particles within a certain volume. This variation in particle separation and speed is referred to as compressibility.
This particle separation and size influences optical properties of gases as can be found in the following list of
refractive indices. Finally, gas particles spread apart or diffuse in order to homogeneously distribute themselves
throughout any container.
Macroscopic
Shuttle imagery of re-entry phase.
When observing a gas, it is typical to specify a frame of reference or
length scale. A larger length scale corresponds to a macroscopic or
global point of view of the gas. This region (referred to as a volume)
must be sufficient in size to contain a large sampling of gas particles.
The resulting statistical analysis of this sample size produces the
"average" behavior (i.e. velocity, temperature or pressure) of all the
gas particles within the region. In contrast, a smaller length scale
corresponds to a microscopic or particle point of view.
Macroscopically, the gas characteristics measured are either in terms of
the gas particles themselves (velocity, pressure, or temperature) or their
surroundings (volume). For example, Robert Boyle studied pneumatic chemistry for a small portion of his career.
One of his experiments related the macroscopic properties of pressure and volume of a gas. His experiment used a
J-tube manometer which looks like a test tube in the shape of the letter J. Boyle trapped an inert gas in the closed end
of the test tube with a column of mercury, thereby making the number of particles and the temperature constant. He
Gas
53
observed that when the pressure was increased in the gas, by adding more mercury to the column, the trapped gas'
volume decreased (this is known as an inverse relationship). Furthermore, when Boyle multiplied the pressure and
volume of each observation, the product was constant. This relationship held for every gas that Boyle observed
leading to the law, (PV=k), named to honor his work in this field.
There are many mathematical tools available for analyzing gas properties. As gases are subjected to extreme
conditions, these tools become a bit more complex, from the Euler equations for inviscid flow to the Navier-Stokes
equations
[8]
that fully account for viscous effects. These equations are adapted to the conditions of the gas system in
question. Boyle's lab equipment allowed the use of algebra to obtain his analytical results. His results were possible
because he was studying gases in relatively low pressure situations where they behaved in an "ideal" manner. These
ideal relationships apply to safety calculations for a variety of flight conditions on the materials in use. The high
technology equipment in use today was designed to help us safely explore the more exotic operating environments
where the gases no longer behave in an "ideal" manner. This advanced math, including statistics and multivariable
calculus, makes possible the solution to such complex dynamic situations as space vehicle reentry. An example is the
analysis of the space shuttle reentry pictured to ensure the material properties under this loading condition are
appropriate. In this flight regime, the gas is no longer behaving ideally.
Pressure
The symbol used to represent pressure in equations is "p" or "P" with SI units of pascals.
When describing a container of gas, the term pressure (or absolute pressure) refers to the average force per unit area
that the gas exerts on the surface of the container. Within this volume, it is sometimes easier to visualize the gas
particles moving in straight lines until they collide with the container (see diagram at top of the article). The force
imparted by a gas particle into the container during this collision is the change in momentum of the particle.
[9]
During a collision only the normal (geometry) component of velocity changes. A particle traveling parallel to the
wall does not change its momentum. Therefore the average force on a surface must be the average change in linear
momentum from all of these gas particle collisions. Pressure is the sum of all the normal components of force
exerted by the particles impacting the walls of the container divided by the surface area of the wall.
Temperature
The symbol used to represent temperature in equations is T with SI units of kelvins.
The speed of a gas particle is proportional to its absolute temperature. The volume of the balloon in the video shrinks
when the trapped gas particles slow down with the addition of extremely cold nitrogen. The temperature of any
physical system is related to the motions of the particles (molecules and atoms) which make up the [gas] system.
[10]
In statistical mechanics, temperature is the measure of the average kinetic energy stored in a particle. The methods of
storing this energy are dictated by the degrees of freedom of the particle itself (energy modes). Kinetic energy added
(endothermic process) to gas particles by way of collisions produces linear, rotational, and vibrational motion. In
contrast, a molecule in a solid can only increase its vibrational modes with the addition of heat as the lattice crystal
structure prevents both linear and rotational motions. These heated gas molecules have a greater speed range which
constantly varies due to constant collisions with other particles. The speed range can be described by the
Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. Use of this distribution implies ideal gases near thermodynamic equilibrium for the
system of particles being considered.
Gas
54
Specific volume
The symbol used to represent specific volume in equations is "v" with SI units of cubic meters per kilogram.
The symbol used to represent volume in equations is "V" with SI units of cubic meters.
When performing a thermodynamic analysis, it is typical to speak of intensive and extensive properties. Properties
which depend on the amount of gas (either by mass or volume) are called extensive properties, while properties that
do not depend on the amount of gas are called intensive properties. Specific volume is an example of an intensive
property because it is the ratio of volume occupied by a unit of mass of a gas that is identical throughout a system at
equilibrium.
[11]
1000 atoms a gas occupy the same space as any other 1000 atoms for any given temperature and
pressure. This concept is easier to visualize for solids such as iron which are incompressible compared to gases.
Since a gas fills any container in which it is placed, volume is an extensive property.
Density
The symbol used to represent density in equations is (rho) with SI units of kilograms per cubic meter. This term is
the reciprocal of specific volume.
Since gas molecules can move freely within a container, their mass is normally characterized by density. Density is
the amount of mass per unit volume of a substance, or the inverse of specific volume. For gases, the density can vary
over a wide range because the particles are free to move closer together when constrained by pressure or volume.
This variation of density is referred to as compressibility. Like pressure and temperature, density is a state variable of
a gas and the change in density during any process is governed by the laws of thermodynamics. For a static gas, the
density is the same throughout the entire container. Density is therefore a scalar quantity. It can be shown by kinetic
theory that the density is inversely proportional to the size of the container in which a fixed mass of gas is confined.
In this case of a fixed mass, the density decreases as the volume increases.
Microscopic
If one could observe a gas under a powerful microscope, one would see a collection of particles (molecules, atoms,
ions, electrons, etc.) without any definite shape or volume that are in more or less random motion. These neutral gas
particles only change direction when they collide with another particle or with the sides of the container. In an ideal
gas, these collisions are perfectly elastic. This particle or microscopic view of a gas is described by the
Kinetic-molecular theory. The assumptions behind this theory can be found in the postulates section of Kinetic
Theory.
Kinetic theory
Kinetic theory provides insight into the macroscopic properties of gases by considering their molecular composition
and motion. Starting with the definitions of momentum and kinetic energy,
[12]
one can use the conservation of
momentum and geometric relationships of a cube to relate macroscopic system properties of temperature and
pressure to the microscopic property of kinetic energy per molecule. The theory provides averaged values for these
two properties.
The theory also explains how the gas system responds to change. For example, as a gas is heated from absolute zero,
when it is (in theory) perfectly still, its internal energy (temperature) is increased. As a gas is heated, the particles
speed up and its temperature rises. This results in greater numbers of collisions with the container per unit time due
to the higher particle speeds associated with elevated temperatures. The pressure increases in proportion to the
number of collisions per unit time.
Gas
55
Brownian motion
Random motion of gas particles results in
diffusion.
Brownian motion is the mathematical model used to describe the
random movement of particles suspended in a fluid. The gas particle
animation, using pink and green particles, illustrates how this behavior
results in the spreading out of gases (entropy). These events are also
described by particle theory.
Since it is at the limit of (or beyond) current technology to observe
individual gas particles (atoms or molecules), only theoretical
calculations give suggestions about how they move, but their motion is
different from Brownian motion because Brownian motion involves a
smooth drag due to the frictional force of many gas molecules,
punctuated by violent collisions of an individual (or several) gas
molecule(s) with the particle. The particle (generally consisting of
millions or billions of atoms) thus moves in a jagged course, yet not so jagged as would be expected if an individual
gas molecule were examined.
Intermolecular forces
When gases are compressed,
intermolecular forces like those shown
here start to play a more active role.
As discussed earlier, momentary attractions (or repulsions) between particles
have an effect on gas dynamics. In physical chemistry, the name given to these
intermolecular forces is van der Waals force. These forces play a key role in
determining physical properties of a gas such as viscosity and flow rate (see
physical characteristics section). Ignoring these forces in certain conditions
(see Kinetic-molecular theory) allows a real gas to be treated like an ideal gas.
This assumption allows the use of ideal gas laws which greatly simplifies
calculations.
Proper use of these gas relationships requires the Kinetic-molecular theory
(KMT). When gas particles possess a magnetic charge or Intermolecular force
they gradually influence one another as the spacing between them is reduced
(the hydrogen bond model illustrates one example). In the absence of any
charge, at some point when the spacing between gas particles is greatly reduced they can no longer avoid collisions
between themselves at normal gas temperatures. Another case for increased collisions among gas particles would
include a fixed volume of gas, which upon heating would contain very fast particles. This means that these ideal
equations provide reasonable results except for extremely high pressure (compressible) or high temperature
(ionized) conditions. Notice that all of these excepted conditions allow energy transfer to take place within the gas
system. The absence of these internal transfers is what is referred to as ideal conditions in which the energy
exchange occurs only at the boundaries of the system. Real gases experience some of these collisions and
intermolecular forces. When these collisions are statistically negligible (incompressible), results from these ideal
equations are still meaningful. If the gas particles are compressed into close proximity they behave more like a liquid
(see fluid dynamics).
Gas
56
Simplified models
An equation of state (for gases) is a mathematical model used to roughly describe or predict the state properties of a
gas. At present, there is no single equation of state that accurately predicts the properties of all gases under all
conditions. Therefore, a number of much more accurate equations of state have been developed for gases in specific
temperature and pressure ranges. The "gas models" that are most widely discussed are "perfect gas", "ideal gas" and
"real gas". Each of these models has its own set of assumptions to facilitate the analysis of a given thermodynamic
system.
[13]
Each successive model expands the temperature range of coverage to which it applies.
Ideal and perfect gas models
The equation of state for an ideal or perfect gas is the ideal gas law and reads
where P is the pressure, V is the volume, n is amount of gas (in mol units), R is the universal gas constant,
8.314J/(molK), and T is the temperature. Written this way, it is sometimes called the "chemist's version", since it
emphasizes the number of molecules n. It can also be written as
where is the specific gas constant for a particular gas, in units J/(kgK), and = m/V is density. This notation is
the "gas dynamicist's" version, which is more practical in modeling of gas flows involving acceleration without
chemical reactions.
The ideal gas law does not make an assumption about the specific heat of a gas. In the most general case, the specific
heat is a function of both temperature and pressure. If the pressure-dependence is neglected (and possibly the
temperature-dependence as well) in a particular application, sometimes the gas is said to be a perfect gas, although
the exact assumptions may vary depending on the author and/or field of science.
For an ideal gas, the ideal gas law applies without restrictions on the specific heat. An ideal gas is a simplified "real
gas" with the assumption that the compressibility factor Z is set to 1 meaning that this pneumatic ratio remains
constant. A compressibility factor of one also requires the four state variables to follow the ideal gas law.
This approximation is more suitable for applications in engineering although simpler models can be used to produce
a "ball-park" range as to where the real solution should lie. An example where the "ideal gas approximation" would
be suitable would be inside a combustion chamber of a jet engine.
[14]
It may also be useful to keep the elementary
reactions and chemical dissociations for calculating emissions.
Real gas
21 April 1990 eruption of Mount Redoubt,
Alaska, illustrating real gases not in
thermodynamic equilibrium.
Each one of the assumptions listed below adds to the complexity of the
problem's solution. As the density of a gas increases with pressure
rises, the intermolecular forces play a more substantial role in gas
behavior which results in the ideal gas law no longer providing
"reasonable" results. At the upper end of the engine temperature ranges
(e.g. combustor sections 1300 K), the complex fuel particles absorb
internal energy by means of rotations and vibrations that cause their
specific heats to vary from those of diatomic molecules and noble
gases. At more than double that temperature, electronic excitation and
dissociation of the gas particles begins to occur causing the pressure to
adjust to a greater number of particles (transition from gas to
plasma).
[15]
Finally, all of the thermodynamic processes were
Gas
57
presumed to describe uniform gases whose velocities varied according to a fixed distribution. Using a
non-equilibrium situation implies the flow field must be characterized in some manner to enable a solution. One of
the first attempts to expand the boundaries of the ideal gas law was to include coverage for different thermodynamic
processes by adjusting the equation to read pV
n
= constant and then varying the n through different values such as
the specific heat ratio, .
Real gas effects include those adjustments made to account for a greater range of gas behavior:
Compressibility effects (Z allowed to vary from 1.0)
Variable heat capacity (specific heats vary with temperature)
Van der Waals forces (related to compressibility, can substitute other equations of state)
Non-equilibrium thermodynamic effects
Issues with molecular dissociation and elementary reactions with variable composition.
For most applications, such a detailed analysis is excessive. Examples where "Real Gas effects" would have a
significant impact would be on the Space Shuttle re-entry where extremely high temperatures and pressures are
present or the gases produced during geological events as in the image of the 1990 eruption of Mount Redoubt.
Historical synthesis
Boyle's law
Boyle's equipment.
Boyle's Law was perhaps the first expression of an equation of state. In
1662 Robert Boyle performed a series of experiments employing a
J-shaped glass tube, which was sealed on one end. Mercury was added to
the tube, trapping a fixed quantity of air in the short, sealed end of the tube.
Then the volume of gas was carefully measured as additional mercury was
added to the tube. The pressure of the gas could be determined by the
difference between the mercury level in the short end of the tube and that
in the long, open end. The image of Boyle's Equipment shows some of the
exotic tools used by Boyle during his study of gases.
Through these experiments, Boyle noted that the pressure exerted by a gas
held at a constant temperature varies inversely with the volume of the
gas.
[16]
For example, if the volume is halved, the pressure is doubled; and
if the volume is doubled, the pressure is halved. Given the inverse
relationship between pressure and volume, the product of pressure (P) and
volume (V) is a constant (k) for a given mass of confined gas as long as the
temperature is constant. Stated as a formula, thus is:
Because the before and after volumes and pressures of the fixed amount of gas, where the before and after
temperatures are the same both equal the constant k, they can be related by the equation:
Gas
58
Charles's Law
In 1787, the French physicist and balloon pioneer, Jacques Charles, found that oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon
dioxide, and air expand to the same extent over the same 80 kelvin interval. He noted that, for an ideal gas at
constant pressure, the volume is directly proportional to its temperature:
Gay-Lussac's Law
In 1802, Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac published results of similar, though more extensive experiments.
[17]
Gay-Lussac
credited Charle's earlier work by naming the law in his honor. Gay-Lussac himself is credited with the law
describing pressure, which he found in 1809. It states that the pressure exerted on a container's sides by an ideal gas
is proportional to its temperature.
Avogadro's law
In 1811, Amedeo Avogadro verified that equal volumes of pure gases contain the same number of particles. His
theory was not generally accepted until 1858 when another Italian chemist Stanislao Cannizzaro was able to explain
non-ideal exceptions. For his work with gases a century prior, the number that bears his name Avogadro's constant
represents the number of atoms found in 12grams of elemental carbon-12 (6.02210
23
mol
1
). This specific number
of gas particles, at standard temperature and pressure (ideal gas law) occupies 22.40 liters, which is referred to as the
molar volume.
Avogadro's law states that the volume occupied by an ideal gas is proportional to the number of moles (or molecules)
present in the container. This gives rise to the molar volume of a gas, which at STP is 22.4 dm
3
(or litres). The
relation is given by
where n is equal to the number of moles of gas (the number of molecules divided by Avogadro's Number).
Dalton's law
Dalton's notation.
In 1801, John Dalton published the Law of Partial Pressures from his
work with ideal gas law relationship: The pressure of a mixture of
gases is equal to the sum of the pressures of all of the constituent gases
alone. Mathematically, this can be represented for n species as:
Pressure
total
= Pressure
1
+ Pressure
2
+ ... + Pressure
n
The image of Dalton's journal depicts symbology he used as shorthand
to record the path he followed. Among his key journal observations
upon mixing unreactive "elastic fluids" (gases) were the following:
[18]
Unlike liquids, heavier gases did not drift to the bottom upon
mixing.
Gas particle identity played no role in determining final pressure
(they behaved as if their size was negligible).
Gas
59
Special topics
Compressibility
Compressibility factors for air.
Thermodynamicists use this factor (Z) to alter the ideal gas equation to
account for compressibility effects of real gases. This factor represents
the ratio of actual to ideal specific volumes. It is sometimes referred to
as a "fudge-factor" or correction to expand the useful range of the ideal
gas law for design purposes. Usually this Z value is very close to unity.
The compressibility factor image illustrates how Z varies over a range
of very cold temperatures.
Reynolds number
In fluid mechanics, the Reynolds number is the ratio of inertial forces (v
s
) to viscous forces (/L). It is one of the
most important dimensionless numbers in fluid dynamics and is used, usually along with other dimensionless
numbers, to provide a criterion for determining dynamic similitude. As such, the Reynolds number provides the link
between modeling results (design) and the full-scale actual conditions. It can also be used to characterize the flow.
Viscosity
Satellite view of weather pattern in vicinity of
Robinson Crusoe Islands on 15 September 1999,
shows a unique turbulent cloud pattern called a
Krmn vortex street
Viscosity, a physical property, is a measure of how well adjacent
molecules stick to one another. A solid can withstand a shearing force
due to the strength of these sticky intermolecular forces. A fluid will
continuously deform when subjected to a similar load. While a gas has
a lower value of viscosity than a liquid, it is still an observable
property. If gases had no viscosity, then they would not stick to the
surface of a wing and form a boundary layer. A study of the delta wing
in the Schlieren image reveals that the gas particles stick to one another
(see Boundary layer section).
Gas
60
Turbulence
Delta wing in wind tunnel. The shadows form as
the indices of refraction change within the gas as
it compresses on the leading edge of this wing.
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a flow regime
characterized by chaotic, stochastic property changes. This includes
low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid
variation of pressure and velocity in space and time. The Satellite view
of weather around Robinson Crusoe Islands illustrates just one
example.
Boundary layer
Particles will, in effect, "stick" to the surface of an object moving
through it. This layer of particles is called the boundary layer. At the
surface of the object, it is essentially static due to the friction of the
surface. The object, with its boundary layer is effectively the new
shape of the object that the rest of the molecules "see" as the object
approaches. This boundary layer can separate from the surface,
essentially creating a new surface and completely changing the flow
path. The classical example of this is a stalling airfoil. The delta wing
image clearly shows the boundary layer thickening as the gas flows from right to left along the leading edge.
Maximum entropy principle
As the total number of degrees of freedom approaches infinity, the system will be found in the macrostate that
corresponds to the highest multiplicity. In order to illustrate this principle, observe the skin temperature of a frozen
metal bar. Using a thermal image of the skin temperature, note the temperature distribution on the surface. This
initial observation of temperature represents a "microstate." At some future time, a second observation of the skin
temperature produces a second microstate. By continuing this observation process, it is possible to produce a series
of microstates that illustrate the thermal history of the bar's surface. Characterization of this historical series of
microstates is possible by choosing the macrostate that successfully classifies them all into a single grouping.
Thermodynamic equilibrium
When energy transfer ceases from a system, this condition is referred to as thermodynamic equilibrium. Usually this
condition implies the system and surroundings are at the same temperature so that heat no longer transfers between
them. It also implies that external forces are balanced (volume does not change), and all chemical reactions within
the system are complete. The timeline varies for these events depending on the system in question. A container of ice
allowed to melt at room temperature takes hours, while in semiconductors the heat transfer that occurs in the device
transition from an on to off state could be on the order of a few nanoseconds.
Gas
61
Notes
[1] This early 20th century discussion infers what is regarded as the plasma state. See page 137 of American Chemical Society, Faraday Society,
Chemical Society (Great Britain) The Journal of physical chemistry, Volume 11 Cornell (1907).
[2] [2] The work by T. Zelevinski provides another link to latest research about Strontium in this new field of study. See
[3] for links material on the Bose-Einstein condensate see Quantum Gas Microscope Offers Glimpse Of Quirky Ultracold Atoms (http:/ / www.
sciencedaily.com/ releases/ 2009/ 11/ 091104140812.htm). ScienceDaily. 4 November 2009.
[4] J. B. van Helmont, Ortus medicinae. (Amsterdam, (Netherlands): Louis Elzevir, 1652 (first edition: 1648)). The word "gas" first appears
on page 58 (http:/ / books.google. com/ books?id=c41nbl8iwrEC& pg=PA58#v=onepage& q& f=false), where he mentions: " Gas (meum
scil. inventum) " ( gas (namely, my discovery) ). On page 59 (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=c41nbl8iwrEC&
pg=PA59#v=onepage& q& f=false), he states: " in nominis egestate, halitum illum, Gas vocavi, non longe a Chao " ( in need of a
name, I called this vapor "gas", not far from "chaos" )
[5] The authors make the connection between molecular forces of metals and their corresponding physical properties. By extension, this concept
would apply to gases as well, though not universally. Cornell (1907) pp. 1645.
[6] One noticeable exception to this physical property connection is conductivity which varies depending on the state of matter (ionic compounds
in water) as described by Michael Faraday in the 1833 when he noted that ice does not conduct a current. See page 45 of John Tyndall's
Faraday as a Discoverer (1868).
[8] [8] Anderson, p.501
[10] See pages 1378 of Society, Cornell (1907).
[12] For assumptions of Kinetic Theory see McPherson, pp.6061
[13] Anderson, pp. 289291
[14] [14] John, p.205
[15] John, pp. 24756
[16] McPherson, pp.5255
[17] McPherson, pp.5560
References
Anderson, John D. (1984). Fundamentals of Aerodynamics. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
ISBN0-07-001656-9.
John, James (1984). Gas Dynamics. Allyn and Bacon. ISBN0-205-08014-6.
McPherson, William and Henderson, William (1917). An Elementary study of chemistry.
Further reading
Philip Hill and Carl Peterson. Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Propulsion: Second Edition Addison-Wesley,
1992. ISBN 0-201-14659-2
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Animated Gas Lab (http:/ / www. grc. nasa. gov/
WWW/ K-12/ airplane/ Animation/ frglab. html). Accessed February 2008.
Georgia State University. HyperPhysics (http:/ / hyperphysics. phy-astr. gsu. edu/ hbase/ hframe. html). Accessed
February 2008.
Antony Lewis WordWeb (http:/ / www. wordwebonline. com/ en/ GASEOUSSTATE). Accessed February 2008.
Northwestern Michigan College The Gaseous State (http:/ / www. nmc. edu/ ~bberthelsen/ c9n03. htm). Accessed
February 2008.
Plasma
62
Plasma
Plasma


Top row: both lightning and electric sparks are everyday examples of phenomena made from plasma. Neon lights could more accurately be called
"plasma lights", as the light comes from the plasma inside of them. Bottom row: A plasma globe, illustrating some of the more complex phenomena
of a plasma, including filamentation. The colors are a result of relaxation of electrons in excited states to lower energy states after they have
recombined with ions. These processes emit light in a spectrum characteristic of the gas being excited. The second image is of a plasma trail from
Space Shuttle Atlantis during re-entry into the atmosphere, as seen from the International Space Station.
Continuum mechanics
Plasma (from Greek , "anything formed"
[1]
) is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being
solid, liquid, and gas). Heating a gas may ionize its molecules or atoms (reducing or increasing the number of
electrons in them), thus turning it into a plasma, which contains charged particles: positive ions and negative
electrons or ions.
[2]
Ionization can be induced by other means, such as strong electromagnetic field applied with a
laser or microwave generator, and is accompanied by the dissociation of molecular bonds, if present.
[]
The presence of a non-negligible number of charge carriers makes the plasma electrically conductive so that it
responds strongly to electromagnetic fields. Plasma, therefore, has properties quite unlike those of solids, liquids, or
gases and is considered a distinct state of matter. Like gas, plasma does not have a definite shape or a definite
volume unless enclosed in a container; unlike gas, under the influence of a magnetic field, it may form structures
such as filaments, beams and double layers. Some common plasmas are found in stars and neon signs. In the
universe, plasma is the most common state of matter for ordinary matter, most of which is in the rarefied
intergalactic plasma (particularly intracluster medium) and in stars. Much of the understanding of plasmas has come
from the pursuit of controlled nuclear fusion and fusion power, for which plasma physics provides the scientific
basis.
Plasma
63
Common plasmas
Plasmas are by far the most common phase of ordinary matter in the universe, both by mass and by volume.
[3]
Our
Sun, and all the stars are made of plasma, much of interstellar space is filled with a plasma, albeit a very sparse one,
and intergalactic space too. In our solar system, interplanetary space is filled with the plasma of the Solar Wind that
extends from the Sun out to the heliopause. Even black holes, which are not directly visible, are fuelled by accreting
ionising matter (i.e. plasma),
[4]
and they are associated with astrophysical jets of luminous ejected plasma,
[5]
such as
M87's jet that extends 5,000 light-years.
[6]
Dust and small grains within a plasma will also pick up a net negative charge, so that they in turn may act like a very
heavy negative ion component of the plasma (see dusty plasmas).
The current consensus is that about 96% of the total energy density in the universe is not plasma or any other form of
ordinary matter, but a combination of cold dark matter and dark energy. In our Solar System, however, the density of
ordinary matter is much higher than average and much higher than that of either dark matter or dark energy. The
planet Jupiter accounts for most of the non-plasma, only about 0.1% of the mass and 10
15
% of the volume within
the orbit of Pluto.
Common forms of plasma
Artificially produced Terrestrial plasmas Space and
astrophysical plasmas
Those found in plasma displays, including TVs Lightning The Sun and other
stars
(plasmas heated by
nuclear fusion)
Inside fluorescent lamps (low energy lighting), neon signs
[7]
St. Elmo's fire The solar wind
Rocket exhaust and ion thrusters Upper-atmospheric lightning (e.g. Blue
jets, Blue starters, Gigantic jets,
ELVES)
The interplanetary
medium
(space between
planets)
The area in front of a spacecraft's heat shield during re-entry into the
atmosphere
Sprites The interstellar
medium
(space between star
systems)
Inside a corona discharge ozone generator The ionosphere The Intergalactic
medium
(space between
galaxies)
Fusion energy research The plasmasphere The Io-Jupiter flux
tube
The electric arc in an arc lamp, an arc welder or plasma torch The polar aurorae Accretion discs
Plasma ball (sometimes called a plasma sphere or plasma globe)
Some flames
[8][9]
Interstellar nebulae
Arcs produced by Tesla coils (resonant air core transformer or disruptor
coil that produces arcs similar to lightning, but with alternating current
rather than static electricity)
The polar wind, a plasma fountain Cometary ion tail
Plasmas used in semiconductor device fabrication including
reactive-ion etching, sputtering, surface cleaning and plasma-enhanced
chemical vapor deposition
Laser-produced plasmas (LPP), found when high power lasers interact
with materials.
Inductively coupled plasmas (ICP), formed typically in argon gas for
optical emission spectroscopy or mass spectrometry
Plasma
64
Magnetically induced plasmas (MIP), typically produced using
microwaves as a resonant coupling method
Static electric sparks
Plasma properties and parameters
Artist's rendition of the Earth's plasma fountain,
showing oxygen, helium, and hydrogen ions that gush
into space from regions near the Earth's poles. The
faint yellow area shown above the north pole
represents gas lost from Earth into space; the green
area is the aurora borealis, where plasma energy pours
back into the atmosphere.
[10]
Definition of a plasma
Plasma is loosely described as an electrically neutral medium of
positive and negative particles (i.e. the overall charge of a plasma
is roughly zero). It is important to note that although they are
unbound, these particles are not free. When the charges move
they generate electrical currents with magnetic fields, and as a
result, they are affected by each others fields. This governs their
collective behavior with many degrees of freedom.
[][11]
A
definition can have three criteria:
[][12]
1. The plasma approximation: Charged particles must be close
enough together that each particle influences many nearby
charged particles, rather than just interacting with the closest
particle (these collective effects are a distinguishing feature of a
plasma). The plasma approximation is valid when the number
of charge carriers within the sphere of influence (called the
Debye sphere whose radius is the Debye screening length) of a
particular particle is higher than unity to provide collective
behavior of the charged particles. The average number of
particles in the Debye sphere is given by the plasma parameter,
"" (the Greek letter Lambda).
2. Bulk interactions: The Debye screening length (defined
above) is short compared to the physical size of the plasma. This criterion means that interactions in the bulk of
the plasma are more important than those at its edges, where boundary effects may take place. When this criterion
is satisfied, the plasma is quasineutral.
3. Plasma frequency: The electron plasma frequency (measuring plasma oscillations of the electrons) is large
compared to the electron-neutral collision frequency (measuring frequency of collisions between electrons and
neutral particles). When this condition is valid, electrostatic interactions dominate over the processes of ordinary
gas kinetics.
Plasma
65
Ranges of plasma parameters
Plasma parameters can take on values varying by many orders of magnitude, but the properties of plasmas with
apparently disparate parameters may be very similar (see plasma scaling). The following chart considers only
conventional atomic plasmas and not exotic phenomena like quark gluon plasmas:
Range of plasmas. Density increases upwards, temperature increases
towards the right. The free electrons in a metal may be considered an
electron plasma.
[13]
Typical ranges of plasma parameters: orders of magnitude (OOM)
Characteristic Terrestrial plasmas Cosmic plasmas
Size
in meters
10
6
m (lab plasmas) to
10
2
m (lightning) (~8 OOM)
10
6
m (spacecraft sheath) to
10
25
m (intergalactic nebula) (~31 OOM)
Lifetime
in seconds
10
12
s (laser-produced plasma) to
10
7
s (fluorescent lights) (~19 OOM)
10
1
s (solar flares) to
10
17
s (intergalactic plasma) (~16 OOM)
Density
in particles per
cubic meter
10
7
m
3
to
10
32
m
3
(inertial confinement plasma)
1 m
3
(intergalactic medium) to
10
30
m
3
(stellar core)
Temperature
in degrees Kelvin
~0 K (crystalline non-neutral plasma
[14]
)
to
10
8
K (magnetic fusion plasma)
10
2
K (aurora) to
10
7
K (solar core)
Magnetic fields
in teslas
10
4
T (lab plasma) to
10
3
T (pulsed-power plasma)
10
12
T (intergalactic medium) to
10
11
T (near neutron stars)
Degree of ionization
For plasma to exist, ionization is necessary. The term "plasma density" by itself usually refers to the "electron
density", that is, the number of free electrons per unit volume. The degree of ionization of a plasma is the proportion
of atoms that have lost or gained electrons, and is controlled mostly by the temperature. Even a partially ionized gas
in which as little as 1% of the particles are ionized can have the characteristics of a plasma (i.e., response to
magnetic fields and high electrical conductivity). The degree of ionization, , is defined as = n
i
/(n
i
+ n
a
) where n
i
is
Plasma
66
the number density of ions and n
a
is the number density of neutral atoms. The electron density is related to this by
the average charge state <Z> of the ions through n
e
= <Z> n
i
where n
e
is the number density of electrons.
Temperatures
Plasma temperature is commonly measured in Kelvin or electronvolts and is, informally, a measure of the thermal
kinetic energy per particle. Very high temperatures are usually needed to sustain ionization, which is a defining
feature of a plasma. The degree of plasma ionization is determined by the "electron temperature" relative to the
ionization energy, (and more weakly by the density), in a relationship called the Saha equation. At low temperatures,
ions and electrons tend to recombine into bound statesatoms,
[]
and the plasma will eventually become a gas.
In most cases the electrons are close enough to thermal equilibrium that their temperature is relatively well-defined,
even when there is a significant deviation from a Maxwellian energy distribution function, for example, due to UV
radiation, energetic particles, or strong electric fields. Because of the large difference in mass, the electrons come to
thermodynamic equilibrium amongst themselves much faster than they come into equilibrium with the ions or
neutral atoms. For this reason, the "ion temperature" may be very different from (usually lower than) the "electron
temperature". This is especially common in weakly ionized technological plasmas, where the ions are often near the
ambient temperature.
Thermal vs. non-thermal plasmas
Based on the relative temperatures of the electrons, ions and neutrals, plasmas are classified as "thermal" or
"non-thermal". Thermal plasmas have electrons and the heavy particles at the same temperature, i.e., they are in
thermal equilibrium with each other. Non-thermal plasmas on the other hand have the ions and neutrals at a much
lower temperature (normally room temperature), whereas electrons are much "hotter".
A plasma is sometimes referred to as being "hot" if it is nearly fully ionized, or "cold" if only a small fraction (for
example 1%) of the gas molecules are ionized, but other definitions of the terms "hot plasma" and "cold plasma" are
common. Even in a "cold" plasma, the electron temperature is still typically several thousand degrees Celsius.
Plasmas utilized in "plasma technology" ("technological plasmas") are usually cold in the sense that only a small
fraction of the gas molecules are ionized.
Plasma
67
Potentials
Lightning is an example of plasma present at Earth's surface.
Typically, lightning discharges 30,000 amperes at up to 100
million volts, and emits light, radio waves, X-rays and even
gamma rays.
[15]
Plasma temperatures in lightning can approach
~28,000 Kelvin and electron densities may exceed 10
24
m
3
.
Since plasmas are very good conductors, electric
potentials play an important role. The potential as it exists
on average in the space between charged particles,
independent of the question of how it can be measured, is
called the "plasma potential", or the "space potential". If
an electrode is inserted into a plasma, its potential will
generally lie considerably below the plasma potential due
to what is termed a Debye sheath. The good electrical
conductivity of plasmas makes their electric fields very
small. This results in the important concept of
"quasineutrality", which says the density of negative
charges is approximately equal to the density of positive
charges over large volumes of the plasma (n
e
=<Z>n
i
),
but on the scale of the Debye length there can be charge
imbalance. In the special case that double layers are
formed, the charge separation can extend some tens of
Debye lengths.
The magnitude of the potentials and electric fields must be
determined by means other than simply finding the net
charge density. A common example is to assume that the
electrons satisfy the "Boltzmann relation":
.
Differentiating this relation provides a means to calculate
the electric field from the density:
.
It is possible to produce a plasma that is not quasineutral.
An electron beam, for example, has only negative charges. The density of a non-neutral plasma must generally be
very low, or it must be very small, otherwise it will be dissipated by the repulsive electrostatic force.
In astrophysical plasmas, Debye screening prevents electric fields from directly affecting the plasma over large
distances, i.e., greater than the Debye length. However, the existence of charged particles causes the plasma to
generate and can be affected by magnetic fields. This can and does cause extremely complex behavior, such as the
generation of plasma double layers, an object that separates charge over a few tens of Debye lengths. The dynamics
of plasmas interacting with external and self-generated magnetic fields are studied in the academic discipline of
magnetohydrodynamics.
Magnetization
Plasma with a magnetic field strong enough to influence the motion of the charged particles is said to be magnetized.
A common quantitative criterion is that a particle on average completes at least one gyration around the magnetic
field before making a collision, i.e.,
ce
/
coll
> 1, where
ce
is the "electron gyrofrequency" and
coll
is the "electron
collision rate". It is often the case that the electrons are magnetized while the ions are not. Magnetized plasmas are
anisotropic, meaning that their properties in the direction parallel to the magnetic field are different from those
perpendicular to it. While electric fields in plasmas are usually small due to the high conductivity, the electric field
associated with a plasma moving in a magnetic field is given by E = v B (where E is the electric field, v is the
Plasma
68
velocity, and B is the magnetic field), and is not affected by Debye shielding.
[16]
Comparison of plasma and gas phases
Plasma is often called the fourth state of matter after solid, liquids and gases.
[17]
It is distinct from these and other
lower-energy states of matter. Although it is closely related to the gas phase in that it also has no definite form or
volume, it differs in a number of ways, including the following:
Property Gas Plasma
Electrical
conductivity
Very low: Air is an excellent insulator until
it breaks down into plasma at electric field
strengths above 30 kilovolts per
centimeter.
[18]
Usually very high: For many purposes, the conductivity of a plasma may be
treated as infinite.
Independently
acting species
One: All gas particles behave in a similar
way, influenced by gravity and by
collisions with one another.
Two or three: Electrons, ions, protons and neutrons can be distinguished by the
sign and value of their charge so that they behave independently in many
circumstances, with different bulk velocities and temperatures, allowing
phenomena such as new types of waves and instabilities.
Velocity
distribution
Maxwellian: Collisions usually lead to a
Maxwellian velocity distribution of all gas
particles, with very few relatively fast
particles.
Often non-Maxwellian: Collisional interactions are often weak in hot plasmas
and external forcing can drive the plasma far from local equilibrium and lead to a
significant population of unusually fast particles.
Interactions Binary: Two-particle collisions are the
rule, three-body collisions extremely rare.
Collective: Waves, or organized motion of plasma, are very important because
the particles can interact at long ranges through the electric and magnetic forces.
Complex plasma phenomena
The remnant of "Tycho's Supernova", a huge ball of expanding plasma. The outer
shell shown in blue is X-ray emission by high-speed electrons.
Although the underlying equations
governing plasmas are relatively simple,
plasma behavior is extraordinarily varied
and subtle: the emergence of unexpected
behavior from a simple model is a typical
feature of a complex system. Such systems
lie in some sense on the boundary between
ordered and disordered behavior and cannot
typically be described either by simple,
smooth, mathematical functions, or by pure
randomness. The spontaneous formation of
interesting spatial features on a wide range
of length scales is one manifestation of
plasma complexity. The features are
interesting, for example, because they are
very sharp, spatially intermittent (the
distance between features is much larger
than the features themselves), or have a
fractal form. Many of these features were
first studied in the laboratory, and have
subsequently been recognized throughout
the universe. Examples of complexity and complex structures in plasmas include:
Plasma
69
Filamentation
Striations or string-like structures,
[19]
also known as birkeland currents, are seen in many plasmas, like the plasma
ball, the aurora,
[20]
lightning,
[21]
electric arcs, solar flares,
[22]
and supernova remnants.
[23]
They are sometimes
associated with larger current densities, and the interaction with the magnetic field can form a magnetic rope
structure.
[24]
High power microwave breakdown at atmospheric pressure also leads to the formation of filamentary
structures.
[]
(See also Plasma pinch)
Filamentation also refers to the self-focusing of a high power laser pulse. At high powers, the nonlinear part of the
index of refraction becomes important and causes a higher index of refraction in the center of the laser beam, where
the laser is brighter than at the edges, causing a feedback that focuses the laser even more. The tighter focused laser
has a higher peak brightness (irradiance) that forms a plasma. The plasma has an index of refraction lower than one,
and causes a defocusing of the laser beam. The interplay of the focusing index of refraction, and the defocusing
plasma makes the formation of a long filament of plasma that can be micrometers to kilometers in length.
[25]
(See
also Filament propagation)
Shocks or double layers
Plasma properties change rapidly (within a few Debye lengths) across a two-dimensional sheet in the presence of a
(moving) shock or (stationary) double layer. Double layers involve localized charge separation, which causes a large
potential difference across the layer, but does not generate an electric field outside the layer. Double layers separate
adjacent plasma regions with different physical characteristics, and are often found in current carrying plasmas. They
accelerate both ions and electrons.
Electric fields and circuits
Quasineutrality of a plasma requires that plasma currents close on themselves in electric circuits. Such circuits
follow Kirchhoff's circuit laws and possess a resistance and inductance. These circuits must generally be treated as a
strongly coupled system, with the behavior in each plasma region dependent on the entire circuit. It is this strong
coupling between system elements, together with nonlinearity, which may lead to complex behavior. Electrical
circuits in plasmas store inductive (magnetic) energy, and should the circuit be disrupted, for example, by a plasma
instability, the inductive energy will be released as plasma heating and acceleration. This is a common explanation
for the heating that takes place in the solar corona. Electric currents, and in particular, magnetic-field-aligned electric
currents (which are sometimes generically referred to as "Birkeland currents"), are also observed in the Earth's
aurora, and in plasma filaments.
Cellular structure
Narrow sheets with sharp gradients may separate regions with different properties such as magnetization, density and
temperature, resulting in cell-like regions. Examples include the magnetosphere, heliosphere, and heliospheric
current sheet. Hannes Alfvn wrote: "From the cosmological point of view, the most important new space research
discovery is probably the cellular structure of space. As has been seen in every region of space accessible to in situ
measurements, there are a number of 'cell walls', sheets of electric currents, which divide space into compartments
with different magnetization, temperature, density, etc."
[26]
Plasma
70
Critical ionization velocity
The critical ionization velocity is the relative velocity between an ionized plasma and a neutral gas, above which a
runaway ionization process takes place. The critical ionization process is a quite general mechanism for the
conversion of the kinetic energy of a rapidly streaming gas into ionization and plasma thermal energy. Critical
phenomena in general are typical of complex systems, and may lead to sharp spatial or temporal features.
Ultracold plasma
Ultracold plasmas are created in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) by trapping and cooling neutral atoms, to
temperatures of 1mK or lower, and then using another laser to ionize the atoms by giving each of the outermost
electrons just enough energy to escape the electrical attraction of its parent ion.
One advantage of ultracold plasmas are their well characterized and tunable initial conditions, including their size
and electron temperature. By adjusting the wavelength of the ionizing laser, the kinetic energy of the liberated
electrons can be tuned as low as 0.1 K, a limit set by the frequency bandwidth of the laser pulse. The ions inherit the
millikelvin temperatures of the neutral atoms, but are quickly heated through a process known as disorder induced
heating (DIH). This type of non-equilibrium ultracold plasma evolves rapidly, and displays many other interesting
phenomena.
[27]
One of the metastable states of a strongly nonideal plasma is Rydberg matter, which forms upon condensation of
excited atoms.
Non-neutral plasma
The strength and range of the electric force and the good conductivity of plasmas usually ensure that the densities of
positive and negative charges in any sizeable region are equal ("quasineutrality"). A plasma with a significant excess
of charge density, or, in the extreme case, is composed of a single species, is called a non-neutral plasma. In such a
plasma, electric fields play a dominant role. Examples are charged particle beams, an electron cloud in a Penning
trap and positron plasmas.
[28]
Plasma
71
Dusty plasma and grain plasma
A dusty plasma contains tiny charged particles of dust (typically found in space). The dust particles acquire high
charges and interact with each other. A plasma that contains larger particles is called grain plasma. Under laboratory
conditions, dusty plasmas are also called complex plasmas.
[29]
Mathematical descriptions
The complex self-constricting magnetic field
lines and current paths in a field-aligned
Birkeland current that can develop in a
plasma.
[30]
To completely describe the state of a plasma, we would need to write
down all the particle locations and velocities and describe the
electromagnetic field in the plasma region. However, it is generally not
practical or necessary to keep track of all the particles in a plasma.
Therefore, plasma physicists commonly use less detailed descriptions,
of which there are two main types:
Fluid model
Fluid models describe plasmas in terms of smoothed quantities, like
density and averaged velocity around each position (see Plasma
parameters). One simple fluid model, magnetohydrodynamics, treats
the plasma as a single fluid governed by a combination of Maxwell's
equations and the NavierStokes equations. A more general
description is the two-fluid plasma picture, where the ions and
electrons are described separately. Fluid models are often accurate
when collisionality is sufficiently high to keep the plasma velocity
distribution close to a MaxwellBoltzmann distribution. Because fluid
models usually describe the plasma in terms of a single flow at a
certain temperature at each spatial location, they can neither capture
velocity space structures like beams or double layers, nor resolve
wave-particle effects.
Kinetic model
Kinetic models describe the particle velocity distribution function at each point in the plasma and therefore do not
need to assume a MaxwellBoltzmann distribution. A kinetic description is often necessary for collisionless
plasmas. There are two common approaches to kinetic description of a plasma. One is based on representing the
smoothed distribution function on a grid in velocity and position. The other, known as the particle-in-cell (PIC)
technique, includes kinetic information by following the trajectories of a large number of individual particles.
Kinetic models are generally more computationally intensive than fluid models. The Vlasov equation may be used to
describe the dynamics of a system of charged particles interacting with an electromagnetic field. In magnetized
plasmas, a gyrokinetic approach can substantially reduce the computational expense of a fully kinetic simulation.
Plasma
72
Artificial plasmas
Most artificial plasmas are generated by the application of electric and/or magnetic fields. Plasma generated in a
laboratory setting and for industrial use can be generally categorized by:
The type of power source used to generate the plasmaDC, RF and microwave
The pressure they operate atvacuum pressure (< 10mTorr or 1 Pa), moderate pressure (~ 1Torr or 100 Pa),
atmospheric pressure (760Torr or 100 kPa)
The degree of ionization within the plasmafully, partially, or weakly ionized
The temperature relationships within the plasmathermal plasma (T
e
= T
ion
= T
gas
), non-thermal or "cold"
plasma (T
e
>> T
ion
= T
gas
)
The electrode configuration used to generate the plasma
The magnetization of the particles within the plasmamagnetized (both ion and electrons are trapped in Larmor
orbits by the magnetic field), partially magnetized (the electrons but not the ions are trapped by the magnetic
field), non-magnetized (the magnetic field is too weak to trap the particles in orbits but may generate Lorentz
forces)
The application
Generation of artificial plasma
Artificial plasma produced in air by a Jacob's
Ladder
Just like the many uses of plasma, there are several means for its
generation, however, one principle is common to all of them: there
must be energy input to produce and sustain it.
[]
For this case, plasma
is generated when an electrical current is applied across a dielectric gas
or fluid (an electrically non-conducting material) as can be seen in the
image below, which shows a discharge tube as a simple example (DC
used for simplicity).
Plasma
73
Cascade process of ionization. Electrons are e,
neutral atoms o, and cations +.
The potential difference and subsequent electric field pull the bound
electrons (negative) toward the anode (positive electrode) while the
cathode (negative electrode) pulls the nucleus.
[]
As the voltage
increases, the current stresses the material (by electric polarization)
beyond its dielectric limit (termed strength) into a stage of electrical
breakdown, marked by an electric spark, where the material transforms
from being an insulator into a conductor (as it becomes increasingly
ionized). This is a stage of avalanching ionization, where collisions
between electrons and neutral gas atoms create more ions and electrons
(as can be seen in the figure on the right). The first impact of an
electron on an atom results in one ion and two electrons. Therefore, the
number of charged particles increases rapidly (in the millions) only
after about 20 successive sets of collisions,
[]
mainly due to a small
mean free path (average distance travelled between collisions).
Electric arc
With ample current density and ionization, this forms a luminous electric arc (a continuous electric discharge similar
to lightning) between the electrodes.
[31]
</ref> Electrical resistance along the continuous electric arc creates heat,
which dissociates more gas molecules and ionizes the resulting atoms (where degree of ionization is determined by
temperature), and as per the sequence: solid-liquid-gas-plasma, the gas is gradually turned into a thermal plasma.
[32]
A thermal plasma is in thermal equilibrium, which is to say that the temperature is relatively homogeneous
throughout the heavy particles (i.e. atoms, molecules and ions) and electrons. This is so because when thermal
plasmas are generated, electrical energy is given to electrons, which, due to their great mobility and large numbers,
are able to disperse it rapidly and by elastic collision (without energy loss) to the heavy particles.
[][33]
Examples of industrial/commercial plasma
Because of their sizable temperature and density ranges, plasmas find applications in many fields of research,
technology and industry. For example, in: industrial and extractive metallurgy,
[]
surface treatments such as plasma
spraying (coating), etching in microelectronics,
[]
metal cutting
[]
and welding; as well as in everyday vehicle exhaust
cleanup and fluorescent/luminescent lamps,
[]
while even playing a part in supersonic combustion engines for
aerospace engineering.
[]
Low-pressure discharges
Glow discharge plasmas: non-thermal plasmas generated by the application of DC or low frequency RF
(<100kHz) electric field to the gap between two metal electrodes. Probably the most common plasma; this is the
type of plasma generated within fluorescent light tubes.
[34]
Capacitively coupled plasma (CCP): similar to glow discharge plasmas, but generated with high frequency RF
electric fields, typically 13.56MHz. These differ from glow discharges in that the sheaths are much less intense.
These are widely used in the microfabrication and integrated circuit manufacturing industries for plasma etching
and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition.
[35]
Cascaded Arc Plasma Source: a device to produce low temperature (~1eV) high density plasmas.
Inductively coupled plasma (ICP): similar to a CCP and with similar applications but the electrode consists of a
coil wrapped around the discharge volume that inductively excites the plasma.
[citation needed]
Wave heated plasma: similar to CCP and ICP in that it is typically RF (or microwave), but is heated by both
electrostatic and electromagnetic means. Examples are helicon discharge, electron cyclotron resonance (ECR),
and ion cyclotron resonance (ICR). These typically require a coaxial magnetic field for wave propagation.
[citation
Plasma
74
needed]
Atmospheric pressure
Arc discharge: this is a high power thermal discharge of very high temperature (~10,000 K). It can be generated
using various power supplies. It is commonly used in metallurgical processes. For example, it is used to smelt
minerals containing Al
2
O
3
to produce aluminium.
Corona discharge: this is a non-thermal discharge generated by the application of high voltage to sharp electrode
tips. It is commonly used in ozone generators and particle precipitators.
Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD): this is a non-thermal discharge generated by the application of high voltages
across small gaps wherein a non-conducting coating prevents the transition of the plasma discharge into an arc. It
is often mislabeled 'Corona' discharge in industry and has similar application to corona discharges. It is also
widely used in the web treatment of fabrics.
[36]
The application of the discharge to synthetic fabrics and plastics
functionalizes the surface and allows for paints, glues and similar materials to adhere.
[37]
Capacitive discharge: this is a nonthermal plasma generated by the application of RF power (e.g., 13.56MHz) to
one powered electrode, with a grounded electrode held at a small separation distance on the order of 1cm. Such
discharges are commonly stabilized using a noble gas such as helium or argon.
[38]
History
Plasma was first identified in a Crookes tube, and so described by Sir William Crookes in 1879 (he called it "radiant
matter").
[39]
The nature of the Crookes tube "cathode ray" matter was subsequently identified by British physicist Sir
J.J. Thomson in 1897.
[40]
The term "plasma" was coined by Irving Langmuir in 1928,
[]
perhaps because the glowing
discharge molds itself to the shape of the Crooks tube (Gr. a thing moulded or formed).
[41]
Langmuir
described his observations as:
Except near the electrodes, where there are sheaths containing very few electrons, the ionized gas
contains ions and electrons in about equal numbers so that the resultant space charge is very small. We
shall use the name plasma to describe this region containing balanced charges of ions and electrons.
[]
Fields of active research
Hall effect thruster. The electric field in a plasma
double layer is so effective at accelerating ions
that electric fields are used in ion drives.
This is just a partial list of topics. See list of plasma (physics) articles.
A more complete and organized list can be found on the web site
Plasma science and technology.
[42]
Plasma
75
Plasma theory
Plasma equilibria and stability
Plasma interactions with waves and beams
Guiding center
Adiabatic invariant
Debye sheath
Coulomb collision
Plasmas in nature
The Earth's ionosphere
Northern and southern (polar) lights
Space plasmas, e.g. Earth's plasmasphere (an inner portion
of the magnetosphere dense with plasma)
Astrophysical plasma
Interplanetary medium
Industrial plasmas
Plasma chemistry
Plasma processing
Plasma spray
Plasma display
Plasma sources
Dusty plasmas
Plasma diagnostics
Thomson scattering
Langmuir probe
Spectroscopy
Interferometry
Ionospheric heating
Incoherent scatter radar
Plasma applications
Fusion power
Magnetic fusion energy (MFE) tokamak, stellarator, reversed
field pinch, magnetic mirror, dense plasma focus
Inertial fusion energy (IFE) (also Inertial confinement fusion
ICF)
Plasma-based weaponry
Ion implantation
Ion thruster
MAGPIE (short for Mega Ampere Generator for Plasma Implosion
Experiments)
Plasma ashing
Food processing (nonthermal plasma, aka "cold plasma")
Plasma arc waste disposal, convert waste into reusable material with
plasma.
Plasma acceleration
Plasma medicine (e. g. Dentistry
[]
)
Plasma window
Solar plasma Plasma spraying
Notes
[1] (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts.edu/ hopper/ text?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 04. 0057:entry=pla/ sma), Henry George Liddell, Robert
Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
[3] It is often stated that more than 99% of the material in the visible universe is plasma. See, for example, and . Essentially, all of the visible
light from space comes from stars, which are plasmas with a temperature such that they radiate strongly at visible wavelengths. Most of the
ordinary (or baryonic) matter in the universe, however, is found in the intergalactic medium, which is also a plasma, but much hotter, so that it
radiates primarily as X-rays. The current scientific consensus is that about 96% of the total energy density in the universe is not plasma or any
other form of ordinary matter, but a combination of cold dark matter and dark energy.
[4] Pter Mszros, The High Energy Universe: Ultra-High Energy Events in Astrophysics and Cosmology, Publisher Cambridge University
Press, 2010, ISBN 0521517001, 780521517003, 222 pages, page 99 (http:/ / books. google. co. uk/ books?id=NXvE_zQX5kAC&
lpg=PA99& dq="Black hole" plasma acreting& pg=PA99#v=onepage& q="Black hole" plasma acreting& f=false).
Plasma
76
[5] Derek J. Raine, Edwin George Thomas, Black Holes: An Introduction, Publisher: Imperial College Press, 2010, ISBN 1848163827,
9781848163829, 198 pages, page 160 (http:/ / books.google. co. uk/ books?id=O3puAMw5U3UC& lpg=PA160& dq="black hole"
astrophysical jets plasma& pg=PA160#v=onepage& q="black hole" astrophysical jets plasma& f=false)
[6] Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA), Astronomy Picture of the Day, 2004 December 2011 (http:/ / apod. nasa. gov/ apod/
ap041211. html), retrieved 9 November 2012
[7] IPPEX Glossary of Fusion Terms (http:/ / ippex. pppl. gov/ fusion/ glossary. html). Ippex.pppl.gov. Retrieved on 2011-11-19.
[8] " Plasma and Flames The Burning Question (http:/ / www. plasmacoalition. org/ plasma_writeups/ flame. pdf)", from the Coalition for
Plasma Science, retrieved 8 November 2012
[9] A. von Engel and J.R. Cozens, "Flame Plasma" in Advances in electronics and electron physics, by L. L. Marton, Academic Press, 1976,
ISBN 0120145200, 9780120145201, pp. 99 (http:/ / books. google. co. uk/ books?id=0Mndi2cCMuUC& lpg=PA99& ots=fEm9XJ45MD&
dq=candle flame plasma& lr& pg=PA99#v=onepage& q=flame plasma& f=false)
[10] Plasma fountain Source (http:/ / pwg.gsfc. nasa. gov/ istp/ news/ 9812/ solar1. html), press release: Solar Wind Squeezes Some of Earth's
Atmosphere into Space (http:/ / pwg.gsfc. nasa. gov/ istp/ news/ 9812/ solarwind. html)
[14] See The Nonneutral Plasma Group (http:/ / sdphca. ucsd. edu/ ) at the University of California, San Diego
[15] See Flashes in the Sky: Earth's Gamma-Ray Bursts Triggered by Lightning (http:/ / www. nasa. gov/ vision/ universe/ solarsystem/
rhessi_tgf. html)
[16] Richard Fitzpatrick, Introduction to Plasma Physics, Magnetized plasmas (http:/ / farside. ph. utexas. edu/ teaching/ plasma/ lectures/
node10.html)
[17] Yaffa Eliezer, Shalom Eliezer, The Fourth State of Matter: An Introduction to the Physics of Plasma, Publisher: Adam Hilger, 1989, ISBN
0852741642, 9780852741641, 226 pages, page 5
[23] Hubble views the Crab Nebula M1: The Crab Nebula Filaments (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20091005084515/ http:/ / seds. lpl. arizona.
edu/ messier/ more/ m001_hst. html). The University of Arizona
[30] See Evolution of the Solar System (http:/ / history. nasa. gov/ SP-345/ ch15. htm#250), 1976)
[31] The material undergoes various regimes or stages (e.g. saturation, breakdown, glow, transition and thermal arc) as the voltage is increased
under the voltage-current relationship. The voltage rises to its maximum value in the saturation stage, and thereafter it undergoes fluctuations
of the various stages; while the current progressively increases throughout.<ref name="Leal-Quiros">
[32] Across literature, there appears to be no strict definition on where the boundary is between a gas and plasma. Nevertheless, it is enough to
say that at 2000C the gas molecules become atomized, and ionized at 3000C and "in this state, [the] gas has a liquid like viscosity at
atmospheric pressure and the free electric charges confer relatively high electrical conductivities that can approach those of metals.
(http:/ / www. perseus. tufts.edu/ hopper/ text?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 04. 0057:entry=pla/ sma), Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A
Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
[33] Note that non-thermal, or non-equilibrium plasmas are not as ionized and have lower energy densities, and thus the temperature is not
dispersed evenly among the particles, where some heavy ones remain cold.
[39] Crookes presented a lecture to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, in Sheffield, on Friday, 22 August 1879 (http:/ /
www.worldcatlibraries. org/ wcpa/ top3mset/ 5dcb9349d366f8ec. html) (http:/ / www. tfcbooks. com/ mall/ more/ 315rm. htm)
[40] Announced in his evening lecture to the Royal Institution on Friday, 30th April 1897, and published in
[42] Web site for Plasma science and technology (http:/ / www. plasmas. com/ topics. htm)
References
External links
Free plasma physics books and notes (http:/ / www. freebookcentre. net/ Physics/ Plasma-Physics-Books. html)
Plasmas: the Fourth State of Matter (http:/ / fusedweb. pppl. gov/ CPEP/ Chart_Pages/ 5. Plasma4StateMatter.
html)
Plasma Science and Technology (http:/ / www. plasmas. org/ )
Plasma on the Internet (http:/ / plasma-gate. weizmann. ac. il/ directories/ plasma-on-the-internet/ ) a list of
plasma related links.
Introduction to Plasma Physics: Graduate course given by Richard Fitzpatrick (http:/ / farside. ph. utexas. edu/
teaching/ plasma/ lectures/ lectures. html)| M.I.T. Introduction by I.H.Hutchinson (http:/ / silas. psfc. mit. edu/
introplasma/ index. html)
Plasma Material Interaction (http:/ / starfire. ne. uiuc. edu/ )
How to make a glowing ball of plasma in your microwave with a grape (http:/ / c3po. barnesos. net/ homepage/
lpl/ grapeplasma/ )| More (Video) (http:/ / stewdio. org/ plasma/ )
Plasma
77
How to make plasma in your microwave with only one match (video) (http:/ / video. google. com/
videoplay?docid=6732382807079775486& hl=en)
OpenPIC3D 3D Hybrid Particle-In-Cell simulation of plasma dynamics (http:/ / comphys. narod. ru)
Plasma Formulary Interactive (http:/ / plasma-gate. weizmann. ac. il/ pf/ )
Astrophysical plasma
An astrophysical plasma is a plasma (an ionized gas) the physical properties of which are studied as part of
astrophysics. Much of the baryonic matter of the universe is thought to consist of plasma, a state of matter in which
atoms and molecules are so hot, that they have ionized by breaking up into their constituent parts, negatively charged
electrons and positively charged ions. Because the particles are charged, they are strongly influenced by
electromagnetic forces, that is, by magnetic and electric fields.
All known astrophysical plasmas are influenced by magnetic fields. Since plasmas contain equal numbers of
electrons and ions, they are electrically neutral overall and thus electric fields play a lesser dynamical role. Because
plasmas are highly conductive, any charge imbalances are readily neutralised.
Observational evidence
Astrophysical plasma may be studied in a variety of ways since they emit electromagnetic radiation across a wide
range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Because astrophysical plasmas are generally hot, (meaning that they are fully
ionized), electrons in the plasmas are continually emitting X-rays through a process called bremsstrahlung, when
electrons nearly collide with atomic nuclei. This radiation may be detected with X-ray observatories, performed in
the upper atmosphere or space, such as by the Chandra X-ray Observatory satellite. Astrophysical plasmas also emit
radio waves and gamma rays.
Space plasma characteristics
Space plasma pioneers Hannes Alfvn and Carl-Gunne Flthammar divided the plasmas in the solar system into
three different categories:
Classification of Magnetic Cosmic Plasmas
Astrophysical plasma
78
Characteristic Space plasma density categories
(Note that density does not refer to only particle density)
Ideal comparison
High density Medium Density Low Density
Criterion << << << l
c
l
c
<< l
c
<<
D
Examples Stellar interior
Solar photosphere
Solar chromosphere/corona
Interstellar/intergalactic
space
Ionosphere above 70km
Magnetosphere during
magnetic disturbance.
Interplanetary space
Single charges
in a high vacuum
Diffusion Isotropic Anisotropic Anisotropic and small No diffusion
Conductivity Isotropic Anisotropic Not defined Not defined
Electric field parallel to
B
in completely ionized gas
Small Small Any value Any value
Particle motion in plane
perpendicular to B
Almost straight
path
between collisions
Circle
between collisions
Circle Circle
Path of guiding centre
parallel to B
Straight path
between collisions
Straight path
between collisions
Oscillations
(e.g. between mirror points)
Oscillations
(e.g. between mirror points)
Debye Distance
D

D
<< l
c

D
<< l
c

D
<< l
c

D
>> l
c
Magnetohydrodynamics
suitability
Yes Approximately No No
=Mean free path. = Larmor radius (gyroradius) of electron.
D
=Debye length. l
c
=Characteristic length
Adapted From Cosmical Electrodynamics (2nd Ed. 1952) Alfvn and Flthammar
Research and investigation
Both plasma physicists and astrophysicists are interested in active galactic nuclei, because they are the astrophysical
plasmas most directly related to the plasmas studied in the laboratory, and those studied in fusion power
experiments. They exhibit an array of complex magnetohydrodynamic behaviors, such as turbulence and
instabilities. Although these phenomena can occur on scales as large as the galactic core, most physicists therorize
that most phenomena on the largest scales do not involve plasma effects.
[citation needed]
In physical cosmology
In the big bang cosmology the entire universe was a plasma prior to recombination. Afterwards, much of the
universe reionized after the first quasars formed and emitted radiation which reionized most of the universe, which
largely remains in plasma form. It is assumed by many scientists that very little baryonic matter is neutral. In
particular, the intergalactic medium, the interstellar medium, the interplanetary medium and solar winds are all
mainly diffuse plasmas, and stars are made of dense plasma. The study of astrophysical plasmas is part of the
mainstream of academic astrophysics and is taken in account for in the standard cosmological model; however,
current models indicate that plasma processes have little role to play in forming the very largest structures, such as
voids, galaxy clusters and superclusters.
[citation needed]
Astrophysical plasma
79
History
Norwegian explorer and physicist Kristian Birkeland may have been the first to predict that space is filled with
plasma. He wrote in 1913: "It seems to be a natural consequence of our points of view to assume that the whole of
space is filled with electrons and flying electric ions of all kinds. We have assumed that each stellar system in
evolutions throws off electric corpuscles into space. It does not seem unreasonable therefore to think that the greater
part of the material masses in the universe is found, not in the solar systems or nebulae, but in "empty" space."
[1][2]
In 1937, plasma physicist Hannes Alfvn argued that if plasma pervaded the universe, then it could generate a
galactic magnetic field. During the 1940s and 50s, Alfvn developed magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) which enables
plasmas to be modelled as waves in a fluid, for which Alfvn won the 1970 Nobel Prize for physics. MHD is a
standard astronomical tool.
Alvn also proposed the basis of plasma cosmology, although this theory fell out of favour when the big bang theory
became popular.
Notes
[1] [1] out-of-print, full text online
[2] [2] p. 720
References
External links
" US / Russia Collaboration in Plasma Astrophysics (http:/ / astrosun. tn. cornell. edu/ us-rus/ )"
Website about Astrophysical Plasma (http:/ / plasmauniverse. info/ )
BoseEinstein condensate
80
BoseEinstein condensate
Velocity-distribution data (3 views) for a gas of rubidium
atoms, confirming the discovery of a new phase of matter,
the BoseEinstein condensate. Left: just before the
appearance of a BoseEinstein condensate. Center: just
after the appearance of the condensate. Right: after further
evaporation, leaving a sample of nearly pure condensate.
A BoseEinstein condensate (BEC) is a state of matter of a
dilute gas of bosons cooled to temperatures very near absolute
zero (0K or 273.15C
[1]
). Under such conditions, a large
fraction of the bosons occupy the lowest quantum state, at
which point quantum effects become apparent on a
macroscopic scale. These effects are called macroscopic
quantum phenomena.
Although later experiments have revealed complex
interactions, this state of matter was first predicted, generally,
in papers by Satyendra Nath Bose and Albert Einstein in
192425. Bose first sent a paper to Einstein on the quantum
statistics of light quanta (now called photons). Einstein was
impressed, translated the paper himself from English to
German and submitted it for Bose to the Zeitschrift fr Physik,
which published it. (The Einstein manuscript, once believed to
be lost, was found in a library at Leiden University in 2005.
[2]
). Einstein then extended Bose's ideas to material
particles (or matter) in two other papers.
[3]
The result of the efforts of Bose and Einstein is the concept of a Bose gas,
governed by BoseEinstein statistics, which describes the statistical distribution of identical particles with integer
spin, now known as bosons. Bosonic particles, which include the photon as well as atoms such as helium-4 (
4
He),
are allowed to share quantum states with each other. Einstein demonstrated that cooling bosonic atoms to a very low
temperature would cause them to fall (or "condense") into the lowest accessible quantum state, resulting in a new
form of matter.
In 1938 Fritz London proposed BEC as a mechanism for superfluidity in
4
He and superconductivity.
[4][5]
In 1995 the first gaseous condensate was produced by Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman at the University of Colorado at
Boulder NISTJILA lab, using a gas of rubidium atoms cooled to 170 nanokelvin (nK)
[6]
(1.710
7
K). For their
achievements Cornell, Wieman, and Wolfgang Ketterle at MIT received the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics.
[7]
In
November 2010 the first photon BEC was observed.
[8]
This transition to BEC occurs below a critical temperature, which for a uniform three-dimensional gas consisting of
non-interacting particles with no apparent internal degrees of freedom is given by:
where:
BoseEinstein condensate
81
is the critical temperature,
is the particle density,
is the mass per boson,
is the reduced Planck constant,
is the Boltzmann constant, and
is
the Riemann zeta function; (sequence A078434 in OEIS)
Einstein's argument
Consider a collection of N noninteracting particles, which can each be in one of two quantum states, and . If
the two states are equal in energy, each different configuration is equally likely.
If we can tell which particle is which, there are different configurations, since each particle can be in or
independently. In almost all of the configurations, about half the particles are in and the other half in . The
balance is a statistical effect: the number of configurations is largest when the particles are divided equally.
If the particles are indistinguishable, however, there are only N+1 different configurations. If there are K particles in
state , there are N K particles in state . Whether any particular particle is in state or in state cannot
be determined, so each value of K determines a unique quantum state for the whole system. If all these states are
equally likely, there is no statistical spreading out; it is just as likely for all the particles to sit in as for the
particles to be split half and half.
Suppose now that the energy of state is slightly greater than the energy of state by an amount E. At
temperature T, a particle will have a lesser probability to be in state by exp(E/kT). In the distinguishable case,
the particle distribution will be biased slightly towards state , and the distribution will be slightly different from
half-and-half. But in the indistinguishable case, since there is no statistical pressure toward equal numbers, the
most-likely outcome is that most of the particles will collapse into state .
In the distinguishable case, for large N, the fraction in state can be computed. It is the same as flipping a coin
with probability proportional to p=exp(E/T) to land tails. The probability to land heads is 1/(1 + p), which is a
smooth function of p, and thus of the energy.
In the indistinguishable case, each value of K is a single state, which has its own separate Boltzmann probability. So
the probability distribution is exponential:
For large N, the normalization constant C is (1 p). The expected total number of particles not in the lowest energy
state, in the limit that , is equal to . It does not grow when N is large; it just approaches
a constant. This will be a negligible fraction of the total number of particles. So a collection of enough Bose particles
in thermal equilibrium will mostly be in the ground state, with only a few in any excited state, no matter how small
the energy difference.
Consider now a gas of particles, which can be in different momentum states labeled . If the number of particles
is less than the number of thermally accessible states, for high temperatures and low densities, the particles will all
be in different states. In this limit, the gas is classical. As the density increases or the temperature decreases, the
number of accessible states per particle becomes smaller, and at some point, more particles will be forced into a
single state than the maximum allowed for that state by statistical weighting. From this point on, any extra particle
added will go into the ground state.
To calculate the transition temperature at any density, integrate, over all momentum states, the expression for
maximum number of excited particles, p/(1 p):
BoseEinstein condensate
82
When the integral is evaluated with the factors of k
B
and restored by dimensional analysis, it gives the critical
temperature formula of the preceding section. Therefore, this integral defines the critical temperature and particle
number corresponding to the conditions of negligible chemical potential. In BoseEinstein statistics distribution, is
actually still nonzero for BEC's; however, is less than the ground state energy. Except when specifically talking
about the ground state, can consequently be approximated for most energy or momentum states as0.
GrossPitaevskii equation
The state of the BEC can be described by the wavefunction of the condensate . For a system of this nature,
is interpreted as the particle density, so the total number of atoms is
Provided essentially all atoms are in the condensate (that is, have condensed to the ground state), and treating the
bosons using mean field theory, the energy (E) associated with the state is:
Minimizing this energy with respect to infinitesimal variations in , and holding the number of atoms constant,
yields the GrossPitaevski equation (GPE) (also a non-linear Schrdinger equation):
where:
is the mass of the bosons,
is the external potential,
is representative of the inter-particle interactions.
The GPE provides a good description of the behavior of BEC's and is thus often applied for theoretical analysis.
Models beyond GrossPitaevskii
The GrossPitaevskii model of BEC is the physical approximation valid for certain classes of BEC's only. By
construction, GPE uses the following simplifications: it assumes that interactions between condensate particles are of
the contact two-body type and also it neglects anomalous contributions to self-energy.
[9]
These assumptions are
suitable mostly for the dilute three-dimensional condensates. If one relaxes any of these assumptions, the equation
for the condensate wavefunction acquires the terms containing higher-order powers of the wavefunction. Moreover,
for some physical systems the amount of such terms turns out to be infinite, therefore, the equation becomes
essentially non-polynomial. The examples where this could happen are the BoseFermi composite
condensates,
[10][11][12][13]
effectively lower-dimensional condensates,
[14]
and dense condensates and superfluid
clusters and droplets.
[15]
BoseEinstein condensate
83
Discovery
In 1938, Pyotr Kapitsa, John Allen and Don Misener discovered that helium-4 became a new kind of fluid, now
known as a superfluid, at temperatures less than 2.17 K (the lambda point). Superfluid helium has many unusual
properties, including zero viscosity (the ability to flow without dissipating energy) and the existence of quantized
vortices. It was quickly believed that the superfluidity was due to partial BoseEinstein condensation of the liquid. In
fact, many of the properties of superfluid helium also appear in the gaseous BoseEinstein condensates created by
Cornell, Wieman and Ketterle (see below). Superfluid helium-4 is a liquid rather than a gas, which means that the
interactions between the atoms are relatively strong; the original theory of BoseEinstein condensation must be
heavily modified in order to describe it. BoseEinstein condensation remains, however, fundamental to the
superfluid properties of helium-4. Note that helium-3, consisting of fermions instead of bosons, also enters a
superfluid phase at low temperature, which can be explained by the formation of bosonic Cooper pairs of two atoms
each (see also fermionic condensate).
The first "pure" BoseEinstein condensate was created by Eric Cornell, Carl Wieman, and co-workers at JILA on
June 5, 1995. They did this by cooling a dilute vapor consisting of approximately two thousand rubidium-87 atoms
to below 170 nK using a combination of laser cooling (a technique that won its inventors Steven Chu, Claude
Cohen-Tannoudji, and William D. Phillips the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics) and magnetic evaporative cooling.
About four months later, an independent effort led by Wolfgang Ketterle at MIT created a condensate made of
sodium-23. Ketterle's condensate had about a hundred times more atoms, allowing him to obtain several important
results such as the observation of quantum mechanical interference between two different condensates. Cornell,
Wieman and Ketterle won the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics for their achievements.
[]
A group led by Randall Hulet at
Rice University announced the creation of a condensate of lithium atoms only one month following the JILA
work.
[16]
Lithium has attractive interactions which causes the condensate to be unstable and to collapse for all but a
few atoms. Hulet and co-workers showed in a subsequent experiment that the condensate could be stabilized by the
quantum pressure from trap confinement for up to about 1000 atoms.
The BoseEinstein condensation also applies to quasiparticles in solids. A magnon in an antiferromagnet carries spin
1 and thus obeys BoseEinstein statistics. The density of magnons is controlled by an external magnetic field, which
plays the role of the magnon chemical potential. This technique provides access to a wide range of boson densities
from the limit of a dilute Bose gas to that of a strongly interacting Bose liquid. A magnetic ordering observed at the
point of condensation is the analog of superfluidity. In 1999 Bose condensation of magnons was demonstrated in the
antiferromagnet TlCuCl
3
.
[17]
The condensation was observed at temperatures as large as 14 K. Such a high transition
temperature (relative to that of atomic gases) is due to the greater density achievable with magnons and the smaller
mass (roughly equal to the mass of an electron). In 2006, condensation of magnons in ferromagnets was even shown
at room temperature,
[][18]
where the authors used pumping techniques.
Velocity-distribution data graph
In the image accompanying this article, the velocity-distribution data indicates the formation of a BoseEinstein
condensate out of a gas of rubidium atoms. The false colors indicate the number of atoms at each velocity, with red
being the fewest and white being the most. The areas appearing white and light blue are at the lowest velocities. The
peak is not infinitely narrow because of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle: since the atoms are trapped in a
particular region of space, their velocity distribution necessarily possesses a certain minimum width. This width is
given by the curvature of the magnetic trapping potential in the given direction. More tightly confined directions
have bigger widths in the ballistic velocity distribution. This anisotropy of the peak on the right is a purely
quantum-mechanical effect and does not exist in the thermal distribution on the left. This famous graph served as the
cover design for 1999 textbook Thermal Physics by Ralph Baierlein.
[19]
BoseEinstein condensate
84
Vortices
As in many other systems, vortices can exist in BECs. These can be created, for example, by 'stirring' the condensate
with lasers, or rotating the confining trap. The vortex created will be a quantum vortex. These phenomena are
allowed for by the non-linear term in the GPE. As the vortices must have quantized angular momentum the
wavefunction may have the form where and are as in the cylindrical coordinate
system, and is the angular number. This is particularly likely for an axially symmetric (for instance, harmonic)
confining potential, which is commonly used. The notion is easily generalized. To determine , the energy
of must be minimized, according to the constraint . This is usually done
computationally, however in a uniform medium the analytic form
where:
is density far from the vortex,
is healing length of the condensate.
demonstrates the correct behavior, and is a good approximation.
A singly charged vortex ( ) is in the ground state, with its energy given by
where:
is the farthest distance from the vortex considered.
(To obtain an energy which is well defined it is necessary to include this boundary .)
For multiply charged vortices ( ) the energy is approximated by
which is greater than that of singly charged vortices, indicating that these multiply charged vortices are unstable to
decay. Research has, however, indicated they are metastable states, so may have relatively long lifetimes.
Closely related to the creation of vortices in BECs is the generation of so-called dark solitons in one-dimensional
BECs. These topological objects feature a phase gradient across their nodal plane, which stabilizes their shape even
in propagation and interaction. Although solitons carry no charge and are thus prone to decay, relatively long-lived
dark solitons have been produced and studied extensively.
[20]
Attractive interactions
The experiments led by Randall Hulet at Rice University from 1995 through 2000 showed that lithium condensates
with attractive interactions could stably exist, but only up to a certain critical atom number. Beyond this critical
number, the attraction overwhelmed the zero-point energy of the harmonic confining potential, causing the
condensate to collapse in a burst reminiscent of a supernova explosion where an explosion is preceded by an
implosion. By quench cooling the gas of lithium atoms, they observed the condensate to first grow, and subsequently
collapse when the critical number was exceeded.
Further experimentation on attractive condensates was performed in 2000 by the JILA team, consisting of Cornell,
Wieman and coworkers. They originally used rubidium-87, an isotope whose atoms naturally repel each other,
BoseEinstein condensate
85
making a more stable condensate. Their instrumentation now had better control over the condensate so
experimentation was made on naturally attracting atoms of another rubidium isotope, rubidium-85 (having negative
atomatom scattering length). Through a process called Feshbach resonance involving a sweep of the magnetic field
causing spin flip collisions, they lowered the characteristic, discrete energies at which the rubidium atoms bond into
molecules, making their Rb-85 atoms repulsive and creating a stable condensate. The reversible flip from attraction
to repulsion stems from quantum interference among condensate atoms which behave as waves.
When the JILA team raised the magnetic field strength still further, the condensate suddenly reverted to attraction,
imploded and shrank beyond detection, and then exploded, expelling off about two-thirds of its 10,000 or so atoms.
About half of the atoms in the condensate seemed to have disappeared from the experiment altogether, not being
seen either in the cold remnant or the expanding gas cloud.
[]
Carl Wieman explained that under current atomic theory
this characteristic of BoseEinstein condensate could not be explained because the energy state of an atom near
absolute zero should not be enough to cause an implosion; however, subsequent mean field theories have been
proposed to explain it. The atoms that seem to have disappeared almost certainly still exist in some form, just not in a
form that could be accounted for in that experiment. Most likely they formed molecules consisting of two bonded
rubidium atoms.
[21]
The energy gained by making this transition imparts a velocity sufficient for them to leave the
trap without being detected.
Current research
How do we rigorously prove the existence of Bose-Einstein condensates for general interacting systems?
Compared to more commonly encountered states of matter, BoseEinstein condensates are extremely fragile. The
slightest interaction with the outside world can be enough to warm them past the condensation threshold, eliminating
their interesting properties and forming a normal gas.
[citation needed]
Nevertheless, they have proven useful in exploring a wide range of questions in fundamental physics, and the years
since the initial discoveries by the JILA and MIT groups have seen an explosion in experimental and theoretical
activity. Examples include experiments that have demonstrated interference between condensates due to
waveparticle duality,
[22]
the study of superfluidity and quantized vortices, the creation of bright matter wave
solitons from Bose condensates confined to one dimension, and the slowing of light pulses to very low speeds using
electromagnetically induced transparency.
[23]
Vortices in BoseEinstein condensates are also currently the subject of
analogue gravity research, studying the possibility of modeling black holes and their related phenomena in such
environments in the lab. Experimentalists have also realized "optical lattices", where the interference pattern from
overlapping lasers provides a periodic potential for the condensate. These have been used to explore the transition
between a superfluid and a Mott insulator,
[24]
and may be useful in studying BoseEinstein condensation in fewer
than three dimensions, for example the TonksGirardeau gas.
BoseEinstein condensates composed of a wide range of isotopes have been produced.
[25]
Related experiments in cooling fermions rather than bosons to extremely low temperatures have created degenerate
gases, where the atoms do not congregate in a single state due to the Pauli exclusion principle. To exhibit
BoseEinstein condensation, the fermions must "pair up" to form compound particles (e.g. molecules or Cooper
pairs) that are bosons. The first molecular BoseEinstein condensates were created in November 2003 by the groups
of Rudolf Grimm at the University of Innsbruck, Deborah S. Jin at the University of Colorado at Boulder and
Wolfgang Ketterle at MIT. Jin quickly went on to create the first fermionic condensate composed of Cooper
pairs.
[26]
In 1999, Danish physicist Lene Vestergaard Hau led a team from Harvard University which succeeded in slowing a
beam of light to about 17 meters per secondWikipedia:Please clarify. She was able to achieve this by using a
superfluid.
[27]
Hau and her associates at Harvard University have since successfully made a group of condensate
atoms recoil from a "light pulse" such that they recorded the light's phase and amplitude, which was recovered by a
BoseEinstein condensate
86
second nearby condensate, by what they term "slow-light-mediated atomic matter-wave amplification" using
BoseEinstein condensates: details of the experiment are discussed in an article in the journal Nature, 8 February
2007.
[28]
Researchers in the new field of atomtronics use the properties of BoseEinstein condensates when manipulating
groups of identical cold atoms using lasers.
[29]
Further, BoseEinstein condensates have been proposed by
Emmanuel David Tannenbaum to be used in anti-stealth technology.
[30]
Isotopes
The effect has mainly been observed on alkaline atoms which have nuclear properties particularly suitable for
working with traps. As of 2012, using ultra-low temperatures of 10
7
K or below, BoseEinstein condensates had
been obtained for a multitude of isotopes, mainly of alkaline, alkaline earth, and lanthanoid atoms (
7
Li,
23
Na,
39
K,
41
K,
85
Rb,
87
Rb,
133
Cs,
52
Cr,
40
Ca,
84
Sr,
86
Sr,
88
Sr,
174
Yb,
164
Dy, and
168
Er ). Condensation research was finally
successful even with hydrogen with the aid of special methods. In contrast, the superfluid state of the bosonic
4
He at
temperatures below 2.17 K is not a good example of BoseEinstein condensation, because the interaction between
the
4
He bosons is too strong. Only 8% of the atoms are in the single-particle ground state near zero temperature,
rather than the 100% expected of a true BoseEinstein condensate.
The spin-statistics theorem of Wolfgang Pauli states that half-integer spins (in units of ) lead to fermionic
behavior, e.g., the Pauli exclusion principle forbidding that more than two electrons possess the same energy,
whereas integer spins lead to bosonic behavior, e.g., condensation of identical bosonic particles in a common ground
state.
The bosonic, rather than fermionic, behavior of some of these alkaline gases appears odd at first sight, because their
nuclei have half-integer total spin. The bosonic behavior arises from a subtle interplay of electronic and nuclear
spins: at ultra-low temperatures and corresponding excitation energies, the half-integer total spin of the electronic
shell and the half-integer total spin of the nucleus of the atom are coupled by a very weak hyperfine interaction. The
total spin of the atom, arising from this coupling, is an integer value leading to the bosonic ultra-low temperature
behavior of the atom. The chemistry of the systems at room temperature is determined by the electronic properties,
which is essentially fermionic, since at room temperature, thermal excitations have typical energies much higher than
the hyperfine values.
References
[1] , Table 2.4 page 43 (http:/ / books.google.com/ books?id=w8GhW3J8RHIC& pg=PA43)
[5] London, F. Superfluids Vol.I and II, (reprinted New York: Dover 1964)
[9] Beliaev, S. T. Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 34, 418432 (1958); ibid. 433446 [Soviet Phys. JETP 3, 299 (1957)].
[18] Magnon Bose Einstein Condensation made simple (http:/ / www. uni-muenster. de/ Physik. AP/ Demokritov/ en/ Forschen/
Forschungsschwerpunkte/ mBECfnP.html). Website of the "Westfhlische Wilhelms Universitt Mnster" Prof.Demokritov. Retrieved
2012-06-25.
Further reading
Bose, S. N. (1924). "Plancks Gesetz und Lichtquantenhypothese". Zeitschrift fr Physik 26: 178. Bibcode:
1924ZPhy...26..178B (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 1924ZPhy. . . 26. . 178B). doi: 10.1007/BF01327326
(http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1007/ BF01327326).
Einstein, A. (1925). "Quantentheorie des einatomigen idealen Gases". Sitzungsberichte der Preussischen
Akademie der Wissenschaften 1: 3.,
Landau, L. D. (1941). "The theory of Superfluity of Helium 111". J. Phys. USSR 5: 7190.
L. Landau (1941). "Theory of the Superfluidity of Helium II". Physical Review 60 (4): 356358. Bibcode:
1941PhRv...60..356L (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 1941PhRv. . . 60. . 356L). doi: 10.1103/PhysRev.60.356
(http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1103/ PhysRev. 60. 356).
BoseEinstein condensate
87
M.H. Anderson, J.R. Ensher, M.R. Matthews, C.E. Wieman, and E.A. Cornell (1995). "Observation of
BoseEinstein Condensation in a Dilute Atomic Vapor". Science 269 (5221): 198201. Bibcode:
1995Sci...269..198A (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 1995Sci.. . 269. . 198A). doi:
10.1126/science.269.5221.198 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1126/ science. 269. 5221. 198). JSTOR 2888436 (http:/ /
www. jstor. org/ stable/ 2888436). PMID 17789847 (http:/ / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/ pubmed/ 17789847).
C. Barcelo, S. Liberati and M. Visser (2001). "Analogue gravity from BoseEinstein condensates". Classical and
Quantum Gravity 18 (6): 11371156. arXiv: gr-qc/0011026 (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ gr-qc/ 0011026). Bibcode:
2001CQGra..18.1137B (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 2001CQGra. . 18. 1137B). doi:
10.1088/0264-9381/18/6/312 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1088/ 0264-9381/ 18/ 6/ 312).
P.G. Kevrekidis, R. Carretero-Gonzlaez, D.J. Frantzeskakis and I.G. Kevrekidis (2006). "Vortices in
BoseEinstein Condensates: Some Recent Developments" (http:/ / nlds. sdsu. edu/ ). Modern Physics Letters B 5
(33).
K.B. Davis, M.-O. Mewes, M.R. Andrews, N.J. van Druten, D.S. Durfee, D.M. Kurn, and W. Ketterle (1995).
"BoseEinstein condensation in a gas of sodium atoms". Physical Review Letters 75 (22): 39693973. Bibcode:
1995PhRvL..75.3969D (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 1995PhRvL. . 75. 3969D). doi:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.75.3969 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1103/ PhysRevLett. 75. 3969). PMID 10059782 (http:/ /
www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/ pubmed/ 10059782)..
D. S. Jin, J. R. Ensher, M. R. Matthews, C. E. Wieman, and E. A. Cornell (1996). "Collective Excitations of a
BoseEinstein Condensate in a Dilute Gas". Physical Review Letters 77 (3): 420423. Bibcode:
1996PhRvL..77..420J (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 1996PhRvL. . 77. . 420J). doi:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.420 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1103/ PhysRevLett. 77. 420). PMID 10062808 (http:/ /
www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/ pubmed/ 10062808).
M. R. Andrews, C. G. Townsend, H.-J. Miesner, D. S. Durfee, D. M. Kurn, and W. Ketterle (1997). "Observation
of interference between two Bose condensates". Science 275 (5300): 637641. doi: 10.1126/science.275.5300.637
(http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1126/ science. 275. 5300. 637). PMID 9005843 (http:/ / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/
pubmed/ 9005843)..
Eric A. Cornell and Carl E. Wieman (1998). "The BoseEinstein Condensate". Scientific American 278 (3):
4045. doi: 10.1038/scientificamerican0398-40 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1038/ scientificamerican0398-40).
M. R. Matthews, B. P. Anderson, P. C. Haljan, D. S. Hall, C. E. Wieman, and E. A. Cornell (1999). "Vortices in a
BoseEinstein Condensate". Physical Review Letters 83 (13): 24982501. arXiv: cond-mat/9908209 (http:/ /
arxiv. org/ abs/ cond-mat/ 9908209). Bibcode: 1999PhRvL..83.2498M (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/
1999PhRvL. . 83. 2498M). doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.2498 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1103/ PhysRevLett. 83.
2498).
E.A. Donley, N.R. Claussen, S.L. Cornish, J.L. Roberts, E.A. Cornell, and C.E. Wieman (2001). "Dynamics of
collapsing and exploding BoseEinstein condensates". Nature 412 (6844): 295299. arXiv: cond-mat/0105019
(http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ cond-mat/ 0105019). Bibcode: 2001Natur.412..295D (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/
2001Natur. 412. . 295D). doi: 10.1038/35085500 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1038/ 35085500). PMID 11460153
(http:/ / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/ pubmed/ 11460153).
A. G. Truscott, K. E. Strecker, W. I. McAlexander, G. B. Partridge, and R. G. Hulet (2001). "Observation of
Fermi Pressure in a Gas of Trapped Atoms". Science 291 (5513): 25702572. Bibcode: 2001Sci...291.2570T
(http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 2001Sci. . . 291. 2570T). doi: 10.1126/science.1059318 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/
10. 1126/ science. 1059318). PMID 11283362 (http:/ / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/ pubmed/ 11283362).
M. Greiner, O. Mandel, T. Esslinger, T. W. Hnsch, I. Bloch (2002). "Quantum phase transition from a superfluid
to a Mott insulator in a gas of ultracold atoms". Nature 415 (6867): 3944. Bibcode: 2002Natur.415...39G (http:/ /
adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 2002Natur. 415. . . 39G). doi: 10.1038/415039a (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1038/
415039a). PMID 11780110 (http:/ / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/ pubmed/ 11780110)..
BoseEinstein condensate
88
S. Jochim, M. Bartenstein, A. Altmeyer, G. Hendl, S. Riedl, C. Chin, J. Hecker Denschlag, and R. Grimm (2003).
"BoseEinstein Condensation of Molecules". Science 302 (5653): 21012103. Bibcode: 2003Sci...302.2101J
(http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 2003Sci. . . 302. 2101J). doi: 10.1126/science.1093280 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10.
1126/ science. 1093280). PMID 14615548 (http:/ / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/ pubmed/ 14615548).
Markus Greiner, Cindy A. Regal and Deborah S. Jin (2003). "Emergence of a molecular BoseEinstein
condensate from a Fermi gas". Nature 426 (6966): 537540. Bibcode: 2003Natur.426..537G (http:/ / adsabs.
harvard. edu/ abs/ 2003Natur. 426. . 537G). doi: 10.1038/nature02199 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1038/
nature02199). PMID 14647340 (http:/ / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/ pubmed/ 14647340).
M. W. Zwierlein, C. A. Stan, C. H. Schunck, S. M. F. Raupach, S. Gupta, Z. Hadzibabic, and W. Ketterle (2003).
"Observation of BoseEinstein Condensation of Molecules". Physical Review Letters 91: 250401. arXiv:
cond-mat/0311617 (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ cond-mat/ 0311617). Bibcode: 2003PhRvL..91y0401Z (http:/ / adsabs.
harvard. edu/ abs/ 2003PhRvL. . 91y0401Z). doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.250401 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1103/
PhysRevLett. 91. 250401). PMID 14754098 (http:/ / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/ pubmed/ 14754098).
C. A. Regal, M. Greiner, and D. S. Jin (2004). "Observation of Resonance Condensation of Fermionic Atom
Pairs". Physical Review Letters 92 (4): 040403. arXiv: cond-mat/0401554 (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ cond-mat/
0401554). Bibcode: 2004PhRvL..92d0403R (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 2004PhRvL. . 92d0403R). doi:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.040403 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1103/ PhysRevLett. 92. 040403). PMID 14995356
(http:/ / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/ pubmed/ 14995356).
C. J. Pethick and H. Smith, BoseEinstein Condensation in Dilute Gases, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 2001.
Lev P. Pitaevskii and S. Stringari, BoseEinstein Condensation, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 2003.
Mackie M, Suominen KA, Javanainen J., "Mean-field theory of Feshbach-resonant interactions in 85Rb
condensates." Phys Rev Lett. 2002 Oct 28;89(18):180403.
External links
BoseEinstein Condensation 2009 Conference (http:/ / www. iqoqi. at/ bec2009) BoseEinstein Condensation
2009 Frontiers in Quantum Gases
BEC Homepage (http:/ / www. colorado. edu/ physics/ 2000/ bec/ index. html) General introduction to
BoseEinstein condensation
Nobel Prize in Physics 2001 (http:/ / nobelprize. org/ physics/ laureates/ 2001/ index. html) for the achievement
of BoseEinstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms, and for early fundamental studies of the properties
of the condensates
Physics Today: Cornell, Ketterle, and Wieman Share Nobel Prize for BoseEinstein Condensates (http:/ / www.
physicstoday. org/ pt/ vol-54/ iss-12/ p14. html)
BoseEinstein Condensates at JILA (http:/ / jilawww. colorado. edu/ bec/ )
Atomcool at Rice University (http:/ / atomcool. rice. edu/ )
The BoseEinstein Condensate at Utrecht University, the Netherlands (http:/ / www. bec. phys. uu. nl/ )
Alkali Quantum Gases at MIT (http:/ / cua. mit. edu/ ketterle_group/ home. htm)
Atom Optics at UQ (http:/ / www. physics. uq. edu. au/ atomoptics/ )
Einstein's manuscript on the BoseEinstein condensate discovered at Leiden University (http:/ / www. lorentz.
leidenuniv. nl/ history/ Einstein_archive/ )
The revolution that has not stopped (http:/ / physicsweb. org/ articles/ world/ 18/ 6/ 8/ 1) PhysicsWeb article from
June 2005
BoseEinstein condensate on arxiv.org (http:/ / xstructure. inr. ac. ru/ x-bin/ theme3. py?level=2&
index1=145786)
Bosons The Birds That Flock and Sing Together (http:/ / www. vigyanprasar. gov. in/ dream/ jan2002/ article1.
htm)
BoseEinstein condensate
89
Oxford Experimental BEC Group. (http:/ / www-matterwave. physics. ox. ac. uk)
Cambridge University Cold Atoms Group. (http:/ / www. quantumoptics. eu)
Easy BEC machine (http:/ / jilawww. colorado. edu/ bec/ BEC_for_everyone/ ) information on constructing a
BoseEinstein condensate machine.
Verging on absolute zero Cosmos Online (http:/ / www. cosmosmagazine. com/ features/ online/ 2176/
verging-absolute-zero)
Lecture by W Ketterle at MIT in 2001 (http:/ / mitworld. mit. edu/ video/ 77/ )
BoseEinstein Condensation at NIST (http:/ / bec. nist. gov/ ) NIST resource on BEC
Fermionic condensate
A fermionic condensate is a superfluid phase formed by fermionic particles at low temperatures. It is closely related
to the BoseEinstein condensate, a superfluid phase formed by bosonic atoms under similar conditions. Unlike the
BoseEinstein condensates, fermionic condensates are formed using fermions instead of bosons. The earliest
recognized fermionic condensate described the state of electrons in a superconductor; the physics of other examples
including recent work with fermionic atoms is analogous. The first atomic fermionic condensate was created by a
team led by Deborah S. Jin in 2003. A chiral condensate is an example of a fermionic condensate that appears in
theories of massless fermions with chiral symmetry breaking.
Background
Superfluidity
Fermionic condensates are called the sixth state of matter. They are attained at temperatures lower than
BoseEinstein condensates. Fermionic condensates are a type of superfluid. As the name suggests, a superfluid
possesses fluid properties similar to those possessed by ordinary liquids and gases, such as the lack of a definite
shape and the ability to flow in response to applied forces. However, superfluids possess some properties that do not
appear in ordinary matter. For instance, they can flow at low velocities without dissipating any energyi.e. zero
viscosity. At higher velocities, energy is dissipated by the formation of quantized vortices, which act as "holes" in
the medium where superfluidity breaks down.
Superfluidity was originally discovered in liquid helium-4, in 1938, by Pyotr Kapitsa, John Allen and Don Misener.
Superfluidity in helium-4, which occurs at temperatures below 2.17kelvins (K), has long been understood to result
from Bose condensation, the same mechanism that produces the BoseEinstein condensates. The primary difference
between superfluid helium and a BoseEinstein condensate is that the former is condensed from a liquid while the
latter is condensed from a gas.
Fermionic superfluids
It is far more difficult to produce a fermionic superfluid than a bosonic one, because the Pauli exclusion principle
prohibits fermions from occupying the same quantum state. However, there is a well-known mechanism by which a
superfluid may be formed from fermions. This is the BCS transition, discovered in 1957 by John Bardeen, Leon
Cooper and Robert Schrieffer for describing superconductivity. These authors showed that, below a certain
temperature, electrons (which are fermions) can pair up to form bound pairs now known as Cooper pairs. As long as
collisions with the ionic lattice of the solid do not supply enough energy to break the Cooper pairs, the electron fluid
will be able to flow without dissipation. As a result, it becomes a superfluid, and the material through which it flows
a superconductor.
Fermionic condensate
90
The BCS theory was phenomenally successful in describing superconductors. Soon after the publication of the BCS
paper, several theorists proposed that a similar phenomenon could occur in fluids made up of fermions other than
electrons, such as helium-3 atoms. These speculations were confirmed in 1971, when experiments performed by
Douglas D. Osheroff showed that helium-3 becomes a superfluid below 0.0025K. It was soon verified that the
superfluidity of helium-3 arises from a BCS-like mechanism. (The theory of superfluid helium-3 is a little more
complicated than the BCS theory of superconductivity. These complications arise because helium atoms repel each
other much more strongly than electrons, but the basic idea is the same.)
Creation of the first fermionic condensates
When Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman produced a BoseEinstein condensate from rubidium atoms in 1995, there
naturally arose the prospect of creating a similar sort of condensate made from fermionic atoms, which would form a
superfluid by the BCS mechanism. However, early calculations indicated that the temperature required for producing
Cooper pairing in atoms would be too cold to achieve. In 2001, Murray Holland at JILA suggested a way of
bypassing this difficulty. He speculated that fermionic atoms could be coaxed into pairing up by subjecting them to a
strong magnetic field.
In 2003, working on Holland's suggestion, Deborah Jin at JILA, Rudolf Grimm at the University of Innsbruck, and
Wolfgang Ketterle at MIT managed to coax fermionic atoms into forming molecular bosons, which then underwent
BoseEinstein condensation. However, this was not a true fermionic condensate. On December 16, 2003, Jin
managed to produce a condensate out of fermionic atoms for the first time. The experiment involved 500,000
potassium-40 atoms cooled to a temperature of 510
8
K, subjected to a time-varying magnetic field. The findings
were published in the online edition of Physical Review Letters on January 24, 2004.
Examples
BCS theory
The BCS theory of superconductivity has a fermion condensate. A pair of electrons in a metal, with opposite spins
can form a scalar bound state called a Cooper pair. Then, the bound states themselves form a condensate. Since the
Cooper pair has electric charge, this fermion condensate breaks the electromagnetic gauge symmetry of a
superconductor, giving rise to the wonderful electromagnetic properties of such states.
QCD
In quantum chromodynamics (QCD) the chiral condensate is also called the quark condensate. This property of the
QCD vacuum is partly responsible for giving masses to hadrons (along with other condensates like the gluon
condensate).
In an approximate version of QCD, which has vanishing quark masses for N quark flavours, there is an exact chiral
SU(N)xSU(N) symmetry of the theory. The QCD vacuum breaks this symmetry to SU(N) by forming a quark
condensate. The quark condensate is therefore an order parameter of transitions between several phases of quark
matter in this limit.
This is very similar to the BCS theory of superconductivity. The Cooper pairs are analogous to the pseudoscalar
mesons. However, the vacuum carries no charge. Hence all the gauge symmetries are unbroken. Corrections for the
masses of the quarks can be incorporated using chiral perturbation theory.
Fermionic condensate
91
Helium-3 superfluid
A helium-3 atom is a fermion and at very low temperatures, they form two-atom Cooper pairs which are bosonic and
condense into a superfluid. These Cooper pairs are substantially larger than the interatomic separation.
References
Guenault, Tony (2003). Basic superfluids. Taylor & Francis. ISBN0-7484-0892-4.
University of Colorado (January 28, 2004). NIST/University of Colorado Scientists Create New Form of Matter:
A Fermionic Condensate
[1]
. Press Release.
Rodgers, Peter & Dum, Bell (January 28, 2004). Fermionic condensate makes its debut
[2]
. PhysicWeb.
References
[1] http:/ / www. colorado.edu/ news/ releases/ 2004/ 21.html
[2] http:/ / physicsweb.org/ articles/ news/ 8/ 1/ 14
Superconductivity
A magnet levitating above a high-temperature
superconductor, cooled with liquid nitrogen.
Persistent electric current flows on the surface of
the superconductor, acting to exclude the
magnetic field of the magnet (Faraday's law of
induction). This current effectively forms an
electromagnet that repels the magnet.
Video of a Meissner effect in a high temperature
superconductor (black pellet) with a NdFeB
magnet (metallic)
Superconductivity is a phenomenon of exactly zero electrical
resistance and expulsion of magnetic fields occurring in certain
materials when cooled below a characteristic critical temperature. It
was discovered by Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes on
April8, 1911 in Leiden. Like ferromagnetism and atomic spectral
lines, superconductivity is a quantum mechanical phenomenon. It is
characterized by the Meissner effect, the complete ejection of magnetic
field lines from the interior of the superconductor as it transitions into
the superconducting state. The occurrence of the Meissner effect
indicates that superconductivity cannot be understood simply as the
idealization of perfect conductivity in classical physics.
Explanation
The electrical resistivity of a metallic conductor decreases gradually as
temperature is lowered. In ordinary conductors, such as copper or
silver, this decrease is limited by impurities and other defects. Even
near absolute zero, a real sample of a normal conductor shows some
resistance. In a superconductor, the resistance drops abruptly to zero
when the material is cooled below its critical temperature. An electric
current flowing in a loop of superconducting wire can persist
indefinitely with no power source.
[]
In 1986, it was discovered that some cuprate-perovskite ceramic
materials have a critical temperature above 90 K (183C).
[]
Such a
high transition temperature is theoretically impossible for a
conventional superconductor, leading the materials to be termed
high-temperature superconductors. Liquid nitrogen boils at 77K, and
Superconductivity
92
A high-temperature superconductor levitating
above a magnet
superconduction at higher temperatures than this facilitates many
experiments and applications that are less practical at lower
temperatures. In conventional superconductors, electrons are held
together in Cooper pairs by an attraction mediated by lattice phonons.
The best available model of high-temperature superconductivity is still
somewhat crude. There are currently two main hypotheses the
resonating-valence-bond theory, and spin fluctuation which has the
most support in the research community.
[1]
The second hypothesis
proposed that electron pairing in high-temperature superconductors is
mediated by short-range spin waves known as paramagnons.
[2][3]
Classification
There is not just one criterion to classify superconductors. The most common are
By their response to a magnetic field: they can be TypeI, meaning they have a single critical field, above which
all superconductivity is lost; or they can be TypeII, meaning they have two critical fields, between which they
allow partial penetration of the magnetic field.
By the theory to explain them: they can be conventional (if they are explained by the BCS theory or its
derivatives) or unconventional (if not).
By their critical temperature: they can be high temperature (generally considered if they reach the
superconducting state by just cooling them with liquid nitrogen, that is, if T
c
> 77K), or low temperature
(generally if they need other techniques to be cooled under their critical temperature).
By material: they can be chemical elements (as mercury or lead), alloys (as niobium-titanium or
germanium-niobium or niobium nitride), ceramics (as YBCO or the magnesium diboride), or organic
superconductors (as fullerenes or carbon nanotubes, though these examples technically might be included among
the chemical elements as they are composed entirely of carbon).
Elementary properties of superconductors
Most of the physical properties of superconductors vary from material to material, such as the heat capacity and the
critical temperature, critical field, and critical current density at which superconductivity is destroyed.
On the other hand, there is a class of properties that are independent of the underlying material. For instance, all
superconductors have exactly zero resistivity to low applied currents when there is no magnetic field present or if the
applied field does not exceed a critical value. The existence of these "universal" properties implies that
superconductivity is a thermodynamic phase, and thus possesses certain distinguishing properties which are largely
independent of microscopic details.
Superconductivity
93
Zero electrical DC resistance
Electric cables for accelerators at CERN. Both
the massive and slim cables are rated for 12,500
A. Top: conventional cables for LEP; bottom:
superconductor-based cables for the LHC
The simplest method to measure the electrical resistance of a sample of
some material is to place it in an electrical circuit in series with a
current source I and measure the resulting voltage V across the sample.
The resistance of the sample is given by Ohm's law as R=V/I. If the
voltage is zero, this means that the resistance is zero.
Superconductors are also able to maintain a current with no applied
voltage whatsoever, a property exploited in superconducting
electromagnets such as those found in MRI machines. Experiments
have demonstrated that currents in superconducting coils can persist
for years without any measurable degradation. Experimental evidence
points to a current lifetime of at least 100,000 years. Theoretical
estimates for the lifetime of a persistent current can exceed the
estimated lifetime of the universe, depending on the wire geometry and
the temperature.
[]
In a normal conductor, an electric current may be visualized as a fluid of electrons moving across a heavy ionic
lattice. The electrons are constantly colliding with the ions in the lattice, and during each collision some of the
energy carried by the current is absorbed by the lattice and converted into heat, which is essentially the vibrational
kinetic energy of the lattice ions. As a result, the energy carried by the current is constantly being dissipated. This is
the phenomenon of electrical resistance.
The situation is different in a superconductor. In a conventional superconductor, the electronic fluid cannot be
resolved into individual electrons. Instead, it consists of bound pairs of electrons known as Cooper pairs. This
pairing is caused by an attractive force between electrons from the exchange of phonons. Due to quantum mechanics,
the energy spectrum of this Cooper pair fluid possesses an energy gap, meaning there is a minimum amount of
energy E that must be supplied in order to excite the fluid. Therefore, if E is larger than the thermal energy of the
lattice, given by kT, where k is Boltzmann's constant and T is the temperature, the fluid will not be scattered by the
lattice. The Cooper pair fluid is thus a superfluid, meaning it can flow without energy dissipation.
In a class of superconductors known as type II superconductors, including all known high-temperature
superconductors, an extremely small amount of resistivity appears at temperatures not too far below the nominal
superconducting transition when an electric current is applied in conjunction with a strong magnetic field, which
may be caused by the electric current. This is due to the motion of vortices in the electronic superfluid, which
dissipates some of the energy carried by the current. If the current is sufficiently small, the vortices are stationary,
and the resistivity vanishes. The resistance due to this effect is tiny compared with that of non-superconducting
materials, but must be taken into account in sensitive experiments. However, as the temperature decreases far enough
below the nominal superconducting transition, these vortices can become frozen into a disordered but stationary
phase known as a "vortex glass". Below this vortex glass transition temperature, the resistance of the material
becomes truly zero.
Superconductivity
94
Superconducting phase transition
Behavior of heat capacity (c
v
, blue) and resistivity (, green) at the superconducting phase
transition
In superconducting materials, the
characteristics of superconductivity
appear when the temperature T is
lowered below a critical temperature
T
c
. The value of this critical
temperature varies from material to
material. Conventional
superconductors usually have critical
temperatures ranging from around
20K to less than 1K. Solid mercury,
for example, has a critical temperature
of 4.2K. As of 2009[4], the highest
critical temperature found for a
conventional superconductor is 39 K
for magnesium diboride (MgB
2
),
[5][6]
although this material displays enough
exotic properties that there is some
doubt about classifying it as a "conventional" superconductor.
[7]
Cuprate superconductors can have much higher
critical temperatures: YBa
2
Cu
3
O
7
, one of the first cuprate superconductors to be discovered, has a critical
temperature of 92K, and mercury-based cuprates have been found with critical temperatures in excess of 130K. The
explanation for these high critical temperatures remains unknown. Electron pairing due to phonon exchanges
explains superconductivity in conventional superconductors, but it does not explain superconductivity in the newer
superconductors that have a very high critical temperature.
Similarly, at a fixed temperature below the critical temperature, superconducting materials cease to superconduct
when an external magnetic field is applied which is greater than the critical magnetic field. This is because the Gibbs
free energy of the superconducting phase increases quadratically with the magnetic field while the free energy of the
normal phase is roughly independent of the magnetic field. If the material superconducts in the absence of a field,
then the superconducting phase free energy is lower than that of the normal phase and so for some finite value of the
magnetic field (proportional to the square root of the difference of the free energies at zero magnetic field) the two
free energies will be equal and a phase transition to the normal phase will occur. More generally, a higher
temperature and a stronger magnetic field lead to a smaller fraction of the electrons in the superconducting band and
consequently a longer London penetration depth of external magnetic fields and currents. The penetration depth
becomes infinite at the phase transition.
The onset of superconductivity is accompanied by abrupt changes in various physical properties, which is the
hallmark of a phase transition. For example, the electronic heat capacity is proportional to the temperature in the
normal (non-superconducting) regime. At the superconducting transition, it suffers a discontinuous jump and
thereafter ceases to be linear. At low temperatures, it varies instead as e
/T
for some constant, . This exponential
behavior is one of the pieces of evidence for the existence of the energy gap.
The order of the superconducting phase transition was long a matter of debate. Experiments indicate that the
transition is second-order, meaning there is no latent heat. However in the presence of an external magnetic field
there is latent heat, because the superconducting phase has a lower entropy below the critical temperature than the
normal phase. It has been experimentally demonstrated
[8]
that, as a consequence, when the magnetic field is
increased beyond the critical field, the resulting phase transition leads to a decrease in the temperature of the
superconducting material.
Superconductivity
95
Calculations in the 1970s suggested that it may actually be weakly first-order due to the effect of long-range
fluctuations in the electromagnetic field. In the 1980s it was shown theoretically with the help of a disorder field
theory, in which the vortex lines of the superconductor play a major role, that the transition is of second order within
the type II regime and of first order (i.e., latent heat) within the type I regime, and that the two regions are separated
by a tricritical point.
[9]
The results were strongly supported by Monte Carlo computer simulations.
[10]
Meissner effect
When a superconductor is placed in a weak external magnetic field H, and cooled below its transition temperature,
the magnetic field is ejected. The Meissner effect does not cause the field to be completely ejected but instead the
field penetrates the superconductor but only to a very small distance, characterized by a parameter, called the
London penetration depth, decaying exponentially to zero within the bulk of the material. The Meissner effect is a
defining characteristic of superconductivity. For most superconductors, the London penetration depth is on the order
of 100nm.
The Meissner effect is sometimes confused with the kind of diamagnetism one would expect in a perfect electrical
conductor: according to Lenz's law, when a changing magnetic field is applied to a conductor, it will induce an
electric current in the conductor that creates an opposing magnetic field. In a perfect conductor, an arbitrarily large
current can be induced, and the resulting magnetic field exactly cancels the applied field.
The Meissner effect is distinct from thisit is the spontaneous expulsion which occurs during transition to
superconductivity. Suppose we have a material in its normal state, containing a constant internal magnetic field.
When the material is cooled below the critical temperature, we would observe the abrupt expulsion of the internal
magnetic field, which we would not expect based on Lenz's law.
The Meissner effect was given a phenomenological explanation by the brothers Fritz and Heinz London, who
showed that the electromagnetic free energy in a superconductor is minimized provided
where H is the magnetic field and is the London penetration depth.
This equation, which is known as the London equation, predicts that the magnetic field in a superconductor decays
exponentially from whatever value it possesses at the surface.
A superconductor with little or no magnetic field within it is said to be in the Meissner state. The Meissner state
breaks down when the applied magnetic field is too large. Superconductors can be divided into two classes according
to how this breakdown occurs. In Type I superconductors, superconductivity is abruptly destroyed when the strength
of the applied field rises above a critical value H
c
. Depending on the geometry of the sample, one may obtain an
intermediate state
[11]
consisting of a baroque pattern
[12]
of regions of normal material carrying a magnetic field
mixed with regions of superconducting material containing no field. In Type II superconductors, raising the applied
field past a critical value H
c1
leads to a mixed state (also known as the vortex state) in which an increasing amount of
magnetic flux penetrates the material, but there remains no resistance to the flow of electric current as long as the
current is not too large. At a second critical field strength H
c2
, superconductivity is destroyed. The mixed state is
actually caused by vortices in the electronic superfluid, sometimes called fluxons because the flux carried by these
vortices is quantized. Most pure elemental superconductors, except niobium, technetium, vanadium and carbon
nanotubes, are TypeI, while almost all impure and compound superconductors are TypeII.
Superconductivity
96
London moment
Conversely, a spinning superconductor generates a magnetic field, precisely aligned with the spin axis. The effect,
the London moment, was put to good use in Gravity ProbeB. This experiment measured the magnetic fields of four
superconducting gyroscopes to determine their spin axes. This was critical to the experiment since it is one of the
few ways to accurately determine the spin axis of an otherwise featureless sphere.
History of superconductivity
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (right), the discoverer of superconductivity
Superconductivity was discovered on
April 8, 1911 by Heike Kamerlingh
Onnes, who was studying the
resistance of solid mercury at
cryogenic temperatures using the
recently produced liquid helium as a
refrigerant. At the temperature of
4.2K, he observed that the resistance
abruptly disappeared.
[13]
In the same
experiment, he also observed the
superfluid transition of helium at
2.2K, without recognizing its
significance. The precise date and
circumstances of the discovery were
only reconstructed a century later,
when Onnes's notebook was found.
[14]
In subsequent decades, superconductivity was observed in several other materials. In 1913, lead was found to
superconduct at 7K, and in 1941 niobium nitride was found to superconduct at 16K.
Great efforts have been devoted to finding out how and why superconductivity works; the important step occurred in
1933, when Meissner and Ochsenfeld discovered that superconductors expelled applied magnetic fields, a
phenomenon which has come to be known as the Meissner effect.
[15]
In 1935, Fritz and Heinz London showed that
the Meissner effect was a consequence of the minimization of the electromagnetic free energy carried by
superconducting current.
[16]
London theory
The first phenomenological theory of superconductivity was London theory. It was put forward by the brothers Fritz
and Heinz London in 1935, shortly after the discovery that magnetic fields are expelled from superconductors. A
major triumph of the equations of this theory is their ability to explain the Meissner effect,
[17]
wherein a material
exponentially expels all internal magnetic fields as it crosses the superconducting threshold. By using the London
equation, one can obtain the dependence of the magnetic field inside the superconductor on the distance to the
surface.
[18]
There are two London equations:
The first equation follows from Newton's second law for superconducting electrons.
Superconductivity
97
Conventional theories (1950s)
During the 1950s, theoretical condensed matter physicists arrived at a solid understanding of "conventional"
superconductivity, through a pair of remarkable and important theories: the phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau
theory (1950) and the microscopic BCS theory (1957).
[19][]
In 1950, the phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau theory of superconductivity was devised by Landau and
Ginzburg.
[20]
This theory, which combined Landau's theory of second-order phase transitions with a
Schrdinger-like wave equation, had great success in explaining the macroscopic properties of superconductors. In
particular, Abrikosov showed that Ginzburg-Landau theory predicts the division of superconductors into the two
categories now referred to as TypeI and TypeII. Abrikosov and Ginzburg were awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize for
their work (Landau had received the 1962 Nobel Prize for other work, and died in 1968). The four-dimensional
extension of the Ginzburg-Landau theory, the Coleman-Weinberg model, is important in quantum field theory and
cosmology.
Also in 1950, Maxwell and Reynolds et al. found that the critical temperature of a superconductor depends on the
isotopic mass of the constituent element.
[21][22]
This important discovery pointed to the electron-phonon interaction
as the microscopic mechanism responsible for superconductivity.
The complete microscopic theory of superconductivity was finally proposed in 1957 by Bardeen, Cooper and
Schrieffer.
[]
This BCS theory explained the superconducting current as a superfluid of Cooper pairs, pairs of
electrons interacting through the exchange of phonons. For this work, the authors were awarded the Nobel Prize in
1972.
The BCS theory was set on a firmer footing in 1958, when N. N. Bogolyubov showed that the BCS wavefunction,
which had originally been derived from a variational argument, could be obtained using a canonical transformation
of the electronic Hamiltonian.
[23]
In 1959, Lev Gor'kov showed that the BCS theory reduced to the Ginzburg-Landau
theory close to the critical temperature.
[24]
Generalizations of BCS theory for conventional superconductors form the basis for understanding of the
phenomenon of superfluidity, because they fall into the Lambda transition universality class. The extent to which
such generalizations can be applied to unconventional superconductors is still controversial.
Further history
The first practical application of superconductivity was developed in 1954 with Dudley Allen Buck's invention of the
cryotron.
[25]
Two superconductors with greatly different values of critical magnetic field are combined to produce a
fast, simple, switch for computer elements.
In 1962, the first commercial superconducting wire, a niobium-titanium alloy, was developed by researchers at
Westinghouse, allowing the construction of the first practical superconducting magnets. In the same year, Josephson
made the important theoretical prediction that a supercurrent can flow between two pieces of superconductor
separated by a thin layer of insulator.
[26]
This phenomenon, now called the Josephson effect, is exploited by
superconducting devices such as SQUIDs. It is used in the most accurate available measurements of the magnetic
flux quantum
0
=h/(2e), where h is the Planck constant. Coupled with the quantum Hall resistivity, this leads to a
precise measurement of the Planck constant. Josephson was awarded the Nobel Prize for this work in 1973.
In 2008, it was proposed that the same mechanism that produces superconductivity could produce a superinsulator
state in some materials, with almost infinite electrical resistance.
[27]
Superconductivity
98
High-temperature superconductivity
Timeline of superconducting materials
Until 1986, physicists had believed
that BCS theory forbade
superconductivity at temperatures
above about 30K. In that year,
Bednorz and Mller discovered
superconductivity in a
lanthanum-based cuprate perovskite
material, which had a transition
temperature of 35K (Nobel Prize in
Physics, 1987).
[]
It was soon found that
replacing the lanthanum with yttrium
(i.e.,making YBCO) raised the critical
temperature to 92K.
[]
This temperature jump is particularly
significant, since it allows liquid
nitrogen as a refrigerant, replacing
liquid helium.
[]
This can be important commercially because liquid nitrogen can be produced relatively cheaply,
even on-site, avoiding some of the problems (such as so-called "solid air" plugs) which arise when liquid helium is
used in piping.
[28][29]
Many other cuprate superconductors have since been discovered, and the theory of
superconductivity in these materials is one of the major outstanding challenges of theoretical condensed matter
physics.
[30]
Since about 1993, the highest temperature superconductor was a ceramic material consisting of thallium, mercury,
copper, barium, calcium and oxygen (HgBa
2
Ca
2
Cu
3
O
8+
) with T
c
= 133138 K.
[31][32]
The latter experiment (138
K) still awaits experimental confirmation, however. In February 2008, an iron-based family of high-temperature
superconductors was discovered.
[33][34]
Hideo Hosono, of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, and colleagues found
lanthanum oxygen fluorine iron arsenide (LaO
1-x
F
x
FeAs), an oxypnictide that superconducts below 26K. Replacing
the lanthanum in LaO
1x
F
x
FeAs with samarium leads to superconductors that work at 55K.
[35]
Crystal structure of high-temperature ceramic superconductors
The structure of a high-T
c
superconductor is closely related to perovskite structure, and the structure of these
compounds has been described as a distorted, oxygen deficient multi-layered perovskite structure. One of the
properties of the crystal structure of oxide superconductors is an alternating multi-layer of CuO
2
planes with
superconductivity taking place between these layers. The more layers of CuO
2
the higher T
c
. This structure causes a
large anisotropy in normal conducting and superconducting properties, since electrical currents are carried by holes
induced in the oxygen sites of the CuO
2
sheets. The electrical conduction is highly anisotropic, with a much higher
conductivity parallel to the CuO
2
plane than in the perpendicular direction. Generally, Critical temperatures depend
on the chemical compositions, cations substitutions and oxygen content. They can be classified as superstripes; i.e.,
particular realizations of superlattices at atomic limit made of superconducting atomic layers, wires, dots separated
by spacer layers, that gives multiband and multigap superconductivity.
Superconductivity
99
YBaCuO superconductors
YBCO unit cell
The first superconductor found with T
c
> 77K (liquid nitrogen boiling
point) is yttrium barium copper oxide (YBa
2
Cu
3
O
7-x
), the proportions
of the 3 different metals in the YBa
2
Cu
3
O
7
superconductor are in the
mole ratio of 1 to 2 to 3 for yttrium to barium to copper respectively.
Thus, this particular superconductor is often referred to as the 123
superconductor.
The unit cell of YBa
2
Cu
3
O
7
consists of three pseudocubic elementary
perovskite unit cells. Each perovskite unit cell contains a Y or Ba atom
at the center: Ba in the bottom unit cell, Y in the middle one, and Ba in
the top unit cell. Thus, Y and Ba are stacked in the sequence
[BaYBa] along the c-axis. All corner sites of the unit cell are
occupied by Cu, which has two different coordinations, Cu(1) and
Cu(2), with respect to oxygen. There are four possible crystallographic
sites for oxygen: O(1), O(2), O(3) and O(4).
[36]
The coordination
polyhedra of Y and Ba with respect to oxygen are different. The
tripling of the perovskite unit cell leads to nine oxygen atoms, whereas
YBa
2
Cu
3
O
7
has seven oxygen atoms and, therefore, is referred to as an
oxygen-deficient perovskite structure. The structure has a stacking of
different layers: (CuO)(BaO)(CuO
2
)(Y)(CuO
2
)(BaO)(CuO). One of the key feature of the unit cell of YBa
2
Cu
3
O
7-x
(YBCO) is the presence of two layers of CuO
2
. The role of the Y plane is to serve as a spacer between two CuO
2
planes. In YBCO, the CuO chains are known to play an important role for superconductivity. T
c
is maximal near 92
K when x 0.15 and the structure is orthorhombic. Superconductivity disappears at x 0.6, where the structural
transformation of YBCO occurs from orthorhombic to tetragonal.
[]
Bi-, Tl- and Hg-based high-T
c
superconductors
The crystal structure of Bi-, Tl- and Hg-based high-T
c
superconductors are very similar. Like YBCO, the
perovskite-type feature and the presence of CuO
2
layers also exist in these superconductors. However, unlike YBCO,
CuO chains are not present in these superconductors. The YBCO superconductor has an orthorhombic structure,
whereas the other high-T
c
superconductors have a tetragonal structure.
The BiSrCaCuO system has three superconducting phases forming a homologous series as
Bi
2
Sr
2
Ca
n1
Cu
n
O
4+2n+x
(n = 1, 2 and 3). These three phases are Bi-2201, Bi-2212 and Bi-2223, having transition
temperatures of 20, 85 and 110K, respectively, where the numbering system represent number of atoms for Bi, Sr,
Ca and Cu respectively.
[37]
The two phases have a tetragonal structure which consists of two sheared
crystallographic unit cells. The unit cell of these phases has double BiO planes which are stacked in a way that the
Bi atom of one plane sits below the oxygen atom of the next consecutive plane. The Ca atom forms a layer within the
interior of the CuO
2
layers in both Bi-2212 and Bi-2223; there is no Ca layer in the Bi-2201 phase. The three phases
differ with each other in the number of CuO
2
planes; Bi-2201, Bi-2212 and Bi-2223 phases have one, two and three
CuO
2
planes, respectively. The c axis of these phases increases with the number of CuO
2
planes (see table below).
The coordination of the Cu atom is different in the three phases. The Cu atom forms an octahedral coordination with
respect to oxygen atoms in the 2201 phase, whereas in 2212, the Cu atom is surrounded by five oxygen atoms in a
pyramidal arrangement. In the 2223 structure, Cu has two coordinations with respect to oxygen: one Cu atom is
bonded with four oxygen atoms in square planar configuration and another Cu atom is coordinated with five oxygen
atoms in a pyramidal arrangement.
[]
TlBaCaCuO superconductor: The first series of the Tl-based superconductor containing one TlO layer has
the general formula TlBa
2
Ca
n-1
Cu
n
O
2n+3
,
[38]
whereas the second series containing two TlO layers has a formula of
Superconductivity
100
Tl
2
Ba
2
Ca
n-1
Cu
n
O
2n+4
with n= 1, 2 and 3. In the structure of Tl
2
Ba
2
CuO
6
(Tl-2201), there is one CuO
2
layer with
the stacking sequence (TlO) (TlO) (BaO) (CuO) (BaO) (TlO) (TlO). In Tl
2
Ba
2
CaCu
2
O
8
(Tl-2212), there
are two CuO layers with a Ca layer in between. Similar to the Tl
2
Ba
2
CuO
6
structure, TlO layers are present
outside the BaO layers. In Tl
2
Ba
2
Ca
2
Cu
3
O
10
(Tl-2223), there are three CuO2 layers enclosing Ca layers between
each of these. In Tl-based superconductors, T
c
is found to increase with the increase in CuO
2
layers. However, the
value of T
c
decreases after four CuO
2
layers in TlBa
2
Ca
n-1
Cu
n
O
2n+3
, and in the Tl
2
Ba
2
Ca
n-1
Cu
n
O
2n+4
compound, it
decreases after three CuO
2
layers.
[39]
HgBaCaCuO superconductor: The crystal structure of HgBa
2
CuO
4
(Hg-1201),
[40]
HgBa
2
CaCu
2
O
6
(Hg-1212) and HgBa
2
Ca
2
Cu
3
O
8
(Hg-1223) is similar to that of Tl-1201, Tl-1212 and Tl-1223, with Hg in place
ofTl. It is noteworthy that the T
c
of the Hg compound (Hg-1201) containing one CuO
2
layer is much larger as
compared to the one-CuO
2
-layer compound of thallium (Tl-1201). In the Hg-based superconductor, T
c
is also found
to increase as the CuO
2
layer increases. For Hg-1201, Hg-1212 and Hg-1223, the values of T
c
are 94, 128 and the
record value at ambient pressure 134K,
[31]
respectively, as shown in table below. The observation that the T
c
of
Hg-1223 increases to 153K under high pressure indicates that the T
c
of this compound is very sensitive to the
structure of the compound.
[41]
Critical temperature (T
c
), crystal structure and lattice constants of some high-T
c
superconductors
Formula Notation T
c
(K) No. of Cu-O
planes
in unit cell
Crystal structure
YBa
2
Cu
3
O
7
123 92 2 Orthorhombic
Bi
2
Sr
2
CuO
6
Bi-2201 20 1 Tetragonal
Bi
2
Sr
2
CaCu
2
O
8
Bi-2212 85 2 Tetragonal
Bi
2
Sr
2
Ca
2
Cu
3
O
6
Bi-2223 110 3 Tetragonal
Tl
2
Ba
2
CuO
6
Tl-2201 80 1 Tetragonal
Tl
2
Ba
2
CaCu
2
O
8
Tl-2212 108 2 Tetragonal
Tl
2
Ba
2
Ca
2
Cu
3
O
10
Tl-2223 125 3 Tetragonal
TlBa
2
Ca
3
Cu
4
O
11
Tl-1234 122 4 Tetragonal
HgBa
2
CuO
4
Hg-1201 94 1 Tetragonal
HgBa
2
CaCu
2
O
6
Hg-1212 128 2 Tetragonal
HgBa
2
Ca
2
Cu
3
O
8
Hg-1223 134 3 Tetragonal
Preparation of high-T
c
superconductors
The simplest method for preparing high-T
c
superconductors is a solid-state thermochemical reaction involving
mixing, calcination and sintering. The appropriate amounts of precursor powders, usually oxides and carbonates, are
mixed thoroughly using a ball mill. Solution chemistry processes such as coprecipitation, freeze-drying and sol-gel
methods are alternative ways for preparing a homogenous mixture. These powders are calcined in the temperature
range from 800C to 950C for several hours. The powders are cooled, reground and calcined again. This process is
repeated several times to get homogenous material. The powders are subsequently compacted to pellets and sintered.
The sintering environment such as temperature, annealing time, atmosphere and cooling rate play a very important
role in getting good high-T
c
superconducting materials. The YBa
2
Cu
3
O
7-x
compound is prepared by calcination and
sintering of a homogenous mixture of Y
2
O
3
, BaCO
3
and CuO in the appropriate atomic ratio. Calcination is done at
900950C, whereas sintering is done at 950C in an oxygen atmosphere. The oxygen stoichiometry in this
Superconductivity
101
material is very crucial for obtaining a superconducting YBa
2
Cu
3
O
7x
compound. At the time of sintering, the
semiconducting tetragonal YBa
2
Cu
3
O
6
compound is formed, which, on slow cooling in oxygen atmosphere, turns
into superconducting YBa
2
Cu
3
O
7x
. The uptake and loss of oxygen are reversible in YBa
2
Cu
3
O
7x
. A fully oxidized
orthorhombic YBa
2
Cu
3
O
7x
sample can be transformed into tetragonal YBa
2
Cu
3
O
6
by heating in a vacuum at
temperature above 700C.
[]
The preparation of Bi-, Tl- and Hg-based high-T
c
superconductors is difficult compared to YBCO. Problems in these
superconductors arise because of the existence of three or more phases having a similar layered structure. Thus,
syntactic intergrowth and defects such as stacking faults occur during synthesis and it becomes difficult to isolate a
single superconducting phase. For BiSrCaCuO, it is relatively simple to prepare the Bi-2212 (T
c
85K) phase,
whereas it is very difficult to prepare a single phase of Bi-2223 (T
c
110K). The Bi-2212 phase appears only after
few hours of sintering at 860870C, but the larger fraction of the Bi-2223 phase is formed after a long reaction
time of more than a week at 870C.
[]
Although the substitution of Pb in the BiSrCaCuO compound has been
found to promote the growth of the high-T
c
phase,
[42]
a long sintering time is still required.
Applications
Superconducting magnets are some of the most powerful electromagnets known. They are used in MRI/NMR
machines, mass spectrometers, and the beam-steering magnets used in particle accelerators. They can also be used
for magnetic separation, where weakly magnetic particles are extracted from a background of less or non-magnetic
particles, as in the pigment industries.
In the 1950s and 1960s, superconductors were used to build experimental digital computers using cryotron switches.
More recently, superconductors have been used to make digital circuits based on rapid single flux quantum
technology and RF and microwave filters for mobile phone base stations.
Superconductors are used to build Josephson junctions which are the building blocks of SQUIDs (superconducting
quantum interference devices), the most sensitive magnetometers known. SQUIDs are used in scanning SQUID
microscopes and magnetoencephalography. Series of Josephson devices are used to realize the SI volt. Depending on
the particular mode of operation, a superconductor-insulator-superconductor Josephson junction can be used as a
photon detector or as a mixer. The large resistance change at the transition from the normal- to the superconducting
state is used to build thermometers in cryogenic micro-calorimeter photon detectors. The same effect is used in
ultrasensitive bolometers made from superconducting materials.
Other early markets are arising where the relative efficiency, size and weight advantages of devices based on
high-temperature superconductivity outweigh the additional costs involved.
Promising future applications include high-performance smart grid, electric power transmission, transformers, power
storage devices, electric motors (e.g. for vehicle propulsion, as in vactrains or maglev trains), magnetic levitation
devices, fault current limiters, nanoscopic materials such as buckyballs, nanotubes, composite materials and
superconducting magnetic refrigeration. However, superconductivity is sensitive to moving magnetic fields so
applications that use alternating current (e.g. transformers) will be more difficult to develop than those that rely upon
direct current.
Superconductivity
102
Nobel Prizes for superconductivity
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (1913), "for his investigations on the properties of matter at low temperatures which
led, inter alia, to the production of liquid helium"
John Bardeen, Leon N. Cooper, and J. Robert Schrieffer (1972), "for their jointly developed theory of
superconductivity, usually called the BCS-theory"
Leo Esaki, Ivar Giaever, and Brian D. Josephson (1973), "for their experimental discoveries regarding tunneling
phenomena in semiconductors and superconductors, respectively," and "for his theoretical predictions of the
properties of a supercurrent through a tunnel barrier, in particular those phenomena which are generally known as
the Josephson effects"
Georg Bednorz and K. Alex Mller (1987), "for their important break-through in the discovery of
superconductivity in ceramic materials"
Alexei A. Abrikosov, Vitaly L. Ginzburg, and Anthony J. Leggett (2003), "for pioneering contributions to the
theory of superconductors and superfluids"
[]
References
[4] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ w/ index. php?title=Superconductivity& action=edit
[14] The Discovery of Superconductivity (http:/ / ilorentz. org/ history/ cold/ DelftKes_HKO_PT. pdf)
[25] http:/ / dome.mit.edu/ bitstream/ handle/ 1721.3/ 40618/ MC665_r15_M-3843. pdf
Further reading
Hagen Kleinert (1989). "Superflow and Vortex Lines" (http:/ / www. physik. fu-berlin. de/ ~kleinert/
kleiner_reb1/ contents1. html). Gauge Fields in Condensed Matter 1. World Scientific. ISBN9971-5-0210-0.
Anatoly Larkin; Andrei Varlamov (2005). Theory of Fluctuations in Superconductors. Oxford University Press.
ISBN0-19-852815-9.
A. G. Lebed (2008). The Physics of Organic Superconductors and Conductors 110 (1rst ed.). Springer.
ISBN978-3-540-76667-4.
Jean Matricon, Georges Waysand, Charles Glashausser (2003). The Cold Wars: A History of Superconductivity.
Rutgers University Press. ISBN0-8135-3295-7.
"Physicist Discovers Exotic Superconductivity" (http:/ / www. sciencedaily. com/ releases/ 2006/ 08/
060817101658. htm). ScienceDaily. 17 August 2006.
Michael Tinkham (2004). Introduction to Superconductivity (2nd ed.). Dover Books. ISBN0-486-43503-2.
Terry Orlando, Kevin Delin (1991). Foundations of Applied Superconductivity. Prentice Hall.
ISBN978-0-201-18323-8.
Paul Tipler, Ralph Llewellyn (2002). Modern Physics (4th ed.). W. H. Freeman. ISBN0-7167-4345-0.
External links
Everything about superconductivity: properties, research, applications with videos, animations, games (http:/ /
www. superconductivity. eu)
Video about Type I Superconductors: R=0/transition temperatures/ B is a state variable/ Meissner effect/ Energy
gap(Giaever)/ BCS model (http:/ / alfredleitner. com)
Superconductivity: Current in a Cape and Thermal Tights. An introduction to the topic for non-scientists (http:/ /
www. magnet. fsu. edu/ education/ tutorials/ magnetacademy/ superconductivity101/ ) National High Magnetic
Field Laboratory
Introduction to superconductivity (http:/ / www. ornl. gov/ reports/ m/ ornlm3063r1/ pt1. html)
Lectures on Superconductivity (series of videos, including interviews with leading experts) (http:/ / www. msm.
cam. ac. uk/ ascg/ lectures/ )
Superconductivity
103
Superconductivity in everyday life : Interactive exhibition (http:/ / www. superlife. info)
Videos for various types of superconducting levitations including trains and hoolahoops also videos of Ohm's
law in a superconductor (http:/ / h0. web. u-psud. fr/ supraconductivite/ vulgaFilms. html)
Video of the Meissner effect from the NJIT Mathclub (http:/ / web. njit. edu/ ~mathclub/ superconductor/ index.
html)
Superconductivity News Update (http:/ / www. superconductivitynewsupdate. com)
Superconductor Week Newsletter industry news, links, et cetera (http:/ / www. superconductorweek. com)
Superconducting Magnetic Levitation (http:/ / www. maniacworld. com/ Superconducting-Magnetic-Levitation.
html)
National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University (http:/ / www. nscl. msu. edu)
High Temperature Superconducting and Cryogenics in RF applications (http:/ / www. suptech. com/
hts_crfe_tech. htm)
CERN Superconductors Database (http:/ / sdb-server. cern. ch/ mediawiki/ index. php/ Main_Page)
Magnetisation of High Temperature superconductors by the flux pumping method (http:/ / www. fluxpump. co.
uk/ default. aspx)
YouTube Video Levitating magnet (http:/ / youtube. com/ watch?v=indyz6O-Xyw& feature=user)
Isotope effect in superconductivity (http:/ / www. physics. csulb. edu/ ~abill/ isotope. html)
International Workshop on superconductivity in Diamond and Related Materials (free download papers) (http:/ /
www. iop. org/ EJ/ toc/ 1468-6996/ 9/ 4)
New Diamond and Frontier Carbon Technology Volume 17, No.1 Special Issue on Superconductivity in CVD
Diamond (http:/ / www. nims. go. jp/ NFM/ NDFCT17/ NDFCT17. html)
DoITPoMS Teaching and Learning Package "Superconductivity" (http:/ / www. doitpoms. ac. uk/ tlplib/
superconductivity/ index. php)
The Nobel Prize for Physics, 19012008 (http:/ / math. ucr. edu/ home/ baez/ physics/ Administrivia/ nobel. html)
folding hands-on activities about superconductivity (http:/ / hebergement. u-psud. fr/ supraconductivite/
pliages_en. html)
BCS theory
104
BCS theory
BCS theory is the first microscopic theory of superconductivity since its discovery in 1911. The theory describes
superconductivity as a microscopic effect caused by a condensation of Cooper pairs into a boson-like state. The
theory is also used in nuclear physics to describe the pairing interaction between nucleons in an atomic nucleus. It
was proposed by John Bardeen, Leon Neil Cooper, and John Robert Schrieffer ("BCS") in 1957.
History
The mid-1950s saw rapid progress in the understanding of superconductivity. It began in the 1948 paper, "On the
Problem of the Molecular Theory of Superconductivity"
[1]
where Fritz London proposed that the phenomenological
London equations may be consequences of the coherence of a quantum state. In 1953, Brian Pippard, motivated by
penetration experiments, proposed that this would modify the London equations via a new scale parameter called the
coherence length. John Bardeen then argued in the 1955 paper, "Theory of the Meissner Effect in
Superconductors"
[2]
that such a modification naturally occurs in a theory with an energy gap. The key ingredient was
Leon Neil Cooper's calculation of the bound states of electrons subject to an attractive force in his 1956 paper,
"Bound Electron Pairs in a Degenerate Fermi Gas".
[3]
In 1957 Bardeen and Cooper assembled these ingredients and constructed such a theory, the BCS theory, with
Robert Schrieffer. The theory was first published in April 1957 in the letter, "Microscopic theory of
superconductivity".
[4]
The demonstration that the phase transition is second order, that it reproduces the Meissner
effect and the calculations of specific heats and penetration depths appeared in the December 1957 article, "Theory
of superconductivity".
[5]
They received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1972 for this theory. The 1950
Landau-Ginzburg theory of superconductivity is not cited in either of the BCS papers.
In 1986, high-temperature superconductivity was discovered (i.e. superconductivity at temperatures considerably
above the previous limit of about 30K; up to about 130K). It is believed that BCS theory alone cannot explain this
phenomenon and that other effects are at play.
[6]
These effects are still not yet fully understood; it is possible that
they even control superconductivity at low temperatures for some materials.
Overview
At sufficiently low temperatures, electrons near the Fermi surface become unstable against the formation of Cooper
pairs. Cooper showed such binding will occur in the presence of an attractive potential, no matter how weak. In
conventional superconductors, an attraction is generally attributed to an electron-lattice interaction. The BCS theory,
however, requires only that the potential be attractive, regardless of its origin. In the BCS framework,
superconductivity is a macroscopic effect which results from the condensation of Cooper pairs. These have some
bosonic properties, while bosons, at sufficiently low temperature, can form a large Bose-Einstein condensate.
Superconductivity was simultaneously explained by Nikolay Bogoliubov, by means of the so-called Bogoliubov
transformations.
In many superconductors, the attractive interaction between electrons (necessary for pairing) is brought about
indirectly by the interaction between the electrons and the vibrating crystal lattice (the phonons). Roughly speaking
the picture is the following:
An electron moving through a conductor will attract nearby positive charges in the lattice. This deformation of
the lattice causes another electron, with opposite spin, to move into the region of higher positive charge
density. The two electrons then become correlated. Because there are a lot of such electron pairs in a
superconductor, these pairs overlap very strongly and form a highly collective condensate. In this "condensed"
state, the breaking of one pair will change the energy of the entire condensate - not just a single electron, or a
single pair. Thus, the energy required to break any single pair is related to the energy required to break all of
BCS theory
105
the pairs (or more than just two electrons). Because the pairing increases this energy barrier, kicks from
oscillating atoms in the conductor (which are small at sufficiently low temperatures) are not enough to affect
the condensate as a whole, or any individual "member pair" within the condensate. Thus the electrons stay
paired together and resist all kicks, and the electron flow as a whole (the current through the superconductor)
will not experience resistance. Thus, the collective behavior of the condensate is a crucial ingredient necessary
for superconductivity.
More details
BCS theory starts from the assumption that there is some attraction between electrons, which can overcome the
Coulomb repulsion. In most materials (in low temperature superconductors), this attraction is brought about
indirectly by the coupling of electrons to the crystal lattice (as explained above). However, the results of BCS theory
do not depend on the origin of the attractive interaction. For instance, Cooper pairs have been observed in ultracold
gases of Fermions where a homogeneous magnetic field has been tuned to their Feshbach resonance. The original
results of BCS (discussed below) described an s-wave superconducting state, which is the rule among
low-temperature superconductors but is not realized in many unconventional superconductors such as the d-wave
high-temperature superconductors. Extensions of BCS theory exist to describe these other cases, although they are
insufficient to completely describe the observed features of high-temperature superconductivity.
BCS is able to give an approximation for the quantum-mechanical many-body state of the system of (attractively
interacting) electrons inside the metal. This state is now known as the BCS state. In the normal state of a metal,
electrons move independently, whereas in the BCS state, they are bound into Cooper pairs by the attractive
interaction. The BCS formalism is based on the reduced potential for the electrons attraction. Within this potential, a
variational ansatz for the wave function is proposed. This ansatz was later shown to be exact in the dense limit of
pairs. Note that the continuous crossover between the dilute and dense regimes of attracting pairs of fermions is still
an open problem, which now attracts a lot of attention within the field of ultracold gases.
Successes of the BCS theory
BCS derived several important theoretical predictions that are independent of the details of the interaction, since the
quantitative predictions mentioned below hold for any sufficiently weak attraction between the electrons and this last
condition is fulfilled for many low temperature superconductors - the so-called weak-coupling case. These have been
confirmed in numerous experiments:
The electrons are bound into Cooper pairs, and these pairs are correlated due to the Pauli exclusion principle for
the electrons, from which they are constructed. Therefore, in order to break a pair, one has to change energies of
all other pairs. This means there is an energy gap for single-particle excitation, unlike in the normal metal (where
the state of an electron can be changed by adding an arbitrarily small amount of energy). This energy gap is
highest at low temperatures but vanishes at the transition temperature when superconductivity ceases to exist. The
BCS theory gives an expression that shows how the gap grows with the strength of the attractive interaction and
the (normal phase) single particle density of states at the Fermi energy. Furthermore, it describes how the density
of states is changed on entering the superconducting state, where there are no electronic states any more at the
Fermi energy. The energy gap is most directly observed in tunneling experiments
[7]
and in reflection of
microwaves from superconductors.
BCS theory predicts the dependence of the value of the energy gap E at temperature T on the critical temperature
T
c
. The ratio between the value of the energy gap at zero temperature and the value of the superconducting
transition temperature (expressed in energy units) takes the universal value of 3.5, independent of material. Near
the critical temperature the relation asymptotes to
BCS theory
106
which is of the form suggested the previous year by M. J. Buckingham in Very High Frequency Absorption in
Superconductors
[8]
based on the fact that the superconducting phase transition is second order, that the
superconducting phase has a mass gap and on Blevins, Gordy and Fairbank's experimental results the previous
year on the absorption of millimeter waves by superconducting tin.
Due to the energy gap, the specific heat of the superconductor is suppressed strongly (exponentially) at low
temperatures, there being no thermal excitations left. However, before reaching the transition temperature, the
specific heat of the superconductor becomes even higher than that of the normal conductor (measured
immediately above the transition) and the ratio of these two values is found to be universally given by 2.5.
BCS theory correctly predicts the Meissner effect, i.e. the expulsion of a magnetic field from the superconductor
and the variation of the penetration depth (the extent of the screening currents flowing below the metal's surface)
with temperature. This had been demonstrated experimentally by Walther Meissner and Robert Ochsenfeld in
their 1933 article Ein neuer Effekt bei Eintritt der Supraleitfhigkeit
[9]
.
It also describes the variation of the critical magnetic field (above which the superconductor can no longer expel
the field but becomes normal conducting) with temperature. BCS theory relates the value of the critical field at
zero temperature to the value of the transition temperature and the density of states at the Fermi energy.
In its simplest form, BCS gives the superconducting transition temperature in terms of the electron-phonon
coupling potential and the Debye cutoff energy:
Here N(0) is the electronic density of states at the Fermi energy. For more details, see Cooper pairs.
The BCS theory reproduces the isotope effect, which is the experimental observation that for a given
superconducting material, the critical temperature is inversely proportional to the mass of the isotope used in the
material. The isotope effect was reported by two groups on the 24th of March 1950, who discovered it
independently working with different mercury isotopes, although a few days before publication they learned of
each other's results at the ONR conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The two groups are Emanuel Maxwell, who
published his results in Isotope Effect in the Superconductivity of Mercury
[10]
and C. A. Reynolds, B. Serin, W.
H. Wright, and L. B. Nesbitt who published their results 10 pages later in Superconductivity of Isotopes of
Mercury
[11]
. The choice of isotope ordinarily has little effect on the electrical properties of a material, but does
affect the frequency of lattice vibrations. This effect suggests that superconductivity is related to vibrations of the
lattice. This is incorporated into BCS theory, where lattice vibrations yield the binding energy of electrons in a
Cooper pair.
References
[7] Ivar Giaever - Nobel Lecture. Nobelprize.org. Retrieved 16 Dec 2010. http:/ / nobelprize. org/ nobel_prizes/ physics/ laureates/ 1973/
giaever-lecture. html
[8] http:/ / prola.aps.org/ abstract/ PR/ v101/ i4/ p1431_1
[9] http:/ / adsabs. harvard.edu/ abs/ 1933NW. .... 21.. 787M
[10] http:/ / prola. aps. org/ abstract/ PR/ v78/ i4/ p477_1
[11] http:/ / prola. aps. org/ abstract/ PR/ v78/ i4/ p487_1
The BCS Papers:
L. N. Cooper, "Bound Electron Pairs in a Degenerate Fermi Gas", Phys. Rev 104, 1189 - 1190 (1956) (http:/ /
prola. aps. org/ abstract/ PR/ v104/ i4/ p1189_1).
J. Bardeen, L. N. Cooper, and J. R. Schrieffer, "Microscopic Theory of Superconductivity", Phys. Rev. 106, 162 -
164 (1957) (http:/ / prola. aps. org/ abstract/ PR/ v106/ i1/ p162_1).
J. Bardeen, L. N. Cooper, and J. R. Schrieffer, "Theory of Superconductivity", Phys. Rev. 108, 1175 (1957) (http:/
/ link. aps. org/ abstract/ PR/ v108/ p1175).
BCS theory
107
Further reading
John Robert Schrieffer, Theory of Superconductivity, (1964), ISBN 0-7382-0120-0
Michael Tinkham, Introduction to Superconductivity, ISBN 0-486-43503-2
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Superconductivity of Metals and Alloys, ISBN 0-7382-0101-4.
Cooper, Leon N ; Feldman, Dmitri (Eds.) (2010). BCS: 50 Years (book). World Scientific.
ISBN978-981-4304-64-1.
External links
ScienceDaily: Physicist Discovers Exotic Superconductivity (http:/ / www. sciencedaily. com/ releases/ 2006/ 08/
060817101658. htm) (University of Arizona) August 17, 2006
Hyperphysics page on BCS (http:/ / hyperphysics. phy-astr. gsu. edu/ hbase/ solids/ bcs. html)
BCS History (http:/ / ffden-2. phys. uaf. edu/ 212_fall2003. web. dir/ T. J_Barry/ bcstheory. html)
Dance Analogy (http:/ / www. aip. org/ history/ mod/ superconductivity/ 03. html) of BCS theory as explained by
Bob Schrieffer (audio recording)
Neutron star
Neutron stars contain 500,000 times the mass of the Earth in a sphere with a
diameter no larger than that of Brooklyn, United States
Video about two neutron stars colliding
A neutron star is a type of stellar remnant
that can result from the gravitational
collapse of a massive star during a Type II,
Type Ib or Type Ic supernova event. Such
stars are composed almost entirely of
neutrons, which are subatomic particles
without net electrical charge and with
slightly larger mass than protons. Neutron
stars are very hot and are supported against
further collapse by quantum degeneracy
pressure due to the Pauli exclusion
principle. This principle states that no two
neutrons (or any other fermionic particles)
can occupy the same place and quantum
state simultaneously.
A typical neutron star has a mass between
about 1.4 and 3.2 solar masses
[][1][2]
(see
Chandrasekhar Limit), with a corresponding
radius of about 12 km if the
AkmalPandharipandeRavenhall equation
of state (APR EOS) is used.
[][3]
In contrast,
the Sun's radius is about 60,000 times that.
Neutron stars have overall densities
predicted by the APR EOS of 3.710
17
to
5.910
17
kg/m
3
(2.610
14
to 4.110
14
times
the density of the Sun),
[4]
which compares
Neutron star
108
with the approximate density of an atomic nucleus of 310
17
kg/m
3
.
[5]
The neutron star's density varies from below
110
9
kg/m
3
in the crust, increasing with depth to above 610
17
or 810
17
kg/m
3
deeper inside (denser than an
atomic nucleus).
[]
This density is approximately equivalent to the mass of a Boeing 747 compressed to the size of a
small grain of sand.
In general, compact stars of less than 1.44solar masses the Chandrasekhar limit are white dwarfs, and above 2 to
3 solar masses (the TolmanOppenheimerVolkoff limit), a quark star might be created; however, this is uncertain.
Gravitational collapse will usually occur on any compact star between 10 and 25 solar masses and produce a black
hole.
[6]
Some neutron stars rotate very rapidly and emit beams of electromagnetic radiation as pulsars.
Neutron star collision
Formation
As the core of a massive star is compressed during a supernova, and
collapses into a neutron star, it retains most of its angular momentum.
Since it has only a tiny fraction of its parent's radius (and therefore its
moment of inertia is sharply reduced), a neutron star is formed with
very high rotation speed, and then gradually slows down. Neutron stars
are known to have rotation periods from about 1.4 ms to 30 seconds.
The neutron star's density also gives it very high surface gravity, up to
710
12
m/s
2
with typical values of a few 10
12
m/s
2
(that is more than
10
11
times of that of Earth). One measure of such immense gravity is the fact that neutron stars have an escape
velocity of around 100,000 km/s, about a third of the speed of light. Matter falling onto the surface of a neutron star
would be accelerated to tremendous speed by the star's gravity. The force of impact would likely destroy the object's
component atoms, rendering all its matter identical, in most respects, to the rest of the star.
[citation needed]
Properties
Gravitational light deflection at a neutron star.
Due to relativistic light deflection more than half
of the surface is visible (each chequered patch
here represents 30 degrees by 30 degrees).
[]
In
natural units, the mass of the depicted star is 1
and its radius 4, or twice its Schwarzschild
radius.
[]
The gravitational field at the star's surface is about 210
11
times
stronger than on Earth. Such a strong gravitational field acts as a
gravitational lens and bends the radiation emitted by the star such that
parts of the normally invisible rear surface become visible.
[]
A fraction of the mass of a star that collapses to form a neutron star is
released in the supernova explosion from which it forms (from the law
of mass-energy equivalence, E = mc
2
). The energy comes from the
gravitational binding energy of a neutron star.
Neutron star relativistic equations of state provided by Jim Lattimer
include a graph of radius vs. mass for various models.
[7]
The most
likely radii for a given neutron star mass are bracketed by models AP4
(smallest radius) and MS2 (largest radius). BE is the ratio of
gravitational binding energy mass equivalent to observed neutron star
gravitational mass of "M" kilograms with radius "R" meters,
[8]

Given current values
[9]
Neutron star
109
and star masses "M" commonly reported as multiples of one solar mass,
then the relativistic fractional binding energy of a neutron star is
A two-solar-mass neutron star would not be more compact than 10,970 meters radius (AP4 model). Its mass fraction
gravitational binding energy would then be 0.187, 18.7% (exothermic). This is not near 0.6/2 = 0.3, 30%.
A neutron star is so dense that one teaspoon (5 milliliters) of its material would have a mass over 5.510
12
kg, about
900 times the mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
[10]
Hence, the gravitational force of a typical neutron star is such
that if an object were to fall from a height of one meter, it would only take one microsecond to hit the surface of the
neutron star, and would do so at around 2000 kilometers per second, or 7.2 million kilometers per hour.
[11]
The temperature inside a newly formed neutron star is from around 10
11
to 10
12
kelvin.
[]
However, the huge number
of neutrinos it emits carry away so much energy that the temperature falls within a few years to around 10
6
kelvin.
[]
Even at 1 million kelvin, most of the light generated by a neutron star is in X-rays. In visible light, neutron stars
probably radiate approximately the same energy in all parts of visible spectrum, and therefore appear white.
The pressure increases from 310
33
to 1.610
35
Pa from the inner crust to the center.
[12]
The equation of state for a neutron star is still not known. It is assumed that it differs significantly from that of a
white dwarf, whose EOS is that of a degenerate gas which can be described in close agreement with special
relativity. However, with a neutron star the increased effects of general relativity can no longer be ignored. Several
EOS have been proposed (FPS, UU, APR, L, SLy, and others) and current research is still attempting to constrain the
theories to make predictions of neutron star matter.
[][13]
This means that the relation between density and mass is not
fully known, and this causes uncertainties in radius estimates. For example, a 1.5 solar mass neutron star could have
a radius of 10.7, 11.1, 12.1 or 15.1 kilometres (for EOS FPS, UU, APR or L respectively).
[13]
Structure
Cross-section of neutron star. Densities are in terms of
0
the saturation nuclear matter
density, where nucleons begin to touch.
Current understanding of the structure
of neutron stars is defined by existing
mathematical models, but it might be
possible to infer through studies of
neutron-star oscillations. Similar to
asteroseismology for ordinary stars, the
inner structure might be derived by
analyzing observed frequency spectra
of stellar oscillations.
[]
On the basis of current models, the
matter at the surface of a neutron star
is composed of ordinary atomic nuclei
crushed into a solid lattice with a sea
of electrons flowing through the gaps
between them. It is possible that the nuclei at the surface are iron, due to iron's high binding energy per nucleon.
[14]
It is also possible that heavy element cores, such as iron, simply sink beneath the surface, leaving only light nuclei
Neutron star
110
like helium and hydrogen cores.
[14]
If the surface temperature exceeds 10
6
kelvin (as in the case of a young pulsar),
the surface should be fluid instead of the solid phase observed in cooler neutron stars (temperature <10
6
kelvins).
[14]
The "atmosphere" of the star is hypothesized to be at most several micrometers thick, and its dynamic is fully
controlled by the star's magnetic field. Below the atmosphere one encounters a solid "crust". This crust is extremely
hard and very smooth (with maximum surface irregularities of ~5mm), because of the extreme gravitational field.
[15]
Proceeding inward, one encounters nuclei with ever increasing numbers of neutrons; such nuclei would decay
quickly on Earth, but are kept stable by tremendous pressures. As this process continues at increasing depths,
neutron drip becomes overwhelming, and the concentration of free neutrons increases rapidly. In this region, there
are nuclei, free electrons, and free neutrons. The nuclei become increasingly small (gravity and pressure
overwhelming the strong force) until the core is reached, by definition the point where they disappear altogether.
The composition of the superdense matter in the core remains uncertain. One model describes the core as superfluid
neutron-degenerate matter (mostly neutrons, with some protons and electrons). More exotic forms of matter are
possible, including degenerate strange matter (containing strange quarks in addition to up and down quarks), matter
containing high-energy pions and kaons in addition to neutrons,
[]
or ultra-dense quark-degenerate matter.
History of discoveries
The first direct observation of a neutron star in visible
light. The neutron star is RX J185635-3754.
In 1934, Walter Baade and Fritz Zwicky proposed the existence of
the neutron star,
[16][17]
only a year after the discovery of the
neutron by Sir James Chadwick.
[18]
In seeking an explanation for
the origin of a supernova, they proposed that the neutron star is
formed in a supernova. Supernovae are suddenly appearing dying
stars in the sky, whose luminosity in visible light outshine an
entire galaxy for days to weeks. Baade and Zwicky correctly
proposed at that time that the release of the gravitational binding
energy of the neutron stars powers the supernova: "In the
supernova process, mass in bulk is annihilated".
In 1965, Antony Hewish and Samuel Okoye discovered "an
unusual source of high radio brightness temperature in the Crab
Nebula".
[19]
This source turned out to be the Crab Nebula neutron
star that resulted from the great supernova of 1054.
In 1967, Iosif Shklovsky examined the X-ray and optical
observations of Scorpius X-1 and correctly concluded that the
radiation comes from a neutron star at the stage of accretion.
[20]
In 1967, Jocelyn Bell and Antony Hewish discovered regular radio pulses from CP 1919. This pulsar was later
interpreted as an isolated, rotating neutron star. The energy source of the pulsar is the rotational energy of the
neutron star. The majority of known neutron stars (about 2000, as of 2010) have been discovered as pulsars, emitting
regular radio pulses.
In 1971, Riccardo Giacconi, Herbert Gursky, Ed Kellogg, R. Levinson, E. Schreier, and H. Tananbaum discovered
4.8 second pulsations in an X-ray source in the constellation Centaurus, Cen X-3. They interpreted this as resulting
from a rotating hot neutron star. The energy source is gravitational and results from a rain of gas falling onto the
surface of the neutron star from a companion star or the interstellar medium.
In 1974, Antony Hewish was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics "for his decisive role in the discovery of pulsars"
without Jocelyn Bell who shared in the discovery.
Neutron star
111
In 1974, Joseph Taylor and Russell Hulse discovered the first binary pulsar, PSR B1913+16, which consists of two
neutron stars (one seen as a pulsar) orbiting around their center of mass. Einstein's general theory of relativity
predicts that massive objects in short binary orbits should emit gravitational waves, and thus that their orbit should
decay with time. This was indeed observed, precisely as general relativity predicts, and in 1993, Taylor and Hulse
were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for this discovery.
In 2003, Marta Burgay and colleagues discovered the first double neutron star system where both components are
detectable as pulsars, PSR J0737-3039. The discovery of this system allows a total of 5 different tests of general
relativity, some of these with unprecedented precision.
In 2010, Paul Demorest and colleagues measured the mass of the millisecond pulsar PSR J16142230 to be
1.970.04 solar masses, using Shapiro delay.
[21]
This is substantially higher than any other precisely measured
neutron star mass (in the range 1.21.67 solar masses, see PSR J1903+0327), and places strong constraints on the
interior composition of neutron stars.
Rotation
Neutron stars rotate extremely rapidly after their creation due to the conservation of angular momentum; like
spinning ice skaters pulling in their arms, the slow rotation of the original star's core speeds up as it shrinks. A
newborn neutron star can rotate several times a second; sometimes, the neutron star absorbs orbiting matter from a
companion star, increasing the rotation to several hundred times per second, reshaping the neutron star into an oblate
spheroid.
Over time, neutron stars slow down because their rotating magnetic fields radiate energy; older neutron stars may
take several seconds for each revolution.
The rate at which a neutron star slows its rotation is usually constant and very small: the observed rates of decline are
between 10
10
and 10
21
seconds for each rotation. Therefore, for a typical slow down rate of 10
15
seconds per
rotation, a neutron star now rotating in 1 second will rotate in 1.000003 seconds after a century, or 1.03 seconds after
1 million years.
NASA artist's conception of a "starquake", or "stellar quake".
Sometimes a neutron star will spin up
or undergo a glitch, a sudden small
increase of its rotation speed. Glitches
are thought to be the effect of a
starquake as the rotation of the star
slows down, the shape becomes more
spherical. Due to the stiffness of the
"neutron" crust, this happens as
discrete events as the crust ruptures,
similar to tectonic earthquakes. After
the starquake, the star will have a
smaller equatorial radius, and since
angular momentum is conserved,
rotational speed increases. Recent
work, however, suggests that a
starquake would not release sufficient
energy for a neutron star glitch; it has
been suggested that glitches may
instead be caused by transitions of vortices in the superfluid core of the star from one metastable energy state to a
lower one.
[22]
Neutron star
112
Neutron stars have been observed to "pulse" radio and x-ray emissions believed to be caused by particle acceleration
near the magnetic poles, which need not be aligned with the rotation axis of the star. Though mechanisms not yet
entirely understood, these particles produce coherent beams of radio emission. External viewers see these beams as
pulses of radiation whenever the magnetic pole sweeps past the line of sight. The pulses come at the same rate as the
rotation of the neutron star, and thus, appear periodic. Neutron stars which emit such pulses are called pulsars.
The most rapidly rotating neutron star currently known, PSR J1748-2446ad, rotates at 716 rotations per second.
[23]
A
recent paper reported the detection of an X-ray burst oscillation (an indirect measure of spin) at 1122Hz from the
neutron star XTE J1739-285.
[24]
However, at present, this signal has only been seen once, and should be regarded as
tentative until confirmed in another burst from this star.
Population and distances
At present, there are about 2000 known neutron stars in the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds, the majority of
which have been detected as radio pulsars. The population of neutron stars is concentrated along the disk of the
Milky Way although the spread perpendicular to the disk is fairly large. The reason for this spread is due to the
asymmetry of the supernova explosion process, which can impart high speeds (400km/s) to the newly created
neutron star.
Some of the closest neutron stars are RX J1856.5-3754 about 400 light years away and PSR J0108-1431 at about 424
light years.
[]
Another nearby neutron star that was detected transiting the backdrop of the constellation Ursa Minor
has been catalogued as 1RXS J141256.0+792204. This rapidly moving object, nicknamed "Calvera" by its Canadian
and American discoverers, was discovered using the ROSAT/Bright Source Catalog. Initial measurements placed its
distance from Earth at 200 to 1,000 light years away, with later claims at about 450 light-years.
Binary neutron stars
About 5% of all known neutron stars are members of a binary system. The formation and evolution scenario of
binary neutron stars is a rather exotic and complicated process.
[25]
The companion stars may be either ordinary stars,
white dwarfs or other neutron stars. According to modern theories of binary evolution it is expected that neutron
stars also exist in binary systems with black hole companions. Such binaries are expected to be prime sources for
emitting gravitational waves. Neutron stars in binary systems often emit X-rays which is caused by the heating of
material (gas) accreted from the companion star. Material from the outer layers of a (bloated) companion star is
sucked towards the neutron star as a result of its very strong gravitational field. As a result of this process binary
neutron stars may also coalesce into black holes if the accretion of mass takes place under extreme conditions.
[26]
Subtypes
Neutron star
Protoneutron star (PNS), theorized.
[27]
Radio-quiet neutron stars
Radio loud neutron star
Single pulsarsgeneral term for neutron stars that emit directed pulses of radiation towards us at regular
intervals (due to their strong magnetic fields).
Rotation-powered pulsar ("radio pulsar")
Magnetara neutron star with an extremely strong magnetic field (1000 times more than a regular
neutron star), and long rotation periods (5 to 12 seconds).
Soft gamma repeater (SGR)
Anomalous X-ray pulsar (AXP)
Neutron star
113
Binary pulsars
Low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXB)
Intermediate-mass X-ray binaries (IMXB)
High-mass X-ray binaries (HMXB)
Accretion-powered pulsar ("X-ray pulsar")
X-ray burstera neutron star with a low mass binary companion from which matter is accreted
resulting in irregular bursts of energy from the surface of the neutron star.
Millisecond pulsar (MSP) ("recycled pulsar")
Sub-millisecond pulsar
[28]
Exotic star
Quark starcurrently a hypothetical type of neutron star composed of quark matter, or strange matter. As of
2008, there are three candidates.
Electroweak starcurrently a hypothetical type of extremely heavy neutron star, in which the quarks are
converted to leptons through the electroweak force, but the gravitational collapse of the star is prevented by
radiation pressure. As of 2010, there is no evidence for their existence.
Preon starcurrently a hypothetical type of neutron star composed of preon matter. As of 2008, there is no
evidence for the existence of preons.
Giant nucleus
A neutron star has some of the properties of an atomic nucleus, including density and being composed of nucleons.
In popular scientific writing, neutron stars are therefore sometimes described as giant nuclei. However, in other
respects, neutron stars and atomic nuclei are quite different. In particular, a nucleus is held together by the strong
interaction, whereas a neutron star is held together by gravity. It is generally more useful to consider such objects as
stars.
Examples of neutron stars
PSR J0108-1431 closest neutron star
LGM-1 the first recognized radio-pulsar
PSR B1257+12 the first neutron star discovered with planets (a millisecond pulsar)
SWIFT J1756.9-2508 a millisecond pulsar with a stellar-type companion with planetary range mass (below
brown dwarf)
PSR B1509-58 source of the "Hand of God" photo shot by the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
References
[3] A neutron star's density increases as its mass increases, and, for most equations of state (EOS), its radius decreases non-linearly. For example,
EOS radius predictions for a 1.35M star are: FPS 10.8 km, UU 11.1 km, APR 12.1 km, and L 14.9 km. For a more massive 2.1M star, radius
predictions are: FPS undefined, UU 10.5 km, APR 11.8 km, and L 15.1 km. ( NASA mass radius graph (http:/ / ixo. gsfc. nasa. gov/
old_conx_pages/ images/ science/ neutron_stars/ ns_mass_radius. gif))
[4] [4] derives from mass 2.68kg / volume of star of radius 12km; derives from mass per volume of star radius 11.9km
[5] NB 3kg/m
3
is
[6] (http:/ / imagine.gsfc.nasa. gov/ docs/ science/ know_l2/ black_holes. html), a ten stellar mass star will collapse into a black hole.
[7] Neutron Star Masses and Radii (http:/ / www. ns-grb.com/ PPT/ Lattimer. pdf), p. 9/20, bottom
[8] J. M. Lattimer and M. Prakash (http:/ / iopscience.iop.org/ 0004-637X/ 550/ 1/ 426/ fulltext), "Neutron Star Structure and the Equation of
State" Astrophysical J. 550(1) 426 (2001); http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ astro-ph/ 0002232
[9] Measurement of Newton's Constant Using a Torsion Balance with Angular Acceleration Feedback (http:/ / www. npl. washington. edu/
eotwash/ publications/ pdf/ prl85-2869. pdf), Phys. Rev. Lett. 85(14) 2869 (2000)
[10] The average density of material in a neutron star of radius 10 km is . Therefore, 5 ml of such material is , or 5 500 000 000 metric tons. This
is about 15 times the total mass of the human world population. Alternatively, 5 ml from a neutron star of radius 20km radius (average
Neutron star
114
density ) has a mass of about 400 million metric tons, or about the mass of all humans.
[11] Miscellaneous Facts (http:/ / en. allexperts.com/ q/ Astronomy-1360/ Neutron-Stars-2. htm)
[12] Neutron degeneracy pressure (http:/ / www.physicsforums. com/ archive/ index. php/ t-209796. html) (Archive). Physics Forums. Retrieved
on 2011-10-09.
[13] NASA. Neutron Star Equation of State Science (http:/ / ixo. gsfc. nasa. gov/ old_conx_pages/ science/ neutron_star/ index. html) Retrieved
2011-09-26
[14] V. S. Beskin (1999). "Radiopulsars". . T.169, 11, p.1173-1174
[15] neutron star (http:/ / www. daviddarling. info/ encyclopedia/ N/ neutronstar. html)
[17] Even before the discovery of neutron, in 1931, neutron stars were anticipated by Lev Landau, who wrote about stars where "atomic nuclei
come in close contact, forming one gigantic nucleus" (published in 1932: ). However, the widespread opinion that Landau predicted neutron
stars proves to be wrong: for details, see P. Haensel, A. Y. Potekhin, & D. G. Yakovlev (2007). Neutron Stars 1: Equation of State and
Structure (New York: Springer), page 2 http:/ / adsabs.harvard. edu/ abs/ 2007ASSL. . 326. . . . . H
[23] [astro-ph/0601337] A Radio Pulsar Spinning at 716 Hz (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ astro-ph/ 0601337)
[24] University of Chicago Press Millisecond Variability from XTE J1739285 10.1086/513270 (http:/ / www. journals. uchicago. edu/
cgi-bin/ resolve?doi=10. 1086/ 513270)
[25] Tauris & van den Heuvel (2006), in Compact Stellar X-ray Sources. Eds. Lewin and van der Klis, Cambridge University Press http:/ /
adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 2006csxs.book. .623T
[26] [26] Compact Stellar X-ray Sources (2006). Eds. Lewin and van der Klis, Cambridge University
[27] Neutrino-Driven Protoneutron Star Winds (http:/ / www. astro. princeton. edu/ ~burrows/ eos. wind. thermal/ wind. html), Todd A.
Thompson.
"ASTROPHYSICS: ON OBSERVED PULSARS" (http:/ / scienceweek. com/ 2004/ sb040806-1. htm).
scienceweek.com. Retrieved 6 August 2004.
Norman K. Glendenning, R. Kippenhahn, I. Appenzeller, G. Borner, M. Harwit (2000). Compact Stars (2nd ed.).
Kaaret; Prieskorn; in 't Zand; Brandt; Lund; Mereghetti; Gotz; Kuulkers et al. (2006). "Evidence for 1122 Hz
X-Ray Burst Oscillations from the Neutron-Star X-Ray Transient XTE J1739-285". The Astrophysical Journal
657 (2): L97. arXiv: astro-ph/0611716 (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ astro-ph/ 0611716). Bibcode:
2007ApJ...657L..97K (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 2007ApJ. . . 657L. . 97K). doi: 10.1086/513270 (http:/ /
dx. doi. org/ 10. 1086/ 513270).
External links
Introduction to neutron stars (http:/ / www. astro. umd. edu/ ~miller/ nstar. html)
Neutron Stars for Undergraduates (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ nucl-th/ 0309041) and its Errata (http:/ / t16web. lanl.
gov/ Silbar/ NStarErrata. html)
NASA on pulsars (http:/ / imagine. gsfc. nasa. gov/ docs/ science/ know_l2/ pulsars. html)
" NASA Sees Hidden Structure Of Neutron Star In Starquake (http:/ / spacedaily. com/ reports/
NASA_Sees_Hidden_Structure_Of_Neutron_Star_In_Starquake. html)". SpaceDaily.com. April 26, 2006
" Mysterious X-ray sources may be lone neutron stars (http:/ / newscientistspace. com/ article. ns?id=dn9397&
feedId=online-news_rss20)". New Scientist.
" Massive neutron star rules out exotic matter (http:/ / space. newscientist. com/ article/
dn9428-massive-neutron-star-rules-out-exotic-matter. html)". New Scientist. According to a new analysis, exotic
states of matter such as free quarks or BECs do not arise inside neutron stars.
" Neutron star clocked at mind-boggling velocity (http:/ / space. newscientist. com/ article/
dn9730-neutron-star-clocked-at-mindboggling-velocity. html)". New Scientist. A neutron star has been clocked
traveling at more than 1500 kilometers per second.
Pulsar
115
Pulsar
A slow-motion movie of the Crab Pulsar taken at 800 nm wavelength
using a Lucky Imaging camera from Cambridge University, showing
the bright pulse and fainter interpulse.
Video of the Vela pulsar in X-ray light
A pulsar (portmanteau of pulsating star) is a highly
magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits a beam of
electromagnetic radiation. This radiation can only be
observed when the beam of emission is pointing
toward the Earth, much the way a lighthouse can only
be seen when the light is pointed in the direction of an
observer, and is responsible for the pulsed appearance
of emission. Neutron stars are very dense, and have
short, regular rotational periods. This produces a very
precise interval between pulses that range from
roughly milliseconds to seconds for an individual
pulsar.
The precise periods of pulsars makes them useful
tools. Observations of a pulsar in a binary neutron
star system were used to indirectly confirm the
existence of gravitational radiation. The first
extrasolar planets were discovered around a pulsar,
PSR B1257+12. Certain types of pulsars rival atomic
clocks in their accuracy in keeping time.
Discovery
Composite Optical/X-ray image of the Crab
Nebula, showing synchrotron emission in the
surrounding pulsar wind nebula, powered by
injection of magnetic fields and particles from the
central pulsar.
The first pulsar was observed on November 28, 1967, by Jocelyn Bell
Burnell and Antony Hewish.
[1][2][3]
The observed emission from the
pulsar was pulses separated by 1.33 seconds, originated from the same
location on the sky, and kept to sidereal time. In looking for
explanations for the pulses, the short period of the pulses eliminated
most astrophysical sources of radiation, such as stars, and since the
pulses followed sidereal time, it could not be man-made radio
frequency interference. When observations with another telescope
confirmed the emission, it eliminated any sort of instrumental effects.
At this point, Burnell notes of herself and Hewish that "we did not
really believe that we had picked up signals from another civilization,
but obviously the idea had crossed our minds and we had no proof that
it was an entirely natural radio emission. It is an interesting
problemif one thinks one may have detected life elsewhere in the
universe, how does one announce the results responsibly?"
[4]
Even so,
they nicknamed the signal LGM-1, for "little green men" (a playful
name for intelligent beings of extraterrestrial origin). It was not until a
second pulsating source was discovered in a different part of the sky that the "LGM hypothesis" was entirely
abandoned.
[5]
Their pulsar was later dubbed CP 1919, and is now known by a number of designators including PSR
Pulsar
116
1919+21, PSR B1919+21 and PSR J1921+2153. Although CP 1919 emits in radio wavelengths, pulsars have,
subsequently, been found to emit in visible light, X-ray, and/or gamma ray wavelengths.
[6]
The word "pulsar" is a contraction of "pulsating star",
[7]
and first appeared in print in 1968:
An entirely novel kind of star came to light on Aug. 6 last year and was referred to, by astronomers, as LGM
(Little Green Men). Now it is thought to be a novel type between a white dwarf and a neutron [sic]. The name
Pulsar is likely to be given to it. Dr. A. Hewish told me yesterday: " I am sure that today every radio
telescope is looking at the Pulsars."
[8]
The suggestion that pulsars were rotating neutron stars was put forth independently by Thomas Gold and Franco
Pacini in 1968, and was soon proven beyond reasonable doubt by the discovery of a pulsar with a very short
(33-millisecond) pulse period in the Crab nebula.
In 1974, Antony Hewish became the first astronomer to be awarded the Nobel Prize in physics. Considerable
controversy is associated with the fact that Professor Hewish was awarded the prize while Bell, who made the initial
discovery while she was his Ph.D student, was not. Bell claims no bitterness upon this point, supporting the decision
of the Nobel prize committee.
[9]
The Vela Pulsar and its surrounding pulsar wind
nebula.
In 1974, Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr. and Russell Hulse discovered for
the first time a pulsar in a binary system, PSR B1913+16. This pulsar
orbits another neutron star with an orbital period of just eight hours.
Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that this system should
emit strong gravitational radiation, causing the orbit to continually
contract as it loses orbital energy. Observations of the pulsar soon
confirmed this prediction, providing the first ever evidence of the
existence of gravitational waves. As of 2010, observations of this
pulsar continue to agree with general relativity.
[10]
In 1993, the Nobel
Prize in Physics was awarded to Taylor and Hulse for the discovery of
this pulsar.
[11]
In 1982, Don Backer led a group which discovered PSR B1937+21, a
pulsar with a rotation period of just 1.6 milliseconds.
[12]
Observations
soon revealed that its magnetic field was much weaker than ordinary
pulsars, while further discoveries cemented the idea that a new class of object, the "millisecond pulsars" (MSPs) had
been found. MSPs are believed to be the end product of X-ray binaries. Owing to their extraordinarily rapid and
stable rotation, MSPs can be used by astronomers as clocks rivaling the stability of the best atomic clocks on Earth.
Factors affecting the arrival time of pulses at the Earth by more than a few hundred nanoseconds can be easily
detected and used to make precise measurements. Physical parameters accessible through pulsar timing include the
3D position of the pulsar, its proper motion, the electron content of the interstellar medium along the propagation
path, the orbital parameters of any binary companion, the pulsar rotation period and its evolution with time. (These
are computed from the raw timing data by Tempo, a computer program specialized for this task.) After these factors
have been taken into account, deviations between the observed arrival times and predictions made using these
parameters can be found and attributed to one of three possibilities: intrinsic variations in the spin period of the
pulsar, errors in the realization of Terrestrial Time against which arrival times were measured, or the presence of
background gravitational waves. Scientists are currently attempting to resolve these possibilities by comparing the
deviations seen amongst several different pulsars, forming what is known as a Pulsar timing array. With luck, these
efforts may lead to a time scale[13] a factor of ten or better than currently available, and the first ever direct detection
of gravitational waves. In June 2006, the astronomer John Middleditch and his team at LANL announced the first
prediction of pulsar glitches with observational data from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. They used observations
of the pulsar PSR J0537-6910.
Pulsar
117
In 1992, Aleksander Wolszczan discovered the first extrasolar planets around PSR B1257+12. This discovery
presented important evidence concerning the widespread existence of planets outside the solar system, although it is
very unlikely that any life form could survive in the environment of intense radiation near a pulsar.
Nomenclature
Initially pulsars were named with letters of the discovering observatory followed by their right ascension (e.g. CP
1919). As more pulsars were discovered, the letter code became unwieldy, and so the convention then arose of using
the letters PSR (Pulsating Source of Radio) followed by the pulsar's right ascension and degrees of declination (e.g.
PSR 0531+21) and sometimes declination to a tenth of a degree (e.g. PSR 1913+167). Pulsars appearing very close
together sometimes have letters appended (e.g. PSR 0021-72C and PSR 0021-72D).
The modern convention prefixes the older numbers with a B (e.g. PSR B1919+21), with the B meaning the
coordinates are for the 1950.0 epoch. All new pulsars have a J indicating 2000.0 coordinates and also have
declination including minutes (e.g. PSR J1921+2153). Pulsars that were discovered before 1993 tend to retain their B
names rather than use their J names (e.g. PSR J1921+2153 is more commonly known as PSR B1919+21). Recently
discovered pulsars only have a J name (e.g. PSR J0437-4715). All pulsars have a J name that provides more precise
coordinates of its location in the sky.
[14]
Formation
Schematic view of a pulsar. The sphere in the
middle represents the neutron star, the curves
indicate the magnetic field lines, the protruding
cones represent the emission beams and the green
line represents the axis on which the star rotates.
The events leading to the formation of a pulsar begin when the core of
a massive star is compressed during a supernova, which collapses into
a neutron star. The neutron star retains most of its angular momentum,
and since it has only a tiny fraction of its progenitor's radius (and
therefore its moment of inertia is sharply reduced), it is formed with
very high rotation speed. A beam of radiation is emitted along the
magnetic axis of the pulsar, which spins along with the rotation of the
neutron star. The magnetic axis of the pulsar determines the direction
of the electromagnetic beam, with the magnetic axis not necessarily
being the same as its rotational axis. This misalignment causes the
beam to be seen once for every rotation of the neutron star, which leads
to the "pulsed" nature of its appearance. The beam originates from the
rotational energy of the neutron star, which generates an electrical field
from the movement of the very strong magnetic field, resulting in the
acceleration of protons and electrons on the star surface and the creation of an electromagnetic beam emanating from
the poles of the magnetic field.
[15][16]
This rotation slows down over time as electromagnetic power is emitted. When
a pulsar's spin period slows down sufficiently, the radio pulsar mechanism is believed to turn off (the so-called
"death line"). This turn-off seems to take place after about 10100 million years, which means of all the neutron
stars in the 13.6 billion year age of the universe, around 99% no longer pulsate.
[17]
The longest known pulsar period
is 9.437 seconds.
[18]
Though this very general picture of pulsars is mostly accepted, Werner Becker of the Max Planck Institute for
Extraterrestrial Physics said in 2006, "The theory of how pulsars emit their radiation is still in its infancy, even after
nearly forty years of work."
[19]
Pulsar
118
Categories
Three distinct classes of pulsars are currently known to astronomers, according to the source of the power of the
electromagnetic radiation:
Rotation-powered pulsars, where the loss of rotational energy of the star provides the power.
Accretion-powered pulsars (accounting for most but not all X-ray pulsars), where the gravitational potential
energy of accreted matter is the power source (producing X-rays that are observable from the Earth).
Magnetars, where the decay of an extremely strong magnetic field provides the electromagnetic power.
The Fermi Space Telescope has uncovered a subclass of rotationally-powered pulsars that emit only gamma rays.
[20]
There have been only about one hundred gamma-ray pulsars identified out of about 1800 known pulsars.
[21][22]
Although all three classes of objects are neutron stars, their observable behavior and the underlying physics are quite
different. There are, however, connections. For example, X-ray pulsars are probably old rotationally-powered pulsars
that have already lost most of their power, and have only become visible again after their binary companions had
expanded and began transferring matter on to the neutron star. The process of accretion can in turn transfer enough
angular momentum to the neutron star to "recycle" it as a rotation-powered millisecond pulsar. As this matter lands
on the neutron star, it is thought to "bury" the magnetic field of the neutron star (although the details are unclear),
leaving millisecond pulsars with magnetic fields 1000-10,000 times weaker than average pulsars. This low magnetic
field is less effective at slowing the pulsar's rotation, so millisecond pulsars live for billions of years, making them
the oldest known pulsars. Millisecond pulsars are seen in globular clusters, which stopped forming neutron stars
billions of years ago.
[17]
Of interest to the study of the state of the matter in a neutron stars are the glitches observed in the rotation velocity of
the neutron star. This velocity is decreasing slowly but steadily, except by sudden variations. One model put forward
to explain these glitches is that they are the result of "starquakes" that adjust the crust of the neutron star. Models
where the glitch is due to a decoupling of the possibly superconducting interior of the star have also been advanced.
In both cases, the star's moment of inertia changes, but its angular momentum doesn't, resulting in a change in
rotation rate.
Disrupted recycled pulsar
When two massive stars are born close together from the same cloud of gas, they can form a binary system and orbit
each other from birth. If those two stars are at least a few times as massive as our sun, their lives will both end in
supernova explosions. The more massive star explodes first, leaving behind a neutron star. If the explosion does not
kick the second star away, the binary system survives. The neutron star can now be visible as a radio pulsar, and it
slowly loses energy and spins down. Later, the second star can swell up, allowing the neutron star to suck up its
matter. The matter falling onto the neutron star spins it up and reduces its magnetic field. This is called recycling
because it returns the neutron star to a quickly-spinning state. Finally, the second star also explodes in a supernova,
producing another neutron star. If this second explosion also fails to disrupt the binary, a double neutron star binary
is formed. Otherwise, the spun-up neutron star is left with no companion and becomes a disrupted recycled pulsar,
spinning between a few and 50 times per second.
[23]
Pulsar
119
Applications
Relative position of the Sun to the center of the
Galaxy and 14 pulsars with their periods denoted
The discovery of pulsars allowed astronomers to study an object never
observed before, the neutron star. This kind of object is the only place
where the behavior of matter at nuclear density can be observed
(though not directly). Also, millisecond pulsars have allowed a test of
general relativity in conditions of an intense gravitational field.
Pulsar maps have been included on the two Pioneer Plaques as well as
the Voyager Golden Record. They show the position of the Sun,
relative to 14 pulsars, which are identified by the unique timing of their
electromagnetic pulses, so that our position both in space and in time
can be calculated by potential extraterrestrial intelligences.
[24][25]
Because pulsars are emitting very regular pulses of radio waves, its
radio transmissions do not require daily corrections. Moreover, pulsar positioning could create a spacecraft
navigation system independently, or be an auxiliary device to GPS instruments.
[26][27]
Precise clocks
For some millisecond pulsars, the regularity of pulsation is more precise than an atomic clock.
[28]
This stability
allows millisecond pulsars to be used in establishing ephemeris time
[]
or building pulsar clocks.
[]
Timing noise is the name for rotational irregularities observed in all pulsars. This timing noise is observable as
random wandering in the pulse frequency or phase.
[29]
It is unknown whether timing noise is related to pulsar
glitches.
Probes of the interstellar medium
The radiation from pulsars passes through the interstellar medium (ISM) before reaching Earth. Free electrons in the
warm (8000K), ionized component of the ISM and H II regions affect the radiation in two primary ways. The
resulting changes to the pulsar's radiation provide an important probe of the ISM itself.
[]
Because of the dispersive nature of the interstellar plasma, lower-frequency radio waves travel through the medium
slower than higher-frequency radio waves. The resulting delay in the arrival of pulses at a range of frequencies is
directly measurable as the dispersion measure of the pulsar. The dispersion measure is the total column density of
free electrons between the observer and the pulsar,
where is the distance from the pulsar to the observer and is the electron density of the ISM. The dispersion
measure is used to construct models of the free electron distribution in the Milky Way Galaxy.
[]
Additionally, turbulence in the interstellar gas causes density inhomogeneities in the ISM which cause scattering of
the radio waves from the pulsar. The resulting scintillation of the radio wavesthe same effect as the twinkling of a
star in visible light due to density variations in the Earth's atmospherecan be used to reconstruct information about
the small scale variations in the ISM.
[]
Due to the high velocity (up to several hundred km/s) of many pulsars, a
single pulsar scans the ISM rapidly, which results in changing scintillation patterns over timescales of a few
minutes.
[30]
Pulsar
120
Probes of space-time
Pulsars orbiting within the curved space-time around Sgr A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky
Way galaxy, could serve as probes of gravity in the strong-field regime.
[]
Arrival times of the pulses would be
affected by special- and general-relativistic Doppler shifts and by the complicated paths that the radio waves would
travel through the strongly curved space-time around the black hole. In order for the effects of general relativity to be
measurable with current instruments, pulsars with orbital periods less than about 10 years would need to be
discovered;
[]
such pulsars would orbit at distances inside 0.01 pc from Sgr A*. Searches are currently underway; at
present, five pulsars are known to lie within 100 pc from Sgr A*.
[31]
Gravitational waves detectors
The European Pulsar Timing Array uses pulsars for search of gravitational waves. The pulses from Millisecond
Pulsars (MSPs) are used as a system of Galactic clocks. Disturbances in the clocks will be measurable at Earth. A
disturbance from a passing gravitational wave will have a particular signature across the ensemble of pulsars, and
will be thus detected.
Significant pulsars
Pulsars within 300 pc
[]
PSRJ Distance
(pc)
Age
(Myr)
J0030+0451 244 7,580
01081431 238 166
04374715 156 1,590
0633+1746 156 0.342
0659+1414 290 0.111
08354510 290 0.0113
0453+0755 260 17.5
10454509 300 6,710
17412054 250 0.387
18563754 161 3.76
21443933 165 272
Gamma-ray pulsars detected by the Fermi
Gamma-ray Space Telescope.
The pulsars listed here were either the first discovered of its type, or
represent an extreme of some type among the known pulsar population,
such as having the shortest measured period.
The first radio pulsar CP 1919 (now known as PSR 1919+21), with
a pulse period of 1.337 seconds and a pulse width of 0.04 second,
was discovered in 1967.
[32]
The first binary pulsar, PSR 1913+16, whose orbit is decaying at the
exact rate predicted due to the emission of gravitational radiation by
general relativity
The first millisecond pulsar, PSR B1937+21
The brightest millisecond pulsar, PSR J0437-4715
Pulsar
121
The first X-ray pulsar, Cen X-3
The first accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar, SAX J1808.4-3658
The first pulsar with planets, PSR B1257+12
The first double pulsar binary system, PSR J07373039
The longest period pulsar, PSR J2144-3933
The most stable pulsar in period, PSR J0437-4715
PSR B1931+24 "... appears as a normal pulsar for about a week and then 'switches off' for about one month
before emitting pulses again. [..] this pulsar slows down more rapidly when the pulsar is on than when it is off. [..
the] braking mechanism must be related to the radio emission and the processes creating it and the additional
slow-down can be explained by the pulsar wind leaving the pulsar's magnetosphere and carrying away rotational
energy."
[33]
PSR J1748-2446ad, at 716Hz, the pulsar with the highest rotation speed.
PSR J1903+0327, a ~2.15 ms pulsar discovered to be in a highly eccentric binary star system with a sun-like
star.
[34]
A pulsar in the CTA 1 supernova remnant (4U 0000+72, in Cassiopeia) was found by the Fermi Gamma-ray
Space Telescope to emit pulsations only in gamma ray radiation, the first recorded of its kind.
[20]
PSR J2007+2722, a 40.8-hertz 'recycled' isolated pulsar was the first pulsar found by volunteers on data taken in
February 2007 and analyzed by distributed computing project Einstein@Home.
[35]
PSR J13113430, the first millisecond pulsar discovered via gamma-ray pulsations and part of a binary system
with the shortest orbital period.
[36]
Notes
[1] Pranab Ghosh, Rotation and accretion powered pulsars. World Scientific, 2007, p.2.
[2] M. S. Longair, Our evolving universe. CUP Archive, 1996, p.72.
[3] M. S. Longair, High energy astrophysics, Volume 2. Cambridge University Press, 1994, p.99.
[4] (after-dinner speech with the title of Petit Four given at the Eighth Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics; first published in Annals
of the New York Academy of Science, vol. 302, pages 685689, Dec., 1977)
[6] Courtland, Rachel. " Pulsar Detected by Gamma Waves Only (http:/ / space. newscientist. com/ article/
dn14968-first-pulsar-identified-by-its-gamma-rays-alone. html?feedId=online-news_rss20)." New Scientist, 17 October 2008.
[7] [7] wiktionary:pulsar
[8] Daily Telegraph, 21/3, 5 March 1968.
[9] Burnell, S. Jocelyn Bell. Little Green Men, White Dwarfs, or Pulsars? Annals of the New York Academy of Science, vol. 302, pages
685689, Dec., 1977 (http:/ / www.bigear.org/ vol1no1/ burnell. htm)
[13] http:/ / toolserver.org/ %7Edispenser/ cgi-bin/ dab_solver. py?page=Pulsar& editintro=Template:Disambiguation_needed/ editintro&
client=Template:Dn
[14] Lyne, Andrew G.; Graham-Smith, Francis. Pulsar Astronomy. Cambridge University Press, 1998.
[17] http:/ / www.cv. nrao. edu/ course/ astr534/ Pulsars. html
[19] Press Release: Old Pulsars Still Have New Tricks to Teach Us (http:/ / www. esa. int/ esaCP/ SEMB6IBUQPE_index_0. html). European
Space Agency, 26 July 2006.
[20] Atkinson, Nancy. " Fermi Telescope Makes First Big Discovery: Gamma Ray Pulsar (http:/ / www. universetoday. com/ 2008/ 10/ 17/
fermi-telescope-makes-first-big-discovery-gamma-ray-pulsar/ )." Universe Today, 17 October 2008.
[21] NASA'S Fermi Telescope Unveils a Dozen New Pulsars http:/ / www. nasa. gov/ mission_pages/ GLAST/ news/ dozen_pulsars. html
[22] Cosmos Online New Kind of pulsar discovered (http:/ / www. cosmosmagazine. com/ news/ 2260/ new-kind-pulsar-discovered)
[23] Background material on "Disrupted Recycled Pulsar" in press release on the pulsar found by Einstein@Home http:/ / www. aei. mpg. de/
pdf/ pm_news/ 2010/ PM2010_Einstein_Home_pulsar_engl. pdf
[24] http:/ / astro. ysc. go.jp/ pioneer10-plaque.txt
[25] http:/ / voyager. jpl.nasa. gov/ spacecraft/ goldenrec1.html
[26] Marissa Cevallos, Science News,"HOW TO USE A PULSAR TO FIND STARBUCKS" (http:/ / news. discovery. com/ space/
pulsar-navigation-gps-space. html), Discovery News,Wed Nov 24, 2010 10:21 AM ET .
[29] African Skies 4 Radio Pulsar Glitch Studies (http:/ / www. saao. ac. za/ ~wgssa/ as4/ urama. html)
[32] Hewish, A. et al. " Observation of a Rapidly Pulsating Radio Source (http:/ / www. nature. com/ physics/ looking-back/ hewish/ index.
html)." Nature, Volume 217, 1968 (pages 709713).
Pulsar
122
[33] " Part-Time Pulsar Yields New Insight Into Inner Workings of Cosmic Clocks (http:/ / www. pparc. ac. uk/ Nw/ rel241. asp)." Particle
Physics and Astronomy Research Council, 3 March 2006.
References and further reading
Lorimer, Duncan R.; Kramer, Michael (2004). Handbook of Pulsar Astronomy (http:/ / books. google. com/
books/ about/ Handbook_of_pulsar_astronomy. html?id=OZ8tdN6qJcsC). Cambridge University Press.
ISBN0-521-82823-6.
Lorimer, Duncan R. (2008). "Binary and Millisecond Pulsars" (http:/ / relativity. livingreviews. org/ Articles/
lrr-2008-8/ ).
Lyne, Andrew G.; Graham-Smith, Francis (1998). Pulsar Astronomy (http:/ / books. google. com/
books?id=AK9N3zxL4ToC). Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-59413-8.
Manchester, Richard N.; Taylor, Joseph H. (1977). Pulsars (http:/ / books. google. com/ books/ about/ Pulsars.
html?id=tcFlQgAACAAJ). W. H. Freeman and Company. ISBN0-7167-0358-0.
Stairs, Ingrid H (2003). "Testing General Relativity with Pulsar Timing" (http:/ / www. livingreviews. org/
lrr-2003-5).
External links
" Pinning Down a Pulsars Age (http:/ / www. sciencenews. org/ view/ generic/ id/ 44540/ title/
Pinning_down_a_pulsars_age)". Science News.
" Astronomical whirling dervishes hide their age well (http:/ / www. astronomynow. com/
090610Astronomicalwhirlingdervisheshidetheiragewell. html)". Astronomy Now.
Animation of a Pulsar (http:/ / www. einstein-online. info/ de/ images/ einsteiger/ pulsar. gif). Einstein.com, 17
January 2008.
" The Discovery of Pulsars (http:/ / www. bbc. co. uk/ dna/ h2g2/ A882218)." BBC, 23 December 2002.
" A Pulsar Discovery: First Optical Pulsar (http:/ / www. aip. org/ history/ mod/ )." Moments of Discovery,
American Institute of Physics, 2007 (Includes audio and teachers guides).
Discovery of Pulsars (http:/ / www. jodcast. net/ archive/ 200706/ 20070601-jodcast-interview-high. mp3):
Interview with Jocelyn Bell-Burnell. Jodcast, June 2007 ( Low Quality Version (http:/ / www. jodcast. net/
archive/ 200706/ 20070601-jodcast-interview-low. mp3)).
Audio: Cain/Gay Astronomy Cast. Pulsars Nov 2009 (http:/ / www. astronomycast. com/ astronomy/ stars/
compact-objects/ ep-158-pulsars/ )
Listing for PULS CP 1919 (The First Pulsar) (http:/ / simbad. u-strasbg. fr/ sim-id. pl?protocol=html&
Ident=PULS+ CP+ 1919& NbIdent=1& Radius=10& Radius. unit=arcmin& CooFrame=FK5&
CooEpoch=2000& CooEqui=2000& output. max=all& o. catall=on& output. mesdisp=N& Bibyear1=1983&
Bibyear2=2005& Frame1=FK5& Frame2=FK4& Frame3=G& Equi1=2000. 0& Equi2=1950. 0& Equi3=2000.
0& Epoch1=2000. 0& Epoch2=1950. 0& Epoch3=2000. 0), Simbad Database
Australia National Telescope Facility: Pulsar Catalogue (http:/ / www. atnf. csiro. au/ research/ pulsar/ psrcat/ )
Johnston, William Robert. " List of Pulsars in Binary Systems (http:/ / www. johnstonsarchive. net/ relativity/
binpulstable.html)." Johnston Archive, 22 March 2005.
Staff Writers. " Scientists Can Predict Pulsar Starquakes (http:/ / www. spacedaily. com/ reports/
Scientists_Can_Predict_Pulsar_Starquakes. html)." Space Daily, 7 June 2006.
Staff Writers. " XMM-Newton Makes New Discoveries About Old Pulsars (http:/ / www. spacedaily. com/
reports/ XMM_Newton_Makes_New_Discoveries_About_Old_Pulsars_999. html)." Space Daily, 27 July 2006.
Than, Ker. " Hot New Idea: How Dead Stars Go Cold (http:/ / www. space. com/ scienceastronomy/
060727_dead_stars. html)." Space.com, 27 July 2006.
"New Kind of Pulsar Discovered" (http:/ / www. cosmosmagazine. com/ news/ 2260/
new-kind-pulsar-discovered). Cosmos Online.
Pulsar
123
Artist's Rendition of Pulsar (http:/ / www. digitalblasphemy. com/ preview. shtml?i=pulsar2k101). Digital
Blasphemy.
Pulsar simulator SimPulse (http:/ / ljtwebdevelopment. com/ simpulse)
Pulsar ephemeris viewer PeV (http:/ / ljtwebdevelopment. com/ pev)
Magnetar
Artist's conception of a magnetar, with magnetic
field lines
A magnetar is a type of neutron star with an extremely powerful
magnetic field, the decay of which powers the emission of high-energy
electromagnetic radiation, particularly X-rays and gamma rays.
[1]
The
theory regarding these objects was proposed by Robert Duncan and
Christopher Thompson in 1992, but the first recorded burst of gamma
rays thought to have been from a magnetar was detected on March 5,
1979.
[2]
During the following decade, the magnetar hypothesis has
become widely accepted as a likely explanation for soft gamma
repeaters (SGRs) and anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs).
Description
Like other neutron stars, magnetars are around 20 kilometres (12mi) in
diameter and have a greater mass than the Sun. The density of the
interior of a magnetar is such that a thimble full of its substance would
have a mass of over 100 million tons.
[1]
Magnetars are differentiated
from other neutron stars by having even stronger magnetic fields, and
rotating comparatively slowly, with most magnetars completing a rotation once every one to ten seconds,
[]
compared
to less than one second for a typical neutron star. This magnetic field gives rise to very strong and characteristic
bursts of X-rays and gamma rays. The active life of a magnetar is short. Their strong magnetic fields decay after
about 10,000 years, after which activity and strong X-ray emission cease. Given the number of magnetars observable
today, one estimate puts the number of inactive magnetars in the Milky Way at 30 million or more.
[]
Starquakes triggered on the surface of the magnetar disturb the magnetic field which encompasses it, often leading to
extremely powerful gamma ray flare emissions which have been recorded on Earth in 1979, 1998, and 2004.
[3]
Magnetic field
Magnetars are characterized by their extremely powerful magnetic fields, which can reach the order of ten gigateslas.
These magnetic fields are hundreds of millions of times stronger than any man-made magnet,
[4]
and quadrillions of
times more powerful than the field surrounding Earth.
[5]
Earth has a geomagnetic field of 3060 microteslas, and a
neodymium-based, rare-earth magnet has a field of about 1 tesla, with a magnetic energy density of 4.010
5
J/m
3
. A
10 gigatesla field, by contrast, has an energy density of 4.010
25
J/m
3
, with an E/c
2
mass density >10
4
times that of
lead. The magnetic field of a magnetar would be lethal even at a distance of 1000km due to the strong magnetic
field distorting the electron clouds of the subject's constituent atoms, rendering the chemistry of life impossible.
[6]
At
a distance halfway to the moon, a magnetar could strip information from the magnetic stripes of all credit cards on
Earth.
[7]
As of 2010[8], they are the most magnetic objects ever detected in the universe.
[3][9]
As described in the February 2003 Scientific American cover story, remarkable things happen within a magnetic field
of magnetar strength. "X-ray photons readily split in two or merge together. The vacuum itself is polarized,
becoming strongly birefringent, like a calcite crystal. Atoms are deformed into long cylinders thinner than the
Magnetar
124
quantum-relativistic de Broglie wavelength of an electron."
[2]
In a field of about 10
5
teslas atomic orbitals deform
into rod shapes. At 10
10
teslas, a hydrogen atom becomes a spindle 200 times narrower than its normal diameter.
[2]
Origins of magnetic fields
The strong fields of magnetars are understood as resulting from a magnetohydrodynamic dynamo process in the
turbulent, extremely dense conducting fluid that exists before the neutron star settles into its equilibrium
configuration. These fields then persist due to persistent currents in a proton-superconductor phase of matter that
exists at an intermediate depth within the neutron star (where neutrons predominate by mass). A similar
magnetohydrodynamic dynamo process produces even more intense transient fields during coalescence of pairs of
neutron stars.
[10]
Formation
Magnetar SGR 1900+14 is in the exact center of
the image, which shows a surrounding ring of gas
seven light-years across in infrared light, as seen
by the Spitzer Space Telescope. The magnetar
itself is not visible at this wavelength, but it has
been seen in X-ray light.
When, in a supernova, a star collapses to a neutron star, its magnetic
field increases dramatically in strength. Halving a linear dimension
increases the magnetic field fourfold. Duncan and Thompson
calculated that, when the spin, temperature and magnetic field of a
newly formed neutron star falls into the right ranges, a dynamo
mechanism could act, converting heat and rotational energy into
magnetic energy, and increasing the magnetic field, normally an
already enormous 10
8
teslas to more than 10
11
teslas (or 10
15
gauss).
The result is a magnetar.
[11]
It is estimated that about one in ten
supernova explosions results in a magnetar rather than a more standard
neutron star or pulsar.
[12]
1979 discovery
On March 5, 1979, a few months after the successful dropping of
satellites into the atmosphere of Venus, the two Soviet spacecraft that
were then drifting through the Solar System were hit by a blast of
gamma radiation at approximately 10:51 EST. This contact raised the
radiation readings on both the probes from a normal 100 counts per second to over 200,000 counts a second, in only
a fraction of a millisecond.
[2]
This burst of gamma rays quickly continued to spread. Eleven seconds later, Helios 2, a NASA probe, which was in
orbit around the Sun, was saturated by the blast of radiation. It soon hit Venus, and the Pioneer Venus Orbiter's
detectors were overcome by the wave. Seconds later, Earth received the wave of radiation, where the powerful
output of gamma rays inundated the detectors of three U.S. Department of Defense Vela satellites, the Soviet
Prognoz 7 satellite, and the Einstein Observatory. Just before the wave exited the Solar System, the blast also hit the
International Sun-Earth Explorer. This extremely powerful blast of gamma radiation constituted the strongest wave
of extra-solar gamma rays ever detected; it was over 100 times more intense than any known previous extra-solar
burst. Because gamma rays travel at the speed of light and the time of the pulse was recorded by several distant
spacecraft as well as on Earth, the source of the gamma radiation could be calculated to an accuracy of about 2
arcseconds.
[13]
The direction of the source corresponded with the remnants of a star that had gone supernova around
3000 B.C.
[3]
Magnetar
125
Recent discoveries
On February 21, 2008 it was announced that NASA and researchers at McGill University had discovered a neutron
star with the properties of a radio pulsar which emitted some magnetically powered bursts, like a magnetar. This
suggests that magnetars are not merely a rare type of pulsar but may be a (possibly reversible) phase in the lives of
some pulsars.
[14]
On September 24, 2008, ESO announced what it ascertained was the first optically active
magnetar-candidate yet discovered, using ESO's Very Large Telescope. The newly discovered object was designated
SWIFT J195509+261406.
[]
Known magnetars
On 27 December 2004, a burst of gamma rays
arrived into the Solar System from SGR 1806-20
(artist's conception shown). The burst was so
powerful that it had effects on Earth's
atmosphere, at a range of about 50,000 light
years.
As of October 2012[8], 21 magnetars are known, with three more
candidates awaiting confirmation.
[]
Examples of known magnetars
include:
SGR 1806-20, located 50,000 light-years from Earth on the far side
of our Milky Way galaxy in the constellation of Sagittarius.
SGR 1900+14, located 20,000 light-years away in the constellation
Aquila. After a long period of low emissions (significant bursts only
in 1979 and 1993) it became active in MayAugust 1998, and a
burst detected on August 27, 1998 was of sufficient power to force
NEAR Shoemaker to shut down to prevent damage and to saturate
instruments on BeppoSAX, WIND and RXTE. On May 29, 2008,
NASA's Spitzer telescope discovered a ring of matter around this
magnetar. It is thought that this ring formed in the 1998 burst.
[15]
SGR 0501+4516 was discovered on 22 August 2008
[16]
1E 1048.15937, located 9,000 light-years away in the constellation Carina. The original star, from which the
magnetar formed, had a mass 30 to 40 times that of the Sun.
As of September 2008[8], ESO reports identification of an object which it has initially identified as a magnetar,
SWIFT J195509+261406, originally identified by a gamma-ray burst (GRB 070610)
[]
CXO J164710.2-455216, located in the massive galactic cluster Westerlund 1, which formed from a star with a
mass in excess of 40 solar masses.
[17]
SWIFT J1822.3 Star-1606 discovered on 14 July 2011 by Italian and Spanish researchers of CSIC and
Catalogna's space studies institute. This magnetar contrary to previsions has a low external magnetic field.
In a close encounter in 1998, one of them emitted a flare of deadly gamma rays, unleashing as much energy in 0.2
sec. as the Sun will put out in the next 100,000 years. Luckily, the magnetar was located 20,000 light years away
from earth."
[]
A full listing is given in the McGill SGR/AXP Online Catalog.
[]
Magnetar
126
References
Specific
[1] [1] Ward; Brown lee, p.286
[2] Kouveliotou, C.; Duncan, R. C.; Thompson, C. (February 2003). " Magnetars (http:/ / solomon. as. utexas. edu/ ~duncan/ sciam. pdf)".
Scientific American; Page 35.
[3] Kouveliotou, C.; Duncan, R. C.; Thompson, C. (February 2003). " Magnetars (http:/ / solomon. as. utexas. edu/ ~duncan/ sciam. pdf)".
Scientific American; Page 36.
[8] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ w/ index. php?title=Magnetar& action=edit
[10] http:/ / users. monash.edu.au/ ~dprice/ research/ nsmag/
[11] [11] Kouveliotou, p.237
[12] S. B. Popov, M. E. Prokhorov, Progenitors with enhanced rotation and the origin of magnetars. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Society 367 (2), 732736.
[14] Jekyll-Hyde neutron star discovered by researchers (http:/ / www. mcgill. ca/ newsroom/ news/ ?ItemID=29230) McGill
[16] Francis Reddy, European Satellites Probe a New Magnetar (NASA SWIFT site, 06.16.09) (http:/ / www. nasa. gov/ mission_pages/ swift/
bursts/ magnetar_europe.html)
[17] Westerlund 1: Neutron Star Discovered Where a Black Hole Was Expected (http:/ / chandra. harvard. edu/ photo/ 2005/ wd1/ )
Books and literature
Peter Douglas Ward, Donald Brownlee Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe. Springer,
2000. ISBN 0-387-98701-0.
Chryssa Kouveliotou The Neutron Star-Black Hole Connection. Springer, 2001. ISBN 1-4020-0205-X.
Mereghetti, S. (2008). "The strongest cosmic magnets: soft gamma-ray repeaters and anomalous X-ray pulsars"
(http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ 0804. 0250). Astronomy and Astrophysics Review 15 (4): 225287. arXiv: 0804.0250
(http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ 0804. 0250). Bibcode: 2008A&ARv..15..225M (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/
2008A& ARv. . 15. . 225M). doi: 10.1007/s00159-008-0011-z (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1007/
s00159-008-0011-z). Archived from the original (http:/ / www. springerlink. com/ content/ l6g366211v258642/ )
on 1 April 2008.
General
"Origin of magnetars" (http:/ / www. cnn. com/ 2005/ TECH/ space/ 02/ 01/ universe. magnets/ index. html).
CNN. 2 February 2005.
"The Brightest Blast" (http:/ / skyandtelescope. com/ news/ article_1464_1. asp). Sky and Telescope. 18 February
2005.
"SWIFT J1822.31606, stella irrequieta" (http:/ / www. italiaglobale. it/ 2012/ 07/ 19/
swift-j1822-31606-stella-irrequieta-2/ ). Italiaglobale.it. 19 July 2012.
External links
Recording (http:/ / graphics. news. com. au/ multimedia/ mediaplayer/ 060823_HugeMagnetar/ ) (and animation)
of XTE J1810-197.
Creation of magnetars solved (http:/ / www. sciencedaily. com/ releases/ 2005/ 02/ 050201193246. htm) Formed
when the biggest stars explode
NASA: "Magnetar" discovery solves 19-year-old mystery (http:/ / science. msfc. nasa. gov/ newhome/ headlines/
ast20may98_1. htm) Citat: "...suggested a magnetic field strength of about 800 trillion [g]auss...").
Robert C. Duncan, University of Texas at Austin: 'Magnetars', Soft Gamma Repeaters & Very Strong Magnetic
Fields (http:/ / solomon. as. utexas. edu/ ~duncan/ magnetar. html)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS): Duncan & Thompson, Ap.J. 392, L9) 1992 (http:/ / adsbit. harvard.
edu/ cgi-bin/ nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1992ApJ. . . 392L. . . 9D)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS): Katz, J. I., Ap.J. 260, 371 (1982) (http:/ / adsbit. harvard. edu/ cgi-bin/
nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1982ApJ. . . 260. . 371K)
Magnetar
127
NASA ADS, 1999: Discovery of a Magnetar Associated with the Soft Gamma Repeater SGR 1900+14 (http:/ /
adsabs. harvard. edu/ cgi-bin/ nph-bib_query?bibcode=1999ApJ. . . 510L. 115K& db_key=AST&
high=3eb1acc4ea06362)
Chryssa Kouveliotou, Robert C. Duncan, and Christopher Thompson, "Magnetars," Scientific American, Feb.
2003, pp. 3441 (http:/ / www. cita. utoronto. ca/ ~thompson/ magnetar. pdf) (PDF)
Robert C. Duncan and Christopher Thompson (June 10, 1992). "Formation of Very Strongly Magnetized Neutron
Stars: Implications for Gamma-Ray Bursts" (http:/ / adsbit. harvard. edu/ cgi-bin/
nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1992ApJ. . . 392L. . . 9D). Astronomical Journal 392 (1): L9L13. Bibcode:
1992ApJ...392L...9D (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 1992ApJ. . . 392L. . . 9D). doi: 10.1086/186413 (http:/ /
dx. doi. org/ 10. 1086/ 186413).
Strange Pulsing Star Puzzles Astronomers (http:/ / www. space. com/ scienceastronomy/
060828_mystery_monday. html) A magnetar found to emit radio waves, contrary to previous theories.
04/04/07: X-ray Satellites Catch Magnetar in Gigantic Stellar 'Hiccup' (http:/ / www. exploration-space. com/
04-apr-2007-esa-1. html)
"Magnetars" (http:/ / solomon. as. utexas. edu/ ~duncan/ ucsd. pdf) (Paper on magnetar formation from March
1995 conference proceedings, suggesting that AXPs are magnetars.)
Quarkgluon plasma
A quarkgluon plasma (QGP) or quark soup
[1]
is a (possible) phase of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) which
exists at extremely high temperature and/or density. This phase consists of asymptotically free quarks and gluons,
which are several of the basic building blocks of matter.
The strength of the color force means that unlike the gas-like plasma, quark-gluon plasma behaves as a near-ideal
Fermi liquid, although research on flow characteristics is ongoing.
[2]
In the quark matter phase diagram, QGP is
placed in the high-temperature, high-density regime; whereas, ordinary matter is a cold and rarefied mixture of
nuclei and vacuum, and the hypothetical quark stars would consist of relatively cold, but dense quark matter.
Experiments at CERN's Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) first tried to create the QGP in the 1980s and 1990s: the
results led CERN to announce indirect evidence for a "new state of matter"
[3]
in 2000. Current experiments (2011) at
the Brookhaven National Laboratory's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) on Long Island (NY, USA) and at
CERN's recent LHC collider near Geneva (Switzerland) are continuing this effort,
[4][5]
by smashing relativistically
accelerated gold ionsat LHC, lead ionsinto each other. Although the results have yet to be independently
verified as of February 2010, scientists at Brookhaven RHIC have tentatively claimed to have created a quark-gluon
plasma with an approximate temperature of 4 trillion degrees Celsius.
[5]
As already mentioned, three new experiments running on CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC), on the
spectrometers ALICE,
[6]
ATLAS and CMS, will continue studying properties of QGP. Starting in November 2010,
CERN temporarily ceased colliding protons, and began colliding lead Ions for the ALICE experiment. They were
looking to create a QGP and were expected to stop December 6, colliding protons again in January.
[7]
A new record
breaking temperature was set by the CERN group on August, 2012 in the ranges of 5.5 trillion degrees Celsius as
claimed in their Nature PR.
[8]
Quarkgluon plasma
128
General introduction
Quarkgluon plasma is a state of matter in which the elementary particles that make up the hadrons of baryonic
matter are freed of their strong attraction for one another under extremely high energy densities. These particles are
the quarks and gluons that compose baryonic matter.
[9]
In normal matter quarks are confined; in the QGP quarks are
deconfined. In classical QCD quarks are the Fermionic components of mesons and baryons while the gluons are
considered the Bosonic components of such particles. The gluons are the force carriers, or bosons, of the QCD color
force, while the quarks by themselves are their Fermionic matter counterparts.
Although the experimental high temperatures and densities predicted as producing a quark-gluon plasma have been
realized in the laboratory, the resulting matter does not behave as a quasi-ideal state of free quarks and gluons, but,
rather, as an almost perfect dense fluid.
[]
Actually, the fact that the quark-gluon plasma will not yet be "free" at
temperatures realized at present accelerators was predicted in 1984 as a consequence of the remnant effects of
confinement.
[10][11]
Why this is referred to as "plasma"
A plasma is matter in which charges are screened due to the presence of other mobile charges; for example:
Coulomb's Law is modified to yield a distance-dependent charge. In a QGP, the color charge of the quarks and
gluons is screened. The QGP has other analogies with a normal plasma. There are also dissimilarities because the
color charge is non-abelian, whereas the electric charge is abelian. Outside a finite volume of QGP the color electric
field is not screened, so that volume of QGP must still be color-neutral. It will therefore, like a nucleus, have integer
electric charge.
How the QGP is studied theoretically
One consequence of this difference is that the color charge is too large for perturbative computations which are the
mainstay of QED. As a result, the main theoretical tools to explore the theory of the QGP is lattice gauge theory.
[12]
The transition temperature (approximately 175MeV) was first predicted by lattice gauge theory. Since then lattice
gauge theory has been used to predict many other properties of this kind of matter. The AdS/CFT correspondence is
a new interesting conjecture allowing insights in QGP.
How it is created in the lab
The QGP can be created by heating matter up to a temperature of 210
12
K, which amounts to 175MeV per particle.
This can be accomplished by colliding two large nuclei at high energy (note that 175MeV is not the energy of the
colliding beam). Lead and gold nuclei have been used for such collisions at CERN SPS and BNL RHIC,
respectively. The nuclei are accelerated to ultrarelativistic speeds and slammed into each other. Due to the relativistic
speeds they are Lorentz contracted. Each nucleus has a small probability of a sufficiently head-on hit for a QGP,
many nuclei just graze, but the numbers that do collide is sufficient for experiment, and in the case of a storage ring,
those that miss are often recycled. When they do collide, the resulting hot volume called a "fireball" is created after a
head-on collision. Once created, this fireball is expected to expand under its own pressure, and cool while expanding.
By carefully studying this flow, experimentalists put the theory to test.
How the QGP fits into the general scheme of physics
QCD is one part of the modern theory of particle physics called the Standard Model. Other parts of this theory deal
with electroweak interactions and neutrinos. The theory of electrodynamics has been tested and found correct to a
few parts in a trillion. The theory of weak interactions has been tested and found correct to a few parts in a thousand.
Perturbative aspects of QCD have been tested to a few percent. In contrast, non-perturbative aspects of QCD have
barely been tested. The study of the QGP is part of this effort to consolidate the grand theory of particle physics.
Quarkgluon plasma
129
The study of the QGP is also a testing ground for finite temperature field theory, a branch of theoretical physics
which seeks to understand particle physics under conditions of high temperature. Such studies are important to
understand the early evolution of our universe: the first hundred microseconds or so. While this may seem esoteric, it
is crucial to the physics goals of a new generation of observations of the universe (WMAP and its successors). It is
also of relevance to Grand Unification Theories or 'GUTS' which seek to unify the three fundamental forces of
nature (excluding gravity).
Expected properties
Thermodynamics
The cross-over temperature from the normal hadronic to the QGP phase is about 175MeV. This "crossover" may
actually not be only a qualitative feature, but instead one may have to do with a true (second order) phase transition,
e.g. of the universality class of the three-dimensional Ising model, as some theorists say, e.g. Frithjof Karsch and
coworkers from the university of Bielefeld. The phenomena involved correspond to an energy density of a little less
than 1GeV/fm
3
. For relativistic matter, pressure and temperature are not independent variables, so the equation of
state is a relation between the energy density and the pressure. This has been found through lattice computations, and
compared to both perturbation theory and string theory. This is still a matter of active research. Response functions
such as the specific heat and various quark number susceptibilities are currently being computed.
Flow
The equation of state is an important input into the flow equations. The speed of sound is currently under
investigation in lattice computations. The mean free path of quarks and gluons has been computed using perturbation
theory as well as string theory. Lattice computations have been slower here, although the first computations of
transport coefficients have recently been concluded. These indicate that the mean free time of quarks and gluons in
the QGP may be comparable to the average interparticle spacing: hence the QGP is a liquid as far as its flow
properties go. This is very much an active field of research, and these conclusions may evolve rapidly. The
incorporation of dissipative phenomena into hydrodynamics is another recent development that is still in an active
stage.
Excitation spectrum
Does the QGP really contain (almost) free quarks and gluons? The study of thermodynamic and flow properties
would indicate that this is an over-simplification. Many ideas are currently being evolved and will be put to test in
the near future. It has been hypothesized recently that some mesons built from heavy quarks (such as the charm
quark) do not dissolve until the temperature reaches about 350MeV. This has led to speculation that many other
kinds of bound states may exist in the plasma. Some static properties of the plasma (similar to the Debye screening
length) constrain the excitation spectrum.
Quarkgluon plasma
130
Glasma hypothesis
Since 2008, there is a discussion about a hypothetical precursor state of the Quarkgluon plasma, the so-called
"Glasma", where the dressed particles are condensed into some kind of glassy (or amorphous) state, below the
genuine transition between the confined state and the plasma liquid. This would be analogous to the formation of
metallic glasses, or amorphous alloys of them, below the genuine onset of the liquid metallic state.
An article by an author from the BNL, serving as a starting point of the ongoing discussions, is available online:
[13].
Experimental situation
Those aspects of the QGP which are easiest to compute are not the ones which are the easiest to probe in
experiments. While the balance of evidence points towards the QGP being the origin of the detailed properties of the
fireball produced in the RHIC, this is the main barrier which prevents experimentalists from declaring a sighting of
the QGP. For a summary see 2005 RHIC Assessment
[14]
.
The important classes of experimental observations are
Single particle spectra (photons and dileptons)
Strangeness production
Photon and muon rates (and J/ melting)
Elliptic flow
Jet quenching
Fluctuations
Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect and BoseEinstein correlations
Formation of quark matter
In April 2005, formation of quark matter was tentatively confirmed by results obtained at Brookhaven National
Laboratory's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The consensus of the four RHIC research groups was that they
had created a quark-gluon liquid of very low viscosity. However, contrary to what was at that time still the
widespread assumption, it is yet unknown from theoretical predictions whether the QCD "plasma", especially close
to the transition temperature, should behave like a gas or liquid. Authors favoring the weakly interacting
interpretation derive their assumptions from the lattice QCD calculation, where the entropy density of quark-gluon
plasma approaches the weakly interacting limit. However, since both energy density and correlation shows
significant deviation from the weakly interacting limit, it has been pointed out by many authors that there is in fact
no reason to assume a QCD "plasma" close to the transition point should be weakly interacting, like electromagnetic
plasma (see, e.g.,
[15]
). That being said, systematically improvable perturbative QCD quasiparticle models do a very
good job of reproducing the lattice data for thermodynamical observables (pressure, entropy, quark susceptibility),
including the aforementioned "significant deviation from the weakly interacting limit", down to temperatures on the
order of 2 to 3 times the critical temperature for the transition.
[16][17][18]
Quarkgluon plasma
131
References
[2] Quark-gluon plasma goes liquid - physicsworld.com (http:/ / physicsworld. com/ cws/ article/ news/ 2005/ apr/ 19/
quark-gluon-plasma-goes-liquid)
[3] A New State of Matter - Experiments (http:/ / newstate-matter. web. cern. ch/ newstate-matter/ Experiments. html)
[4] Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, RHIC (http:/ / www.bnl. gov/ rhic/ )
[5] http:/ / www. bnl. gov/ rhic/ news2/ news. asp?a=1074& t=pr 'Perfect' Liquid Hot Enough to be Quark Soup
[6] Alice Experiment: Welcome to ALICE Portal (http:/ / aliceinfo. cern. ch/ index. html)
[7] CERN Press Release November 4th 2010 (http:/ / press. web. cern. ch/ press/ PressReleases/ Releases2010/ PR20. 10E. html)
[8] Hot stuff: CERN physicists create record-breaking subatomic soup : Nature News Blog (http:/ / blogs. nature. com/ news/ 2012/ 08/
hot-stuff-cern-physicists-create-record-breaking-subatomic-soup. html)
[9] The Indian Lattice Gauge Theory Initiative (http:/ / theory. tifr. res. in/ ~sgupta/ ilgti/ infocenter/ )
[10] [10] .
[11] [11] .
[12] Lattice-QCD calculations of the Quark-Gluon Plasma have been reviewed in (http:/ / arxiv. org/ PS_cache/ hep-lat/ pdf/ 9503/ 9503010v1.
pdf) and in (http:/ / arxiv.org/ abs/ 1101.3937)
[13] http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ 0806. 1356
[14] http:/ / www.bnl. gov/ npp/ docs/ Hunting%20the%20QGP. pdf
External links
The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (http:/ / www. bnl. gov/ rhic/ ) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (http:/ /
www. bnl. gov/ )
The Alice Experiment (http:/ / aliceinfo. cern. ch/ ) at CERN (http:/ / www. cern. ch)
The Indian Lattice Gauge Theory Initiative (http:/ / theory. tifr. res. in/ ~sgupta/ ilgti)
Quark matter reviews: 2004 theory (http:/ / arxiv. org/ pdf/ hep-ph/ 0402251), 2004 experiment (http:/ / arxiv. org/
pdf/ nucl-ex/ 0405007)
Quark-Gluon Plasma reviews: 2011 theory (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ 1101. 3937)
Lattice reviews: 2003 (http:/ / arxiv. org/ pdf/ hep-ph/ 0303042), 2005 (http:/ / arxiv. org/ pdf/ hep-ph/ 0505073)
BBC article mentioning Brookhaven results (2005) (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 1/ hi/ sci/ tech/ 4462209. stm)
Physics News Update article on the quark-gluon liquid, with links to preprints (http:/ / www. aip. org/ pnu/ 2005/
split/ 728-1. html)
Read for free : "Hadrons and Quark-Gluon Plasma" (http:/ / site. ebrary. com/ pub/ cambridgepress/
Doc?isbn=0521385369) by Jean Letessier and Johann Rafelski Cambridge University Press (2002) ISBN
0-521-38536-9, Cambridge, UK;
QCD matter
132
QCD matter
Quark matter or QCD matter refers to any of a number of theorized phases of matter whose degrees of freedom
include quarks and gluons. These theoretical phases would occur at extremely high temperatures and densities,
billions of times higher than can be produced in equilibrium in laboratories. Under such extreme conditions, the
familiar structure of matter, where the basic constituents are nuclei (consisting of nucleons which are bound states of
quarks) and electrons, is disrupted. In quark matter it is more appropriate to treat the quarks themselves as the basic
degrees of freedom.
In the standard model of particle physics, the strong force is described by the theory of quantum chromodynamics
(QCD). At ordinary temperatures or densities this force just confines the quarks into composite particles (hadrons) of
size around 10
15
m = 1femtometer = 1fm (corresponding to the QCD energy scale
QCD
200MeV) and its
effects are not noticeable at longer distances. However, when the temperature reaches the QCD energy scale (T of
order 10
12
kelvins) or the density rises to the point where the average inter-quark separation is less than 1 fm (quark
chemical potential around 400MeV), the hadrons are melted into their constituent quarks, and the strong
interaction becomes the dominant feature of the physics. Such phases are called quark matter or QCD matter.
The strength of the color force makes the properties of quark matter unlike gas or plasma, instead leading to a state
of matter more reminiscent of a liquid. At high densities, quark matter is a Fermi liquid, but is predicted to exhibit
color superconductivity at high densities and temperatures below 10
12
K.
QCD in the non-perturbative regime: quark matter. The equations of QCD predict that a sea of quarks and gluons
should be formed at high temperature and density. What are the properties of this phase of matter?
Occurrence
Natural occurrence
In early Universe, at high temperature according to the Big Bang theory, when the universe was only a few tens of
microseconds old, the phase of matter took the form of a hot phase of quark matter called the quark-gluon plasma
(QGP).
Compact stars (neutron stars). A neutron star is much cooler than 10
12
K, but it is compressed by its own weight
to such high densities that it is reasonable to surmise that quark matter may exist in the core. Compact stars
composed mostly or entirely of quark matter are called quark stars or strange stars, yet at this time no star with
properties expected of these objects has been observed.
Strangelets. These are theoretically postulated (but as yet unobserved) lumps of strange matter comprising nearly
equal amounts of up, down and strange quarks.
Cosmic ray impacts. Cosmic rays comprise also high energy atomic nuclei, particularly that of iron. Laboratory
experiments suggest that interaction with heavy noble gas in the upper atmosphere would lead to quark-gluon
plasma formation.
Laboratory experiments
Heavy-ion collisions at very high energies can produce small short-lived regions of space whose energy density is
comparable to that of the 20-micro-second-old universe. This has been achieved by colliding heavy nuclei at high
speeds, and a first time claim of formation of quark-gluon plasma came from the SPS accelerator at CERN in
February 2000.
[1]
This work has been continued at more powerful accelerators, such as RHIC at Brookhaven
National Laboratory in the USA, and as of 2010 at the LHC at CERN located in the border area of Switzerland &
France. There is good evidence that the quark-gluon plasma has also been produced at RHIC.
[2]
QCD matter
133
Thermodynamics
The context for understanding the thermodynamics of quark matter is the standard model of particle physics, which
contains six different flavors of quarks, as well as leptons like electrons and neutrinos. These interact via the strong
interaction, electromagnetism, and also the weak interaction which allows one flavor of quark to turn into another.
Electromagnetic interactions occur between particles that carry electrical charge; strong interactions occur between
particles that carry color charge.
The correct thermodynamic treatment of quark matter depends on the physical context. For large quantities that exist
for long periods of time (the "thermodynamic limit"), we must take into account the fact that the only conserved
charges in the standard model are quark number (equivalent to baryon number), electric charge, the eight color
charges, and lepton number. Each of these can have an associated chemical potential. However, large volumes of
matter must be electrically and color-neutral, which determines the electric and color charge chemical potentials.
This leaves a three-dimensional phase space, parameterized by quark chemical potential, lepton chemical potential,
and temperature.
In compact stars quark matter would occupy cubic kilometers and exist for millions of years, so the thermodynamic
limit is appropriate. However, the neutrinos escape, violating lepton number, so the phase space for quark matter in
compact stars only has two dimensions, temperature (T) and quark number chemical potential . A strangelet is not
in the thermodynamic limit of large volume, so it is like an exotic nucleus: it may carry electric charge.
A heavy-ion collision is in neither the thermodynamic limit of large volumes nor long times. Putting aside questions
of whether it is sufficiently equilibrated for thermodynamics to be applicable, there is certainly not enough time for
weak interactions to occur, so flavor is conserved, and there are independent chemical potentials for all six quark
flavors. The initial conditions (the impact parameter of the collision, the number of up and down quarks in the
colliding nuclei, and the fact that they contain no quarks of other flavors) determine the chemical potentials.
(Reference for this section:,
[][]
).
Phase diagram
Conjectured form of the phase diagram of QCD
matter
[]
The phase diagram of quark matter is not well known, either
experimentally or theoretically. A commonly conjectured form of the
phase diagram is shown in the figure.
[]
It is applicable to matter in a
compact star, where the only relevant thermodynamic potentials are
quark chemical potential and temperature T. For guidance it also
shows the typical values of and T in heavy-ion collisions and in the
early universe. For readers who are not familiar with the concept of a
chemical potential, it is helpful to think of as a measure of the
imbalance between quarks and antiquarks in the system. Higher
means a stronger bias favoring quarks over antiquarks. At low
temperatures there are no antiquarks, and then higher generally
means a higher density of quarks.
Ordinary atomic matter as we know it is really a mixed phase, droplets of nuclear matter (nuclei) surrounded by
vacuum, which exists at the low-temperature phase boundary between vacuum and nuclear matter, at =310MeV
and T close to zero. If we increase the quark density (i.e. increase ) keeping the temperature low, we move into a
phase of more and more compressed nuclear matter. Following this path corresponds to burrowing more and more
deeply into a neutron star. Eventually, at an unknown critical value of , there is a transition to quark matter. At
ultra-high densities we expect to find the color-flavor-locked (CFL) phase of color-superconducting quark matter. At
intermediate densities we expect some other phases (labelled "non-CFL quark liquid" in the figure) whose nature is
presently unknown,.
[][]
They might be other forms of color-superconducting quark matter, or something different.
QCD matter
134
Now, imagine starting at the bottom left corner of the phase diagram, in the vacuum where =T=0. If we heat up
the system without introducing any preference for quarks over antiquarks, this corresponds to moving vertically
upwards along the T axis. At first, quarks are still confined and we create a gas of hadrons (pions, mostly). Then
around T=150MeV there is a crossover to the quark gluon plasma: thermal fluctuations break up the pions, and we
find a gas of quarks, antiquarks, and gluons, as well as lighter particles such as photons, electrons, positrons, etc.
Following this path corresponds to travelling far back in time (so to say), to the state of the universe shortly after the
big bang (where there was a very tiny preference for quarks over antiquarks).
The line that rises up from the nuclear/quark matter transition and then bends back towards the T axis, with its end
marked by a star, is the conjectured boundary between confined and unconfined phases. Until recently it was also
believed to be a boundary between phases where chiral symmetry is broken (low temperature and density) and
phases where it is unbroken (high temperature and density). It is now known that the CFL phase exhibits chiral
symmetry breaking, and other quark matter phases may also break chiral symmetry, so it is not clear whether this is
really a chiral transition line. The line ends at the "chiral critical point", marked by a star in this figure, which is a
special temperature and density at which striking physical phenomena, analogous to critical opalescence, are
expected. (Reference for this section:,
[][][]
).
For a complete description of phase diagram it is required that one must have complete understanding of dense,
strongly interacting hadronic matter and strongly interacting quark matter from some underlying theory e.g. quantum
chromodynamics (QCD). However because such a description requires the proper understanding of QCD in its
non-perturbative regime, which is still far from being completely understood, any theoretical advance remains very
challenging.
Theoretical challenges: calculation techniques
The phase structure of quark matter remains mostly conjectural because it is difficult to perform calculations
predicting the properties of quark matter. The reason is that QCD, the theory describing the dominant interaction
between quarks, is strongly coupled at the densities and temperatures of greatest physical interest, and hence it is
very hard to obtain any predictions from it. Here are brief descriptions of some of the standard approaches.
Lattice gauge theory
The only first-principles calculational tool currently available is lattice QCD, i.e. brute-force computer calculations.
Because of a technical obstacle known as the fermion sign problem, this method can only be used at low density and
high temperature (<T), and it predicts that the crossover to the quark-gluon plasma will occur around
T=150MeV
[3]
However, it cannot be used to investigate the interesting color-superconducting phase structure at
high density and low temperature.
[4]
Weak coupling theory
Because QCD is asymptotically free it becomes weakly coupled at unrealistically high densities, and diagrammatic
methods can be used.
[]
Such methods show that the CFL phase occurs at very high density. At high temperatures,
however, diagrammatic methods are still not under full control.
Models
To obtain a rough idea of what phases might occur, one can use a model that has some of the same properties as
QCD, but is easier to manipulate. Many physicists use Nambu-Jona-Lasinio models, which contain no gluons, and
replace the strong interaction with a four-fermion interaction. Mean-field methods are commonly used to analyse the
phases. Another approach is the bag model, in which the effects of confinement are simulated by an additive energy
density that penalizes unconfined quark matter.
QCD matter
135
Effective theories
Many physicists simply give up on a microscopic approach, and make informed guesses of the expected phases
(perhaps based on NJL model results). For each phase, they then write down an effective theory for the low-energy
excitations, in terms of a small number of parameters, and use it to make predictions that could allow those
parameters to be fixed by experimental observations.
[]
Other approaches
There are other methods that are sometimes used to shed light on QCD, but for various reasons have not yet yielded
useful results in studying quark matter.
1/N expansion
Treat the number of colors N, which is actually 3, as a large number, and expand in powers of 1/N. It turns out that at
high density the higher-order corrections are large, and the expansion gives misleading results.
[]
Supersymmetry
Adding scalar quarks (squarks) and fermionic gluons (gluinos) to the theory makes it more tractable, but the
thermodynamics of quark matter depends crucially on the fact that only fermions can carry quark number, and on the
number of degrees of freedom in general.
Experimental challenges
Experimentally, it is hard to map the phase diagram of quark matter because it has been rather difficult to learn how
to tune to high enough temperatures and density in the laboratory experiment using collisions of relativistic heavy
ions as experimental tools. However, these collisions ultimately will provide information about the crossover from
hadronic matter to QGP. It has been suggested that the observations of compact stars may also constrain the
information about the high-density low-temperature region. Models of the cooling, spin-down, and precession of
these stars offer information about the relevant properties of their interior. As observations become more precise,
physicists hope to learn more.
[]
One of the natural subjects for future research is the search for the exact location of the chiral critical point. Some
ambitious lattice QCD calculations may have found evidence for it, and future calculations will clarify the situation.
Heavy-ion collisions might be able to measure its position experimentally, but this will require scanning across a
range of values of and T.
[5]
References
Further reading
S. Hands (2001). "The phase diagram of QCD". Contemporary Physics 42 (4): 209. arXiv: physics/0105022
(http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ physics/ 0105022). Bibcode: 2001ConPh..42..209H (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/
2001ConPh. . 42. . 209H). doi: 10.1080/00107510110063843 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1080/
00107510110063843).
K. Rajagopal (2001). "Free the quarks" (http:/ / www. slac. stanford. edu/ pubs/ beamline/ 31/ 2/ 31-2-rajagopal.
pdf). Beam Line 32 (2): 915.
QCD matter
136
External links
Virtual Journal on QCD Matter (http:/ / qgp. phy. duke. edu/ )
RHIC finds Exotic Antimatter (http:/ / www. bnl. gov/ rhic/ news2/ news. asp?a=1075& t=pr)
Gluon
Gluon
In Feynman diagrams, emitted gluons are represented as spirals. This diagram depicts the annihilation of an electron and positron.
Composition Elementary particle
Statistics Bosonic
Interactions Strong interaction
Symbol g
Theorized
Murray Gell-Mann (1962)
[1]
Discovered
e
+
e

Y(9.46) 3g: 1978 at DORIS (DESY) by PLUTO experiments (see diagram 1 and recollection
[2]
)
and
e
+
e

qqg: 1979 at PETRA (DESY) by TASSO, MARK-J, JADE and PLUTO experiments (see diagram 2 and review
[3]
)
Types 8
Mass
0MeV/c
2
(Theoretical value)
[]
< 0.0002eV/c
2
(Experimental limit)
[4]
Electriccharge
0e
[]
Colour charge octet (8 linearly independent types)
Spin 1
Standard model of
particle physics
Large Hadron Collider tunnel at CERN
Gluons (pron.: /lunz/) are elementary particles that act as the exchange particles (or gauge bosons) for the strong
force between quarks, analogous to the exchange of photons in the electromagnetic force between two charged
particles.
[]
Gluon
137
In technical terms, they are vector gauge bosons that mediate strong interactions of quarks in quantum
chromodynamics (QCD). Gluons themselves carry color charge, unlike the colorless photon, and therefore
participate in the strong interaction in addition to mediating it, making QCD significantly harder to analyze than
QED (quantum electrodynamics).
Properties
Diagram 1: e
+
e

-> Y(9.46) -> 3g
The gluon is a vector boson; like the photon, it has a spin
of 1. While massive spin-1 particles have three
polarization states, massless gauge bosons like the gluon
have only two polarization states because gauge
invariance requires the polarization to be transverse. In
quantum field theory, unbroken gauge invariance requires
that gauge bosons have zero mass (experiment limits the
gluon's mass to less than a few MeV/c
2
). The gluon has
negative intrinsic parity.
Numerology of gluons
Unlike the single photon of QED or the three W and Z bosons of the weak interaction, there are eight independent
types of gluon in QCD.
This may be difficult to understand intuitively. Quarks carry three types of color charge; antiquarks carry three types
of anticolor. Gluons may be thought of as carrying both color and anticolor, but to correctly understand how they are
combined, it is necessary to consider the mathematics of color charge in more detail.
Color charge and superposition
In quantum mechanics, the states of particles may be added according to the principle of superposition; that is, they
may be in a "combined state" with a probability, if some particular quantity is measured, of giving several different
outcomes. A relevant illustration in the case at hand would be a gluon with a color state described by:
This is read as "redantiblue plus blueantired". (The factor of the square root of two is required for normalization, a
detail that is not crucial to understand in this discussion.) If one were somehow able to make a direct measurement of
the color of a gluon in this state, there would be a 50% chance of it having redantiblue color charge and a 50%
chance of blueantired color charge.
Colour singlet states
It is often said that the stable strongly interacting particles (Hadrons) observed in nature are "colourless", but more
precisely they are in a "colour singlet" state, which is mathematically analogous to a spin singlet state.
[5]
Such states
allow interaction with other colour singlets, but not with other colour states; because long-range gluon interactions
do not exist, this illustrates that gluons in the singlet state do not exist either.
[5]
The colour singlet state is:
[5]
In words, if one could measure the colour of the state, there would be equal probabilities of it being red-antired,
blue-antiblue, or green-antigreen.
Gluon
138
Eight gluon colors
There are eight remaining independent color states, which correspond to the "eight types" or "eight colors" of gluons.
Because states can be mixed together as discussed above, there are many ways of presenting these states, which are
known as the "color octet". One commonly used list is:
[5]
These are equivalent to the Gell-Mann matrices; the translation between the two is that red-antired is the upper-left
matrix entry, red-antiblue is the upper right entry, blue-antigreen is the lower middle entry, and so on. The critical
feature of these particular eight states is that they are linearly independent, and also independent of the singlet state;
there is no way to add any combination of states to produce any other. (It is also impossible to add them to make rr,
gg, or bb
[6]
otherwise the forbidden singlet state could also be made.) There are many other possible choices, but all
are mathematically equivalent, at least equally complex, and give the same physical results.
Group theory details
Technically, QCD is a gauge theory with SU(3) gauge symmetry. Quarks are introduced as spinor fields in N
f
flavors, each in the fundamental representation (triplet, denoted 3) of the color gauge group, SU(3). The gluons are
vector fields in the adjoint representation (octets, denoted 8) of color SU(3). For a general gauge group, the number
of force-carriers (like photons or gluons) is always equal to the dimension of the adjoint representation. For the
simple case of SU(N), the dimension of this representation is N
2
1.
In terms of group theory, the assertion that there are no color singlet gluons is simply the statement that quantum
chromodynamics has an SU(3) rather than a U(3) symmetry. There is no known a priori reason for one group to be
preferred over the other, but as discussed above, the experimental evidence supports SU(3).
[5]
Confinement
Since gluons themselves carry color charge, they participate in strong interactions. These gluon-gluon interactions
constrain color fields to string-like objects called "flux tubes", which exert constant force when stretched. Due to this
force, quarks are confined within composite particles called hadrons. This effectively limits the range of the strong
interaction to 10
15
meters, roughly the size of an atomic nucleus. Beyond a certain distance, the energy of the flux
tube binding two quarks increases linearly. At a large enough distance, it becomes energetically more favorable to
pull a quark-antiquark pair out of the vacuum rather than increase the length of the flux tube.
Gluons also share this property of being confined within hadrons. One consequence is that gluons are not directly
involved in the nuclear forces between hadrons. The force mediators for these are other hadrons called mesons.
Although in the normal phase of QCD single gluons may not travel freely, it is predicted that there exist hadrons that
are formed entirely of gluons called glueballs. There are also conjectures about other exotic hadrons in which real
gluons (as opposed to virtual ones found in ordinary hadrons) would be primary constituents. Beyond the normal
phase of QCD (at extreme temperatures and pressures), quark gluon plasma forms. In such a plasma there are no
hadrons; quarks and gluons become free particles.
Gluon
139
Experimental observations
Quarks and gluons (colored) manifest themselves by fragmenting into more quarks and gluons, which in turn
hadronize into normal (colorless) particles, correlated in jets. As shown in 1978 summer conferences
[2]
the PLUTO
experiments at the electron-positron collider DORIS (DESY) reported the first evidence that the hadronic decays of
the very narrow resonance Y(9.46) could be interpreted as three-jet event topologies produced by three gluons. Later
published analyses by the same experiment confirmed this interpretation and also the spin 1 nature of the gluon
[7][8]
(see also the recollection
[2]
and PLUTO experiments).
In summer 1979 at higher energies at the electron-positron collider PETRA (DESY) again three-jet topologies were
observed, now interpreted as qq gluon bremsstrahlung, now clearly visible, by TASSO,
[9]
MARK-J
[10]
and PLUTO
experiments
[11]
(later in 1980 also by JADE
[12]
). The spin 1 of the gluon was confirmed in 1980 by TASSO
[13]
and
PLUTO experiments
[14]
(see also the review
[3]
). In 1991 a subsequent experiment at the LEP storage ring at CERN
again confirmed this result.
[15]
The gluons play an important role in the elementary strong interactions between quarks and gluons, described by
QCD and studied particularly at the electron-proton collider HERA at DESY. The number and momentum
distribution of the gluons in the proton (gluon density) have been measured by two experiments, H1 and ZEUS,
[16]
in the years 1996 till today (2012). The gluon contribution to the proton spin has been studied by the HERMES
experiment at HERA.
[17]
The gluon density in the photon (when behaving hadronically) has also been measured.
[18]
Color confinement is verified by the failure of free quark searches (searches of fractional charges). Quarks are
normally produced in pairs (quark + antiquark) to compensate the quantum color and flavor numbers; however at
Fermilab single production of top quarks has been shown.
[19]
No glueball has been demonstrated.
Deconfinement was claimed in 2000 at CERN SPS
[20]
in heavy-ion collisions, and it implies a new state of matter:
quark-gluon plasma, less interacting than in the nucleus, almost as in a liquid. It was found at the Relativistic Heavy
Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven in the years 20042010 by four contemporaneous experiments.
[21]
A
quark-gluon plasma state has been confirmed at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) by the three experiments
ALICE, ATLAS and CMS in 2010.
[22]
References
[17] http:/ / www-hermes.desy.de
Further reading
A. Ali and G. Kramer (2011). "JETS and QCD: A historical review of the discovery of the quark and gluon jets
and its impact on QCD". European Physical Journal H 36 (2): 245326. arXiv: 1012.2288 (http:/ / arxiv. org/
abs/ 1012. 2288). Bibcode: 2011EPJH...36..245A (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 2011EPJH. . . 36. . 245A).
doi: 10.1140/epjh/e2011-10047-1 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1140/ epjh/ e2011-10047-1).
Hadron
140
Hadron
In particle physics, a hadron
i
/hdrn/ (Greek: , hadrs, "stout, thick") is a composite particle made of
quarks held together by the strong force (in the same way as atoms and molecules are held together by the
electromagnetic force).
Hadrons are categorized into two families:
baryons, such as protons and neutrons, made of three quarks and
mesons, such as pions, made of one quark and one antiquark.
Other types of hadron may exist, such as tetraquarks (or, more generally, exotic mesons) and pentaquarks (exotic
baryons), but no current evidence conclusively suggests their existence.
[1][2]
Of the hadrons, protons and neutrons bound to atomic nuclei are stable, while others are unstable under ordinary
conditions; free neutrons decay in 15 minutes. Experimentally, hadron physics is studied by colliding protons or
nuclei of heavy elements such as lead, and detecting the debris in the produced particle showers.
Etymology
The term "hadron" was introduced by Lev B. Okun in a plenary talk at the 1962 International Conference on High
Energy Physics.
[3]
In this talk he said:
Not withstanding the fact that this report deals with weak interactions, we shall frequently have to speak
of strongly interacting particles. These particles pose not only numerous scientific problems, but also a
terminological problem. The point is that "strongly interacting particles" is a very clumsy term which
does not yield itself to the formation of an adjective. For this reason, to take but one instance, decays
into strongly interacting particles are called non-leptonic. This definition is not exact because
"non-leptonic" may also signify "photonic". In this report I shall call strongly interacting particles
"hadrons", and the corresponding decays "hadronic" (the Greek signifies "large", "massive", in
contrast to which means "small", "light"). I hope that this terminology will prove to be
convenient. Lev B. Okun, 1962
Hadron
141
Properties
All types of hadrons have zero
total color charge.
According to the quark model,
[4]
the properties of hadrons are primarily determined
by their so-called valence quarks. For example, a proton is composed of two up
quarks (each with electric charge +
2

3
, for a total of +
4

3
together) and one down
quark (with electric charge
1

3
). Adding these together yields the proton charge of
+1. Although quarks also carry color charge, hadrons must have zero total color
charge because of a phenomenon called color confinement. That is, hadrons must be
"colorless" or "white". These are the simplest of the two ways: three quarks of
different colors, or a quark of one color and an antiquark carrying the corresponding
anticolor. Hadrons with the first arrangement are called baryons, and those with the
second arrangement are mesons.
Like all subatomic particles, hadrons are assigned quantum numbers corresponding
to the representations of the Poincar group: J
PC
(m), where J is the spin quantum
number, P the intrinsic parity (or P-parity), and C, the charge conjugation (or
C-parity), and the particle's mass, m. Note that the mass of a hadron has very little to
do with the mass of its valence quarks; rather, due to massenergy equivalence,
most of the mass comes from the large amount of energy associated with the strong
interaction. Hadrons may also carry flavor quantum numbers such as isospin (or G
parity), and strangeness. All quarks carry an additive, conserved quantum number
called a baryon number (B), which is +
1

3
for quarks and
1

3
for antiquarks. This
means that baryons (groups of three quarks) have B=1 while mesons have B=0.
Hadrons have excited states known as resonances. Each ground state hadron may
have several excited states; several hundreds of resonances have been observed in
particle physics experiments. Resonances decay extremely quickly (within about
10
24
seconds) via the strong nuclear force.
In other phases of matter the hadrons may disappear. For example, at very high temperature and high pressure,
unless there are sufficiently many flavors of quarks, the theory of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) predicts that
quarks and gluons will no longer be confined within hadrons because the strength of the strong interaction
diminishes with energy. This property, which is known as asymptotic freedom, has been experimentally confirmed in
the energy range between 1 GeV (gigaelectronvolt) and 1 TeV (teraelectronvolt).
[]
All free hadrons except the proton (and antiproton) are unstable.
Baryons
All known baryons are made of three valence quarks, so they are fermions (i.e. they have odd half-integral spin
because they have an odd number of quarks). As quarks possess baryon number B=
1

3
, baryons have baryon
number B=1. The best-known baryons are the proton and the neutron.
One can hypothesise baryons with further quarkantiquark pairs in addition to their three quarks. Hypothetical
baryons with one extra quarkantiquark pair (5 quarks in all) are called pentaquarks.
[5]
Several pentaquark
candidates were found in the early 2000s, but upon further review these states have now been established as
non-existent.
[6]
(This does not rule against pentaquarks in general, only the candidates put forward).
Each type of baryon has a corresponding antiparticle (antibaryon) in which quarks are replaced by their
corresponding antiquarks. For example: just as a proton is made of two up-quarks and one down-quark, its
corresponding antiparticle, the antiproton, is made of two up-antiquarks and one down-antiquark.
Hadron
142
Mesons
Mesons are hadrons composed of a quarkantiquark pair. They are bosons (integral spin i.e. 0, 1, or -1 as they
have an even number of quarks). They have baryon number B=0. Examples of mesons commonly produced in
particle physics experiments include pions and kaons. Pions also play a role in holding atomic nuclei together via the
residual strong force.
In principle, mesons with more than one quarkantiquark pair may exist; a hypothetical meson with two pairs is
called a tetraquark. Several tetraquark candidates were found in the 2000s, but their status is under debate. Several
other hypothetical "exotic" mesons lie outside the quark model of classification. These include glueballs and hybrid
mesons (mesons bound by excited gluons).
References
[1] W.-M. Yao et al. (2006): Particle listings
+
(http:/ / pdg. lbl. gov/ 2006/ reviews/ theta_b152. pdf)
[2] C. Amsler et al. (2008): Pentaquarks (http:/ / pdg.lbl.gov/ 2008/ reviews/ pentaquarks_b801. pdf)
143
Structure of ordinary matter
Quark
Quark
A proton, composed of two up quarks and one down quark. (The color assignment of individual quarks is not important, only that all three colors be
present.)
Composition Elementary particle
Statistics Fermionic
Generation 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Interactions Electromagnetism, Gravitation, Strong, Weak
Symbol q
Antiparticle Antiquark (q)
Theorized Murray Gell-Mann (1964)
George Zweig (1964)
Discovered SLAC (~1968)
Types 6 (up, down, strange, charm, bottom, and top)
Electriccharge
+
2

3
e,
1

3
e
Color charge Yes
Spin 1

2
Baryonnumber 1

3
A quark (pron.: /kwrk/ or /kwrk/) is an elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks
combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the
components of atomic nuclei.
[1]
Due to a phenomenon known as color confinement, quarks are never directly
observed or found in isolation; they can be found only within hadrons, such as baryons (of which protons and
neutrons are examples), and mesons.
[2][3]
For this reason, much of what is known about quarks has been drawn from
observations of the hadrons themselves.
There are six types of quarks, known as flavors: up, down, strange, charm, bottom, and top.
[4]
Up and down quarks
have the lowest masses of all quarks. The heavier quarks rapidly change into up and down quarks through a process
of particle decay: the transformation from a higher mass state to a lower mass state. Because of this, up and down
Quark
144
quarks are generally stable and the most common in the universe, whereas strange, charm, top, and bottom quarks
can only be produced in high energy collisions (such as those involving cosmic rays and in particle accelerators).
Quarks have various intrinsic properties, including electric charge, color charge, mass, and spin. Quarks are the only
elementary particles in the Standard Model of particle physics to experience all four fundamental interactions, also
known as fundamental forces (electromagnetism, gravitation, strong interaction, and weak interaction), as well as the
only known particles whose electric charges are not integer multiples of the elementary charge. For every quark
flavor there is a corresponding type of antiparticle, known as an antiquark, that differs from the quark only in that
some of its properties have equal magnitude but opposite sign.
The quark model was independently proposed by physicists Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig in 1964.
[5]
Quarks were introduced as parts of an ordering scheme for hadrons, and there was little evidence for their physical
existence until deep inelastic scattering experiments at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in 1968.
[6][7]
All six
flavors of quark have since been observed in accelerator experiments; the top quark, first observed at Fermilab in
1995, was the last to be discovered.
[5]
Classification
Six of the particles in the Standard Model are quarks (shown in purple). Each of
the first three columns forms a generation of matter.
The Standard Model is the theoretical
framework describing all the currently
known elementary particles, as well as the
Higgs boson.
[8]
This model contains six
flavors of quarks (q), named up (u), down
(d), strange (s), charm (c), bottom (b), and
top (t).
[4]
Antiparticles of quarks are called
antiquarks, and are denoted by a bar over
the symbol for the corresponding quark,
such as u for an up antiquark. As with
antimatter in general, antiquarks have the
same mass, mean lifetime, and spin as their
respective quarks, but the electric charge
and other charges have the opposite sign.
[9]
Quarks are spin-
1

2
particles, implying that
they are fermions according to the
spin-statistics theorem. They are subject to
the Pauli exclusion principle, which states
that no two identical fermions can
simultaneously occupy the same quantum
state. This is in contrast to bosons (particles with integer spin), any number of which can be in the same state.
[10]
Unlike leptons, quarks possess color charge, which causes them to engage in the strong interaction. The resulting
attraction between different quarks causes the formation of composite particles known as hadrons (see "Strong
interaction and color charge" below).
The quarks which determine the quantum numbers of hadrons are called valence quarks; apart from these, any
hadron may contain an indefinite number of virtual (or sea) quarks, antiquarks, and gluons which do not influence its
quantum numbers.
[11]
There are two families of hadrons: baryons, with three valence quarks, and mesons, with a
valence quark and an antiquark.
[12]
The most common baryons are the proton and the neutron, the building blocks of
the atomic nucleus.
[13]
A great number of hadrons are known (see list of baryons and list of mesons), most of them
differentiated by their quark content and the properties these constituent quarks confer. The existence of "exotic"
Quark
145
hadrons with more valence quarks, such as tetraquarks (qqqq) and pentaquarks (qqqqq), has been conjectured
[14]
but
not proven.
[15][14][16]
Elementary fermions are grouped into three generations, each comprising two leptons and two quarks. The first
generation includes up and down quarks, the second strange and charm quarks, and the third bottom and top quarks.
All searches for a fourth generation of quarks and other elementary fermions have failed,
[17]
and there is strong
indirect evidence that no more than three generations exist.
[18][19]
Particles in higher generations generally have
greater mass and less stability, causing them to decay into lower-generation particles by means of weak interactions.
Only first-generation (up and down) quarks occur commonly in nature. Heavier quarks can only be created in
high-energy collisions (such as in those involving cosmic rays), and decay quickly; however, they are thought to
have been present during the first fractions of a second after the Big Bang, when the universe was in an extremely
hot and dense phase (the quark epoch). Studies of heavier quarks are conducted in artificially created conditions,
such as in particle accelerators.
[20]
Having electric charge, mass, color charge, and flavor, quarks are the only known elementary particles that engage in
all four fundamental interactions of contemporary physics: electromagnetism, gravitation, strong interaction, and
weak interaction.
[13]
Gravitation is too weak to be relevant to individual particle interactions except at extremes of
energy (Planck energy) and distance scales (Planck distance). However, since no successful quantum theory of
gravity exists, gravitation is not described by the Standard Model.
See the table of properties below for a more complete overview of the six quark flavors' properties.
History
Murray Gell-Mann at TED in 2007.
Gell-Mann and George Zweig
proposed the quark model in 1964.
The quark model was independently proposed by physicists Murray
Gell-Mann
[21]
and George Zweig
[22][23]
in 1964.
[5]
The proposal came shortly
after Gell-Mann's 1961 formulation of a particle classification system known as
the Eightfold Way or, in more technical terms, SU(3) flavor symmetry.
[24]
Physicist Yuval Ne'eman had independently developed a scheme similar to the
Eightfold Way in the same year.
[25][26]
At the time of the quark theory's inception, the "particle zoo" included, amongst
other particles, a multitude of hadrons. Gell-Mann and Zweig posited that they
were not elementary particles, but were instead composed of combinations of
quarks and antiquarks. Their model involved three flavors of quarks up, down,
and strange to which they ascribed properties such as spin and electric
charge.
[21][22][23]
The initial reaction of the physics community to the proposal
was mixed. There was particular contention about whether the quark was a
physical entity or an abstraction used to explain concepts that were not properly understood at the time.
[27]
In less than a year, extensions to the Gell-MannZweig model were proposed. Sheldon Lee Glashow and James
Bjorken predicted the existence of a fourth flavor of quark, which they called charm. The addition was proposed
because it allowed for a better description of the weak interaction (the mechanism that allows quarks to decay),
equalized the number of known quarks with the number of known leptons, and implied a mass formula that correctly
reproduced the masses of the known mesons.
[28]
In 1968, deep inelastic scattering experiments at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) showed that the
proton contained much smaller, point-like objects and was therefore not an elementary particle.
[6][7][29]
Physicists
were reluctant to identify these objects with quarks at the time, instead calling them "partons" a term coined by
Richard Feynman.
[30][31][32]
The objects that were observed at SLAC would later be identified as up and down
quarks as the other flavors were discovered.
[33]
Nevertheless, "parton" remains in use as a collective term for the
constituents of hadrons (quarks, antiquarks, and gluons).
Quark
146
The strange quark's existence was indirectly validated by SLAC's scattering experiments: not only was it a necessary
component of Gell-Mann and Zweig's three-quark model, but it provided an explanation for the kaon (K) and pion
() hadrons discovered in cosmic rays in 1947.
[34]
In a 1970 paper, Glashow, John Iliopoulos and Luciano Maiani presented further reasoning for the existence of the
as-yet undiscovered charm quark.
[35][36]
The number of supposed quark flavors grew to the current six in 1973,
when Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa noted that the experimental observation of CP violation
[37][38]
could be explained if there were another pair of quarks.
Charm quarks were produced almost simultaneously by two teams in November 1974 (see November Revolution)
one at SLAC under Burton Richter, and one at Brookhaven National Laboratory under Samuel Ting. The charm
quarks were observed bound with charm antiquarks in mesons. The two parties had assigned the discovered meson
two different symbols, J and ; thus, it became formally known as the J/ meson. The discovery finally convinced
the physics community of the quark model's validity.
[32]
In the following years a number of suggestions appeared for extending the quark model to six quarks. Of these, the
1975 paper by Haim Harari
[39]
was the first to coin the terms top and bottom for the additional quarks.
[]
In 1977, the bottom quark was observed by a team at Fermilab led by Leon Lederman.
[40][41]
This was a strong
indicator of the top quark's existence: without the top quark, the bottom quark would have been without a partner.
However, it was not until 1995 that the top quark was finally observed, also by the CDF
[42]
and D
[43]
teams at
Fermilab.
[5]
It had a mass much greater than had been previously expected
[44]
almost as great as a gold atom.
[]
Etymology
For some time, Gell-Mann was undecided on an actual spelling for the term he intended to coin, until he found the
word quark in James Joyce's book Finnegans Wake:
Three quarks for Muster Mark!
Sure he has not got much of a bark
And sure any he has it's all beside the mark.
James Joyce, Finnegans Wake
[45]
Gell-Mann went into further detail regarding the name of the quark in his book, The Quark and the Jaguar:
[]
In 1963, when I assigned the name "quark" to the fundamental constituents of the nucleon, I had the sound
first, without the spelling, which could have been "kwork". Then, in one of my occasional perusals of
Finnegans Wake, by James Joyce, I came across the word "quark" in the phrase "Three quarks for Muster
Mark". Since "quark" (meaning, for one thing, the cry of the gull) was clearly intended to rhyme with "Mark",
as well as "bark" and other such words, I had to find an excuse to pronounce it as "kwork". But the book
represents the dream of a publican named Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker. Words in the text are typically
drawn from several sources at once, like the "portmanteau" words in "Through the Looking-Glass". From time
to time, phrases occur in the book that are partially determined by calls for drinks at the bar. I argued,
therefore, that perhaps one of the multiple sources of the cry "Three quarks for Muster Mark" might be "Three
quarts for Mister Mark", in which case the pronunciation "kwork" would not be totally unjustified. In any case,
the number three fitted perfectly the way quarks occur in nature.
Zweig preferred the name ace for the particle he had theorized, but Gell-Mann's terminology came to prominence
once the quark model had been commonly accepted.
[46]
The quark flavors were given their names for a number of reasons. The up and down quarks are named after the up
and down components of isospin, which they carry.
[47]
Strange quarks were given their name because they were
discovered to be components of the strange particles discovered in cosmic rays years before the quark model was
proposed; these particles were deemed "strange" because they had unusually long lifetimes.
[48]
Glashow, who
coproposed charm quark with Bjorken, is quoted as saying, "We called our construct the 'charmed quark', for we
Quark
147
were fascinated and pleased by the symmetry it brought to the subnuclear world."
[49]
The names "bottom" and "top",
coined by Harari, were chosen because they are "logical partners for up and down quarks".
[39][][48]
In the past,
bottom and top quarks were sometimes referred to as "beauty" and "truth" respectively, but these names have
somewhat fallen out of use.
[50]
While "truth" never did catch on, accelerator complexes devoted to massive
production of bottom quarks are sometimes called "beauty factories".
[51]
Properties
Electric charge
Quarks have fractional electric charge values either
1

3
or
2

3
times the elementary charge, depending on flavor. Up,
charm, and top quarks (collectively referred to as up-type quarks) have a charge of +
2

3
, while down, strange, and
bottom quarks (down-type quarks) have
1

3
. Antiquarks have the opposite charge to their corresponding quarks;
up-type antiquarks have charges of
2

3
and down-type antiquarks have charges of +
1

3
. Since the electric charge of a
hadron is the sum of the charges of the constituent quarks, all hadrons have integer charges: the combination of three
quarks (baryons), three antiquarks (antibaryons), or a quark and an antiquark (mesons) always results in integer
charges.
[52]
For example, the hadron constituents of atomic nuclei, neutrons and protons, have charges of 0 and +1
respectively; the neutron is composed of two down quarks and one up quark, and the proton of two up quarks and
one down quark.
[13]
Spin
Spin is an intrinsic property of elementary particles, and its direction is an important degree of freedom. It is
sometimes visualized as the rotation of an object around its own axis (hence the name "spin"), though this notion is
somewhat misguided at subatomic scales because elementary particles are believed to be point-like.
[53]
Spin can be represented by a vector whose length is measured in units of the reduced Planck constant (pronounced
"h bar"). For quarks, a measurement of the spin vector component along any axis can only yield the values +/2 or
/2; for this reason quarks are classified as spin-
1

2
particles.
[54]
The component of spin along a given axis by
convention the z axis is often denoted by an up arrow for the value +
1

2
and down arrow for the value
1

2
,
placed after the symbol for flavor. For example, an up quark with a spin of +
1

2
along the z axis is denoted by u.
[55]
Weak interaction
Feynman diagram of beta decay with
time flowing upwards. The CKM
matrix (discussed below) encodes the
probability of this and other quark
decays.
A quark of one flavor can transform into a quark of another flavor only through
the weak interaction, one of the four fundamental interactions in particle
physics. By absorbing or emitting a W boson, any up-type quark (up, charm,
and top quarks) can change into any down-type quark (down, strange, and
bottom quarks) and vice versa. This flavor transformation mechanism causes
the radioactive process of beta decay, in which a neutron (n) "splits" into a
proton (p), an electron (e) and an electron antineutrino (
e) (see picture). This occurs when one of the down quarks in the neutron (udd)
decays into an up quark by emitting a virtual W boson, transforming the
neutron into a proton (uud). The W boson then decays into an electron and an
electron antineutrino.
[]
Quark
148
n p + e +
e
(Beta decay, hadron notation)
udd uud + e +
e
(Beta decay, quark notation)
Both beta decay and the inverse process of inverse beta decay are routinely used in medical applications such as
positron emission tomography (PET) and in high-energy experiments such as neutrino detection.
The strengths of the weak interactions between the six quarks. The
"intensities" of the lines are determined by the elements of the CKM
matrix.
While the process of flavor transformation is the
same for all quarks, each quark has a preference to
transform into the quark of its own generation. The
relative tendencies of all flavor transformations are
described by a mathematical table, called the
CabibboKobayashiMaskawa matrix (CKM
matrix). The approximate magnitudes of the
entries of the CKM matrix are:
[]
where V
ij
represents the tendency of a quark of flavor i to change into a quark of flavor j (or vice versa).
[56]
There exists an equivalent weak interaction matrix for leptons (right side of the W boson on the above beta decay
diagram), called the PontecorvoMakiNakagawaSakata matrix (PMNS matrix).
[57]
Together, the CKM and
PMNS matrices describe all flavor transformations, but the links between the two are not yet clear.
[58]
Quark
149
Strong interaction and color charge
All types of hadrons have zero
total color charge.
The pattern of strong charges for the three colors of
quark, three antiquarks, and eight gluons (with two of
zero charge overlapping).
According to QCD, quarks possess a property called color charge.
There are three types of color charge, arbitrarily labeled blue,
green, and red.
[59]
Each of them is complemented by an anticolor
antiblue, antigreen, and antired. Every quark carries a color,
while every antiquark carries an anticolor.
[60]
The system of attraction and repulsion between quarks charged
with different combinations of the three colors is called strong
interaction, which is mediated by force carrying particles known
as gluons; this is discussed at length below. The theory that
describes strong interactions is called quantum chromodynamics
(QCD). A quark charged with one color value can form a bound
system with an antiquark carrying the corresponding anticolor;
three (anti)quarks, one of each (anti)color, will similarly be bound
together. The result of two attracting quarks will be color
neutrality: a quark with color charge plus an antiquark with color
charge will result in a color charge of 0 (or "white" color) and
the formation of a meson. Analogous to the additive color model
in basic optics, the combination of three quarks or three
antiquarks, each with different color charges, will result in the
same "white" color charge and the formation of a baryon or
antibaryon.
[61]
In modern particle physics, gauge symmetries a kind of
symmetry group relate interactions between particles (see gauge
theories). Color SU(3) (commonly abbreviated to SU(3)
c
) is the
gauge symmetry that relates the color charge in quarks and is the
defining symmetry for quantum chromodynamics.
[62]
Just as the
laws of physics are independent of which directions in space are
designated x, y, and z, and remain unchanged if the coordinate
axes are rotated to a new orientation, the physics of quantum
chromodynamics is independent of which directions in
three-dimensional color space are identified as blue, red, and
green. SU(3)
c
color transformations correspond to "rotations" in
color space (which, mathematically speaking, is a complex space).
Every quark flavor f, each with subtypes f
B
, f
G
, f
R
corresponding to
the quark colors,
[63]
forms a triplet: a three-component quantum
field which transforms under the fundamental representation of
SU(3)
c
.
[64]
The requirement that SU(3)
c
should be local that is,
that its transformations be allowed to vary with space and time
determines the properties of the strong interaction, in particular the
existence of eight gluon types to act as its force carriers.
[62][65]
Quark
150
Mass
Current quark masses for all 6flavors in
comparison, as balls of proportional volumes.
Proton and electron(red) are shown in bottom left
corner for scale
Two terms are used in referring to a quark's mass: current quark mass
refers to the mass of a quark by itself, while constituent quark mass
refers to the current quark mass plus the mass of the gluon particle
field surrounding the quark.
[66]
These masses typically have very
different values. Most of a hadron's mass comes from the gluons that
bind the constituent quarks together, rather than from the quarks
themselves. While gluons are inherently massless, they possess energy
more specifically, quantum chromodynamics binding energy
(QCBE) and it is this that contributes so greatly to the overall mass
of the hadron (see mass in special relativity). For example, a proton has
a mass of approximately 938MeV/c
2
, of which the rest mass of its
three valence quarks only contributes about 11MeV/c
2
; much of the
remainder can be attributed to the gluons' QCBE.
[67][68]
The Standard Model posits that elementary particles derive their
masses from the Higgs mechanism, which is related to the Higgs
boson. Physicists hope that further research into the reasons for the top quark's large mass, which was found to be
approximately equal to that of a gold nucleus (~171GeV/c
2
),
[67][69]
might reveal more about the origin of the mass
of quarks and other elementary particles.
[70]
Table of properties
The following table summarizes the key properties of the six quarks. Flavor quantum numbers (isospin (I
3
), charm
(C), strangeness (S, not to be confused with spin), topness (T), and bottomness (B)) are assigned to certain quark
flavors, and denote qualities of quark-based systems and hadrons. The baryon number (B) is +
1

3
for all quarks, as
baryons are made of three quarks. For antiquarks, the electric charge (Q) and all flavor quantum numbers (B, I
3
, C, S,
T, and B) are of opposite sign. Mass and total angular momentum (J; equal to spin for point particles) do not change
sign for the antiquarks.
Quark flavor properties
[67]
Name Symbol
Mass (MeV/c
2
)
* J B Q I
3
C S T B Antiparticle Antiparticle symbol
First generation
Up u 1.7 to 3.1 1

2
+
1

3
+
2

3
+
1

2
0 0 0 0 Antiup u
Down d 4.1 to 5.7 1

2
+
1

2
0 0 0 0 Antidown d
Second generation
Charm c 1,290+50
110
1

2
+
1

3
+
2

3
0 +1 0 0 0 Anticharm c
Strange s 100+30
20
1

2
+
1

3
0 0 1 0 0 Antistrange s
Third generation
Top t 172,900600900 1

2
+
1

3
+
2

3
0 0 0 +1 0 Antitop t
Bottom b 4,190+180
60
1

2
+
1

3
0 0 0 0 1 Antibottom b
Quark
151
J = total angular momentum, B = baryon number, Q = electric charge, I
3
= isospin, C = charm, S = strangeness, T = topness, B = bottomness.
* Notation such as 4,190+180
60 denotes measurement uncertainty. In the case of the top quark, the first uncertainty is statistical in nature, and the second is systematic.
Interacting quarks
As described by quantum chromodynamics, the strong interaction between quarks is mediated by gluons, massless
vector gauge bosons. Each gluon carries one color charge and one anticolor charge. In the standard framework of
particle interactions (part of a more general formulation known as perturbation theory), gluons are constantly
exchanged between quarks through a virtual emission and absorption process. When a gluon is transferred between
quarks, a color change occurs in both; for example, if a red quark emits a redantigreen gluon, it becomes green, and
if a green quark absorbs a redantigreen gluon, it becomes red. Therefore, while each quark's color constantly
changes, their strong interaction is preserved.
[71][72][73]
Since gluons carry color charge, they themselves are able to emit and absorb other gluons. This causes asymptotic
freedom: as quarks come closer to each other, the chromodynamic binding force between them weakens.
[74]
Conversely, as the distance between quarks increases, the binding force strengthens. The color field becomes
stressed, much as an elastic band is stressed when stretched, and more gluons of appropriate color are spontaneously
created to strengthen the field. Above a certain energy threshold, pairs of quarks and antiquarks are created. These
pairs bind with the quarks being separated, causing new hadrons to form. This phenomenon is known as color
confinement: quarks never appear in isolation.
[72][75]
This process of hadronization occurs before quarks, formed in a
high energy collision, are able to interact in any other way. The only exception is the top quark, which may decay
before it hadronizes.
[]
Sea quarks
Hadrons, along with the valence quarks (q
v) that contribute to their quantum numbers, contain virtual quarkantiquark (qq) pairs known as sea quarks (q
s). Sea quarks form when a gluon of the hadron's color field splits; this process also works in reverse in that the
annihilation of two sea quarks produces a gluon. The result is a constant flux of gluon splits and creations
colloquially known as "the sea".
[76]
Sea quarks are much less stable than their valence counterparts, and they
typically annihilate each other within the interior of the hadron. Despite this, sea quarks can hadronize into baryonic
or mesonic particles under certain circumstances.
[77]
Quark
152
Other phases of quark matter
A qualitative rendering of the phase diagram of quark matter. The precise details of
the diagram are the subject of ongoing research.
[78][]
Under sufficiently extreme conditions,
quarks may become deconfined and exist as
free particles. In the course of asymptotic
freedom, the strong interaction becomes
weaker at higher temperatures. Eventually,
color confinement would be lost and an
extremely hot plasma of freely moving
quarks and gluons would be formed. This
theoretical phase of matter is called
quarkgluon plasma.
[79]
The exact
conditions needed to give rise to this state
are unknown and have been the subject of a
great deal of speculation and
experimentation. A recent estimate puts the
needed temperature at 1.900.0210
12
Kelvin.
[80]
While a state of entirely free
quarks and gluons has never been achieved (despite numerous attempts by CERN in the 1980s and 1990s),
[81]
recent
experiments at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider have yielded evidence for liquid-like quark matter exhibiting
"nearly perfect" fluid motion.
[5]
The quarkgluon plasma would be characterized by a great increase in the number of heavier quark pairs in relation
to the number of up and down quark pairs. It is believed that in the period prior to 10
6
seconds after the Big Bang
(the quark epoch), the universe was filled with quarkgluon plasma, as the temperature was too high for hadrons to
be stable.
[82]
Given sufficiently high baryon densities and relatively low temperatures possibly comparable to those found in
neutron stars quark matter is expected to degenerate into a Fermi liquid of weakly interacting quarks. This liquid
would be characterized by a condensation of colored quark Cooper pairs, thereby breaking the local SU(3)
c
symmetry. Because quark Cooper pairs harbor color charge, such a phase of quark matter would be color
superconductive; that is, color charge would be able to pass through it with no resistance.
[83]
Notes
[12] [12] Section 6.1. in
[15] [15] Several research groups claimed to have proven the existence of tetraquarks and pentaquarks in the early 2000s. While the status of
tetraquarks is still under debate, all known pentaquark candidates have since been established as non-existent.
[18] The main evidence is based on the resonance width of the boson, which constrains the 4th generation neutrino to have a mass greater than ~.
This would be highly contrasting with the other three generations' neutrinos, whose masses cannot exceed .
[24]
Original:
[25]
Original
[37] CP violation is a phenomenon which causes weak interactions to behave differently when left and right are swapped (P symmetry) and
particles are replaced with their corresponding antiparticles (C symmetry).
[56] The actual probability of decay of one quark to another is a complicated function of (amongst other variables) the decaying quark's mass, the
masses of the decay products, and the corresponding element of the CKM matrix. This probability is directly proportional (but not equal) to
the magnitude squared (|V
ij
|
2
) of the corresponding CKM entry.
[59] [59] Despite its name, color charge is not related to the color spectrum of visible light.
[62] [62] Part III of
[67] K. Nakamura et al. (Particle Data Group), JP G 37, 075021 (2010) and 2011 partial update for the 2012 edition (URL: http:/ / pdg. lbl. gov)
Quark
153
References
Further reading
A. Ali, G. Kramer (2011). "JETS and QCD: A historical review of the discovery of the quark and gluon jets and
its impact on QCD". European Physical Journal H 36 (2): 245. arXiv: 1012.2288 (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ 1012.
2288). Bibcode: 2011EPJH...36..245A (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 2011EPJH. . . 36. . 245A). doi:
10.1140/epjh/e2011-10047-1 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1140/ epjh/ e2011-10047-1).
D.J. Griffiths (2008). Introduction to Elementary Particles (2nd ed.). WileyVCH. ISBN3-527-40601-8.
I.S. Hughes (1985). Elementary particles (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-26092-2.
R. Oerter (2005). The Theory of Almost Everything: The Standard Model, the Unsung Triumph of Modern
Physics. Pi Press. ISBN0-13-236678-9.
A. Pickering (1984). Constructing Quarks: A Sociological History of Particle Physics. The University of Chicago
Press. ISBN0-226-66799-5.
B. Povh (1995). Particles and Nuclei: An Introduction to the Physical Concepts. SpringerVerlag.
ISBN0-387-59439-6.
M. Riordan (1987). The Hunting of the Quark: A true story of modern physics. Simon & Schuster.
ISBN0-671-64884-5.
B.A. Schumm (2004). Deep Down Things: The Breathtaking Beauty of Particle Physics. Johns Hopkins
University Press. ISBN0-8018-7971-X.
External links
1969 Physics Nobel Prize lecture by Murray Gell-Mann (http:/ / nobelprize. org/ nobel_prizes/ physics/ laureates/
1969/ index. html)
1976 Physics Nobel Prize lecture by Burton Richter (http:/ / nobelprize. org/ nobel_prizes/ physics/ laureates/
1976/ richter-lecture. html)
1976 Physics Nobel Prize lecture by Samuel C.C. Ting (http:/ / nobelprize. org/ nobel_prizes/ physics/ laureates/
1976/ ting-lecture. html)
2008 Physics Nobel Prize lecture by Makoto Kobayashi (http:/ / nobelprize. org/ nobel_prizes/ physics/ laureates/
2008/ kobayashi-lecture. html)
2008 Physics Nobel Prize lecture by Toshihide Maskawa (http:/ / nobelprize. org/ nobel_prizes/ physics/
laureates/ 2008/ maskawa-lecture. html)
The Top Quark And The Higgs Particle by T.A. Heppenheimer (http:/ / books. nap. edu/ openbook.
php?isbn=0-309-04893-1& page=236) A description of CERN's experiment to count the families of quarks.
Bowley, Roger; Copeland, Ed. "Quarks" (http:/ / www. sixtysymbols. com/ videos/ quarks. htm). Sixty Symbols.
Brady Haran for the University of Nottingham.
Baryon
154
Baryon
Standard model of
particle physics
Large Hadron Collider tunnel at CERN
A baryon is a composite subatomic particle made up of three quarks (as distinct from mesons, which comprise one
quark and one antiquark). Baryons and mesons belong to the hadron family, which are the quark-based particles. The
name "baryon" comes from the Greek word for "heavy" (, barys), because, at the time of their naming, most
known elementary particles had lower masses than the baryons.
As quark-based particles, baryons participate in the strong interaction, whereas leptons, which are not quark-based,
do not. The most familiar baryons are the protons and neutrons that make up most of the mass of the visible matter in
the universe. Electrons (the other major component of the atom) are leptons. Each baryon has a corresponding
antiparticle (antibaryon) where quarks are replaced by their corresponding antiquarks. For example, a proton is made
of two up quarks and one down quark; and its corresponding antiparticle, the antiproton, is made of two up
antiquarks and one down antiquark.
Until recently, it was believed that some experiments showed the existence of pentaquarks "exotic" baryons made
of four quarks and one antiquark.
[1][2]
The particle physics community as a whole did not view their existence as
likely in 2006,
[3]
and in 2008, considered evidence to be overwhelmingly against the existence of the reported
pentaquarks.
[4]
Background
Baryons are strongly interacting fermions that is, they experience the strong nuclear force and are described by
FermiDirac statistics, which apply to all particles obeying the Pauli exclusion principle. This is in contrast to the
bosons, which do not obey the exclusion principle.
Baryons, along with mesons, are hadrons, meaning they are particles composed of quarks. Quarks have baryon
numbers of B=
1

3
and antiquarks have baryon number of B=
1

3
. The term "baryon" usually refers to triquarks
baryons made of three quarks (B=
1

3
+
1

3
+
1

3
=1). Other exotic baryons have been proposed, such as pentaquarks
baryons made of four quarks and one antiquark (B=
1

3
+
1

3
+
1

3
+
1

3
=1), but their existence is not
generally accepted. In theory, heptaquarks (5 quarks, 2 antiquarks), nonaquarks (6 quarks, 3 antiquarks), etc. could
also exist.
Baryonic matter
Baryonic matter is matter composed mostly of baryons (by mass), which includes atoms of any sort (and thus
includes nearly all matter that may be encountered or experienced in everyday life). Non-baryonic matter, as implied
by the name, is any sort of matter that is not composed primarily of baryons. This might include such ordinary matter
as neutrinos or free electrons; however, it may also include exotic species of non-baryonic dark matter, such as
supersymmetric particles, axions, or black holes. The distinction between baryonic and non-baryonic matter is
Baryon
155
important in cosmology, because Big Bang nucleosynthesis models set tight constraints on the amount of baryonic
matter present in the early universe.
The very existence of baryons is also a significant issue in cosmology because it is assumed that the Big Bang
produced a state with equal amounts of baryons and antibaryons. The process by which baryons come to outnumber
their antiparticles is called baryogenesis (in contrast to a process by which leptons account for the predominance of
matter over antimatter, leptogenesis).
Baryogenesis
Experiments are consistent with the number of quarks in the universe being a constant and, to be more specific, the
number of baryons being a constant; in technical language, the total baryon number appears to be conserved. Within
the prevailing Standard Model of particle physics, the number of baryons may change in multiples of three due to the
action of sphalerons, although this is rare and has not been observed under experiment. Some grand unified theories
of particle physics also predict that a single proton can decay, changing the baryon number by one; however, this has
not yet been observed under experiment. The excess of baryons over antibaryons in the present universe is thought to
be due to non-conservation of baryon number in the very early universe, though this is not well understood.
Properties
Isospin and charge
Combinations of three u, d or s quarks forming
baryons with a spin-
3

2
form the uds baryon decuplet
The concept of isospin was first proposed by Werner Heisenberg
in 1932 to explain the similarities between protons and neutrons
under the strong interaction.
[5]
Although they had different electric
charges, their masses were so similar that physicists believed they
were actually the same particle. The different electric charges were
explained as being the result of some unknown excitation similar
to spin. This unknown excitation was later dubbed isospin by
Eugene Wigner in 1937.
[6]
This belief lasted until Murray Gell-Mann proposed the quark
model in 1964 (containing originally only the u, d, and s
quarks).
[7]
The success of the isospin model is now understood to
be the result of the similar masses of the u and d quarks. Since the
u and d quarks have similar masses, particles made of the same
number then also have similar masses. The exact specific u and d
quark composition determines the charge, as u quarks carry charge +
2

3
while d quarks carry charge
1

3
. For
example the four Deltas all have different charges (++ (uuu), + (uud), 0 (udd), (ddd)), but have similar masses
(~1,232MeV/c
2
) as they are each made of a combination of three u and d quarks. Under the isospin model, they
were considered to be a single particle in different charged states.
The mathematics of isospin was modeled after that of spin. Isospin projections varied in increments of 1 just like
those of spin, and to each projection was associated a "charged state". Since the "Delta
Baryon
156
Combinations of three u, d or s quarks forming
baryons with a spin-
1

2
form the uds baryon octet
particle" had four "charged states", it was said to be of isospin
I=
3

2
. Its "charged states" ++, +, 0, and , corresponded to
the isospin projections I
3
=+
3

2
, I
3
=+
1

2
, I
3
=
1

2
, and I
3
=
3

2
,
respectively. Another example is the "nucleon particle". As there
were two nucleon "charged states", it was said to be of isospin
1

2
.
The positive nucleon N+ (proton) was identified with I
3
=+
1

2
and
the neutral nucleon N0 (neutron) with I
3
=
1

2
.
[8]
It was later
noted that the isospin projections were related to the up and down
quark content of particles by the relation:
where the n's are the number of up and down quarks and
antiquarks.
In the "isospin picture", the four Deltas and the two nucleons were thought to be the different states of two particles.
However in the quark model, Deltas are different states of nucleons (the N
++
or N

are forbidden by Pauli's exclusion
principle). Isospin, although conveying an inaccurate picture of things, is still used to classify baryons, leading to
unnatural and often confusing nomenclature.
Flavour quantum numbers
The strangeness flavour quantum number S (not to be confused with spin) was noticed to go up and down along with
particle mass. The higher the mass, the lower the strangeness (the more s quarks). Particles could be described with
isospin projections (related to charge) and strangeness (mass) (see the uds octet and decuplet figures on the right). As
other quarks were discovered, new quantum numbers were made to have similar description of udc and udb octets
and decuplets. Since only the u and d mass are similar, this description of particle mass and charge in terms of
isospin and flavour quantum numbers works well only for octet and decuplet made of one u, one d, and one other
quark, and breaks down for the other octets and decuplets (for example, ucb octet and decuplet). If the quarks all had
the same mass, their behaviour would be called symmetric, as they would all behave in exactly the same way with
respect to the strong interaction. Since quarks do not have the same mass, they do not interact in the same way
(exactly like an electron placed in an electric field will accelerate more than a proton placed in the same field
because of its lighter mass), and the symmetry is said to be broken.
It was noted that charge (Q) was related to the isospin projection (I
3
), the baryon number (B) and flavour quantum
numbers (S, C, B, T) by the Gell-MannNishijima formula:
[8]
where S, C, B, and T represent the strangeness, charm, bottomness and topness flavour quantum numbers,
respectively. They are related to the number of strange, charm, bottom, and top quarks and antiquark according to
the relations:
meaning that the Gell-MannNishijima formula is equivalent to the expression of charge in terms of quark content:
Baryon
157
Spin, orbital angular momentum, and total angular momentum
Spin (quantum number S) is a vector quantity that represents the "intrinsic" angular momentum of a particle. It
comes in increments of
1

2
(pronounced "h-bar"). The is often dropped because it is the "fundamental" unit of
spin, and it is implied that "spin 1" means "spin 1". In some systems of natural units, is chosen to be 1, and
therefore does not appear anywhere.
Quarks are fermionic particles of spin
1

2
(S=
1

2
). Because spin projections varies in increments of 1 (that is 1), a
single quark has a spin vector of length
1

2
, and has two spin projections (S
z
=+
1

2
and S
z
=
1

2
). Two quarks can
have their spins aligned, in which case the two spin vectors add to make a vector of length S=1 and three spin
projections (S
z
=+1, S
z
=0, and S
z
=1). If two quarks have unaligned spins, the spin vectors add up to make a
vector of length S=0 and has only one spin projection (S
z
=0), etc. Since baryons are made of three quarks, their
spin vectors can add to make a vector of length S=
3

2
, which has four spin projections (S
z
=+
3

2
, S
z
=+
1

2
, S
z
=
1

2
,
and S
z
=
3

2
), or a vector of length S=
1

2
with two spin projections (S
z
=+
1

2
, and S
z
=
1

2
).
[9]
There is another quantity of angular momentum, called the orbital angular momentum, (azimuthal quantum number
L), that comes in increments of 1, which represent the angular moment due to quarks orbiting around each other.
The total angular momentum (total angular momentum quantum number J) of a particle is therefore the combination
of intrinsic angular momentum (spin) and orbital angular momentum. It can take any value from J = |L S| to J = |L
+ S|, in increments of 1.
Baryon angular momentum quantum numbers for L = 0, 1, 2, 3
Spin (S) Orbital angular momentum (L) Total angular momentum (J) Parity (P)
(See below)
Condensed notation (J
P
)
1

2
0 1

2
+ 1

2
+
1 3

2
,
1

2
3

,
1

2 5

2
,
3

2
+ 5

2
+
,
3

2
+
3 7

2
,
5

2
7

,
5

2
0 3

2
+ 3

2
+
1 5

2
,
3

2
,
1

2
5

,
3

,
1

2 7

2
,
5

2
,
3

2
,
1

2
+ 7

2
+
,
5

2
+
,
3

2
+
,
1

2
+
3 9

2
,
7

2
,
5

2
,
3

2
9

,
7

,
5

,
3

Particle physicists are most interested in baryons with no orbital angular momentum (L=0), as they correspond to
ground statesstates of minimal energy. Therefore the two groups of baryons most studied are the S=
1

2
; L=0 and
S=
3

2
; L=0, which corresponds to J=
1

2
+
and J=
3

2
+
, respectively, although they are not the only ones. It is also
possible to obtain J=
3

2
+
particles from S=
1

2
and L=2, as well as S=
3

2
and L=2. This phenomenon of having
multiple particles in the same total angular momentum configuration is called degeneracy. How to distinguish
between these degenerate baryons is an active area of research in baryon spectroscopy.
[10][11]
Baryon
158
Parity
If the universe were reflected in a mirror, most of the laws of physics would be identical things would behave the
same way regardless of what we call "left" and what we call "right". This concept of mirror reflection is called
intrinsic parity or parity (P). Gravity, the electromagnetic force, and the strong interaction all behave in the same
way regardless of whether or not the universe is reflected in a mirror, and thus are said to conserve parity
(P-symmetry). However, the weak interaction does distinguish "left" from "right", a phenomenon called parity
violation (P-violation).
Based on this, one might think that, if the wavefunction for each particle (in more precise terms, the quantum field
for each particle type) were simultaneously mirror-reversed, then the new set of wavefunctions would perfectly
satisfy the laws of physics (apart from the weak interaction). It turns out that this is not quite true: In order for the
equations to be satisfied, the wavefunctions of certain types of particles have to be multiplied by 1, in addition to
being mirror-reversed. Such particle types are said to have negative or odd parity (P=1, or alternatively P=),
while the other particles are said to have positive or even parity (P=+1, or alternatively P=+).
For baryons, the parity is related to the orbital angular momentum by the relation:
[12]
As a consequence, baryons with no orbital angular momentum (L=0) all have even parity (P=+).
Nomenclature
Baryons are classified into groups according to their isospin (I) values and quark (q) content. There are six groups of
baryonsnucleon (N), Delta (), Lambda (), Sigma (), Xi (-), and Omega (). The rules for classification are
defined by the Particle Data Group. These rules consider the up (u), down (d) and strange (s) quarks to be light and
the charm (c), bottom (b), and top (t) quarks to be heavy. The rules cover all the particles that can be made from three
of each of the six quarks, even though baryons made of t quarks are not expected to exist because of the t quark's
short lifetime. The rules do not cover pentaquarks.
[13]
Baryons with three u and/or d quarks are N's (I =
1

2
) or 's (I =
3

2
).
Baryons with two u and/or d quarks are 's (I = 0) or 's (I = 1). If the third quark is heavy, its identity is given by
a subscript.
Baryons with one u or d quark are -'s (I =
1

2
). One or two subscripts are used if one or both of the remaining
quarks are heavy.
Baryons with no u or d quarks are 's (I = 0), and subscripts indicate any heavy quark content.
Baryons that decay strongly have their masses as part of their names. For example,
0
does not decay strongly,
but
++
(1232) does.
It is also a widespread (but not universal) practice to follow some additional rules when distinguishing between some
states that would otherwise have the same symbol.
[8]
Baryons in total angular momentum J=
3

2
configuration that have the same symbols as their J=
1

2
counterparts
are denoted by an asterisk (*).
Two baryons can be made of three different quarks in J=
1

2
configuration. In this case, a prime () is used to
distinguish between them.
Exception: When two of the three quarks are one up and one down quark, one baryon is dubbed while the
other is dubbed .
Quarks carry charge, so knowing the charge of a particle indirectly gives the quark content. For example, the rules
above say that a +
c contains a c quark and some combination of two u and/or d quarks. The c quark has a charge of (Q=+
2

3
),
therefore the other two must be a u quark (Q=+
2

3
), and a d quark (Q=
1

3
) to have the correct total charge
(Q=+1).
Baryon
159
Notes
[1] [1] H. Muir (2003)
[2] [2] K. Carter (2003)
[3] W.-M. Yao et al. (2006): Particle listings
+
(http:/ / pdg. lbl. gov/ 2006/ reviews/ theta_b152. pdf)
[4] C. Amsler et al. (2008): Pentaquarks (http:/ / pdg.lbl.gov/ 2008/ reviews/ pentaquarks_b801. pdf)
[5] [5] W. Heisenberg (1932)
[6] [6] E. Wigner (1937)
[7] [7] M. Gell-Mann (1964)
[8] [8] S.S.M. Wong (1998a)
[9] [9] R. Shankar (1994)
[10] H. Garcilazo et al. (2007)
[11] [11] D.M. Manley (2005)
[12] [12] S.S.M. Wong (1998b)
[13] C. Amsler et al. (2008): Naming scheme for hadrons (http:/ / pdg. lbl. gov/ 2008/ reviews/ namingrpp. pdf)
References
C. Amsler et al. (Particle Data Group) (2008). "Review of Particle Physics". Physics Letters B 667 (1): 11340.
Bibcode: 2008PhLB..667....1P (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 2008PhLB. . 667. . . . 1P). doi:
10.1016/j.physletb.2008.07.018 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1016/ j. physletb. 2008. 07. 018).
H. Garcilazo, J. Vijande, and A. Valcarce (2007). "Faddeev study of heavy-baryon spectroscopy". Journal of
Physics G 34 (5): 961976. doi: 10.1088/0954-3899/34/5/014 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1088/ 0954-3899/ 34/ 5/
014).
K. Carter (2006). "The rise and fall of the pentaquark" (http:/ / www. symmetrymagazine. org/ cms/
?pid=1000377). Fermilab and SLAC. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
W.-M. Yao et al.(Particle Data Group) (2006). "Review of Particle Physics". Journal of Physics G 33: 11232.
arXiv: astro-ph/0601168 (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ astro-ph/ 0601168). Bibcode: 2006JPhG...33....1Y (http:/ /
adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 2006JPhG. . . 33. . . . 1Y). doi: 10.1088/0954-3899/33/1/001 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10.
1088/ 0954-3899/ 33/ 1/ 001).
D.M. Manley (2005). "Status of baryon spectroscopy". Journal of Physics: Conference Series 5: 230237.
Bibcode: 2005JPhCS...9..230M (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 2005JPhCS. . . 9. . 230M). doi:
10.1088/1742-6596/9/1/043 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1088/ 1742-6596/ 9/ 1/ 043).
H. Muir (2003). "Pentaquark discovery confounds sceptics" (http:/ / www. newscientist. com/ article/ dn3903).
New Scientist. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
S.S.M. Wong (1998a). "Chapter 2Nucleon Structure". Introductory Nuclear Physics (2nd ed.). New York
(NY): John Wiley & Sons. pp.2156. ISBN0-471-23973-9.
S.S.M. Wong (1998b). "Chapter 3The Deuteron". Introductory Nuclear Physics (2nd ed.). New York (NY):
John Wiley & Sons. pp.57104. ISBN0-471-23973-9.
R. Shankar (1994). Principles of Quantum Mechanics (2nd ed.). New York (NY): Plenum Press.
ISBN0-306-44790-8.
E. Wigner (1937). "On the Consequences of the Symmetry of the Nuclear Hamiltonian on the Spectroscopy of
Nuclei". Physical Review 51 (2): 106119. Bibcode: 1937PhRv...51..106W (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/
1937PhRv. . . 51. . 106W). doi: 10.1103/PhysRev.51.106 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1103/ PhysRev. 51. 106).
M. Gell-Mann (1964). "A Schematic of Baryons and Mesons". Physics Letters 8 (3): 214215. Bibcode:
1964PhL.....8..214G (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 1964PhL. . . . . 8. . 214G). doi:
10.1016/S0031-9163(64)92001-3 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1016/ S0031-9163(64)92001-3).
W. Heisenberg (1932). "ber den Bau der Atomkerne I". Zeitschrift fr Physik 77: 111. Bibcode:
1932ZPhy...77....1H (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 1932ZPhy. . . 77. . . . 1H). doi: 10.1007/BF01342433
(http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1007/ BF01342433). (German)
Baryon
160
W. Heisenberg (1932). "ber den Bau der Atomkerne II". Zeitschrift fr Physik 78 (34): 156164. Bibcode:
1932ZPhy...78..156H (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 1932ZPhy. . . 78. . 156H). doi: 10.1007/BF01337585
(http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1007/ BF01337585). (German)
W. Heisenberg (1932). "ber den Bau der Atomkerne III". Zeitschrift fr Physik 80 (910): 587596. Bibcode:
1933ZPhy...80..587H (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 1933ZPhy. . . 80. . 587H). doi: 10.1007/BF01335696
(http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1007/ BF01335696). (German)
External links
Particle Data Group Review of Particle Physics (2008). (http:/ / pdg. lbl. gov/ index. html)
Georgia State University HyperPhysics (http:/ / hyperphysics. phy-astr. gsu. edu/ hbase/ hframe. html)
Baryons made thinkable (http:/ / www. thingsmadethinkable. com/ item/ baryons. php), an interactive
visualisation allowing physical properties to be compared
Degenerate matter
Degenerate matter
[1][2]
in physics is a collection of free, non-interacting particles with a pressure and other physical
characteristics determined by quantum mechanical effects. It is the counterpart of an ideal gas in classical mechanics.
The degenerate state of matter, in the sense of deviant from an ideal gas, arises at extraordinarily high density (in
compact stars) or at extremely low temperatures in laboratories.
[3][4]
It occurs for matter particles such as electrons,
neutrons, protons, and fermions in general and is referred to as electron-degenerate matter, neutron-degenerate
matter, etc. In a mixture of particles, such as ions and electrons in white dwarfs or metals, the electrons may be
degenerate, while the ions are not.
In a quantum mechanical description, free particles limited to a finite volume may take only a discrete set of
energies, called quantum states. The Pauli exclusion principle prevents identical fermions from occupying the same
quantum state. At lowest total energy (when the thermal energy of the particles is negligible), all the lowest energy
quantum states are filled. This state is referred to as full degeneracy. The pressure (called degeneracy pressure or
Fermi pressure) remains nonzero even near absolute zero temperature.
[3][4]
Adding particles or reducing the volume
forces the particles into higher-energy quantum states. This requires a compression force, and is made manifest as a
resisting pressure. The key feature is that this degenerate pressure does not depend on the temperature and only on
the density of the fermions. It keeps dense stars in equilibrium independent of the thermal structure of the star.
Degenerate matter is also called a Fermi gas or a degenerate gas. A degenerate state with velocities of the fermions
close to the speed of light (particle energy larger than its rest mass energy) is called relativistic degenerate matter.
Degenerate matter was first described for a mixture of ions and electrons in 1926 by Ralph H. Fowler,
[5]
showing
that at densities observed in white dwarfs the electrons (obeying FermiDirac statistics, the term degenerate was not
yet in use) have a pressure much higher than the partial pressure of the ions.
Concept
Imagine that a plasma is cooled and compressed repeatedly. Eventually, it will not be possible to compress the
plasma any further, because the exclusion principle states that two fermions cannot share the same quantum state.
When in this state, since there is no extra space for any particles, we can also say that a particle's location is
extremely defined. Therefore, since (according to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle) px /2 where p is the
uncertainty in the particle's momentum and x is the uncertainty in position, then we must say that their momentum
is extremely uncertain since the particles are located in a very confined space. Therefore, even though the plasma is
cold, the particles must be moving very fast on average. This leads to the conclusion that if you want to compress an
object into a very small space, you must use tremendous force to control its particles' momentum.
Degenerate matter
161
Unlike a classical ideal gas, whose pressure is proportional to its temperature (P = nkT/V, where P is pressure, V is
the volume, n is the number of particlestypically atoms or moleculesk is Boltzmann's constant, and T is
temperature), the pressure exerted by degenerate matter depends only weakly on its temperature. In particular, the
pressure remains nonzero even at absolute zero temperature. At relatively low densities, the pressure of a fully
degenerate gas is given by P = K(n/V)5/3
, where K depends on the properties of the particles making up the gas. At very high densities, where most of the
particles are forced into quantum states with relativistic energies, the pressure is given by P = K(n/V)4/3
, where K again depends on the properties of the particles making up the gas.
[6]
All matter experiences both normal thermal pressure and degeneracy pressure, but in commonly encountered gases,
thermal pressure dominates so much that degeneracy pressure can be ignored. Likewise, degenerate matter still has
normal thermal pressure, but at extremely high densities the degeneracy pressure usually dominates.
Exotic examples of degenerate matter include neutronium, strange matter, metallic hydrogen and white dwarf matter.
Degeneracy pressure contributes to the pressure of conventional solids, but these are not usually considered to be
degenerate matter because a significant contribution to their pressure is provided by electrical repulsion of atomic
nuclei and the screening of nuclei from each other by electrons. In metals it is useful to treat the conduction electrons
alone as a degenerate, free electron gas while the majority of the electrons are regarded as occupying bound quantum
states. This contrasts with degenerate matter that forms the body of a white dwarf, where all the electrons would be
treated as occupying free particle momentum states.
Degenerate gases
Degenerate gases are gases composed of fermions that have a particular configuration that usually forms at high
densities. Fermions are particles with half-integer spin. Their behavior is regulated by a set of quantum mechanical
rules called the FermiDirac statistics. One particular rule is the Pauli exclusion principle, which states that there can
be only one fermion occupying each quantum state, which also applies to electrons that are not bound to a nucleus
but merely confined to a fixed volume, such as in the deep interior of a star. Such particles as electrons, protons,
neutrons, and neutrinos are all fermions and obey FermiDirac statistics.
A fermion gas in which all energy states below a critical value are filled is called a fully degenerate fermion gas. The
critical value is known as the Fermi energy. The electron gas in ordinary metals and in the interior of white dwarf
stars constitute two examples of a degenerate electron gas. Most stars are supported against their own gravitation by
normal gas pressure. White dwarf stars are supported by the degeneracy pressure of the electron gas in their interior.
For white dwarfs the degenerate particles are the electrons while for neutron stars the degenerate particles are
neutrons.
Electron degeneracy
In ordinary gas, most of the electron energy levels (n-spheres) are unfilled and the electrons are free to move about.
As particle density is increased electrons progressively fill the lower energy states and additional electrons are forced
to occupy states of higher energy. Degenerate gases strongly resist further compression because the electrons cannot
move to lower energy levels, which are already filled. The Pauli exclusion principle causes this. Even though
thermal energy may be extracted from the gas, it still may not cool down, since electrons cannot give up energy by
moving to a lower energy state. This increases the pressure of the fermion gas termed degeneracy pressure. In a
degenerate gas, the average pressure opposes the force of gravity and limits its compression.
Under high densities the matter becomes a degenerate gas when the electrons are all stripped from their parent
atoms. In the core of a star, once hydrogen burning in nuclear fusion reactions stops, it becomes a collection of
positively charged ions, largely helium and carbon nuclei, floating in a sea of electrons, which have been stripped
from the nuclei. Degenerate gas is an almost perfect conductor of heat and does not obey the ordinary gas laws.
White dwarfs are luminous not because they are generating any energy but rather because they have trapped a large
Degenerate matter
162
amount of heat. Normal gas exerts higher pressure when it is heated and expands, but the pressure in a degenerate
gas does not depend on the temperature. When gas becomes super-compressed, particles position right up against
each other to produce degenerate gas that behaves more like a solid. In degenerate gases the kinetic energies of
electrons are quite high and the rate of collision between electrons and other particles is quite low, therefore
degenerate electrons can travel great distances at velocities that approach the speed of light. Instead of temperature,
the pressure in a degenerate gas depends only on the speed of the degenerate particles; however, adding heat does not
increase the speed. Pressure is only increased by the mass of the particles, which increases the gravitational force
pulling the particles closer together. Therefore, the phenomenon is the opposite of that normally found in matter
where if the mass of the matter is increased, the object becomes bigger. In degenerate gas, when the mass is
increased, the pressure is increased, and the particles become spaced closer together, so the object becomes smaller.
Degenerate gas can be compressed to very high densities, typical values being in the range of 10,000 kilograms per
cubic centimeter.
There is an upper limit to the mass of an electron-degenerate object, the Chandrasekhar limit, beyond which electron
degeneracy pressure cannot support the object against collapse. The limit is approximately 1.44 solar masses for
objects with compositions similar to the sun. The mass cutoff changes with the chemical composition of the object,
as this affects the ratio of mass to number of electrons present. Celestial objects below this limit are white dwarf
stars, formed by the collapse of the cores of stars that run out of fuel. During collapse, an electron-degenerate gas
forms in the core, providing sufficient degeneracy pressure as it is compressed to resist further collapse. Above this
mass limit, a neutron star (supported by neutron degeneracy pressure) or a black hole may be formed instead.
Proton degeneracy
Sufficiently dense matter containing protons experiences proton degeneracy pressure, in a manner similar to the
electron degeneracy pressure in electron-degenerate matter: protons confined to a sufficiently small volume have a
large uncertainty in their momentum due to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Because protons are much more
massive than electrons, the same momentum represents a much smaller velocity for protons than for electrons. As a
result, in matter with approximately equal numbers of protons and electrons, proton degeneracy pressure is much
smaller than electron degeneracy pressure, and proton degeneracy is usually modeled as a correction to the equations
of state of electron-degenerate matter.
Neutron degeneracy
Neutron degeneracy is analogous to electron degeneracy and is demonstrated in neutron stars, which are primarily
supported by the pressure from a degenerate neutron gas.
[]
This happens when a stellar core above 1.44 solar masses,
the Chandrasekhar limit, collapses and is not halted by the degenerate electrons. As the star collapses, the Fermi
energy of the electrons increases to the point where it is energetically favorable for them to combine with protons to
produce neutrons (via inverse beta decay, also termed electron capture and "neutralization"). The result of this
collapse is an extremely compact star composed of nuclear matter, which is predominantly a degenerate neutron gas,
sometimes called neutronium, with a small admixture of degenerate proton and electron gases.
Neutrons in a degenerate neutron gas are spaced much more closely than electrons in an electron-degenerate gas,
because the more massive neutron has a much shorter wavelength at a given energy. In the case of neutron stars and
white dwarf stars, this is compounded by the fact that the pressures within neutron stars are much higher than those
in white dwarfs. The pressure increase is caused by the fact that the compactness of a neutron star causes
gravitational forces to be much higher than in a less compact body with similar mass. This results in a star with a
diameter on the order of a thousandth that of a white dwarf.
There is an upper limit to the mass of a neutron-degenerate object, the TolmanOppenheimerVolkoff limit, which
is analogous to the Chandrasekhar limit for electron-degenerate objects. The precise limit is unknown, as it depends
on the equations of state of nuclear matter, for which a highly accurate model is not yet available. Above this limit, a
Degenerate matter
163
neutron star may collapse into a black hole, or into other, denser forms of degenerate matter (such as quark matter) if
these forms exist and have suitable properties (mainly related to degree of compressibility, or "stiffness", described
by the equations of state).
Quark degeneracy
At densities greater than those supported by neutron degeneracy, quark matter is expected to occur. Several
variations of this have been proposed that represent quark-degenerate states. Strange matter is a degenerate gas of
quarks that is often assumed to contain strange quarks in addition to the usual up and down quarks. Color
superconductor materials are degenerate gases of quarks in which quarks pair up in a manner similar to Cooper
pairing in electrical superconductors. The equations of state for the various proposed forms of quark-degenerate
matter vary widely, and are usually also poorly defined, due to the difficulty modeling strong force interactions.
Quark-degenerate matter may occur in the cores of neutron stars, depending on the equations of state of
neutron-degenerate matter. It may also occur in hypothetical quark stars, formed by the collapse of objects above the
TolmanOppenheimerVolkoff mass limit for neutron-degenerate objects. Whether quark-degenerate matter forms
at all in these situations depends on the equations of state of both neutron-degenerate matter and quark-degenerate
matter, both of which are poorly known.
Preon degeneracy hypothesis
Preons are subatomic particles proposed to be the constituents of quarks, which become composite particles in
preon-based models. If preons exist, preon-degenerate matter might occur at densities greater than that which can be
supported by quark-degenerate matter. The properties of preon-degenerate matter depend very strongly on the model
chosen to describe preons, and the existence of preons is not assumed by the majority of the scientific community,
due to conflicts between the preon models originally proposed and experimental data from particle accelerators.
Singularity
At densities greater than those supported by any degeneracy, gravity overwhelms all other forces. To the best of our
current understanding, the body collapses to form a black hole. In the frame of reference that is co-moving with the
collapsing matter, all the matter ends up in an infinitely dense singularity at the center of the event horizon. In the
frame of reference of an observer at infinity, the collapse asymptotically approaches the event horizon.
As a consequence of relativity, the extreme gravitational field and orbital velocity experienced by infalling matter
around a black hole would "slow" time for that matter relative to a distant observer.
Notes
[2] An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics 16.3 "The Physics of Degenerate Matter Carroll & Ostlie, 2007, second edition. ISBN
0-8053-0402-9
[3] see http:/ / apod. nasa. gov/ apod/ ap100228.html
[4] [4] Andrew G. Truscott, Kevin E. Strecker, William I. McAlexander, Guthrie Partridge, and Randall G. Hulet, "Observation of Fermi Pressure in
a Gas of Trapped Atoms," Science, 2 March 2001
[5] On Dense Matter (http:/ / adsabs. harvard.edu/ abs/ 1926MNRAS. . 87. . 114F), R. H. Fowler, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Society 87 (1926), pp. 114122.
[6] Stellar Structure and Evolution section 15.3 R Kippenhahn & A. Weigert, 1990, 3rd printing 1994. ISBN 0-387-58013-1
Degenerate matter
164
References
Cohen-Tanoudji, Claude (2011). Advances in Atomic Physics (http:/ / www. worldscibooks. com/ physics/ 6631.
html). World Scientific. p.791. ISBN978-981-277-496-5.
External links
Detailed mathematical explanation of degenerate gases (http:/ / ircamera. as. arizona. edu/ astr_250/ Lectures/
Lec17_sml. htm)
Mass-radius diagram of degenerate star types (http:/ / nrumiano. free. fr/ Estars/ b_holes. html)
Lepton
165
Lepton
Lepton
Leptons are involved in several processes such as beta decay.
Composition Elementary particle
Statistics Fermionic
Generation 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Interactions Electromagnetism, Gravitation, Weak
Symbol l
Antiparticle Antilepton (l)
Types 6 (electron, electron neutrino, muon, muon neutrino, tau, tau neutrino)
Electriccharge +1 e, 0 e, 1 e
Color charge No
Spin 1

2
A lepton is an elementary particle which does not undergo strong interactions, but is subject to the Pauli exclusion
principle.
[1]
The best known of all leptons is the electron which governs nearly all of chemistry as it is found in
atoms and is directly tied to all chemical properties. Two main classes of leptons exist: charged leptons (also known
as the electron-like leptons), and neutral leptons (better known as neutrinos). Charged leptons can combine with
other particles to form various composite particles such as atoms and positronium, while neutrinos rarely interact
with anything, and are consequently rarely observed.
There are six types of leptons, known as flavours, forming three generations.
[2]
The first generation is the electronic
leptons, comprising the electron (e) and electron neutrino (
e); the second is the muonic leptons, comprising the muon () and muon neutrino (
); and the third is the tauonic leptons, comprising the tau () and the tau neutrino (
). Electrons have the least mass of all the charged leptons. The heavier muons and taus will rapidly change into
electrons through a process of particle decay: the transformation from a higher mass state to a lower mass state. Thus
electrons are stable and the most common charged lepton in the universe, whereas muons and taus can only be
produced in high energy collisions (such as those involving cosmic rays and those carried out in particle
accelerators).
Leptons have various intrinsic properties, including electric charge, spin, and mass. Unlike quarks however, leptons
are not subject to the strong interaction, but they are subject to the other three fundamental interactions: gravitation,
electromagnetism (excluding neutrinos, which are electrically neutral), and the weak interaction. For every lepton
flavor there is a corresponding type of antiparticle, known as antilepton, that differs from the lepton only in that
Lepton
166
some of its properties have equal magnitude but opposite sign. However, according to certain theories, neutrinos may
be their own antiparticle, but it is not currently known whether this is the case or not.
The first charged lepton, the electron, was theorized in the mid-19th century by several scientists
[3][4][5]
and was
discovered in 1897 by J. J. Thomson.
[6]
The next lepton to be observed was the muon, discovered by Carl D.
Anderson in 1936, but it was erroneously classified as a meson at the time.
[7]
After investigation, it was realized that
the muon did not have the expected properties of a meson, but rather behaved like an electron, only with higher
mass. It took until 1947 for the concept of "leptons" as a family of particle to be proposed.
[8]
The first neutrino, the
electron neutrino, was proposed by Wolfgang Pauli in 1930 to explain certain characteristics of beta decay.
[8]
It was
first observed in the CowanReines neutrino experiment conducted by Clyde Cowan and Frederick Reines in
1956.
[8][9]
The muon neutrino was discovered in 1962 by Leon M. Lederman, Melvin Schwartz and Jack
Steinberger,
[10]
and the tau discovered between 1974 and 1977 by Martin Lewis Perl and his colleagues from the
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
[11]
The tau neutrino remained
elusive until July 2000, when the DONUT collaboration from Fermilab announced its discovery.
[12][]
Leptons are an important part of the Standard Model. Electrons are one of the components of atoms, alongside
protons and neutrons. Exotic atoms with muons and taus instead of electrons can also be synthesized, as well as
leptonantilepton particles such as positronium.
Etymology
The name lepton comes from the Greek "" (lepton), neuter of "" (leptos), "fine, small, thin"
[13]
and the
earliest attested form of the word is the Mycenaean Greek re-po-to, written in Linear B syllabic script.
[14]
Lepton
was first used by physicist Lon Rosenfeld in 1948:
[15]
Following a suggestion of Prof. C. Mller, I adopt as a pendant to "nucleon" the denomination
"lepton" (from , small, thin, delicate) to denote a particle of small mass.
The etymology incorrectly implies that all the leptons are of small mass. When Rosenfeld named them, the only
known leptons were electrons and muons, which are in fact of small mass the mass of an electron
(0.511MeV/c
2
)
[16]
and the mass of a muon (with a value of 105.7MeV/c
2
)
[17]
are fractions of the mass of the
"heavy" proton (938.3MeV/c
2
).
[18]
However, the mass of the tau (discovered in the mid 1970s) (1,777MeV/c
2
)
[19]
is nearly twice that of the proton, and about 3,500 times that of the electron.
History
A muon transmutes into a muon neutrino by emitting a
W boson. The W boson subsequently decays into an
electron and an electron antineutrino.
Lepton
167
Lepton nomenclature
Particle name Antiparticle name
Electron Antielectron
Positron
Electron neutrino Electron antineutrino
Muon
Mu lepton
Mu
Antimuon
Antimu lepton
Antimu
Muon neutrino
Muonic neutrino
Mu neutrino
Muon antineutrino
Muonic antineutrino
Mu antineutrino
Tau
Tau lepton
Tauon
Antitau
Antitau lepton
Antitau
Tau neutrino
Tauonic neutrino
Tau neutrino
Tau antineutrino
Tauonic antineutrino
Tau antineutrino
The first lepton identified was the electron, discovered by J.J. Thomson and his team of British physicists in
1897.
[20][21]
Then in 1930 Wolfgang Pauli postulated the electron neutrino to preserve conservation of energy,
conservation of momentum, and conservation of angular momentum in beta decay.
[22]
Pauli theorized that an
undetected particle was carrying away the difference between the energy, momentum, and angular momentum of the
initial and observed final particles. The electron neutrino was simply called the neutrino, as it was not yet known that
neutrinos came in different flavours (or different "generations").
Nearly 40 years after the discovery of the electron, the muon was discovered by Carl D. Anderson in 1936. Due to its
mass, it was initially categorized as a meson rather than a lepton.
[23]
It later became clear that the muon was much
more similar to the electron than to mesons, as muons do not undergo the strong interaction, and thus the muon was
reclassified: electrons, muons, and the (electron) neutrino were grouped into a new group of particles the leptons.
In 1962 Leon M. Lederman, Melvin Schwartz and Jack Steinberger showed that more than one type of neutrino
exists by first detecting interactions of the muon neutrino, which earned them the 1988 Nobel Prize, although by then
the different flavours of neutrino had already been theorized.
[24]
The tau was first detected in a series of experiments between 1974 and 1977 by Martin Lewis Perl with his
colleagues at the SLAC LBL group.
[25]
Like the electron and the muon, it too was expected to have an associated
neutrino. The first evidence for tau neutrinos came from the observation of "missing" energy and momentum in tau
decay, analogous to the "missing" energy and momentum in beta decay leading to the discovery of the electron
neutrino. The first detection of tau neutrino interactions was announced in 2000 by the DONUT collaboration at
Fermilab, making it the latest particle of the Standard Model to have been directly observed,
[26]
apart from the Higgs
boson, which probably has been discovered in 2012.
Although all present data is consistent with three generations of leptons, some particle physicists are searching for a
fourth generation. The current lower limit on the mass of such a fourth charged lepton is 100.8GeV/c
2
,
[27]
while its
associated neutrino would have a mass of at least 45.0GeV/c
2
.
[28]
Lepton
168
Properties
Spin and chirality
Left-handed and right-handed helicities
Leptons are spin-
1

2
particles. The spin-statistics theorem thus
implies that they are fermions and thus that they are subject to the
Pauli exclusion principle; no two leptons of the same species can
be in exactly the same state at the same time. Furthermore, it
means that a lepton can have only two possible spin states, namely
up or down.
A closely related property is chirality, which in turn is closely related to a more easily visualized property called
helicity. The helicity of a particle is the direction of its spin relative to its momentum; particles with spin in the same
direction as their momentum are called right-handed and otherwise they are called left-handed. When a particle is
mass-less, the direction of its momentum relative to its spin is frame independent, while for massive particles it is
possible to 'overtake' the particle by a Lorentz transformation flipping the helicity. Chirality is a technical property
(defined through the transformation behaviour under the Poincar group) that agrees with helicity for
(approximately) massless particles and is still well defined for massive particles.
In many quantum field theoriessuch as quantum electrodynamics and quantum chromodynamicsleft and
right-handed fermions are identical. However in the Standard Model left-handed and right-handed fermions are
treated asymmetrically. Only left-handed fermions participate in the weak interaction, while there are no
right-handed neutrinos. This is an example of parity violation. In the literature left-handed fields are often denoted by
a capital L subscript (e.g. e
L
) and right-handed fields are denoted by a capital R subscript.
Electromagnetic interaction
Lepton-photon interaction
One of the most prominent properties of leptons is their electric charge,
Q. The electric charge determines the strength of their electromagnetic
interactions. It determines the strength of the electric field generated by
the particle (see Coulomb's law) and how strongly the particle reacts to
an external electric or magnetic field (see Lorentz force). Each
generation contains one lepton with Q=1 (conventionally the charge
of a particle is expressed in units of the elementary charge) and one
lepton with zero electric charge. The lepton with electric charge is
commonly simply referred to as a 'charged positive lepton' while the
neutral lepton is called a neutrino. For example the first generation
consists of the electron e with a negative electric charge and the electrically neutral electron neutrino
e.
In the language of quantum field theory the electromagnetic interaction of the charged leptons is expressed by the
fact that the particles interact with the quantum of the electromagnetic field, the photon. The Feynman diagram of
the electron-photon interaction is shown on the right.
Because leptons possess an intrinsic rotation in the form of their spin, charged leptons generate a magnetic field. The
size of their magnetic dipole moment is given by,
where m is the mass of the lepton and g is the so-called g-factor for the lepton. First order approximation quantum
mechanics predicts that the g-factor is 2 for all leptons. However, higher order quantum effects caused by loops in
Feynman diagrams introduce corrections to this value. These corrections, referred to as the anomalous magnetic
Lepton
169
dipole moment, are very sensitive to the details of a quantum field theory model and thus provide the opportunity for
precision tests of the standard model. The theoretical and measured values for the electron anomalous magnetic
dipole moment are within agreement within eight significant figures.
[29]
Weak Interaction
The weak interactions of the first generation leptons.
In the Standard Model the left-handed charged lepton and the left-handed neutrino are arranged in doublet (
e
L
, e
L
) that transforms in the spinor representation (T=
1

2
) of the weak isospin SU(2) gauge symmetry. This means
that these particles are eigenstates of the isospin projection T
3
with eigenvalues
1

2
and
1

2
respectively. In the
meantime, the right-handed charged lepton transforms as a weak isospin scalar (T=0) and thus does not participate
in the weak interaction, while there is no right-handed neutrino at all.
The Higgs mechanism recombines the gauge fields of the weak isospin SU(2) and the weak hypercharge U(1)
symmetries to three massive vector bosons (W+, W, Z0) mediating the weak interaction, and one massless vector
boson, the photon, responsible for the electromagnetic interaction. The electric charge Q can be calculated from the
isospin projection T
3
and weak hypercharge Y
W
through the Gell-MannNishijima formula,
Q = T
3
+ Y
W
/2
To recover the observed electric charges for all particles the left-handed weak isospin doublet (
e
L
, e
L
) must thus have Y
W
=1, while the right-handed isospin scalar e
R must have Y
W
=2. The interaction of the leptons with the massive weak interaction vector bosons is shown in the
figure on the left.
Mass
In the Standard Model each lepton starts out with no intrinsic mass. The charged leptons (i.e. the electron, muon, and
tau) obtain an effective mass through interaction with the Higgs field, but the neutrinos remain massless. For
technical reasons the masslessness of the neutrinos implies that there is no mixing of the different generations of
charged leptons as there is for quarks. This is in close agreement with current experimental observations.
[30]
It is however known from experiment most prominently from observed neutrino oscillations
[31]
that neutrinos do
in fact have some very small mass, probably less than 2eV/c
2
.
[32]
This implies that there are physics beyond the
Standard Model. The currently most favoured extension is the so-called Seesaw mechanism, which would explain
both why the left-handed neutrinos are so light compared to the corresponding charged leptons, and why we have not
yet seen any right-handed neutrinos.
Lepton
170
Leptonic numbers
The members of each generation's weak isospin doublet are assigned leptonic numbers that are conserved under the
Standard Model.
[33]
Electrons and electron neutrinos have an electronic number of L
e
=1, while muons and muon
neutrinos have a muonic number of L

=1, while tau particles and tau neutrinos have a tauonic number of L

=1.
The antileptons have their respective generation's leptonic numbers of 1.
Conservation of the leptonic numbers means that the number of leptons of the same type remains the same, when
particles interact. This implies that leptons and antileptons must be created in pairs of a single generation. For
example, the following processes are allowed under conservation of leptonic numbers:
Each generation forms a weak isospin doublet.
e + e+ + ,
+ + Z0 + Z0,
but not these:
e + +,
W e +
,
Z0 + +.
However, neutrino oscillations are known to violate the conservation of the individual leptonic numbers. Such a
violation is considered to be smoking gun evidence for physics beyond the Standard Model. A much stronger
conservation law is the conservation of the total number of leptons (L), conserved even in the case of neutrino
oscillations, but even it is still violated by a tiny amount by the chiral anomaly.
Universality
The coupling of the leptons to gauge bosons are flavour-independent (i.e., the interactions between leptons and
gauge bosons are the same for all leptons).
[33]
This property is called lepton universality and has been tested in
measurements of the tau and muon lifetimes and of Z boson partial decay widths, particularly at the Stanford Linear
Collider (SLC) and Large Electron-Positron Collider (LEP) experiments.
[citation needed]
The decay rate () of muons through the process e +
e +
is approximately given by an expression of the form (see muon decay for more details)
[33]
where K
1
is some constant, and G
F
is the Fermi coupling constant. The decay rate of tau particles through the process
e +
e +
is given by an expression of the same form
[33]
where K
2
is some constant. Electronmuon universality implies that K
1
=K
2
, and thus
[33]
This explains why the branching ratios for the electronic mode (17.85%) and muonic (17.36%) mode of tau decay
are equal (within error).
[19]
Universality also accounts for the ratio of muon and tau lifetimes. The lifetime of a lepton (
l
) is related to the decay
rate by
[33]
Lepton
171
where B(x y) and (x y) denotes the branching ratios and the resonance width of the process x y.
The ratio of tau and muon lifetime is thus given by
[33]
Using the values of the 2008 Review of Particle Physics for the branching ratios of muons
[17]
and tau
[19]
yields a
lifetime ratio of ~1.2910
7
, comparable to the measured lifetime ratio of ~1.3210
7
. The difference is due to K
1
and K
2
not actually being constants; they depend on the mass of leptons.
Table of leptons
Properties of leptons
Particle/Antiparticle Name Symbol Q (e) S L
e
L

L
Mass (MeV/c
2
)
Lifetime (s) Common decay
Electron / Antielectron
[16]
e/e+ 1/+1 1

2
+1/1 0 0 0.510998910(13) Stable Stable
Muon / Antimuon
[17]
/+ 1/+1 1

2
0 +1/1 0 105.6583668(38)
2.197019(21)10
6 e +
e +

Tau / Antitau
[19]
/+ 1/+1 1

2
0 0 +1/1 1,776.84(17)
2.906(10)10
13
See decay modes
[34]
Electron neutrino / Electron
antineutrino
[32]

e/
e
0 1

2
+1/1 0 0
< 0.0000022
[35]
Unknown
Muon neutrino / Muon
antineutrino
[32]

0 1

2
0 +1/1 0
< 0.17
[35]
Unknown
Tau neutrino / Tau antineutrino
[32]

0 1

2
0 0 +1/1
< 15.5
[35]
Unknown
Notes
[13] (http:/ / www. perseus.tufts. edu/ hopper/ text?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 04. 0057:entry=lepto/ s), Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott,
A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
[14] Palaeolexicon (http:/ / www. palaeolexicon. com), Word study tool of ancient languages
[15] [15] L. Rosenfeld (1948)
[16] C. Amsler et al. (2008): Particle listings (http:/ / pdg. lbl. gov/ 2008/ listings/ s003. pdf)
[17] C. Amsler et al. (2008): Particle listings (http:/ / pdg. lbl. gov/ 2008/ listings/ s004. pdf)
[18] C. Amsler et al. (2008): Particle listings (http:/ / pdg. lbl. gov/ 2008/ listings/ s016. pdf)
[19] C. Amsler et al. (2008): Particle listings (http:/ / pdg. lbl. gov/ 2008/ listings/ s035. pdf)
[20] [20] S. Weinberg (2003)
[21] [21] R. Wilson (1997)
[22] [22] K. Riesselmann (2007)
[23] [23] S.H. Neddermeyer, C.D. Anderson (1937)
[24] [24] I.V. Anicin (2005)
[25] [25] M.L. Perl et al. (1975)
[26] [26] K. Kodama (2001)
[27] C. Amsler et al. (2008) Heavy Charged Leptons Searches (http:/ / pdg. lbl. gov/ 2008/ listings/ s025. pdf)
[28] C. Amsler et al. (2008) Searches for Heavy Neutral Leptons (http:/ / pdg. lbl. gov/ 2008/ listings/ s077. pdf)
[29] [29] M.E. Peskin, D.V. Schroeder (1995), p. 197
[30] [30] M.E. Peskin, D.V. Schroeder (1995), p. 27
Lepton
172
[31] Y. Fukuda et al. (1998)
[32] C.Amsler et al. (2008): Particle listings Neutrino properties (http:/ / pdg. lbl. gov/ 2008/ listings/ s066. pdf)
[33] [33] B.R. Martin, G. Shaw (1992)
[34] http:/ / pdg. lbl. gov/ 2008/ listings/ s035.pdf
[35] [35] J. Peltoniemi, J. Sarkamo (2005)
References
C. Amsler et al. (Particle Data Group) (2008). "Review of Particle Physics". Physics Letters B 667: 1. Bibcode:
2008PhLB..667....1P (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 2008PhLB. . 667. . . . 1P). doi:
10.1016/j.physletb.2008.07.018 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1016/ j. physletb. 2008. 07. 018).
I.V. Anicin (2005). "The Neutrino Its Past, Present and Future". SFIN (Institute of Physics, Belgrade) year XV,
Series A: Conferences, No. A2 (2002) 359: 3172. arXiv: physics/0503172 (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ physics/
0503172). Bibcode: 2005physics...3172A (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 2005physics. . . 3172A).
Y.Fukuda et al.; Hayakawa, T.; Ichihara, E.; Inoue, K.; Ishihara, K.; Ishino, H.; Itow, Y.; Kajita, T. et al. (1998).
"Evidence for Oscillation of Atmospheric Neutrinos". Physical Review Letters 81 (8): 15621567. arXiv:
hep-ex/9807003 (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ hep-ex/ 9807003). Bibcode: 1998PhRvL..81.1562F (http:/ / adsabs.
harvard. edu/ abs/ 1998PhRvL. . 81. 1562F). doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.1562 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1103/
PhysRevLett. 81. 1562).
K. Kodama; Ushida, N.; Andreopoulos, C.; Saoulidou, N.; Tzanakos, G.; Yager, P.; Baller, B.; Boehnlein, D. et
al. (2001). "Observation of tau neutrino interactions". Physics Letters B 504 (3): 218. arXiv: hep-ex/0012035
(http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ hep-ex/ 0012035). Bibcode: 2001PhLB..504..218D (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/
2001PhLB. . 504. . 218D). doi: 10.1016/S0370-2693(01)00307-0 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1016/
S0370-2693(01)00307-0).
B.R. Martin, G. Shaw (1992). "Chapter 2 Leptons, quarks and hadrons". Particle Physics. John Wiley & Sons.
pp.2347. ISBN0-471-92358-3.
S.H. Neddermeyer, C.D. Anderson (1937). "Note on the Nature of Cosmic-Ray Particles". Physical Review 51
(10): 884886. Bibcode: 1937PhRv...51..884N (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 1937PhRv. . . 51. . 884N). doi:
10.1103/PhysRev.51.884 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1103/ PhysRev. 51. 884).
J. Peltoniemi, J. Sarkamo (2005). "Laboratory measurements and limits for neutrino properties" (http:/ / cupp.
oulu. fi/ neutrino/ nd-mass. html). The Ultimate Neutrino Page (http:/ / cupp. oulu. fi/ neutrino/ ). Retrieved
2008-11-07.
M.L. Perl et al.; Abrams, G.; Boyarski, A.; Breidenbach, M.; Briggs, D.; Bulos, F.; Chinowsky, W.; Dakin, J. et
al. (1975). "Evidence for Anomalous Lepton Production in e
+
e

Annihilation". Physical Review Letters 35 (22):
14891492. Bibcode: 1975PhRvL..35.1489P (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 1975PhRvL. . 35. 1489P). doi:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.35.1489 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1103/ PhysRevLett. 35. 1489).
M.E. Peskin, D.V. Schroeder (1995). Introduction to Quantum Field Theory. Westview Press.
ISBN0-201-50397-2.
K. Riesselmann (2007). "Logbook: Neutrino Invention" (http:/ / www. symmetrymagazine. org/ cms/
?pid=1000450). Symmetry Magazine 4 (2).
L. Rosenfeld (1948). Nuclear Forces. Interscience Publishers. p.xvii.
R. Shankar (1994). "Chapter 2 Rotational Invariance and Angular Momentum". Principles of Quantum
Mechanics (2nd ed.). Springer. pp.305352. ISBN978-0-306-44790-7.
S. Weinberg (2003). The Discovery of Subatomic Particles. Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-82351-X.
R. Wilson (1997). Astronomy Through the Ages: The Story of the Human Attempt to Understand the Universe.
CRC Press. p.138. ISBN0-7484-0748-0.
Lepton
173
External links
Particle Data Group homepage (http:/ / pdg. lbl. gov). The PDG compiles authoritative information on particle
properties.
Leptons (http:/ / hyperphysics. phy-astr. gsu. edu/ hbase/ particles/ lepton. html), a summary of leptons from
Hyperphysics.
174
Other types of matter
Antimatter
Antimatter
Annihilation
In particle physics, antimatter is material composed of antiparticles, which have the same mass as particles of
ordinary matter but have opposite charge and quantum spin. Antiparticles bind with each other to form antimatter in
the same way that normal particles bind to form normal matter. For example, a positron (the antiparticle of the
electron, with symbol e+) and an antiproton (symbol p) can form an antihydrogen atom. Furthermore, mixing matter
and antimatter can lead to the annihilation of both, in the same way that mixing antiparticles and particles does, thus
giving rise to high-energy photons (gamma rays) or other particleantiparticle pairs. The end result of antimatter
meeting matter is a release of energy proportional to the mass as the mass-energy equivalence equation, E=mc
2
shows.
[1]
There is considerable speculation as to why the observable universe is apparently composed almost entirely of matter
(as opposed to a mixture of matter and antimatter), whether there exist other places that are almost entirely composed
of antimatter instead, and what sorts of technology might be possible if antimatter could be harnessed. At this time,
the apparent asymmetry of matter and antimatter in the visible universe is one of the greatest unsolved problems in
physics.
[2]
The process by which this asymmetry between particles and antiparticles developed is called
baryogenesis.
There are some 500 terrestrial gamma-ray flashes daily. The red dots show those the Fermi Gamma-ray Space
Telescope spotted through 2010.
A video showing how scientists used the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope's gamma-ray detector to uncover bursts
of antimatter from thunderstorms
Antimatter
175
History of the concept
The idea of negative matter appears in past theories of matter that have now been abandoned. Using the once popular
vortex theory of gravity, the possibility of matter with negative gravity was discussed by William Hicks in the 1880s.
Between the 1880s and the 1890s, Karl Pearson proposed the existence of "squirts" (sources) and sinks of the flow of
aether. The squirts represented normal matter and the sinks represented negative matter. Pearson's theory required a
fourth dimension for the aether to flow from and into.
[3]
The term antimatter was first used by Arthur Schuster in two rather whimsical letters to Nature in 1898,
[4]
in which
he coined the term. He hypothesized antiatoms, as well as whole antimatter solar systems, and discussed the
possibility of matter and antimatter annihilating each other. Schuster's ideas were not a serious theoretical proposal,
merely speculation, and like the previous ideas, differed from the modern concept of antimatter in that it possessed
negative gravity.
[5]
The modern theory of antimatter began in 1928, with a paper
[6]
by Paul Dirac. Dirac realised that his relativistic
version of the Schrdinger wave equation for electrons predicted the possibility of antielectrons. These were
discovered by Carl D. Anderson in 1932 and named positrons (a contraction of "positive electrons"). Although Dirac
did not himself use the term antimatter, its use follows on naturally enough from antielectrons, antiprotons, etc.
[7]
A
complete periodic table of antimatter was envisaged by Charles Janet in 1929.
[8]
Notation
One way to denote an antiparticle is by adding a bar over the particle's symbol. For example, the proton and
antiproton are denoted as p and p, respectively. The same rule applies if one were to address a particle by its
constituent components. A proton is made up of uud quarks, so an antiproton must therefore be formed from uud
antiquarks. Another convention is to distinguish particles by their electric charge. Thus, the electron and positron are
denoted simply as e and e+ respectively. However, to prevent confusion, the two conventions are never mixed.
Origin and asymmetry
Almost all matter observable from the Earth seems to be made of matter rather than antimatter. If
antimatter-dominated regions of space existed, the gamma rays produced in annihilation reactions along the
boundary between matter and antimatter regions would be detectable.
[9]
Antiparticles are created everywhere in the universe where high-energy particle collisions take place. High-energy
cosmic rays impacting Earth's atmosphere (or any other matter in the Solar System) produce minute quantities of
antiparticles in the resulting particle jets, which are immediately annihilated by contact with nearby matter. They
may similarly be produced in regions like the center of the Milky Way and other galaxies, where very energetic
celestial events occur (principally the interaction of relativistic jets with the interstellar medium). The presence of the
resulting antimatter is detectable by the two gamma rays produced every time positrons annihilate with nearby
matter. The frequency and wavelength of the gamma rays indicate that each carries 511keV of energy (i.e., the rest
mass of an electron multiplied by c
2
).
Recent observations by the European Space Agency's INTEGRAL satellite may explain the origin of a giant cloud of
antimatter surrounding the galactic center. The observations show that the cloud is asymmetrical and matches the
pattern of X-ray binaries (binary star systems containing black holes or neutron stars), mostly on one side of the
galactic center. While the mechanism is not fully understood, it is likely to involve the production of
electronpositron pairs, as ordinary matter gains tremendous energy while falling into a stellar remnant.
[10][11]
Antimatter may exist in relatively large amounts in far-away galaxies due to cosmic inflation in the primordial time
of the universe. Antimatter galaxies, if they exist, are expected to have the same chemistry and absorption and
emission spectra as normal-matter galaxies, and their astronomical objects would be observationally identical,
making them difficult to distinguish.
[12]
NASA is trying to determine if such galaxies exist by looking for X-ray and
Antimatter
176
gamma-ray signatures of annihilation events in colliding superclusters.
[13]
Natural production
Positrons are produced naturally in
+
decays of naturally occurring radioactive isotopes (for example, potassium-40)
and in interactions of gamma quanta (emitted by radioactive nuclei) with matter. Antineutrinos are another kind of
antiparticle created by natural radioactivity (

decay). Many different kinds of antiparticles are also produced by
(and contained in) cosmic rays. Recent (as of January 2011) research by the American Astronomical Society has
discovered antimatter (positrons) originating above thunderstorm clouds; positrons are produced in gamma-ray
flashes created by electrons accelerated by strong electric fields in the clouds.
[14]
Antiprotons have also been found
to exist in the Van Allen Belts around the Earth by the PAMELA module.
[15][16]
Artificial production
Antiparticles are also produced in any environment with a sufficiently high temperature (mean particle energy
greater than the pair production threshold). During the period of baryogenesis, when the universe was extremely hot
and dense, matter and antimatter were continually produced and annihilated. The presence of remaining matter, and
absence of detectable remaining antimatter,
[17]
also called baryon asymmetry, is attributed to violation of the
CP-symmetry relating matter to antimatter. The exact mechanism of this violation during baryogenesis remains a
mystery.
Positrons can also be produced by radioactive + decay, but this mechanism can occur both naturally and artificially.
Positrons
Positrons were reported
[18]
in November 2008 to have been generated by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
in larger numbers than by any previous synthetic process. A laser drove electrons through a millimeter-radius gold
target's nuclei, which caused the incoming electrons to emit energy quanta that decayed into both matter and
antimatter. Positrons were detected at a higher rate and in greater density than ever previously detected in a
laboratory. Previous experiments made smaller quantities of positrons using lasers and paper-thin targets; however,
new simulations showed that short, ultra-intense lasers and millimeter-thick gold are a far more effective source.
[19]
Antiprotons, antineutrons, and antinuclei
The existence of the antiproton was experimentally confirmed in 1955 by University of California, Berkeley
physicists Emilio Segr and Owen Chamberlain, for which they were awarded the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physics.
[20]
An antiproton consists of two up antiquarks and one down antiquark (uud). The properties of the antiproton that have
been measured all match the corresponding properties of the proton, with the exception of the antiproton having
opposite electric charge and magnetic moment from the proton. Shortly afterwards, in 1956, the antineutron was
discovered in protonproton collisions at the Bevatron (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) by Bruce Cork and
colleagues.
[21]
In addition to antibaryons, anti-nuclei consisting of multiple bound antiprotons and antineutrons have been created.
These are typically produced at energies far too high to form antimatter atoms (with bound positrons in place of
electrons). In 1965, a group of researchers led by Antonino Zichichi reported production of nuclei of antideuterium
at the Proton Synchrotron at CERN.
[22]
At roughly the same time, observations of antideuterium nuclei were
reported by a group of American physicists at the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron at Brookhaven National
Laboratory.
[23]
Antimatter
177
Antihydrogen atoms
In 1995, CERN announced that it had successfully brought into existence nine antihydrogen atoms by implementing
the SLAC/Fermilab concept during the PS210 experiment. The experiment was performed using the Low Energy
Antiproton Ring (LEAR), and was led by Walter Oelert and Mario Macri
[citation needed]
. Fermilab soon confirmed the
CERN findings by producing approximately 100 antihydrogen atoms at their facilities. The antihydrogen atoms
created during PS210 and subsequent experiments (at both CERN and Fermilab) were extremely energetic ("hot")
and were not well suited to study. To resolve this hurdle, and to gain a better understanding of antihydrogen, two
collaborations were formed in the late 1990s, namely, ATHENA and ATRAP. In 2005, ATHENA disbanded and
some of the former members (along with others) formed the ALPHA Collaboration, which is also based at CERN.
The primary goal of these collaborations is the creation of less energetic ("cold") antihydrogen, better suited to
study
[citation needed]
.
In 1999, CERN activated the Antiproton Decelerator, a device capable of decelerating antiprotons from 3.5GeV to
5.3MeV still too "hot" to produce study-effective antihydrogen, but a huge leap forward. In late 2002 the
ATHENA project announced that they had created the world's first "cold" antihydrogen.
[24]
The ATRAP project
released similar results very shortly thereafter.
[25]
The antiprotons used in these experiments were cooled by
decelerating them with the Antiproton Decelerator, passing them through a thin sheet of foil, and finally capturing
them in a Penning-Malmberg trap.
[26]
The overall cooling process is workable, but highly inefficient; approximately
25 million antiprotons leave the Antiproton Decelerator and roughly 25,000 make it to the Penning-Malmberg trap,
which is about
1

1000
or 0.1% of the original amount.
The antiprotons are still hot when initially trapped. To cool them further, they are mixed into an electron plasma. The
electrons in this plasma cool via cyclotron radiation, and then sympathetically cool the antiprotons via Coulomb
collisions. Eventually, the electrons are removed by the application of short-duration electric fields, leaving the
antiprotons with energies less than 100meV.
[27]
While the antiprotons are being cooled in the first trap, a small
cloud of positrons is captured from radioactive sodium in a Surko-style positron accumulator.
[28]
This cloud is then
recaptured in a second trap near the antiprotons. Manipulations of the trap electrodes then tip the antiprotons into the
positron plasma, where some combine with antiprotons to form antihydrogen. This neutral antihydrogen is
unaffected by the electric and magnetic fields used to trap the charged positrons and antiprotons, and within a few
microseconds the antihydrogen hits the trap walls, where it annihilates. Some hundreds of millions of antihydrogen
atoms have been made in this fashion.
Most of the sought-after high-precision tests of the properties of antihydrogen could only be performed if the
antihydrogen were trapped, that is, held in place for a relatively long time. While antihydrogen atoms are electrically
neutral, the spins of their component particles produce a magnetic moment. These magnetic moments can interact
with an inhomogeneous magnetic field; some of the antihydrogen atoms can be attracted to a magnetic minimum.
Such a minimum can be created by a combination of mirror and multipole fields.
[29]
Antihydrogen can be trapped in
such a magnetic minimum (minimum-B) trap; in November 2010, the ALPHA collaboration announced that they
had so trapped 38 antihydrogen atoms for about a sixth of a second.
[30][31]
This was the first time that neutral
antimatter had been trapped.
On 26 April 2011, ALPHA announced that they had trapped 309 antihydrogen atoms, some for as long as 1,000
seconds (about 17 minutes). This was longer than neutral antimatter had ever been trapped before.
[32][33]
ALPHA
has used these trapped atoms to initiate research into the spectral properties of the antihydrogen.
[34]
The biggest limiting factor in the large-scale production of antimatter is the availability of antiprotons. Recent data
released by CERN states that, when fully operational, their facilities are capable of producing ten million antiprotons
per minute.
[35]
Assuming a 100% conversion of antiprotons to antihydrogen, it would take 100 billion years to
produce 1gram or 1 mole of antihydrogen (approximately 6.0210
23
atoms of antihydrogen).
Antimatter
178
Antihelium
Antihelium-3 nuclei (3He) were first observed in the 1970s in proton-nucleus collision experiments
[36]
and later
created in nucleus-nucleus collision experiments.
[37]
Nucleus-nucleus collisions produce antinuclei through the
coalescense of antiprotons and antineutrons created in these reactions. In 2011, the STAR detector reported the
observation of Antihelium-4 nuclei (4He).
[38]
Preservation
Antimatter cannot be stored in a container made of ordinary matter because antimatter reacts with any matter it
touches, annihilating itself and an equal amount of the container. Antimatter in the form of charged particles can be
contained by a combination of electric and magnetic fields, in a device called a Penning trap. This device cannot,
however, contain antimatter that consists of uncharged particles, for which atomic traps are used. In particular, such
a trap may use the dipole moment (electric or magnetic) of the trapped particles. At high vacuum, the matter or
antimatter particles can be trapped and cooled with slightly off-resonant laser radiation using a magneto-optical trap
or magnetic trap. Small particles can also be suspended with optical tweezers, using a highly focused laser
beam.
[citation needed]
Cost
Scientists claim that antimatter is the costliest material to make.
[]
In 2006, Gerald Smith estimated $250 million
could produce 10 milligrams of positrons
[39]
(equivalent to $25 billion per gram); in 1999, NASA gave a figure of
$62.5 trillion per gram of antihydrogen.
[]
This is because production is difficult (only very few antiprotons are
produced in reactions in particle accelerators), and because there is higher demand for other uses of particle
accelerators. According to CERN, it has cost a few hundred million Swiss Francs to produce about 1 billionth of a
gram (the amount used so far for particle/antiparticle collisions).
[40]
Several studies funded by the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts are exploring whether it might be possible to
use magnetic scoops to collect the antimatter that occurs naturally in the Van Allen belt of the Earth, and ultimately,
the belts of gas giants, like Jupiter, hopefully at a lower cost per gram.
[41]
Uses
Medical
Matter-antimatter reactions have practical applications in medical imaging, such as positron emission tomography
(PET). In positive beta decay, a nuclide loses surplus positive charge by emitting a positron (in the same event, a
proton becomes a neutron, and a neutrino is also emitted). Nuclides with surplus positive charge are easily made in a
cyclotron and are widely generated for medical use. Antiprotons have also been shown within laboratory
experiments to have the potential to treat certain cancers, in a similar method currently used for ion (proton)
therapy.
[42]
Fuel
The scarcity of antimatter means that it is not readily available for use as fuel. Any antimatter propulsion would
require engine construction so as to prevent the annihilation of all the fuel simultaneously. Anti-matter could be used
as a fuel for interplanetary travel or interstellar travel
[43]
as part of an antimatter catalyzed nuclear pulse propulsion
or other antimatter rocketry, such as the redshift rocket. Since the energy density of antimatter is higher than that of
conventional fuels, an antimatter-fueled spacecraft would have a higher thrust-to-weight ratio than a conventional
spacecraft.
Antimatter
179
In matter-antimatter collisions resulting in photon emission, the entire rest mass of the particles is converted to
kinetic energy. The energy per unit mass (910
16
J/kg) is about 10 orders of magnitude greater than typical chemical
energies,
[44]
and about 3 orders of magnitude greater than the nuclear potential energy that can be liberated, today,
using nuclear fission (about 200MeV per atomic nucleus that undergoes nuclear fission,
[45]
or 810
13
J/kg), and
about 2 orders of magnitude greater than the best possible results expected from fusion (about 6.310
14
J/kg for the
proton-proton chain). The reaction of 1kg of antimatter with 1kg of matter would produce 1.810
17
J (180
petajoules) of energy (by the mass-energy equivalence formula, E = mc
2
), or the rough equivalent of 43 megatons of
TNT slightly less than the yield of the 27,000kg Tsar Bomb, the largest thermonuclear weapon ever detonated.
Not all of that energy can be utilized by any realistic propulsion technology because, while electron-positron
reactions result in gamma ray photons, in reactions between protons and antiprotons, their energy is converted into
relativistic neutral and charged pions. While the neutral pions decay into high-energy photons, the charged pions
decay into a combination of neutrinos (carrying about 22% of the energy of the charged pions) and unstable charged
muons (carrying about 78% of the charged pion energy), with the muons then decaying into a combination of
electrons, positrons and neutrinos (cf. muon decay; the neutrinos from this decay carry about 2/3 of the energy of the
muons, meaning that from the original charged pions, the total fraction of their energy converted to neutrinos by one
route or another would be about 0.22 + (2/3)*0.78 = 0.74). Gamma radiation can be largely absorbed and converted
into heat energy, though some is bound to be lost. Neutrinos very rarely interact with any form of matter, so for all
intents and purposes, the energy converted into neutrinos can be considered lost.
[46]
Weapons
Antimatter has been considered as a trigger mechanism for nuclear weapons.
[47]
A major obstacle is the difficulty of
producing antimatter in large enough quantities, and there is no evidence that it will ever be feasible.
[48]
However,
the U.S. Air Force funded studies of the physics of antimatter in the Cold War, and began considering its possible
use in weapons, not just as a trigger, but as the explosive itself.
[49]
References
[1] http:/ / news.discovery.com/ space/ pamela-spots-a-smidgen-of-antimatter-110811. html
[2] David Tenenbaum, David, One step closer: UW-Madison scientists help explain scarcity of anti-matter (http:/ / www. news. wisc. edu/
21376), University of WisconsinMadison News, December 26, 2012
[44] (compared to TNT at , and formation of water at )
[47] Page discussing the possibility of using antimatter as a trigger for a thermonuclear explosion (http:/ / cui. unige. ch/ isi/ sscr/ phys/
anti-BPP-3.html)
[48] Paper discussing the number of antiprotons required to ignite a thermonuclear weapon. (http:/ / www. arxiv. org/ abs/ physics/ 0507114)
[49] "Air Force pursuing antimatter weapons: Program was touted publicly, then came official gag order" (http:/ / sfgate. com/ cgi-bin/ article.
cgi?file=/ c/ a/ 2004/ 10/ 04/ MNGM393GPK1.DTL)
Further reading
G. Fraser (2000-05-18). Antimatter, The Ultimate Mirror. Cambridge University Press. ISBN978-0-521-65252-0.
External links
Antimatter (http:/ / www. bbc. co. uk/ programmes/ b00808w8) on In Our Time at the BBC. ( listen now (http:/ /
www. bbc. co. uk/ iplayer/ console/ b00808w8/ In_Our_Time_Antimatter))
Freeview Video 'Antimatter' by the Vega Science Trust and the BBC/OU (http:/ / www. vega. org. uk/ video/
programme/ 14)
CERN Webcasts (RealPlayer required) (http:/ / livefromcern. web. cern. ch/ livefromcern/ antimatter/ webcast/
AM-webcast06. html)
Antimatter
180
What is Antimatter? (http:/ / www. positron. edu. au/ faq. html) (from the Frequently Asked Questions at the
Center for Antimatter-Matter Studies)
FAQ from CERN (http:/ / public. web. cern. ch/ public/ en/ Spotlight/ SpotlightAandD-en. html) with lots of
information about antimatter aimed at the general reader, posted in response to antimatter's fictional portrayal in
Angels & Demons
What is direct CP-violation? (http:/ / www2. slac. stanford. edu/ tip/ special/ cp. htm)
Animated illustration of antihydrogen production at CERN (http:/ / www. exploratorium. edu/ origins/ cern/ tools/
animation. html) from the Exploratorium.
Dark matter
Beyond the Standard Model
Simulated Large Hadron Collider CMS particle detector data depicting a Higgs boson produced by colliding protons decaying into
hadron jets and electrons
Standard Model
Part of a series on
Physical cosmology
Universe
Big Bang
Age of the universe
Chronology of the universe
Dark matter
181
Astronomy portal
Category: Physical cosmology
Estimated distribution of matter and energy in the universe, today (top)
and when the CMB was released (bottom)
In astronomy and cosmology, dark matter is a type
of matter hypothesized to account for a large part of
the total mass in the universe. Dark matter cannot be
seen directly with telescopes; evidently it neither
emits nor absorbs light or other electromagnetic
radiation at any significant level.
[1]
Instead, its
existence and properties are inferred from its
gravitational effects on visible matter, radiation, and
the large-scale structure of the universe. According to
the Planck mission team, and based on the standard
model of cosmology, the total massenergy of the
universe contains 4.9% ordinary matter, 26.8% dark
matter and 68.3% dark energy.
[][][2]
Thus, dark
matter is estimated to constitute 84.5% of the total
matter in the universe.
[]
Dark matter came to the attention of astrophysicists
due to discrepancies between the mass of large
astronomical objects determined from their
gravitational effects, and the mass calculated from
the "luminous matter" they contain: stars, gas and
dust. It was first postulated by Jan Oort in 1932 to
account for the orbital velocities of stars in the Milky
Way, and by Fritz Zwicky in 1933 to account for
evidence of "missing mass" in the orbital velocities
of galaxies in clusters. Subsequently, many other
observations have indicated the presence of dark matter in the universe, including the rotational speeds of galaxies
by Vera Rubin,
[3]
in the 1960s1970s, gravitational lensing of background objects by galaxy clusters such as the
Bullet Cluster, the temperature distribution of hot gas in galaxies and clusters of galaxies, and more recently the
pattern of anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background. According to consensus among cosmologists, dark
matter is composed primarily of a not yet characterized type of subatomic particle.
[4][5]
The search for this particle,
by a variety of means, is one of the major efforts in particle physics today.
[]
Although the existence of dark matter is generally accepted by the mainstream scientific community, there is no
generally agreed direct detection of it. Other theories including MOND and TeVeS, are some alternative theories of
gravity proposed to try to explain the anomalies for which dark matter is intended to account.
On 3 April 2013, NASA scientists reported that hints of dark matter may have been detected by the Alpha Magnetic
Spectrometer on the International Space Station.
[][][][][][]
According to the scientists, "The first results from the
space-borne Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer confirm an unexplained excess of high-energy positrons in Earth-bound
cosmic rays."
Dark matter
182
Overview
Dark matter's existence is inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter and gravitational lensing of
background radiation, and was originally hypothesized to account for discrepancies between calculations of the mass
of galaxies, clusters of galaxies and the entire universe made through dynamical and general relativistic means, and
calculations based on the mass of the visible "luminous" matter these objects contain: stars and the gas and dust of
the interstellar and intergalactic medium.
[1]
The most widely accepted explanation for these phenomena is that dark matter exists and that it is most probably
[4]
composed of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) that interact only through gravity and the weak force;
however, alternative explanations have been proposed, and there is not yet sufficient experimental evidence to
determine which is correct. Many experiments to detect proposed dark matter particles through non-gravitational
means are under way.
[]
According to observations of structures larger than solar systems, as well as Big Bang cosmology interpreted under
the Friedmann equations and the FLRW metric, dark matter accounts for 26.8% of the mass-energy content of the
observable universe. In comparison, ordinary matter accounts for only 4.9% of the mass-energy content of the
observable universe, with the remainder being attributable to dark energy.
[2]
From these figures, dark matter
constitutes 84.5%, (26.8/(26.8+4.9)), of the matter in the universe, whereas ordinary matter makes up only 15.5%.
[6]
Dark matter plays a central role in state-of-the-art modeling of structure formation and galaxy evolution, and has
measurable effects on the anisotropies observed in the cosmic microwave background. All these lines of evidence
suggest that galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and the universe as a whole contain far more matter than that which
interacts with electromagnetic radiation.
[7]
Important as dark matter is thought to be in the cosmos, direct evidence of its existence and a concrete understanding
of its nature have remained elusive. Though the theory of dark matter remains the most widely accepted theory to
explain the anomalies in observed galactic rotation, some alternative theoretical approaches have been developed
which broadly fall into the categories of modified gravitational laws and quantum gravitational laws.
[8]
Baryonic and nonbaryonic dark matter
Fermi-LAT observations of dwarf galaxies provide new insights on dark matter.
There are three separate lines of evidence
that the majority of dark matter is
non-baryonic (i.e. not made of ordinary
matter, protons, electrons and atoms):
The theory of Big Bang nucleosynthesis
gives a good estimate of the amount of
ordinary (baryonic) matter at around 45
percent of critical density; while evidence
from large-scale structure and other
observations indicates that the total
matter density is substantially higher than
this.
Large astronomical searches for gravitational microlensing, including the MACHO, EROS and OGLE projects,
have shown that only a small fraction of the dark matter in the Milky Way can be hiding in dark compact objects;
the excluded range covers objects above half the Earth's mass up to 30 solar masses, excluding nearly all the
plausible candidates.
Detailed analysis of the small irregularities (anisotropies) in the cosmic microwave background observed by
WMAP and Planck shows that around five-sixths of the total matter is in a form which does not interact
significantly with ordinary matter or photons.
Dark matter
183
A small proportion of dark matter may be baryonic dark matter: astronomical bodies, such as massive compact halo
objects, that are composed of ordinary matter but which emit little or no electromagnetic radiation. Study of
nucleosynthesis in the Big Bang produces an upper bound on the amount of baryonic matter in the universe,
[9]
which
indicates that the vast majority of dark matter in the universe cannot be baryons, and thus does not form atoms. It
also cannot interact with ordinary matter via electromagnetic forces; in particular, dark matter particles do not carry
any electric charge.
Candidates for nonbaryonic dark matter are hypothetical particles such as axions, or supersymmetric particles;
neutrinos can only form a small fraction of the dark matter, due to limits from large-scale structure and high-redshift
galaxies. Unlike baryonic dark matter, nonbaryonic dark matter does not contribute to the formation of the elements
in the early universe ("Big Bang nucleosynthesis")
[4]
and so its presence is revealed only via its gravitational
attraction. In addition, if the particles of which it is composed are supersymmetric, they can undergo annihilation
interactions with themselves, possibly resulting in observable by-products such as gamma rays and neutrinos
("indirect detection").
[]
Nonbaryonic dark matter is classified in terms of the mass of the particle(s) that is assumed to make it up, and/or the
typical velocity dispersion of those particles (since more massive particles move more slowly). There are three
prominent hypotheses on nonbaryonic dark matter, called Cold Dark Matter (CDM), Warm Dark Matter (WDM),
and Hot Dark Matter (HDM); some combination of these is also possible. The most widely discussed models for
nonbaryonic dark matter are based on the Cold Dark Matter hypothesis, and the corresponding particle is most
commonly assumed to be a weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP). Hot dark matter may include (massive)
neutrinos, but observations imply that only a small fraction of dark matter can be hot. Cold dark matter leads to a
"bottom-up" formation of structure in the universe while hot dark matter would result in a "top-down" formation
scenario; since the late 1990s, the latter has been ruled out by observations of high-redshift galaxies such as the
Hubble Ultra-Deep Field.
[]
Observational evidence
This artists impression shows the expected distribution of dark matter in the Milky
Way galaxy as a blue halo of material surrounding the galaxy.
[10]
The first person to interpret evidence and
infer the presence of dark matter was Dutch
astronomer Jan Oort, a pioneer in radio
astronomy, in 1932.
[11]
Oort was studying
stellar motions in the local galactic
neighbourhood and found that the mass in
the galactic plane must be more than the
material that could be seen, but this
measurement was later determined to be
essentially erroneous.
[12]
In 1933 the Swiss
astrophysicist Fritz Zwicky, who studied
clusters of galaxies while working at the
California Institute of Technology, made a
similar inference.
[13]
Zwicky applied the
virial theorem to the Coma cluster of galaxies and obtained evidence of unseen mass. Zwicky estimated the cluster's
total mass based on the motions of galaxies near its edge and compared that estimate to one based on the number of
galaxies and total brightness of the cluster. He found that there was about 400 times more estimated mass than was
visually observable. The gravity of the visible galaxies in the cluster would be far too small for such fast orbits, so
something extra was required. This is known as the "missing mass problem". Based on these conclusions, Zwicky
inferred that there must be some non-visible form of matter which would provide enough of the mass and gravity to
hold the cluster together.
Dark matter
184
Much of the evidence for dark matter comes from the study of the motions of galaxies.
[14]
Many of these appear to
be fairly uniform, so by the virial theorem, the total kinetic energy should be half the total gravitational binding
energy of the galaxies. Experimentally, however, the total kinetic energy is found to be much greater: in particular,
assuming the gravitational mass is due to only the visible matter of the galaxy, stars far from the center of galaxies
have much higher velocities than predicted by the virial theorem. Galactic rotation curves, which illustrate the
velocity of rotation versus the distance from the galactic center, cannot be explained by only the visible matter.
Assuming that the visible material makes up only a small part of the cluster is the most straightforward way of
accounting for this. Galaxies show signs of being composed largely of a roughly spherically symmetric, centrally
concentrated halo of dark matter with the visible matter concentrated in a disc at the center. Low surface brightness
dwarf galaxies are important sources of information for studying dark matter, as they have an uncommonly low ratio
of visible matter to dark matter, and have few bright stars at the center which would otherwise impair observations of
the rotation curve of outlying stars.
Gravitational lensing observations of galaxy clusters allow direct estimates of the gravitational mass based on its
effect on light from background galaxies, since large collections of matter (dark or otherwise) will gravitationally
deflect light. In clusters such as Abell 1689, lensing observations confirm the presence of considerably more mass
than is indicated by the clusters' light alone. In the Bullet Cluster, lensing observations show that much of the lensing
mass is separated from the X-ray-emitting baryonic mass. In July 2012, lensing observations were used to identify a
"filament" of dark matter between two clusters of galaxies, as cosmological simulations have predicted.
[]
Galaxy rotation curves
Rotation curve of a typical spiral galaxy:
predicted (A) and observed (B). Dark matter can
explain the 'flat' appearance of the velocity curve
out to a large radius
After Zwicky's initial observations, the first indication that the mass to
light ratio was anything other than unity came from measurements
made by Horace W. Babcock. In 1939, Babcock reported in his PhD
thesis measurements of the rotation curve for the Andromeda nebula
which suggested that the mass-to-luminosity ratio increases
radially.
[15]
He, however, attributed it to either absorption of light
within the galaxy or modified dynamics in the outer portions of the
spiral and not to any form of missing matter. In the late 1960s and
early 1970s, Vera Rubin, a young astronomer at the Department of
Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington,
worked with a new sensitive spectrograph that could measure the
velocity curve of edge-on spiral galaxies to a greater degree of
accuracy than had ever before been achieved.
[16]
Together with fellow staff-member Kent Ford, Rubin announced at
a 1975 meeting of the American Astronomical Society the discovery that most stars in spiral galaxies orbit at
roughly the same speed, which implied that the mass densities of the galaxies were uniform well beyond the regions
containing most of the stars (the galactic bulge), a result independently found in 1978.
[17]
An influential paper
presented Rubin's results in 1980.
[]
Rubin's observations and calculations showed that most galaxies must contain
about six times as much dark mass as can be accounted for by the visible stars. Eventually other astronomers began
to corroborate her work and it soon became well-established that most galaxies were dominated by "dark matter":
Low Surface Brightness (LSB) galaxies.
[18]
LSBs are probably everywhere dark matter-dominated, with the
observed stellar populations making only a small contribution to rotation curves. Such a property is extremely
important because it allows one to avoid the difficulties associated with the deprojection and disentanglement of
the dark and visible contributions to the rotation curves.
[]
Spiral Galaxies.
[19]
Rotation curves of both low and high surface luminosity galaxies appear to suggest a
universal density profile, which can be expressed as the sum of an exponential thin stellar disk, and a spherical
dark matter halo with a flat core of radius r
0
and density
0
= 4.5 10
2
(r
0
/kpc)
2/3
M

pc
3
(here, M

denotes a
Dark matter
185
solar mass, 2 10
30
kg).
Elliptical galaxies. Some elliptical galaxies show evidence for dark matter via strong gravitational lensing,
[20]
X-ray evidence reveals the presence of extended atmospheres of hot gas that fill the dark haloes of isolated
ellipticals and whose hydrostatic support provides evidence for dark matter. Other ellipticals have low velocities
in their outskirts (tracked for example by planetary nebulae) and were interpreted as not having dark matter
haloes.
[]
However, simulations of disk-galaxy mergers indicate that stars were torn by tidal forces from their
original galaxies during the first close passage and put on outgoing trajectories, explaining the low velocities even
with a DM halo.
[21]
More research is needed to clarify this situation.
Simulated dark matter haloes have significantly steeper density profiles (having central cusps) than are inferred from
observations, which is a problem for cosmological models with dark matter at the smallest scale of galaxies as of
2008.
[]
This may only be a problem of resolution: star-forming regions which might alter the dark matter distribution
via outflows of gas have been too small to resolve and model simultaneously with larger dark matter clumps. A
recent simulation
[22]
of a dwarf galaxy resolving these star-forming regions reported that strong outflows from
supernovae remove low-angular-momentum gas, which inhibits the formation of a galactic bulge and decreases the
dark matter density to less than half of what it would have been in the central kiloparsec. These simulation
predictionsbulgeless and with shallow central dark matter profilescorrespond closely to observations of actual
dwarf galaxies. There are no such discrepancies at the larger scales of clusters of galaxies and above, or in the outer
regions of haloes of galaxies.
Exceptions to this general picture of dark matter haloes for galaxies appear to be galaxies with mass-to-light ratios
close to that of stars.
[citation needed]
Subsequent to this, numerous observations have been made that do indicate the
presence of dark matter in various parts of the cosmos, such as observations of the cosmic microwave background,
of supernovas used as distance measures, of gravitational lensing at various scales, and many types of sky survey.
Together with Rubin's findings for spiral galaxies and Zwicky's work on galaxy clusters, the observational evidence
for dark matter has been collecting over the decades to the point that by the 1980s most astrophysicists accepted its
existence.
[23]
As a unifying concept, dark matter is one of the dominant features considered in the analysis of
structures on the order of galactic scale and larger.
Velocity dispersions of galaxies
In astronomy, the velocity dispersion , is the range of velocities about the mean velocity for a group of objects, such
as a cluster of stars about a galaxy.
Rubin's pioneering work has stood the test of time. Measurements of velocity curves in spiral galaxies were soon
followed up with velocity dispersions of elliptical galaxies.
[24]
While sometimes appearing with lower mass-to-light
ratios, measurements of ellipticals still indicate a relatively high dark matter content. Likewise, measurements of the
diffuse interstellar gas found at the edge of galaxies indicate not only dark matter distributions that extend beyond
the visible limit of the galaxies, but also that the galaxies are virialized (i.e. gravitationally bound with velocities
corresponding to predicted orbital velocities of general relativity) up to ten times their visible radii.
[citation needed]
This has the effect of pushing up the dark matter as a fraction of the total amount of gravitating matter from 50%
measured by Rubin to the now accepted value of nearly 95%.
There are places where dark matter seems to be a small component or totally absent. Globular clusters show little
evidence that they contain dark matter,
[25]
though their orbital interactions with galaxies do show evidence for
galactic dark matter.
[citation needed]
For some time, measurements of the velocity profile of stars seemed to indicate
concentration of dark matter in the disk of the Milky Way galaxy. It now appears, however, that the high
concentration of baryonic matter in the disk of the galaxy (especially in the interstellar medium) can account for this
motion. Galaxy mass profiles are thought to look very different from the light profiles. The typical model for dark
matter galaxies is a smooth, spherical distribution in virialized halos. Such would have to be the case to avoid
small-scale (stellar) dynamical effects. Recent research reported in January 2006 from the University of
Dark matter
186
Massachusetts Amherst would explain the previously mysterious warp in the disk of the Milky Way by the
interaction of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds and the predicted 20 fold increase in mass of the Milky Way
taking into account dark matter.
[]
In 2005, astronomers from Cardiff University claimed to have discovered a galaxy made almost entirely of dark
matter, 50 million light years away in the Virgo Cluster, which was named VIRGOHI21.
[26]
Unusually, VIRGOHI21
does not appear to contain any visible stars: it was seen with radio frequency observations of hydrogen. Based on
rotation profiles, the scientists estimate that this object contains approximately 1000 times more dark matter than
hydrogen and has a total mass of about 1/10 that of the Milky Way Galaxy we live in. For comparison, the Milky
Way is estimated to have roughly 10 times as much dark matter as ordinary matter. Models of the Big Bang and
structure formation have suggested that such dark galaxies should be very common in the universe
[citation needed]
, but
none had previously been detected. If the existence of this dark galaxy is confirmed, it provides strong evidence for
the theory of galaxy formation and poses problems for alternative explanations of dark matter.
There are some galaxies whose velocity profile indicates an absence of dark matter, such as NGC 3379.
[]
Galaxy clusters and gravitational lensing
Strong gravitational lensing as observed by the
Hubble Space Telescope in Abell 1689 indicates
the presence of dark matterenlarge the image to
see the lensing arcs.
A gravitational lens is formed when the light from a very distant, bright
source (such as a quasar) is "bent" around a massive object (such as a
cluster of galaxies) between the source object and the observer. The
process is known as gravitational lensing.
Dark matter affects galaxy clusters as well. X-ray measurements of hot
intracluster gas correspond closely to Zwicky's observations of
mass-to-light ratios for large clusters of nearly 10 to 1. Many of the
experiments of the Chandra X-ray Observatory use this technique to
independently determine the mass of clusters.
[27]
The galaxy cluster Abell 2029 is composed of thousands of galaxies
enveloped in a cloud of hot gas, and an amount of dark matter
equivalent to more than 10
14
Suns. At the center of this cluster is an
enormous, elliptically shaped galaxy that is thought to have been
formed from the mergers of many smaller galaxies.
[28]
The measured
orbital velocities of galaxies within galactic clusters have been found
to be consistent with dark matter observations.
Another important tool for future dark matter observations is gravitational lensing. Lensing relies on the effects of
general relativity to predict masses without relying on dynamics, and so is a completely independent means of
measuring the dark matter. Strong lensing, the observed distortion of background galaxies into arcs when the light
passes through a gravitational lens, has been observed around a few distant clusters including Abell 1689 (pictured
right).
[29]
By measuring the distortion geometry, the mass of the cluster causing the phenomena can be obtained. In
the dozens of cases where this has been done, the mass-to-light ratios obtained correspond to the dynamical dark
matter measurements of clusters.
[30]
A technique has been developed over the last 10 years called weak gravitational lensing, which looks at minute
distortions of galaxies observed in vast galaxy surveys due to foreground objects through statistical analyses. By
examining the apparent shear deformation of the adjacent background galaxies, astrophysicists can characterize the
mean distribution of dark matter by statistical means and have found mass-to-light ratios that correspond to dark
matter densities predicted by other large-scale structure measurements.
[31]
The correspondence of the two
gravitational lens techniques to other dark matter measurements has convinced almost all astrophysicists that dark
matter actually exists as a major component of the universe's composition.
Dark matter
187
The Bullet Cluster: HST image with overlays.
The total projected mass distribution
reconstructed from strong and weak gravitational
lensing is shown in blue, while the X-ray emitting
hot gas observed with Chandra is shown in red.
The most direct observational evidence to date for dark matter is in a
system known as the Bullet Cluster. In most regions of the universe,
dark matter and visible material are found together,
[32]
as expected
because of their mutual gravitational attraction. In the Bullet Cluster, a
collision between two galaxy clusters appears to have caused a
separation of dark matter and baryonic matter. X-ray observations
show that much of the baryonic matter (in the form of
10
7
10
8
Kelvin
[33]
gas, or plasma) in the system is concentrated in the
center of the system. Electromagnetic interactions between passing gas
particles caused them to slow down and settle near the point of impact.
However, weak gravitational lensing observations of the same system
show that much of the mass resides outside of the central region of
baryonic gas. Because dark matter does not interact by electromagnetic
forces, it would not have been slowed in the same way as the X-ray
visible gas, so the dark matter components of the two clusters passed through each other without slowing down
substantially. This accounts for the separation. Unlike the galactic rotation curves, this evidence for dark matter is
independent of the details of Newtonian gravity, so it is claimed to be direct evidence of the existence of dark
matter.
[33]
Another galaxy cluster, known as the Train Wreck Cluster/Abell 520, appears to have an unusually
massive and dark core containing few of the cluster's galaxies, which presents problems for standard dark matter
models.
[34]
This may be explained by the dark core actually being a long, low-density dark matter filament (containing few
galaxies) along the line of sight, projected onto the cluster core.
[35]
The observed behavior of dark matter in clusters constrains whether and how much dark matter scatters off other
dark matter particles, quantified as its self-interaction cross section. More simply, the question is whether the dark
matter has pressure, and thus can be described as a perfect fluid.
[36]
The distribution of mass (and thus dark matter)
in galaxy clusters has been used to argue both for
[37]
and against
[38]
the existence of significant self-interaction in
dark matter. Specifically, the distribution of dark matter in merging clusters such as the Bullet Cluster shows that
dark matter scatters off other dark matter particles only very weakly if at all.
[39]
Cosmic microwave background
The discovery and confirmation of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation occurred in 1964.
[40]
Since
then, many further measurements of the CMB have also supported and constrained this theory, perhaps the most
famous being the NASA Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE). COBE found a residual temperature of 2.726 K and
in 1992 detected for the first time the fluctuations (anisotropies) in the CMB, at a level of about one part in 10
5
.
[41]
During the following decade, CMB anisotropies were further investigated by a large number of ground-based and
balloon experiments. The primary goal of these experiments was to measure the angular scale of the first acoustic
peak of the power spectrum of the anisotropies, for which COBE did not have sufficient resolution. In 20002001,
several experiments, most notably BOOMERanG
[42]
found the Universe to be almost spatially flat by measuring the
typical angular size (the size on the sky) of the anisotropies. During the 1990s, the first peak was measured with
increasing sensitivity and by 2000 the BOOMERanG experiment reported that the highest power fluctuations occur
at scales of approximately one degree. These measurements were able to rule out cosmic strings as the leading theory
of cosmic structure formation, and suggested cosmic inflation was the right theory.
A number of ground-based interferometers provided measurements of the fluctuations with higher accuracy over the
next three years, including the Very Small Array, Degree Angular Scale Interferometer (DASI) and the Cosmic
Background Imager (CBI). DASI made the first detection of the polarization of the CMB
[43][44]
and the CBI
provided the first E-mode polarization spectrum with compelling evidence that it is out of phase with the T-mode
Dark matter
188
spectrum.
[45]
COBE's successor, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) has provided the most
detailed measurements of (large-scale) anisotropies in the CMB as of 2009.
[]
WMAP's measurements played the key
role in establishing the current Standard Model of Cosmology, namely the Lambda-CDM model, a flat universe
dominated by dark energy, supplemented by dark matter and atoms with density fluctuations seeded by a Gaussian,
adiabatic, nearly scale invariant process. The basic properties of this universe are determined by five numbers: the
density of matter, the density of atoms, the age of the universe (or equivalently, the Hubble constant today), the
amplitude of the initial fluctuations, and their scale dependence. This model also requires a period of cosmic
inflation. The WMAP data in fact ruled out several more complex cosmic inflation models, though supporting the
one in Lambda-CDM amongst others.
In summary, a successful Big Bang cosmology theory must fit with all available astronomical observations (known
as the concordance model), in particular the CMB. In cosmology, the CMB is explained as relic radiation from the
big bang, originally at thousands of degrees kelvin, but red shifted down to microwave by the expansion of the
universe over the last thirteen billion years. The anisotropies in the CMB are explained as acoustic oscillations in the
photon-baryon plasma (prior to the emission of the CMB after the photons decouple from the baryons at 379,000
years after the Big Bang) whose restoring force is gravity.
[46]
Ordinary (baryonic) matter interacts strongly with
radiation whereas, by definition, dark matter does notthough both affect the oscillations by their gravityso the
two forms of matter will have different effects. The power spectrum of the CMB anisotropies shows a large first
peak and smaller successive peaks, with three peaks resolved as of 2009.
[]
The first peak tells mostly about the
density of baryonic matter and the third peak mostly about the density of dark matter (see Cosmic microwave
background radiation#Primary anisotropy).
Sky surveys and baryon acoustic oscillations
The acoustic oscillations in the early universe (see the previous section) leave their imprint in the visible matter by
Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) clustering, in a way that can be measured with sky surveys such as the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey and the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey.
[47]
These measurements are consistent with those of the
CMB derived from the WMAP spacecraft and further constrain the Lambda CDM model and dark matter. Note that
the CMB data and the BAO data measure the acoustic oscillations at very different distance scales.
[46]
Type Ia supernovae distance measurements
Type Ia supernovae can be used as "standard candles" to measure extragalactic distances, and extensive data sets of
these supernovae can be used to constrain cosmological models.
[48]
They constrain the dark energy density

=
~0.713 for a flat, Lambda CDM Universe and the parameter w for a quintessence model. Once again, the values
obtained are roughly consistent with those derived from the WMAP observations and further constrain the Lambda
CDM model and (indirectly) dark matter.
[46]
Dark matter
189
Lyman-alpha forest
In astronomical spectroscopy, the Lyman-alpha forest is the sum of absorption lines arising from the Lyman-alpha
transition of the neutral hydrogen in the spectra of distant galaxies and quasars. Observations of the Lyman-alpha
forest can also be used to constrain cosmological models.
[49]
These constraints are again in agreement with those
obtained from WMAP data.
Structure formation
3D map of the large-scale distribution of dark
matter, reconstructed from measurements of weak
gravitational lensing with the Hubble Space
Telescope.
[50]
Dark matter is crucial to the Big Bang model of cosmology as a
component which corresponds directly to measurements of the
parameters associated with Friedmann cosmology solutions to general
relativity. In particular, measurements of the cosmic microwave
background anisotropies correspond to a cosmology where much of the
matter interacts with photons more weakly than the known forces that
couple light interactions to baryonic matter. Likewise, a significant
amount of non-baryonic, cold matter is necessary to explain the
large-scale structure of the universe.
Observations suggest that structure formation in the universe proceeds
hierarchically, with the smallest structures collapsing first and followed
by galaxies and then clusters of galaxies. As the structures collapse in
the evolving universe, they begin to "light up" as the baryonic matter
heats up through gravitational contraction and the object approaches hydrostatic pressure balance. Ordinary baryonic
matter had too high a temperature, and too much pressure left over from the Big Bang to collapse and form smaller
structures, such as stars, via the Jeans instability. Dark matter acts as a compactor of structure. This model not only
corresponds with statistical surveying of the visible structure in the universe but also corresponds precisely to the
dark matter predictions of the cosmic microwave background.
This bottom up model of structure formation requires something like cold dark matter to succeed. Large computer
simulations of billions of dark matter particles have been used
[51]
to confirm that the cold dark matter model of
structure formation is consistent with the structures observed in the universe through galaxy surveys, such as the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey and 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey, as well as observations of the Lyman-alpha forest. These
studies have been crucial in constructing the Lambda-CDM model which measures the cosmological parameters,
including the fraction of the universe made up of baryons and dark matter.
There are, however, several points of tension between observation and simulations of structure formation driven by
dark matter. There is evidence that there are 10 to 100 times fewer small galaxies than permitted by what the dark
matter theory of galaxy formation predicts.
[52][53]
This is known as the dwarf galaxy problem. In addition, the
simulations predict dark matter distributions with a very dense cusp near the centers of galaxies, but the observed
halos are smoother than predicted.
History of the search for its composition
What is dark matter? How is it generated? Is it related to supersymmetry?
Although dark matter had historically been inferred by many astronomical observations, its composition long
remained speculative. Early theories of dark matter concentrated on hidden heavy normal objects, such as black
holes, neutron stars, faint old white dwarfs, brown dwarfs, as the possible candidates for dark matter, collectively
known as massive compact halo objects or MACHOs. Astronomical surveys for gravitational microlensing,
including the MACHO, EROS and OGLE projects, along with Hubble telescope searches for ultra-faint stars, have
Dark matter
190
not found enough of these hidden MACHOs.
[54][55][56]
Some hard-to-detect baryonic matter, such as MACHOs and
some forms of gas, were additionally speculated to make a contribution to the overall dark matter content, but
evidence indicated such would constitute only a small portion.
[57][58][59]
Wikipedia:Verifiability
Furthermore, data from a number of lines of other evidence, including galaxy rotation curves, gravitational lensing,
structure formation, and the fraction of baryons in clusters and the cluster abundance combined with independent
evidence for the baryon density, indicated that 8590% of the mass in the universe does not interact with the
electromagnetic force. This "nonbaryonic dark matter" is evident through its gravitational effect. Consequently, the
most commonly held view was that dark matter is primarily non-baryonic, made of one or more elementary particles
other than the usual electrons, protons, neutrons, and known neutrinos. The most commonly proposed particles then
became WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, including neutralinos), or axions, or sterile neutrinos, though
many other possible candidates have been proposed.
The dark matter component has much more mass than the "visible" component of the universe.
[60]
Only about 4.6%
of the mass-energy of the Universe is ordinary matter. About 23% is thought to be composed of dark matter. The
remaining 72% is thought to consist of dark energy, an even stranger component, distributed almost uniformly in
space and with energy density non-evolving or slowly evolving with time
[]
Determining the nature of this dark
matter is one of the most important problems in modern cosmology and particle physics. It has been noted that the
names "dark matter" and "dark energy" serve mainly as expressions of human ignorance, much like the marking of
early maps with "terra incognita".
[]
Historically, three categories of dark matter candidates had been postulated.
[61]
The categories cold, warm, and hot
refer to how far the particles could move due to random motions in the early universe, before they slowed down due
to the expansion of the Universe this is called the "free streaming length". Primordial density fluctuations smaller
than this free-streaming length get washed out as particles move from overdense to underdense regions, while
fluctuations larger than the free-streaming length are unaffected; therefore this free-streaming length sets a minimum
scale for structure formation.
Cold dark matter objects with a free-streaming length much smaller than a protogalaxy.
[62]
Warm dark matter particles with a free-streaming length similar to a protogalaxy.
Hot dark matter particles with a free-streaming length much larger than a protogalaxy.
[63]
Though a fourth category had been considered early on, called mixed dark matter, it was quickly eliminated (from
the 1990s) since the discovery of dark energy.
As an example, Davis et al. wrote in 1985:
Candidate particles can be grouped into three categories on the basis of their effect on the fluctuation spectrum
(Bond et al. 1983). If the dark matter is composed of abundant light particles which remain relativistic until
shortly before recombination, then it may be termed "hot". The best candidate for hot dark matter is a neutrino
... A second possibility is for the dark matter particles to interact more weakly than neutrinos, to be less
abundant, and to have a mass of order 1keV. Such particles are termed "warm dark matter", because they have
lower thermal velocities than massive neutrinos ... there are at present few candidate particles which fit this
description. Gravitinos and photinos have been suggested (Pagels and Primack 1982; Bond, Szalay and Turner
1982) ... Any particles which became nonrelativistic very early, and so were able to diffuse a negligible
distance, are termed "cold" dark matter (CDM). There are many candidates for CDM including
supersymmetric particles.
[64]
The full calculations are quite technical, but an approximate dividing line is that "warm" dark matter particles
became non-relativistic when the universe was approximately 1 year old and 1 millionth of its present size; standard
hot big bang theory implies the universe was then in the radiation-dominated era (photons and neutrinos), with a
photon temperature 2.7 million K. Standard physical cosmology gives the particle horizon size as 2ct in the
radiation-dominated era, thus 2 light-years, and a region of this size would expand to 2 million light years today (if
there were no structure formation). The actual free-streaming length is roughly 5 times larger than the above length,
Dark matter
191
since the free-streaming length continues to grow slowly as particle velocities decrease inversely with the scale
factor after they become non-relativistic; therefore, in this example the free-streaming length would correspond to 10
million light-years or 3 Mpc today, which is around the size containing on average the mass of a large galaxy.
The above temperature 2.7 million K which gives a typical photon energy of 250 electron-volts, so this sets a typical
mass scale for "warm" dark matter: particles much more massive than this, such as GeV TeV mass WIMPs, would
become non-relativistic much earlier than 1 year after the Big Bang, thus have a free-streaming length which is much
smaller than a proto-galaxy and effectively negligible (thus cold dark matter). Conversely, much lighter particles
(e.g. neutrinos of mass ~ few eV) have a free-streaming length much larger than a proto-galaxy (thus hot dark
matter).
Cold dark matter
Today, cold dark matter is the simplest explanation for most cosmological observations. "Cold" dark matter is dark
matter composed of constituents with a free-streaming length much smaller than the ancestor of a galaxy-scale
perturbation. This is currently the area of greatest interest for dark matter research, as hot dark matter does not seem
to be viable for galaxy and galaxy cluster formation, and most particle candidates become non-relativistic at very
early times, hence are classified as cold.
The composition of the constituents of cold dark matter is currently unknown. Possibilities range from large objects
like MACHOs (such as black holes
[65]
) or RAMBOs, to new particles like WIMPs and axions. Possibilities
involving normal baryonic matter include brown dwarfs or perhaps small, dense chunks of heavy elements.
Studies of big bang nucleosynthesis and gravitational lensing have convinced most scientists
[][][][66][67][68]
that
MACHOs of any type cannot be more than a small fraction of the total dark matter.
[4][]
Black holes of nearly any
mass are ruled out as a primary dark matter constituent by a variety of searches and constraints.
[][66]
According to A.
Peter: "...the only really plausible dark-matter candidates are new particles."
[]
The DAMA/NaI experiment and its successor DAMA/LIBRA have claimed to directly detect dark matter particles
passing through the Earth, but many scientists remain skeptical, as negative results from similar experiments seem
incompatible with the DAMA results.
Many supersymmetric models naturally give rise to stable dark matter candidates in the form of the Lightest
Supersymmetric Particle (LSP). Separately, heavy sterile neutrinos exist in non-supersymmetric extensions to the
standard model that explain the small neutrino mass through the seesaw mechanism.
Warm dark matter
Warm dark matter refers to particles with a free-streaming length comparable to the size of a region which
subsequently evolved into a dwarf galaxy. This leads to predictions which are very similar to cold dark matter on
large scales, including the CMB, galaxy clustering and large galaxy rotation curves, but with less small-scale density
perturbations. This reduces the predicted abundance of dwarf galaxies and may lead to lower density of dark matter
in the central parts of large galaxies; some researchers consider this may be a better fit to observations. A challenge
for this model is that there are no very well-motivated particle physics candidates with the required mass ~ 300 eV to
3000 eV.
There have been no particles discovered so far that can be categorized as warm dark matter. There is a postulated
candidate for the warm dark matter category, which is the sterile neutrino: a heavier, slower form of neutrino which
does not even interact through the Weak force unlike regular neutrinos. Interestingly, some modified gravity
theories, such as Scalar-tensor-vector gravity, also require that a warm dark matter exist to make their equations
work out.
Dark matter
192
Hot dark matter
Hot dark matter are particles that have a free-streaming length much larger than a proto-galaxy size.
An example of hot dark matter is already known: the neutrino. Neutrinos were discovered quite separately from the
search for dark matter, and long before it seriously began: they were first postulated in 1930, and first detected in
1956. Neutrinos have a very small mass: at least 100,000times less massive than an electron. Other than gravity,
neutrinos only interact with normal matter via the weak force making them very difficult to detect (the weak force
only works over a small distance, thus a neutrino will only trigger a weak force event if it hits a nucleus directly
head-on). This would classify them as Weakly Interacting Light Particles, or WILPs, as opposed to cold dark
matter's theoretical candidates, the WIMPs.
There are three different known flavors of neutrinos (i.e. the electron-, muon-, and tau-neutrinos), and their masses
are slightly different. The resolution to the solar neutrino problem demonstrated that these three types of neutrinos
actually change and oscillate from one flavor to the others and back as they are in-flight. It's hard to determine an
exact upper bound on the collective average mass of the three neutrinos (let alone a mass for any of the three
individually). For example, if the average neutrino mass were chosen to be over 50 eV/c
2
(which is still less than
1/10,000
th
of the mass of an electron), just by the sheer number of them in the universe, the universe would collapse
due to their mass. So other observations have served to estimate an upper-bound for the neutrino mass. Using cosmic
microwave background data and other methods, the current conclusion is that their average mass probably does not
exceed 0.3 eV/c
2
Thus, the normal forms of neutrinos cannot be responsible for the measured dark matter component
from cosmology.
[69]
Hot dark matter was popular for a time in the early 1980s, but it suffers from a severe problem: since all galaxy-size
density fluctuations get washed out by free-streaming, the first objects which can form are huge supercluster-size
pancakes, which then were theorised somehow to fragment into galaxies. Deep-field observations clearly show that
galaxies formed at early times, with clusters and superclusters forming later as galaxies clump together, so any
model dominated by hot dark matter is seriously in conflict with observations.
Mixed dark matter
Mixed dark matter is a now obsolete model, with a specifically chosen mass ratio of 80% cold dark matter and 20%
hot dark matter (neutrinos) content. Though it is presumable that hot dark matter coexists with cold dark matter in
any case, there was a very specific reason for choosing this particular ratio of hot to cold dark matter in this model.
During the early 1990s it became steadily clear that a Universe with critical density of cold dark matter did not fit the
COBE and large-scale galaxy clustering observations; either the 80/20 mixed dark matter model, or LambdaCDM,
were able to reconcile these. With the discovery of the accelerating universe from supernovae, and more accurate
measurements of CMB anisotropy and galaxy clustering, the mixed dark matter model was essentially ruled out
while the concordance LambdaCDM model remained a good fit.
Detection
If the dark matter within our galaxy is made up of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), then thousands of
WIMPs must pass through every square centimeter of the Earth each second.
[][70]
There are many experiments
currently running, or planned, aiming to test this hypothesis by searching for WIMPs. Although WIMPs are a more
popular dark matter candidate,
[]
there are also experiments searching for other particle candidates such as axions. It
is also possible that dark matter consists of very heavy hidden sector particles which only interact with ordinary
matter via gravity.
These experiments can be divided into two classes: direct detection experiments, which search for the scattering of
dark matter particles off atomic nuclei within a detector; and indirect detection, which look for the products of
WIMP annihilations.
[]
Dark matter
193
An alternative approach to the detection of WIMPs in nature is to produce them in the laboratory. Experiments with
the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) may be able to detect WIMPs produced in collisions of the LHC proton beams.
Because a WIMP has negligible interactions with matter, it may be detected indirectly as (large amounts of) missing
energy and momentum which escape the LHC detectors, provided all the other (non-negligible) collision products
are detected.
[71]
These experiments could show that WIMPs can be created, but it would still require a direct
detection experiment to show that they exist in sufficient numbers in the galaxy to account for dark matter.
In April 2012 a group of scientists concluded a study that shows it is unlikely that dark matter is in the form of a halo
around celestial objects.
[72]
This implies that it will not likely be found in a laboratory experiment on Earth.
[73]
Direct detection experiments
Direct detection experiments typically operate in deep underground laboratories to reduce the background from
cosmic rays. These include: the Soudan mine; the SNOLAB underground laboratory at Sudbury, Ontario (Canada);
the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (Italy); the Canfranc Underground Laboratory (Spain); the Boulby Underground
Laboratory (UK); and the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory, South Dakota (US).
The majority of present experiments use one of two detector technologies: cryogenic detectors, operating at
temperatures below 100mK, detect the heat produced when a particle hits an atom in a crystal absorber such as
germanium. Noble liquid detectors detect the flash of scintillation light produced by a particle collision in liquid
xenon or argon. Cryogenic detector experiments include: CDMS, CRESST, EDELWEISS, EURECA. Noble liquid
experiments include ZEPLIN, XENON, DEAP, ArDM, WARP and LUX. Both of these detector techniques are
capable of distinguishing background particles which scatter off electrons, from dark matter particles which scatter
off nuclei. Other experiments include SIMPLE and PICASSO.
The DAMA/NaI, DAMA/LIBRA experiments have detected an annual modulation in the event rate,
[74]
which they
claim is due to dark matter particles. (As the Earth orbits the Sun, the velocity of the detector relative to the dark
matter halo will vary by a small amount depending on the time of year). This claim is so far unconfirmed and
difficult to reconcile with the negative results of other experiments assuming that the WIMP scenario is correct.
[75]
Directional detection of dark matter is a search strategy based on the motion of the Solar System around the galactic
center.
By using a low pressure TPC, it is possible to access information on recoiling tracks (3D reconstruction if possible)
and to constrain the WIMP-nucleus kinematics. WIMPs coming from the direction in which the Sun is travelling
(roughly in the direction of the Cygnus constellation) may then be separated from background noise, which should
be isotropic. Directional dark matter experiments include DMTPC, DRIFT, Newage and MIMAC.
On 17 December 2009 CDMS researchers reported two possible WIMP candidate events. They estimate that the
probability that these events are due to a known background (neutrons or misidentified beta or gamma events) is
23%, and conclude "this analysis cannot be interpreted as significant evidence for WIMP interactions, but we cannot
reject either event as signal."
[76]
More recently, on 4 September 2011, researchers using the CRESST detectors presented evidence
[77]
of 67 collisions
occurring in detector crystals from sub-atomic particles, calculating there is a less than 1 in 10,000 chance that all
were caused by known sources of interference or contamination. It is quite possible then that many of these
collisions were caused by WIMPs, and/or other unknown particles.
Dark matter
194
Indirect detection experiments
Indirect detection experiments search for the products of WIMP annihilation or decay. If WIMPs are Majorana
particles (WIMPs are their own antiparticle) then two WIMPs could annihilate to produce gamma rays or Standard
Model particle-antiparticle pairs. Additionally, if the WIMP is unstable, WIMPs could decay into standard model
particles. These processes could be detected indirectly through an excess of gamma rays, antiprotons or positrons
emanating from regions of high dark matter density. The detection of such a signal is not conclusive evidence for
dark matter, as the production of gamma rays from other sources is not fully understood.
[][]
The EGRET gamma ray telescope observed more gamma rays than expected from the Milky Way, but scientists
concluded that this was most likely due to a mis-estimation of the telescope's sensitivity.
[78]
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, launched June 11, 2008, is searching for gamma rays from dark matter
annihilation and decay.
[79]
In April 2012, an analysis
[80]
of previously available data from its Large Area Telescope
instrument produced strong statistical evidence of a 130 GeV line in the gamma radiation coming from the center of
the Milky Way. At the time, WIMP annihilation was the most probable explanation for that line.
[81]
At higher energies, ground-based gamma-ray telescopes have set limits on the annihilation of dark matter in dwarf
spheroidal galaxies
[82]
and in clusters of galaxies.
[83]
The PAMELA experiment (launched 2006) has detected a larger number of positrons than expected. These extra
positrons could be produced by dark matter annihilation, but may also come from pulsars. No excess of anti-protons
has been observed.
[84]
A few of the WIMPs passing through the Sun or Earth may scatter off atoms and lose energy. This way a large
population of WIMPs may accumulate at the center of these bodies, increasing the chance that two will collide and
annihilate. This could produce a distinctive signal in the form of high-energy neutrinos originating from the center of
the Sun or Earth.
[85]
It is generally considered that the detection of such a signal would be the strongest indirect
proof of WIMP dark matter.
[]
High-energy neutrino telescopes such as AMANDA, IceCube and ANTARES are
searching for this signal.
WIMP annihilation from the Milky Way Galaxy as a whole may also be detected in the form of various annihilation
products.
[86]
The Galactic center is a particularly good place to look because the density of dark matter may be very
high there.
[87]
Alternative theories
Although dark matter is the widely accepted explanation for the various astronomical observations of galaxies and
galaxy clusters, numerous alternatives have been proposed to explain these observations without the need for a large
amount of undetected matter. Most of these modify the law of gravity in some way, replacing the laws established by
Newton and Einstein.
Modified gravity laws
The earliest modified gravity model to emerge was Mordehai Milgrom's Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) in
1983, which adjusts Newton's laws to create a stronger gravitational field when gravitational acceleration levels
become tiny (such as near the rim of a galaxy). It had some success explaining galactic scale features, such as
rotational velocity curves of elliptical galaxies, and dwarf elliptical galaxies, but did not successfully explain galaxy
cluster gravitational lensing. However, MOND was not relativistic, since it was just a straight adjustment of the older
Newtonian account of gravitation, not of the newer account in Einstein's general relativity. Soon after 1983, attempts
were made to bring MOND into conformity with General Relativity; this is an ongoing process, and many competing
theories have emerged based around the original MOND theoryincluding TeVeS, MOG or STV gravity, and
phenomenological covariant approach,
[88]
among others.
Dark matter
195
In 2007, John W. Moffat proposed a modified gravity theory based on the Nonsymmetric Gravitational Theory
(NGT) that claims to account for the behavior of colliding galaxies.
[89]
This theory requires the presence of
non-relativistic neutrinos, or other candidates for (cold) dark matter, to work.
Another proposal uses a gravitational backreaction in an emerging theoretical field that seeks to explain gravity
between objects as an action, a reaction, and then a back-reaction. Simply, an object A affects an object B, and the
object B then re-affects object A, and so on: creating a sort of feedback loop that strengthens gravity.
[90]
Recently, another group has proposed a modification of large scale gravity in a theory named "dark fluid". In this
formulation, the attractive gravitational effects attributed to dark matter are instead a side-effect of dark energy. Dark
fluid combines dark matter and dark energy in a single energy field that produces different effects at different scales.
This treatment is a simplified approach to a previous fluid-like model called the Generalized Chaplygin gas model
where the whole of spacetime is a compressible gas.
[]
Dark fluid can be compared to an atmospheric system.
Atmospheric pressure causes air to expand, but part of the air can collapse to form clouds. In the same way, the dark
fluid might generally expand, but it also could collect around galaxies to help hold them together.
[]
Another set of proposals is based on the possibility of a double metric tensor for space-time.
[91]
It has been argued
that time-reversed solutions in general relativity require such double metric for consistency, and that both Dark
Matter and Dark Energy can be understood in terms of time-reversed solutions of general relativity.
[92]
Popular culture
Mention of dark matter is made in some video games and other works of fiction. In such cases, it is usually attributed
extraordinary physical or magical properties. Such descriptions are often inconsistent with the properties of dark
matter proposed in physics and cosmology.
References
[3] First observational evidence of dark matter (http:/ / www. darkmatterphysics. com/ Galactic-rotation-curves-of-spiral-galaxies. htm)
[12] [12] Kuijken K., Gilmore G., 1989a, MNRAS, 239, 651
[13] [13] . See also
[15] Babcock, H, 1939, The rotation of the Andromeda Nebula (http:/ / ads. nao. ac. jp/ cgi-bin/ nph-iarticle_query?1939LicOB. . 19. . . 41B&
amp;data_type=PDF_HIGH& amp;whole_paper=YES& amp;type=PRINTER& amp;filetype=. pdf), Lick Observatory bulletin ; no. 498
[54] P. Tisserand et al., Limits on the Macho Content of the Galactic Halo from the EROS-2 Survey of the Magellanic Clouds (http:/ / xxx. lanl.
gov/ abs/ astro-ph/ 0607207), 2007, Astron. Astrophys. 469, 387404
[55] David Graff and Katherine Freese, (http:/ / arxiv.org/ pdf/ astro-ph/ 9507097), Analysis of a Hubble Space Telescope search for red dwarfs:
limits on baryonic matter in the galactic halo, Astrophys.J.456:L49,1996.
[56] J. Najita, G. Tiede, and S. Carr, From Stars to Superplanets: The Low-Mass Initial Mass Function in the Young Cluster IC 348. The
Astrophysical Journal 541, 1 (2000), 9771003
[57] Lukasz Wyrzykowski et al., The OGLE view of microlensing towards the Magellanic Clouds - IV. OGLE-III SMC data and final
conclusions on MACHOs (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ 1106. 2925), 2011, MNRAS, 416, 2949
[60] , using the WMAP dataset
[65] Hawkins, M. R. S. (2011), "The case for primordial black holes as dark matter". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 415:
27442757.
[66] Katherine Garrett and Gintaras Dda, Dark Matter: A Primer, Advances in Astronomy, vol. 2011, Article ID 968283, 22 pages, 2011. . p.
3: "MACHOs can only account for a very small percentage of the nonluminous mass in our galaxy, revealing that most dark matter cannot be
strongly concentrated or exist in the form of baryonic astrophysical objects. Although microlensing surveys rule out baryonic objects like
brown dwarfs, black holes, and neutron stars in our galactic halo, can other forms of baryonic matter make up the bulk of dark matter? The
answer, surprisingly, is no..."
[67] Gianfranco Bertone, "The moment of truth for WIMP dark matter," Nature 468, 389393 (18 November 2010)
[68] Olive, Keith A. 2003. "TASI Lectures on Dark Matter." Physics 2003, no. January: 54. http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ astro-ph/ 0301505, p. 21
[77] (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ 1109.0702)
Dark matter
196
Further reading
Albercht, A.; et al. (2006). "Report of the Dark Energy Task Force" (http:/ / wfirst. gsfc. nasa. gov/ science/
DETF_Report. pdf). Fermilab.
Aprile, E.; Profumo, S. (2009). "Focus on Dark Matter and Particle Physics". New Journal of Physics 11 (10):
105002. Bibcode: 2009NJPh...11j5002A (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 2009NJPh. . . 11j5002A). doi:
10.1088/1367-2630/11/10/105002 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1088/ 1367-2630/ 11/ 10/ 105002).
Brainerd, Tereasa (July 2011). "How are Bright Galaxies Embedded within their Dark Matter Halos?" (http:/ /
astroreview. com/ issue/ 2012/ article/ how-are-bright-galaxies-embedded-within-their-dark-matter-halos).
Astronomical Review (Astronomical Review) 6 (7). Retrieved 10-11-2012
Bertone, G. (2010). Particle Dark Matter: Observations, Models and Searches. Cambridge University Press.
p.762. ISBN978-0-521-76368-4.
Fornengo, N. (2008). "Status and perspectives of indirect and direct dark matter searches". Advances in Space
Research 41 (12): 20102018. arXiv: astro-ph/0612786 (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ astro-ph/ 0612786). Bibcode:
2008AdSpR..41.2010F (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 2008AdSpR. . 41. 2010F). doi:
10.1016/j.asr.2007.02.067 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1016/ j. asr. 2007. 02. 067).
External links
Dark matter (http:/ / www. dmoz. org/ Science/ Astronomy/ Cosmology/ Dark_Matter/ ) at the Open Directory
Project
What is dark matter? (http:/ / www. cosmosmagazine. com/ features/ online/ 5753/ what-dark-matter) at
cosmosmagazine.com
The Dark Matter Crisis (http:/ / www. scilogs. eu/ en/ blog/ the-dark-matter-crisis)
The European astroparticle physics network (http:/ / www. aspera-eu. org)
Helmholtz Alliance for Astroparticle Physics (http:/ / www. hap-astroparticle. org/ )
A nice animation about dark matter (http:/ / astroparticle. aspera-eu. org/ index. php?option=com_content&
task=view& id=113& Itemid=108)
"NASA Finds Direct Proof of Dark Matter" (http:/ / www. nasa. gov/ home/ hqnews/ 2006/ aug/
HQ_06297_CHANDRA_Dark_Matter. html) (Press release). NASA. 2006-08-21.
Tuttle, Kelen (August 22, 2006). "Dark Matter Observed" (http:/ / today. slac. stanford. edu/ feature/ darkmatter.
asp). SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) Today.
"Astronomers claim first 'dark galaxy' find" (http:/ / www. newscientist. com/ article. ns?id=dn7056). New
Scientist. 2005-02-23.
n:Dark matter galaxy discovered
Sample, Ian (2009-12-17). "Dark Matter Detected" (http:/ / www. guardian. co. uk/ science/ 2009/ dec/ 17/
dark-matter-detected). London: Guardian. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
Video lecture on dark matter by Scott Tremaine, IAS professor (http:/ / video. ias. edu/ the-fifth-element)
Science Daily story "Astronomers' Doubts About the Dark Side ..." (http:/ / www. sciencedaily. com/ releases/
2010/ 06/ 100613212708. htm)
Gray, Meghan; Merrifield, Mike; Copeland, Ed (2010). "Dark Matter" (http:/ / www. sixtysymbols. com/ videos/
darkmatter. htm). Sixty Symbols. Brady Haran for the University of Nottingham.
Lambda-CDM model
197
Lambda-CDM model
Part of a series on
Physical cosmology
Universe
Big Bang
Age of the universe
Chronology of the universe
Astronomy portal
Category: Physical cosmology
The CDM or Lambda-CDM model is a parametrization of the Big Bang cosmological model in which the
universe contains a cosmological constant, denoted by Lambda, and cold dark matter. It is frequently referred to as
the standard model of Big Bang cosmology, since it is the simplest model that provides a reasonably good match to
the following observations:
the existence and structure of the cosmic microwave background
the large scale structure in the distribution of galaxies
the abundances of hydrogen (including deuterium), helium, and lithium
the accelerating expansion of the universe observed in the light from distant galaxies and supernovae
The model assumes that general relativity is the correct theory of gravity on cosmological scales. It emerged in the
late 1990s as a concordance cosmology, after a period of time when disparate observed properties of the universe
appeared mutually inconsistent, and there was no consensus on the makeup of the energy density of the universe.
The CDM model is extended by adding cosmological inflation, quintessence, and other elements that are current
areas of research in cosmology. Some alternative models challenge the assumptions of the CDM model, such as
modified Newtonian dynamics, modified gravity, and large-scale variations in the matter density of the universe.
[1]
Lambda-CDM model
198
Overview
Lambda-CDM, Accelerated Expansion of the Universe. The
time-line in this schematic diagram extends from the big
bang/inflation era 13.7 Gyr ago to the present cosmological
time.
Most modern cosmological models are based on the
cosmological principle that our observational location in the
universe is in no way unusual or special; on a large enough
scale, the universe looks the same in all directions (isotropy)
and from every location (homogeneity).
[2]
The model includes an expansion of metric space that is well
documented both as the red shift of prominent spectral
absorption or emission lines in the light from distant galaxies
and as the time dilation in the light decay of supernova
luminosity curves. Both effects are attributed to a Doppler
shift in electromagnetic radiation as it travels across
expanding space. While this expansion increases the distance
between objects that are not under shared gravitational influence, it does not increase the size of the objects (e.g.
galaxies) in space. It also allows for distant galaxies to recede from each other at speeds greater than the speed of
light: local expansion is less than the speed of light, but expansion summed across great distances can collectively
exceed the speed of light.
(Lambda) stands for the cosmological constant which is currently associated with a vacuum energy or dark energy
inherent in empty space that explains the current accelerating expansion of space against the attractive (collapsing)
effects of gravity from matter. A cosmological constant has negative pressure, ; this contributes to the
stress-energy tensor in general relativity and therefore causes accelerating expansion. The cosmological constant is
denoted as , which is interpreted as the fraction of the total mass-energy density of a flat universe that is
attributed to dark energy. Currently [2013], about 68.3% of the energy density of the present universe is estimated to
be dark energy.
Cold dark matter is a form of matter necessary to account for gravitational effects observed in very large scale
structures (anomalies in the rotation of galaxies, the gravitational lensing of light by galaxy clusters, enhanced
clustering of galaxies) that cannot be accounted for by the quantity of observed matter. Dark matter is described as
being cold (i.e. its velocity is non-relativistic [far below the speed of light] at the epoch of radiation-matter equality),
non-baryonic (consisting of matter other than protons and neutrons), dissipationless (cannot cool by radiating
photons) and collisionless (i.e., the dark matter particles interact with each other and other particles only through
gravity and possibly the weak force). The dark matter component is currently [2013] estimated to constitute about
26.8% of the mass-energy density of the universe.
The remaining 4.9% [2013] comprises all ordinary matter observed as atoms, chemical elements, gas and plasma, the
stuff of which visible planets, stars and galaxies are made.
Also, the energy density includes a very small fraction (~ 0.01%) in cosmic microwave background radiation, and
not more than 0.5% in relic neutrinos. While very small today, these were much more important in the distant past,
dominating the matter at redshift > 3200.
The model includes a single originating event, the "Big Bang" or initial singularity, which was not an explosion but
the abrupt appearance of expanding space-time containing radiation at temperatures of around 10
15
K. This was
immediately (within 10
29
seconds) followed by an exponential expansion of space by a scale multiplier of 10
27
or
more, known as cosmic inflation. The early universe remained hot (above 10,000 K) for several hundred thousand
years, a state that is detectable as a residual cosmic microwave background or CMB, a very low energy radiation
emanating from all parts of the sky. The "Big Bang" scenario, with cosmic inflation and standard particle physics, is
the only current cosmological model consistent with the observed continuing expansion of space, the observed
distribution of lighter elements in the universe (hydrogen, helium, and lithium), and the spatial texture of minute
Lambda-CDM model
199
irregularities (anisotropies) in the CMB radiation. Cosmic inflation is also necessary to address the "horizon
problem" in the CMB. Indeed, it seems likely that the universe is larger than the observable particle horizon.
The model uses the FLRW metric, the Friedmann equations and the cosmological equations of state to describe the
observable universe from right after the inflationary epoch to present and future.
History
The discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background in 1965 confirmed a key prediction of the Big Bang
cosmology. From that point on it was generally accepted that the universe started in a hot, dense early state, and has
been expanding over time. The rate of expansion depends on the types of matter and energy present in the universe,
and in particular, whether the total density is above or below the so-called critical density. During the 1970s, most
attention focused on pure-baryonic models, but there were serious challenges explaining the formation of galaxies
given the small anisotropies in the CMB (upper limits at that time). In the early 1980s, it was realised this could be
resolved if cold dark matter dominated over the baryons, and the theory of cosmic inflation motivated models with
critical density. During the 1980s, most research focused on cold dark matter with critical density in matter, around
95% CDM and 5% baryons: these showed success at forming galaxies and clusters of galaxies, but problems
remained: notably the model required a Hubble constant lower than preferred by observations, and the model
under-predicted observed large-scale galaxy clustering. These difficulties sharpened with the discovery of CMB
anisotropy by COBE in 1992, and several alternatives including LambdaCDM and mixed cold+hot dark matter came
under active consideration. The LambdaCDM model then became the standard following the observations of
accelerating expansion in 1998, and was quickly supported by other observations: in 2000, the BOOMERanG
microwave background experiment measured the total (matter+energy) density to be close to 100% of critical, while
in 2001 the 2dfGRS galaxy survey measured the matter density to be near 25%; the large difference between these
supports a positive or dark energy. Much more precise measurements of the microwave background from WMAP
in 2003 - 2010 have continued to support and refine the model.
There is currently active research into many aspects of the CDM model, both to refine the parameters and possibly
detect deviations. In addition, CDM has no explicit physical theory for the origin or physical nature of dark matter
or dark energy; the nearly scale-invariant spectrum of the CMB perturbations, and their image across the celestial
sphere, are believed to result from very small thermal and acoustic irregularities at the point of recombination. A
large majority of astronomers and astrophysicists support the CDM model or close relatives of it, but Milgrom,
McGaugh, and Kroupa are leading critics, attacking the dark matter portions of the theory from the perspective of
galaxy formation models and supporting the alternative MOND theory which requires a modification of the Einstein
Equations and the Friedmann Equations as seen in proposals such as MOG theory or TeVeS theory. Other proposals
by theoretical astrophysicists of cosmological alternatives to Einstein's general relativity that attempt to account for
dark energy or dark matter include f(R) gravity, scalar-tensor theories, brane cosmologies, the DGP model, and
galileon theories.
Successes
In addition to explaining pre-2000 observations, the model has made a number of successful predictions: notably the
existence of the baryon acoustic oscillation feature, discovered in 2005 in the predicted location; the polarisation of
the CMB; and the statistics of weak gravitational lensing.
Challenges
Extensive searches for dark matter particles have so far shown no well-agreed detection; the dark energy may be
almost impossible to detect in a laboratory, and its value is un-naturally small compared to naive theoretical
predictions.
Lambda-CDM model
200
Comparison of the model with observations is very successful on large scales (larger than galaxies, up to the
observable horizon), but may have some problems on sub-galaxy scales, possibly predicting too many dwarf galaxies
and too much dark matter in the innermost regions of galaxies. These small scales are harder to resolve in computer
simulations, so it is not yet clear whether the problem is the simulations, non-standard properties of dark matter, or a
more radical error in the model.
Parameters
The CDM model is based on six parameters: physical baryon density, physical dark matter density, dark energy
density, scalar spectral index, curvature fluctuation amplitude and reionization optical depth. In accordance with
Occam's razor, six is the smallest number of parameters needed to give an acceptable fit to current observations;
other possible parameters are fixed at "natural" values e.g. total density = 1.00, dark energy equation of state = -1,
neutrino masses are small enough to be negligible. (See below for extended models which allow these to vary).
The values of these six parameters are mostly not predicted by current theory (though, ideally, they may be related
by a future "Theory of Everything"); except that most versions of cosmic inflation predict the scalar spectral index
should be slightly smaller than 1, consistent with the estimated value 0.96. The parameter values, and uncertainties,
are estimated using large computer searches to locate the region of parameter space providing an acceptable match to
cosmological observations. From these six parameters the other model values, including the Hubble constant and age
of the universe, can be readily calculated.
Commonly, the set of observations fitted includes the cosmic microwave background anisotropy, the
brightness/redshift relation for supernovae, and large-scale galaxy clustering including the baryon acoustic
oscillation feature. Other observations such as the Hubble constant, the abundance of galaxy clusters, weak
gravitational lensing, globular cluster ages, are generally consistent with these, providing a check of the model, but
are less accurately measured at present.
Parameter values listed below are from the Seven-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)
temperature and polarization observations.
[3]
These include estimates based on data from Baryon Acoustic
Oscillations
[4]
and Type Ia supernova luminosity/time dilation measurements.
[5]
Implications of the data for
cosmological models are discussed in Komatsu et al.
[6]
and Spergel et al.
[7]
Parameter Value Description
t
0
years
Age of the universe
H
0
km s
1
Mpc
1
Hubble constant

b
h
2 Physical baryon density

c
h
2 Physical dark matter density

b
Baryon density

c
Dark matter density

Dark energy density

R
2
, k
0
= 0.002Mpc
1
Curvature fluctuation amplitude

8 Fluctuation amplitude at 8h
1
Mpc
n
s
Scalar spectral index
z
*
Redshift at decoupling
t
*
years
Age at decoupling
Reionization optical depth
Lambda-CDM model
201
z
reion
Redshift of reionization
The "physical baryon density"
b
h
2
differs from the "baryon density"
b
in that the baryon density gives the fraction
of the critical density made up of baryons (the critical density is the total density of matter/energy needed for the
universe to be spatially flat, with measurements indicating that the actual total density
tot
is very close if not equal
to this value, see below), while the physical baryon density is equal to the baryon density multiplied by the square of
the reduced Hubble constant h,
[8]
where h is related to the Hubble constant H
0
by the equation H
0
= 100 h
(km/s)/Mpc.
[9]
Likewise for the difference between "physical dark matter density" and "dark matter density".
Extended models
Possible extensions of the simplest CDM model are to allow quintessence rather than a cosmological constant. In
this case, the equation of state of dark energy is allowed to differ from 1. Cosmic inflation predicts tensor
fluctuations (gravitational waves). Their amplitude is parameterized by the tensor-to-scalar ratio (denoted r), which
is determined by the energy scale of inflation. Other modifications allow for spatial curvature (
tot
may be different
from 1), hot dark matter in the form of neutrinos, or a running spectral index, which are generally viewed as
inconsistent with cosmic inflation.
Allowing these parameters will generally increase the errors in the parameters quoted above, and may also shift the
observed values somewhat.
Parameter Value Description

tot
Total density
w Equation of state of dark energy
r
, k
0
= 0.002Mpc
1
(2)
Tensor-to-scalar ratio
d n
s
/ d ln k
, k
0
= 0.002Mpc
1 Running of the spectral index

v
h
2 Physical neutrino density
m

eV (2) Sum of three neutrino masses

Some researchers have suggested that there is a running spectral index, but no statistically significant study has
revealed one. Theoretical expectations suggest that the tensor-to-scalar ratio r should be between 0 and 0.3, and the
latest results are now within those limits.
References
[1] P. Kroupa, B. Famaey, K.S. de Boer, J. Dabringhausen, M. Pawlowski, C.M. Boily, H. Jerjen, D. Forbes, G. Hensler, M. Metz, "Local-Group
tests of dark-matter concordance cosmology. Towards a new paradigm for structure formation" A&A 523, 32 (2010). (http:/ / adsabs. harvard.
edu/ abs/ 2010A& A. ..523A. . 32K)
[2] Andrew Liddle. An Introduction to Modern Cosmology (2nd ed.). London: Wiley, 2003.
[3] Table 8 on p. 39 of (from NASA's WMAP Documents (http:/ / lambda. gsfc. nasa. gov/ product/ map/ dr4/ map_bibliography. cfm) page)
[6] E. Komatsu et al. 2010 (WMAP Collaboration). Seven-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological
Interpretation (http:/ / lambda. gsfc. nasa.gov/ product/ map/ dr4/ pub_papers/ sevenyear/ cosmology/ wmap_7yr_cosmology. pdf) (from
NASA's WMAP Documents (http:/ / lambda. gsfc.nasa. gov/ product/ map/ dr4/ map_bibliography. cfm) page)
[8] Appendix A (http:/ / www.lsst. org/ files/ docs/ sciencebook/ SB_A. pdf) of the LSST Science Book Version 2.0 (http:/ / www. lsst. org/ lsst/
scibook)
[9] p. 7 of Findings of the Joint Dark Energy Mission Figure of Merit Science Working Group (http:/ / wfirst. gsfc. nasa. gov/ science/ fomswg/
fomswg_technical. pdf)
Rebolo, R.; et al. (2004). "Cosmological parameter estimation using Very Small Array data out to = 1500".
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 353 (3): 747. arXiv: astro-ph/0402466 (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/
astro-ph/ 0402466). Bibcode: 2004MNRAS.353..747R (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 2004MNRAS. 353. .
Lambda-CDM model
202
747R). doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.08102.x (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1111/ j. 1365-2966. 2004. 08102. x).
Ostriker, J. P.; Steinhardt, P. J. (1995). "Cosmic Concordance". arXiv: astro-ph/9505066 (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/
astro-ph/ 9505066)[ astro-ph (http:/ / arxiv. org/ archive/ astro-ph)].
External links
Latest summary of WMAP estimated cosmological parameters (http:/ / lambda. gsfc. nasa. gov/ product/ map/
dr3/ parameters_summary. cfm)
Ned Wright's Cosmology tutorial (http:/ / www. astro. ucla. edu/ ~wright/ cosmolog. htm)
Millennium Simulation (http:/ / www. mpa-garching. mpg. de/ galform/ millennium-II/ )
Bolshoi Simulation (http:/ / hipacc. ucsc. edu/ Bolshoi/ index. html)
WIMPs
In astrophysics, weakly interacting massive particles or WIMPs, are hypothetical particles serving as one possible
solution to the dark matter problem. These particles interact through the weak force and gravity, and possibly
through other interactions no stronger than the weak force. Because they do not interact through electromagnetism
they cannot be seen directly, and because they do not interact through the strong nuclear force they do not interact
strongly with atomic nuclei. This combination of properties gives WIMPs many of the properties of neutrinos,
except for being far more massive and therefore slower.
Theoretical framework and properties
WIMP-like particles are predicted by R-parity-conserving supersymmetry, a popular type of extension to the
standard model of particle physics, although none of the large number of new particles in supersymmetry have been
observed.
[1]
The main theoretical characteristics of a WIMP are:
Interactions only through the weak nuclear force and gravity, or possibly other interactions with cross-sections no
higher than the weak scale;
[2]
Large mass compared to standard particles (WIMPs with sub-GeV masses may be considered to be light dark
matter).
Because of their lack of electromagnetic interaction with normal matter, WIMPs would be dark and invisible through
normal electromagnetic observations. Because of their large mass, they would be relatively slow moving and
therefore cold.
[3]
Their relatively low velocities would be insufficient to overcome the mutual gravitational
attraction, and as a result WIMPs would tend to clump together.
[4]
WIMPs are considered one of the main candidates
for cold dark matter, the others being massive compact halo objects (MACHOs) and axions. (These names were
deliberately chosen for contrast, with MACHOs named later than WIMPs.
[5]
) Also, in contrast to MACHOs, there
are no known stable particles within the standard model of particle physics that have all the properties of WIMPs.
The particles that have little interaction with normal matter, such as neutrinos, are all very light, and hence would be
fast moving or hot.
WIMPs as dark matter
Although the existence of WIMPs in nature is hypothetical at this point, it would resolve a number of astrophysical
and cosmological problems related to dark matter. There is near consensus today among astronomers that most of the
mass in the Universe is dark. Simulations of a universe full of cold dark matter produce galaxy distributions that are
roughly similar to that which is observed.
[6][7]
By contrast hot dark matter would smear out the large-scale structure
of galaxies and thus is not considered a viable cosmological model.
WIMPs
203
The WIMP fits the model of a relic dark matter particle from the early Universe, when all particles were in a state of
thermal equilibrium. For sufficiently high temperatures, such as existed in the early Universe, the dark matter
particle and its antiparticle would have been both forming from and annihilating into lighter particles. As the
Universe expanded and cooled, the average thermal energy of these lighter particles decreased and eventually
became insufficient to form a dark matter particle-antiparticle pair. The annihilation of the dark matter
particle-antiparticle pairs, however, would have continued, and the number density of dark matter particles would
have begun to decrease exponentially.
[2]
Eventually, however, the number density would become so low that the
dark matter particle and antiparticle interaction would cease, and the number of dark matter particles would remain
(roughly) constant as the Universe continued to expand.
[4]
Particles with a larger interaction cross section would
continue to annihilate for a longer period of time, and thus would have a smaller number density when the
annihilation interaction ceases. Based on the current estimated abundance of dark matter in the Universe, if the dark
matter particle is such a relic particle, the interaction cross section governing the particle-antiparticle annihilation can
be no larger than the cross section for the weak interaction.
[2]
If this model is correct, the dark matter particle would
have the properties of the WIMP.
Experimental detection
Because WIMPs may only interact through gravitational and weak forces, they are extremely difficult to detect.
However, there are many experiments underway to attempt to detect WIMPs both directly and indirectly. Halo
WIMPs may, as they pass through the Sun, interact with solar protons and helium nuclei. Such an interaction would
cause a WIMP to lose energy. The resulting slower WIMP would not have enough energy to escape the gravitational
pull of the sun and thus would be "captured" by the Sun.
[4]
As more and more WIMPs thermalize inside the Sun,
they begin to annihilate with each other, forming a variety of particles including high-energy neutrinos.
[8]
These
neutrinos may then travel to the Earth to be detected in one of the many neutrino telescopes, such as the
Super-Kamiokande detector in Japan. The number of neutrino events detected per day at these detectors depends
upon the properties of the WIMP, as well as on the mass of the Higgs boson. Similar experiments are underway to
detect neutrinos from WIMP annihilations within the Earth
[9]
and from within the galactic center.
[10][11]
While most WIMP models indicate that a large enough number of WIMPs must be captured in large celestial bodies
for these experiments to succeed, it remains possible that these models are either incorrect or only explain part of the
dark matter phenomenon. Thus, even with the multiple experiments dedicated to providing indirect evidence for the
existence of cold dark matter, direct detection measurements are also necessary to solidify the theory of WIMPs.
Although most WIMPs encountering the Sun or the Earth are expected to pass through without any effect, it is hoped
that a large number of dark matter WIMPs crossing a sufficiently large detector will interact often enough to be
seenat least a few events per year. The general strategy of current attempts to detect WIMPs is to find very
sensitive systems that can be scaled up to large volumes. This follows the lessons learned from the history of the
discovery and (by now) routine detection of the neutrino.
WIMPs
204
CDMS parameter space excluded as of 2004. DAMA result is located in green area and is
disallowed.
A technique used by the Cryogenic
Dark Matter Search (CDMS) detector
at the Soudan Mine relies on multiple
very cold germanium and silicon
crystals. The crystals (each about the
size of a hockey puck) are cooled to
about 50 mK. A layer of metal
(aluminium and tungsten) at the
surfaces is used to detect a WIMP
passing through the crystal. This
design hopes to detect vibrations in the
crystal matrix generated by an atom
being "kicked" by a WIMP. The
tungsten metal sensors are held at the
critical temperature so they are in the
superconducting state. Large crystal
vibrations will generate heat in the metal and are detectable because of a change in resistance.
In February 2010, researchers at the Soudan Mine CDMS II experiment announced that they had observed two
events that may have been caused by WIMP-nucleus collisions.
[][12][13]
CoGeNT, a smaller detector using a single
germanium puck, designed to sense WIMPs with smaller masses, reported hundreds of detection events in 56 days.
Juan Collar, who presented the results to a conference at the University of California, was quoted: "If it's real, we're
looking at a very beautiful dark-matter signal" (Other explanations, such as an unexplained radioactive decay process
in the electronics, might cause a spurious signal) The experiment estimated the WIMP masses at 7-11 GeV
(approximately 10 the mass of a proton), which is at lower limit of detection of the CDMSII experiment.
[14][15]
The Directional Recoil Identification From Tracks (DRIFT) collaboration is attempting to utilize the predicted
directionality of the WIMP signal in order to prove the existence of WIMPs. DRIFT detectors use a 1m
3
volume of
low pressure carbon disulfide gas as a target material. The use of a low pressure gas means that a WIMP colliding
with an atom in the target will cause it to recoil several millimetres leaving a track of charged particles in the gas.
This charged track is drifted to an MWPC readout plane that allows it to be reconstructed in three dimensions, which
can then be used to determine the direction the WIMP came from.
Another way of detecting atoms "knocked about" by a WIMP is to use scintillating material, so that light pulses are
generated by the moving atom. Experiments such as DEAP at SNOLAB or WARP at the LNGS plan to instrument a
very large target mass of liquid argon for sensitive WIMP searches. Another example of this technique is the
DAMA/NaI and DAMA/LIBRA detector in Italy. It uses multiple materials to identify false signals from other
light-creating processes. This experiment observed an annual change in the rate of signals in the detector. This
annual modulation is one of the predicted signatures of a WIMP signal,
[16][17]
and on this basis the DAMA
collaboration has claimed a positive detection. Other groups, however, have not confirmed this result. The CDMS
and EDELWEISS experiments would be expected to observe a significant number of WIMP-nucleus scatters if the
DAMA signal were in fact caused by WIMPs. Since the other experiments do not see these events, the interpretation
of the DAMA result as a WIMP detection can be excluded for most WIMP models. It is possible to devise models
that reconcile a positive DAMA result with the other negative results, but as the sensitivity of other experiments
improves, this becomes more difficult. The CDMS data taken in the Soudan Mine and made public in May 2004
exclude the entire DAMA signal region given certain standard assumptions about the properties of the WIMPs and
the dark matter halo.
The PICASSO (Project in Canada to Search for Supersymmetric Objects) experiment is a direct dark matter search
experiment that is located at SNOLAB in Canada. It uses bubble detectors with Freon as the active mass. PICASSO
WIMPs
205
is predominantly sensitive to spin-dependent interactions of WIMPs with the fluorine atoms in the Freon.
A bubble detector is a radiation sensitive device that uses small droplets of superheated liquid that are suspended in a
gel matrix.
[18]
It uses the principle of a bubble chamber but since only the small droplets can undergo a phase
transition at a time the detector can stay active for much longer periods than a classic bubble chamber. When enough
energy is deposited in a droplet by ionizing radiation the superheated droplet undergoes a phase transition and
becomes a gas bubble. The PICASSO detectors contain Freon droplets with an average diameter of 200m. The
bubble development in the detector is accompanied by an acoustic shock wave that is picked up by piezo-electric
sensors. The main advantage of the bubble detector technique is that the detector is almost insensitive to background
radiation. The detector sensitivity can be adjusted by changing the temperature of the droplets. Freon-loaded
detectors are typically operated at temperatures between 15C and 55C. There is another similar experiment using
this technique in Europe called SIMPLE
[19]
.
PICASSO reports results (November 2009) for spin-dependent WIMP interactions on
19
F. No dark matter signal has
been found, but for WIMP masses of 24 Gev/c
2
new stringent limits have been obtained on the spin-dependent cross
section for WIMP scattering on
19
F of 13.9 pb (90% CL). This result has been converted into a cross section limit for
WIMP interactions on protons of 0.16 pb (90% CL). The obtained limits restrict recent interpretations of the
DAMA/LIBRA annual modulation effect in terms of spin dependent interactions.
[20]
References
[1] H.V. Klapdor-Kleingrothaus, Double Beta Decay and Dark Matter Search - Window to New Physics now, and in future (GENIUS) (http:/ /
arxiv. org/ abs/ hep-ex/ 9802007), 4 Feb 1998
[2] M. Kamionkowski, WIMP and Axion Dark Matter (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ hep-ph/ 9710467), 24 Oct 1997
[3] V. Zacek, Dark Matter (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ 0707. 0472) Proc. of the 2007 Lake Louise Winter Institute, March 2007
[4] K. Griest, The Search for Dark Matter: WIMPs and MACHOs (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ hep-ph/ 9303253), 13 Mar 1993
[6] C. Conroy, R. H. Wechsler, A. V. Kravtsov, Modeling Luminosity-Dependent Galaxy Clustering Through Cosmic Time (http:/ / arxiv. org/
abs/ astro-ph/ 0512234), 21 Feb 2006.
[7] The Millennium Simulation Project , Introduction: The Millennium Simulation (http:/ / www. mpa-garching. mpg. de/ galform/ virgo/
millennium/ ) The Millennium Run used more than 10 billion particles to trace the evolution of the matter distribution in a cubic region of the
Universe over 2 billion light-years on a side.
[8] F. Ferrer, L. Krauss, and S. Profumo, Indirect detection of light neutralino dark matter in the NMSSM (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ hep-ph/
0609257). Phys.Rev. D74 (2006) 115007
[9] K. Freese, Can Scalar Neutrinos Or Massive Dirac Neutrinos Be the Missing Mass? (http:/ / www. slac. stanford. edu/ spires/ find/ hep/
www?j=PHLTA,B167,295). Phys.Lett.B167:295 (1986).
[11] N. Fornengo, Status and perspectives of indirect and direct dark matter searches (http:/ / xxx. arxiv. org/ abs/ astro-ph/ 0612786). 36th
COSPAR Scientific Assembly, Beijing, China, 1623 July 2006
[12] [12] . See also a non-technical summary:
[16] A. Drukier, K. Freese, and D. Spergel, http:/ / prola. aps. org/ pdf/ PRD/ v33/ i12/ p3495_1 Detecting Cold Dark Matter Candidates],
Phys.Rev.D33:3495-3508 (1986).
[17] K. Freese, J. Frieman, and A. Gould, Signal Modulation in Cold Dark Matter Detection (http:/ / www. slac. stanford. edu/ pubs/ slacpubs/
4000/ slac-pub-4427. html), Phys.Rev.D37:3388 (1988).
[18] Bubble Technology Industries (http:/ / www.bubbletech. ca/ radiation_detectors_files/ bubble_detectors. html)
[19] http:/ / sites. google.com/ site/ dm2011simple/
WIMPs
206
Further reading
Bertone, Gianfranco (2010). Particle Dark Matter: Observations, Models and Searches. Cambridge University
Press. p.762. ISBN978-0-521-76368-4.
External links
Particle Data Group review article on WIMP search (http:/ / pdg. lbl. gov/ 2004/ listings/ s030. pdf)
Timothy J. Sumner, Experimental Searches for Dark Matter (http:/ / relativity. livingreviews. org/ Articles/
lrr-2002-4/ index. html) in Living Reviews in Relativity, Vol 5, 2002
Galaxy formation and evolution
Part of a series on
Physical cosmology
Universe
Big Bang
Age of the universe
Chronology of the universe
Astronomy portal
Category: Physical cosmology
The study of galaxy formation and evolution is concerned with the processes that formed a heterogeneous universe
from a homogeneous beginning, the formation of the first galaxies, the way galaxies change over time, and the
processes that have generated the variety of structures observed in nearby galaxies. It is one of the most active
research areas in astrophysics.
Galaxy formation is hypothesized to occur, from structure formation theories, as a result of tiny quantum fluctuations
in the aftermath of the Big Bang. The simplest model for this that is in general agreement with observed phenomena
is the Cold Dark Matter cosmology; that is to say that clustering and merging is how galaxies gain in mass, and
can also determine their shape and structure.
Galaxy formation and evolution
207
Formation of the first galaxies
After the Big Bang, the universe, for a time, was remarkably homogeneous, as can be observed in the Cosmic
Microwave Background or CMB (the fluctuations of which are less than one part in one hundred thousand). There
was little-to-no structure in the universe, and thus no galaxies. Therefore we must ask how the smoothly distributed
universe of the CMB became the clumpy universe we see today.
The most accepted theory of how these structures came to be is that all the large-scale structure of the cosmos we
observe today was formed as a consequence of the growth of the primordial fluctuations, which are small changes in
the density of the universe in a confined region. As the universe cooled clumps of dark matter began to condense,
and within them gas began to condense. The primordial fluctuations gravitationally attracted gas and dark matter to
the denser areas, and thus the seeds that would later become galaxies were formed. These structures constituted the
first galaxies. At this point the universe was almost exclusively composed of hydrogen, helium, and dark matter.
Soon after the first proto-galaxies formed, the hydrogen and helium gas within them began to condense and make the
first stars. Thus the first galaxies were then formed. In 2007, using the Keck telescope, a team from California
Institute of Technology found six star forming galaxies about 13.2 billion light years (light travel distance) away and
therefore created when the universe was only 500 million years old.
[1]
The discovery of a galaxy more than 13
billion years old, which existed only 480 million years after the Big Bang, was reported in January 2011.
Over 100 of the most fertile star-forming galaxies
in the early Universe pinpointed by ALMA.
[2]
The universe was very violent in its early epochs, and galaxies grew
quickly, evolving by accretion of smaller mass galaxies. The result of
this process is left imprinted on the distribution of galaxies in the
nearby universe (see image of 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey). Galaxies
are not isolated objects in space; rather, galaxies are distributed in a
great cosmic web of filaments throughout the universe. The locations
where the filaments meet are dense clusters of galaxies that began as
small fluctuations in the early universe. Hence the distribution of
galaxies is closely related to the physics of the early universe.
Despite its many successes, this picture is not sufficient to explain the
variety of structure we see in galaxies. Galaxies come in a variety of
shapes, from round, featureless elliptical galaxies to the pancake-flat spiral galaxies.
Commonly observed properties of galaxies
NGC 891, a very thin disk galaxy.
Some notable observed features of galaxy structure (including
our own Milky Way) that astronomers wish to explain with
galactic formation theories, include (but are certainly not limited
to) the following:
Spiral galaxies and the galactic disk are quite thin, dense, and
rotate relatively fast. (Our Milky Way galaxy is believed to
be a barred spiral.)
The majority of mass in galaxies is made up of dark matter, a
substance which is not directly observable, and might not
interact through any means except gravity.
Halo stars are typically much older and have much lower
metallicities (that is to say, they are almost exclusively composed of hydrogen and helium) than disk stars.
Many disk galaxies have a puffed up outer disk (often called the "thick disk") that is composed of old stars.
Galaxy formation and evolution
208
Hubble tuning fork diagram of galaxy morphology
This artists impression shows two galaxies in the
early universe. The brilliant explosion on the left
is a gamma-ray burst. As the light from the burst
passes through the two galaxies on the way to
Earth (outside the frame to the right), some
colours are absorbed by the cool gas in the
galaxies, leaving characteristic dark lines in the
spectrum. Careful study of these spectra has
allowed astronomers to discover that these two
galaxies are remarkably rich in heavier chemical
elements.
Globular clusters are typically old and metal-poor as well, but
there are a few that are not nearly as metal-poor as most,
and/or have some younger stars.
High velocity clouds, clouds of neutral hydrogen are
"raining" down on the galaxy, and presumably have been
from the beginning (this would be the necessary source of a
gas disk from which the disk stars formed).
Galaxies come in a great variety of shapes and sizes (see the
Hubble Sequence), from giant, featureless blobs of old stars
(called elliptical galaxies) to thin disks with gas and stars
arranged in highly-ordered spirals.
The majority of giant galaxies contain a supermassive black
hole in their centers, ranging in mass from millions to billions
of times the mass of our Sun. The black hole mass is tied to
properties of its host galaxy.
Many of the properties of galaxies (including the galaxy
color-magnitude diagram) indicate that there are
fundamentally two types of galaxies. These groups divide
into blue star-forming galaxies that are more like spiral types,
and red nonstar forming galaxies that are more like elliptical
galaxies.
Galaxy formation and evolution
209
Formation of disk galaxies
An image of Messier 101 a prototypical spiral galaxy seen
face-on.
A spiral galaxy, ESO 510-G13, was warped as a result of
colliding with another galaxy. After the other galaxy is
completely absorbed, the distortion will disappear. The
process typically takes millions if not billions of years.
The key properties of disk galaxies, which are also commonly
called spiral galaxies, is that they are very thin, rotate rapidly,
and often show spiral structure. One of the main challenges to
galaxy formation is the great number of thin disk galaxies in
the local universe. The problem is that disks are very fragile,
and mergers with other galaxies can quickly destroy thin
disks.
Olin Eggen, Donald Lynden-Bell, and Allan Sandage
[3]
in
1962, proposed a theory that disk galaxies form through a
monolithic collapse of a large gas cloud. As the cloud
collapses the gas settles into a rapidly rotating disk. Known as
a top-down formation scenario, this theory is quite simple yet
no longer widely accepted because observations of the early
universe strongly suggest that objects grow from bottom-up
(i.e. smaller objects merging to form larger ones). It was first
proposed by Leonard Searle and Robert Zinn
[4]
that galaxies
form by the coalescence of smaller progenitors.
More recent theories include the clustering of dark matter
halos in the bottom-up process. Essentially early on in the
universe galaxies were composed mostly of gas and dark
matter, and thus, there were fewer stars. As a galaxy gained
mass (by accreting smaller galaxies) the dark matter stays
mostly on the outer parts of the galaxy. This is because the
dark matter can only interact gravitationally, and thus will not
dissipate. The gas, however, can quickly contract, and as it
does so it rotates faster, until the final result is a very thin, very rapidly rotating disk.
Astronomers do not currently know what process stops the contraction. In fact, theories of disk galaxy formation are
not successful at producing the rotation speed and size of disk galaxies. It has been suggested that the radiation from
bright newly formed stars, or from an active galactic nuclei can slow the contraction of a forming disk. It has also
been suggested that the dark matter halo can pull the galaxy, thus stopping disk contraction.
In recent years, a great deal of focus has been put on understanding merger events in the evolution of galaxies. Our
own galaxy (the Milky Way) has a tiny satellite galaxy (the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy) which is currently
gradually being ripped up and "eaten" by the Milky Way. It is thought these kinds of events may be quite common in
the evolution of large galaxies. The Sagittarius dwarf galaxy is orbiting our galaxy at almost a right angle to the disk.
It is currently passing through the disk; stars are being stripped off of it with each pass and joining the halo of our
galaxy. There are other examples of these minor accretion events, and it is likely a continual process for many
galaxies. Such mergers provide "new" gas, stars, and dark matter to galaxies. Evidence for this process is often
observable as warps or streams coming out of galaxies.
The Lambda-CDM model of galaxy formation underestimates the number of thin disk galaxies in the universe.
[5]
The reason is that these galaxy formation models predict a large number of mergers. If disk galaxies merge with
another galaxy of comparable mass (at least 15 percent of its mass) the merger will likely destroy, or at a minimum
greatly disrupt the disk, yet the resulting galaxy is not expected to be a disk galaxy. While this remains an unsolved
problem for astronomers, it does not necessarily mean that the Lambda-CDM model is completely wrong, but rather
that it requires further refinement to accurately reproduce the population of galaxies in the universe.
Galaxy formation and evolution
210
Galaxy mergers and the formation of elliptical galaxies
ESO 325-G004, a typical elliptical galaxy.
An image of NGC 4676 (also called the Mice Galaxies) is an
example of a present merger.
The most massive galaxies in the sky are giant elliptical
galaxies. Their stars are on orbits that are randomly oriented
within the galaxy (i.e. they are not rotating like disk galaxies).
They are composed of old stars and have little to no dust. All
elliptical galaxies probed so far have supermassive black
holes in their center, and the mass of these black holes is
correlated with the mass of the elliptical galaxy. They are also
correlated to a property called sigma which is the speed of the
stars at the far edge of the elliptical galaxies. Elliptical
galaxies do not have disks around them, although some bulges
of disk galaxies look similar to elliptical galaxies. One is more
likely to find elliptical galaxies in more crowded regions of
the universe (such as galaxy clusters).
Astronomers now see elliptical galaxies as some of the most
evolved systems in the universe. It is widely accepted that the
main driving force for the evolution of elliptical galaxies is
mergers of smaller galaxies. These mergers can be extremely
violent; galaxies often collide at speeds of 500 kilometers per
second.
Many galaxies in the universe are gravitationally bound to
other galaxies, that is to say they will never escape the pull of
the other galaxy. If the galaxies are of similar size, the
resultant galaxy will appear similar to neither of the two
galaxies merging,
[6]
but would instead be an elliptical galaxy.
An image of an ongoing merger of equal sized disk galaxies is
shown left.
Galaxy formation and evolution
211
The Antennae Galaxies are a dramatic pair of colliding
galaxies. In such a collision, the stars within each
galaxy will pass by each other (virtually) without
incident. This is due to the relatively large interstellar
distances compared to the relatively small size of an
individual star. Diffuse gas clouds, however, readily
collide to produce shocks which in turn stimulate
bursts of star formation. The bright, blue knots indicate
the hot, young stars that have recently ignited as a
result of the merger.
In the Local Group, the Milky Way and M31 (the Andromeda
Galaxy) are gravitationally bound, and currently approaching each
other at high speed. If the two galaxies do meet they will pass
through each other, with gravity distorting both galaxies severely
and ejecting some gas, dust and stars into intergalactic space. They
will travel apart, slow down, and then again be drawn towards
each other, and again collide. Eventually both galaxies will have
merged completely, streams of gas and dust will be flying through
the space near the newly formed giant elliptical galaxy. M31 is
actually already distorted: the edges are warped. This is probably
because of interactions with its own galactic companions, as well
as possible mergers with dwarf spheroidal galaxies in the recent
past - the remnants of which are still visible in the disk
populations.
In our epoch, large concentrations of galaxies (clusters and
superclusters) are still assembling.
While scientists have learned a great deal about ours and other
galaxies, the most fundamental questions about formation and
evolution remain only tentatively answered.
References
[1] [1] "New Scientist" 14th July 2007
[6] [6] Barnes,J. Nature, vol. 338, March 9, 1989, p. 123-126
External links
NOAO gallery of galaxy images (http:/ / www. noao. edu/ image_gallery/ galaxies. html)
Image of Andromeda galaxy (M31) (http:/ / www. noao. edu/ image_gallery/ html/ im0685. html)
Javascript passive evolution calculator (http:/ / www. astro. yale. edu/ dokkum/ evocalc/ ) for early type
(elliptical) galaxies
Video on the evolution of galaxies by Canadian astrophysicist Doctor P (http:/ / spacegeek. org/ ep4_flash. shtml)
Dark matter halo
212
Dark matter halo
Simulated dark matter halo from a cosmological N-body
simulation
A dark matter halo is a hypothetical component of a
galaxy that envelops the galactic disk and extends well
beyond the edge of the visible galaxy. The halo's mass
dominates the total mass. Since they consist of dark
matter, halos cannot be observed directly, but their
existence is inferred through their effects on the motions
of stars and gas in galaxies. Dark matter halos play a key
role in current models of galaxy formation and evolution.
Galaxy rotation curve for the Milky Way. Vertical axis is speed of rotation about
the galactic center. Horizontal axis is distance from the galactic center. The sun is
marked with a yellow ball. The observed curve of speed of rotation is blue. The
predicted curve based upon stellar mass and gas in the Milky Way is red. Scatter in
observations roughly indicated by gray bars. The difference is due to dark matter or
perhaps a modification of the law of gravity.
[44][45][46]
Rotation curves as evidence
of a dark matter halo
The presence of dark matter in the halo is
demonstrated by its gravitational effect on a
spiral galaxy's rotation curve. Without large
amounts of mass throughout the (roughly
spherical) halo, the rotational velocity of the
galaxy should decrease at large distances
from the galactic core, just like the velocity
of the outer planets decrease with distance
from the Sun. However, observations of
spiral galaxies, particularly radio
observations of line emission from neutral
atomic hydrogen (known, in astronomical
parlance, as HI), show that the rotation
curve of most spiral galaxies flattens out,
meaning that rotational velocities do not
decrease with distance from the galactic
center. The absence of any visible matter to account for these observations implies the presence of unobserved (i.e.
dark) matter. Asserting that this dark matter does not exist would mean that the accepted theory of gravitation
(General Relativity) is incomplete, and while that could be possible, most scientists would require extensive amounts
of compelling evidence before seriously considering it.
The Navarro-Frenk-White profile:
[1]
Dark matter halo
213
is often used to model the distribution of mass in dark matter halos. Theoretical dark matter halos produced in
computer simulations are best described by the Einasto profile:
[2]
Theories about the nature of dark matter
The nature of dark matter in the galactic halo of spiral galaxies is still undetermined, but there are two popular
theories: either the halo is composed of weakly interacting elementary particles known as WIMPs, or it is home to
large numbers of small, dark bodies known as MACHOs. It seems unlikely that the halo is composed of large
quantities of gas and dust, because both ought to be detectable through observations. Searches for gravitational
microlensing events in the halo of the Milky Way show that the number of MACHOs is likely not sufficient to
account for the required mass.
Milky Way dark matter halo
The visible disk of the Milky Way Galaxy is embedded in a much larger, roughly spherical halo of dark matter. The
dark matter density drops off with distance from the galactic center. It is now believed that about 95% of the Galaxy
is composed of dark matter, a type of matter that does not seem to interact with the rest of the Galaxy's matter and
energy in any way except through gravity. The luminous matter makes up approximately 9 x 10
10
solar masses. The
dark matter halo is likely to include around 6 x 10
11
to 3 x 10
12
solar masses of dark matter.
[3]
References
[1] Navarro, J. et al. (1997), A Universal Density Profile from Hierarchical Clustering (http:/ / adsabs. harvard. edu/ abs/ 1997ApJ. . . 490. .
493N)
[2] Merritt, D. et al. (2006), Empirical Models for Dark Matter Halos. I. Nonparametric Construction of Density Profiles and Comparison with
Parametric Models (http:/ / adsabs. harvard.edu/ abs/ 2006AJ. . . . 132. 2685M)
[3] Battaglia et al. (2005), The radial velocity dispersion profile of the Galactic halo: constraining the density profile of the dark halo of the Milky
Way (http:/ / adsabs.harvard. edu/ abs/ 2005MNRAS.364. . 433B)
Further reading
Bertone, Gianfranco (2010). Particle Dark Matter: Observations, Models and Searches. Cambridge University
Press. p.762. ISBN978-0-521-76368-4.
Brainerd, Tereasa (July 2011). "How are Bright Galaxies Embedded within their Dark Matter Halos?" (http:/ /
astroreview. com/ issue/ 2012/ article/ how-are-bright-galaxies-embedded-within-their-dark-matter-halos).
Astronomical Review (in English) (Astronomical Review) 6 (7). Retrieved 10-11-2012
External links
Rare Blob Unveiled: Evidence For Hydrogen Gas Falling Onto A Dark Matter Clump? (http:/ / www.
sciencedaily.com/ releases/ 2006/ 07/ 060703163148. htm) European Southern Observatory (ScienceDaily) July
3, 2006
Dark Matter Search Experiment , PICASSO Experiment (http:/ / www. picassoexperiment. ca/ )
Black Holes and Dark matter (http:/ / www. benthamscience. com/ open/ toaaj/ articles/ V004/ 6TOAAJ. pdf)
Dark energy
214
Dark energy
Part of a series on
Physical cosmology
Universe
Big Bang
Age of the universe
Chronology of the universe
Astronomy portal
Category: Physical cosmology
In physical cosmology and astronomy, dark energy is a hypothetical form of energy that permeates all of space and
tends to accelerate the expansion of the universe.
[]
Dark energy is the most accepted hypothesis to explain
observations since the 1990s that indicate that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate. According to the
Planck mission team, and based on the standard model of cosmology, the total massenergy of the universe contains
4.9% ordinary matter, 26.8% dark matter and 68.3% dark energy.
[][][2]
Two proposed forms for dark energy are the cosmological constant, a constant energy density filling space
homogeneously,
[]
and scalar fields such as quintessence or moduli, dynamic quantities whose energy density can
vary in time and space. Contributions from scalar fields that are constant in space are usually also included in the
cosmological constant. The cosmological constant is physically equivalent to vacuum energy. Scalar fields which do
change in space can be difficult to distinguish from a cosmological constant because the change may be extremely
slow.
High-precision measurements of the expansion of the universe are required to understand how the expansion rate
changes over time. In general relativity, the evolution of the expansion rate is parameterized by the cosmological
equation of state (the relationship between temperature, pressure, and combined matter, energy, and vacuum energy
density for any region of space). Measuring the equation of state for dark energy is one of the biggest efforts in
observational cosmology today.
Adding the cosmological constant to cosmology's standard FLRW metric leads to the Lambda-CDM model, which
has been referred to as the "standard model" of cosmology because of its precise agreement with observations. Dark
energy has been used as a crucial ingredient in a recent attempt to formulate a cyclic model for the universe.
[]
Dark energy
215
Nature of dark energy
Many things about the nature of dark energy remain matters of speculation. The evidence for dark energy (see
below) is indirect. However, it comes from three independent sources. These are
Distance measurements and their relation to redshift, which suggest the universe has expanded more in the last
half of its life.
[]
The theoretical need for a type of additional energy that is not matter or dark matter to form our observationally
flat universe (absence of any detectable global curvature), and
It can be inferred from measures of large scale wave-patterns of mass density in the universe.
Dark energy is thought to be very homogeneous, not very dense and is not known to interact through any of the
fundamental forces other than gravity. Since it is quite rarefiedroughly 10
29
g/cm
3
it is unlikely to be detectable
in laboratory experiments. Dark energy can have such a profound effect on the universe, making up 74% of universal
density, only because it uniformly fills otherwise empty space. The two leading models are a cosmological constant
and quintessence. Both models include the common characteristic that dark energy must have negative pressure.
Effect of dark energy: a small constant negative pressure of vacuum
Independently from its actual nature, dark energy would need to have a strong negative pressure (acting repulsively)
in order to explain the observed acceleration in the expansion rate of the universe.
According to General Relativity, the pressure within a substance contributes to its gravitational attraction for other
things just as its mass density does. This happens because the physical quantity that causes matter to generate
gravitational effects is the Stress-energy tensor, which contains both the energy (or matter) density of a substance
and its pressure and viscosity.
In the Friedmann-Lematre-Robertson-Walker metric, it can be shown that a strong constant negative pressure in all
the universe causes an acceleration in universe expansion if the universe is already expanding, or a deceleration in
universe contraction if the universe is already contracting. More exactly, the second derivative of the universe scale
factor, , is positive if the equation of state of the universe is such that .
[citation needed]
This accelerating expansion effect is sometimes labeled "gravitational repulsion", which is a colorful but possibly
confusing expression. In fact a negative pressure does not influence the gravitational interaction between
masseswhich remains attractivebut rather alters the overall evolution of the universe at the cosmological scale,
typically resulting in the accelerating expansion of the universe despite the attraction among the masses present in
the universe.
Evidence of existence
Supernovae
In 1998, published observations of Type 1a supernovae ("one-A") by the High-z Supernova Search Team
[]
followed
in 1999 by the Supernova Cosmology Project
[]
suggested that the expansion of the universe is accelerating.
[1]
The
2011 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for this work.
[][2]
Since then, these observations have been corroborated by several independent sources. Measurements of the cosmic
microwave background, gravitational lensing, and the large scale structure of the cosmos as well as improved
measurements of supernovae have been consistent with the Lambda-CDM model.
[]
Some people argue that the only
indication for the existence of dark energy is observations of distance measurements and associated redshifts.
Cosmic microwave background anisotropies and baryon acoustic oscillations are only observations that redshifts are
larger than expected from a "dusty" FriedmannLematre universe and the local measured Hubble constant.
[]
Dark energy
216
Supernovae are useful for cosmology because they are excellent standard candles across cosmological distances.
They allow the expansion history of the Universe to be measured by looking at the relationship between the distance
to an object and its redshift, which gives how fast it is receding from us. The relationship is roughly linear, according
to Hubble's law. It is relatively easy to measure redshift, but finding the distance to an object is more difficult.
Usually, astronomers use standard candles: objects for which the intrinsic brightness, the absolute magnitude, is
known. This allows the object's distance to be measured from its actual observed brightness, or apparent magnitude.
Type 1a supernovae are the best-known standard candles across cosmological distances because of their extreme and
extremely consistent luminosity.
Recent observations of supernovae are consistent with a universe made up 71.3% of dark energy and 27.4% of a
combination of dark matter and baryonic matter.
[3]
Cosmic microwave background
Estimated distribution of matter and energy in the universe
The existence of dark energy, in whatever form, is
needed to reconcile the measured geometry of space
with the total amount of matter in the universe.
Measurements of cosmic microwave background
(CMB) anisotropies, most recently by the WMAP
spacecraft, indicate that the universe is close to flat. For
the shape of the universe to be flat, the mass/energy
density of the universe must be equal to a certain
critical density. The total amount of matter in the
universe (including baryons and dark matter), as
measured by the CMB, accounts for only about 30% of
the critical density. This implies the existence of an
additional form of energy to account for the remaining
70%.
[]
The WMAP five-year analysis estimate a
universe made up of 74% dark energy, 22% dark
matter, and 4% ordinary matter.
[]
More recently, the
WMAP seven-year analysis gave an estimate of 72.8%
dark energy, 22.7% dark matter and 4.6% ordinary
matter.
[2]
Recently released information based on the work done by the Planck spacecraft on the distribution of the
universe, gave a more accurate estimate of 68.3% of dark energy, 26.8% of dark matter and 4.9% of ordinary matter.
[]
Large-scale structure
The theory of large scale structure, which governs the formation of structures in the universe (stars, quasars, galaxies
and galaxy clusters), also suggests that the density of matter in the universe is only 30% of the critical density.
A 2011 survey, the WiggleZ galaxy survey of more than 200,000 galaxies, provided further evidence towards the
existence of dark energy, although the exact physics behind it remains unknown.
[4][5]
The WiggleZ survey from
Australian Astronomical Observatory scanned the galaxies to determine their redshift. Then, by exploiting the fact
that baryon acoustic oscillations have left voids regularly of ~150 Mpc diameter, surrounded by the galaxies, the
voids were used as standard rulers to determine distances to galaxies as far as 2000 Mpc (redshift 0.6), which
allowed astronomers to determine more accurately the speeds of the galaxies from their redshift and distance. The
data confirmed cosmic acceleration up to half of the age of the universe (7 billion years), and constrain its
inhomogeneity to 1 part in 10.
[5]
This provides a confirmation to cosmic acceleration independent of supernovas.
Dark energy
217
Late-time integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect
Accelerated cosmic expansion causes gravitational potential wells and hills to flatten as photons pass through them,
producing cold spots and hot spots on the CMB aligned with vast supervoids and superclusters. This so-called
late-time Integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect (ISW) is a direct signal of dark energy in a flat universe.
[6]
It was reported at
high significance in 2008 by Ho et al.
[7]
and Giannantonio et al.
[8]
Theories of explanation
Cosmological constant
The simplest explanation for dark energy is that it is simply the "cost of having space": that is, a volume of space has
some intrinsic, fundamental energy. This is the cosmological constant, sometimes called Lambda (hence
Lambda-CDM model) after the Greek letter , the symbol used to represent this quantity mathematically. Since
energy and mass are related by E = mc
2
, Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that this energy will have a
gravitational effect. It is sometimes called a vacuum energy because it is the energy density of empty vacuum. In
fact, most theories of particle physics predict vacuum fluctuations that would give the vacuum this sort of energy.
This is related to the Casimir Effect, in which there is a small suction into regions where virtual particles are
geometrically inhibited from forming (e.g. between plates with tiny separation). The cosmological constant is
estimated by cosmologists to be on the order of 10
29
g/cm
3
, or about 10
120
in reduced Planck units
[citation needed]
.
Particle physics predicts a natural value of 1 in reduced Planck units, leading to a large discrepancy.
The cosmological constant has negative pressure equal to its energy density and so causes the expansion of the
universe to accelerate. The reason why a cosmological constant has negative pressure can be seen from classical
thermodynamics; Energy must be lost from inside a container to do work on the container. A change in volume dV
requires work done equal to a change of energy PdV, where P is the pressure. But the amount of energy in a
container full of vacuum actually increases when the volume increases (dV is positive), because the energy is equal
to V, where (rho) is the energy density of the cosmological constant. Therefore, P is negative and, in fact, P=.
A major outstanding problem is that most quantum field theories predict a huge cosmological constant from the
energy of the quantum vacuum, more than 100 orders of magnitude too large.
[]
This would need to be cancelled
almost, but not exactly, by an equally large term of the opposite sign. Some supersymmetric theories require a
cosmological constant that is exactly zero, which does not help. The present scientific consensus amounts to
extrapolating the empirical evidence where it is relevant to predictions, and fine-tuning theories until a more elegant
solution is found. Technically, this amounts to checking theories against macroscopic observations. Unfortunately, as
the known error-margin in the constant predicts the fate of the universe more than its present state, many such
"deeper" questions remain unknown.
Another problem arises with inclusion of the cosmological constant in the standard model: i.e., the appearance of
solutions with regions of discontinuities (see classification of discontinuities for three examples) at low matter
density.
[]
Discontinuity also affects the past sign of the pressure assigned to the cosmological constant, changing
from the current negative pressure to attractive, as one looks back towards the early Universe. A systematic,
model-independent evaluation of the supernovae data supporting inclusion of the cosmological constant in the
standard model indicates these data suffer systematic error. The supernovae data are not overwhelming evidence for
an accelerating universe expansion which may be simply gliding.
[]
A numerical evaluation of WMAP and
supernovae data for evidence that our local group exists in a local void with poor matter density compared to other
locations, uncovered possible conflict in the analysis used to support the cosmological constant.
[]
A recent theoretical
investigation found the cosmological time, dt, diverges for any finite interval, ds, associated with an observer
approaching the cosmological horizon, representing a physical limit to observation. This is a key component required
for a complete interpretation of astronomical observations, particularly pertaining to the nature of dark energy.
[]
The
identification of dark energy as a cosmological constant does not appear to be consistent with the data. These
Dark energy
218
findings should be considered shortcomings of the standard model, but only when a term for vacuum energy is
included.
In spite of its problems, the cosmological constant is in many respects the most economical solution to the problem
of cosmic acceleration. One number successfully explains a multitude of observations. Thus, the current standard
model of cosmology, the Lambda-CDM model, includes the cosmological constant as an essential feature.
Quintessence
In quintessence models of dark energy, the observed acceleration of the scale factor is caused by the potential energy
of a dynamical field, referred to as quintessence field. Quintessence differs from the cosmological constant in that it
can vary in space and time. In order for it not to clump and form structure like matter, the field must be very light so
that it has a large Compton wavelength.
No evidence of quintessence is yet available, but it has not been ruled out either. It generally predicts a slightly
slower acceleration of the expansion of the universe than the cosmological constant. Some scientists think that the
best evidence for quintessence would come from violations of Einstein's equivalence principle and variation of the
fundamental constants in space or time.
[citation needed]
Scalar fields are predicted by the standard model and string
theory, but an analogous problem to the cosmological constant problem (or the problem of constructing models of
cosmic inflation) occurs: renormalization theory predicts that scalar fields should acquire large masses.
The cosmic coincidence problem asks why the cosmic acceleration began when it did. If cosmic acceleration began
earlier in the universe, structures such as galaxies would never have had time to form and life, at least as we know it,
would never have had a chance to exist. Proponents of the anthropic principle view this as support for their
arguments. However, many models of quintessence have a so-called tracker behavior, which solves this problem. In
these models, the quintessence field has a density which closely tracks (but is less than) the radiation density until
matter-radiation equality, which triggers quintessence to start behaving as dark energy, eventually dominating the
universe. This naturally sets the low energy scale of the dark energy.
In 2004, when scientists fit the evolution of dark energy with the cosmological data, they found that the equation of
state had possibly crossed the cosmological constant boundary (w=1) from above to below. A No-Go theorem has
been proved that gives this scenario at least two degrees of freedom as required for dark energy models. This
scenario is so-called Quintom scenario.
Some special cases of quintessence are phantom energy, in which the energy density of quintessence actually
increases with time, and k-essence (short for kinetic quintessence) which has a non-standard form of kinetic energy.
They can have unusual properties: phantom energy, for example, can cause a Big Rip.
Alternative ideas
Some alternatives to dark energy aim to explain the observational data by a more refined use of established theories,
focusing, for example, on the gravitational effects of density inhomogeneities, or on consequences of electroweak
symmetry breaking in the early universe. If we are located in an emptier-than-average region of space, the observed
cosmic expansion rate could be mistaken for a variation in time, or acceleration.
[9][10][11][12]
A different approach
uses a cosmological extension of the equivalence principle to show how space might appear to be expanding more
rapidly in the voids surrounding our local cluster. While weak, such effects considered cumulatively over billions of
years could become significant, creating the illusion of cosmic acceleration, and making it appear as if we live in a
Hubble bubble.
[13]

[14][15]
Another class of theories attempts to come up with an all-encompassing theory of both dark matter and dark energy
as a single phenomenon that modifies the laws of gravity at various scales. An example of this type of theory is the
theory of dark fluid. Another class of theories that unifies dark matter and dark energy are suggested to be covariant
theories of modified gravities. These theories alter the dynamics of the space-time such that the modified dynamic
Dark energy
219
stems what have been assigned to the presence of dark energy and dark matter.
[16]
Recent research by Christos Tsagas, a cosmologist at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece, has argued that
it's likely that the accelerated expansion of the universe is an illusion caused by the relative motion of us to the rest
of the universe. The peer reviewed journal entry cites data showing that the 2.5 billion ly wide region of space we are
inside of is moving very quickly relative to everything around it. If his theory is confirmed, then dark energy would
not exist (but the "dark flow" still might). His research can be found in the journal, Physical Review D.
[17][18]
Some theorists think that dark energy and cosmic acceleration are a failure of general relativity on very large scales,
larger than superclusters.
[citation needed]
However most attempts at modifying general relativity have turned out to be
either equivalent to theories of quintessence, or inconsistent with observations.
[citation needed]
Other ideas for dark
energy have come from string theory, brane cosmology and the holographic principle, but have not yet proved
[citation
needed]
as compellingly as quintessence and the cosmological constant.
On string theory, an article in the journal Nature described:
String theories, popular with many particle physicists, make it possible, even desirable, to think that the
observable universe is just one of 10
500
universes in a grander multiverse, says Leonard Susskind, a
cosmologist at Stanford University in California. The vacuum energy will have different values in different
universes, and in many or most it might indeed be vast. But it must be small in ours because it is only in such a
universe that observers such as ourselves can evolve.

[]
Paul Steinhardt in the same article criticizes string theory's explanation of dark energy stating "...Anthropics and
randomness don't explain anything... I am disappointed with what most theorists are willing to accept".
[]
Another set of proposals is based on the possibility of a double metric tensor for space-time.
[19][20]
It has been
argued that time reversed solutions in general relativity require such double metric for consistency, and that both
dark matter and dark energy can be understood in terms of time reversed solutions of general relativity.
[21]
Implications for the fate of the universe
Cosmologists estimate that the acceleration began roughly 5 billion years ago. Before that, it is thought that the
expansion was decelerating, due to the attractive influence of dark matter and baryons. The density of dark matter in
an expanding universe decreases more quickly than dark energy, and eventually the dark energy dominates.
Specifically, when the volume of the universe doubles, the density of dark matter is halved but the density of dark
energy is nearly unchanged (it is exactly constant in the case of a cosmological constant).
If the acceleration continues indefinitely, the ultimate result will be that galaxies outside the local supercluster will
have a line-of-sight velocity that continually increases with time, eventually far exceeding the speed of light.
[22]
This
is not a violation of special relativity, because the notion of "velocity" used here is different from that of velocity in a
local inertial frame of reference, which is still constrained to be less than the speed of light for any massive object
(see Uses of the proper distance for a discussion of the subtleties of defining any notion of relative velocity in
cosmology). Because the Hubble parameter is decreasing with time, there can actually be cases where a galaxy that
is receding from us faster than light does manage to emit a signal which reaches us eventually.
[23][]
However,
because of the accelerating expansion, it is projected that most galaxies will eventually cross a type of cosmological
event horizon where any light they emit past that point will never be able to reach us at any time in the infinite
future,
[24]
because the light never reaches a point where its "peculiar velocity" towards us exceeds the expansion
velocity away from us (these two notions of velocity are also discussed in Uses of the proper distance). Assuming
the dark energy is constant (a cosmological constant), the current distance to this cosmological event horizon is
about 16 billion light years, meaning that a signal from an event happening at present would eventually be able to
reach us in the future if the event was less than 16 billion light years away, but the signal would never reach us if the
event was more than 16 billion light years away.
[]
Dark energy
220
As galaxies approach the point of crossing this cosmological event horizon, the light from them will become more
and more redshifted, to the point where the wavelength becomes too large to detect in practice and the galaxies
appear to disappear completely
[25][26]
(see Future of an expanding universe). The Earth, the Milky Way and the
Virgo supercluster, however, would remain virtually undisturbed while the rest of the universe recedes and
disappears from view. In this scenario, the local supercluster would ultimately suffer heat death, just as was thought
for the flat, matter-dominated universe, before measurements of cosmic acceleration.
There are some very speculative ideas about the future of the universe. One suggests that phantom energy causes
divergent expansion, which would imply that the effective force of dark energy continues growing until it dominates
all other forces in the universe. Under this scenario, dark energy would ultimately tear apart all gravitationally bound
structures, including galaxies and solar systems, and eventually overcome the electrical and nuclear forces to tear
apart atoms themselves, ending the universe in a "Big Rip". On the other hand, dark energy might dissipate with
time, or even become attractive. Such uncertainties leave open the possibility that gravity might yet rule the day and
lead to a universe that contracts in on itself in a "Big Crunch". Some scenarios, such as the cyclic model suggest this
could be the case. It is also possible the universe may never have an end and continue in its present state forever (see
The Second Law as a law of disorder). While these ideas are not supported by observations, they are not ruled out.
History of discovery and previous speculation
The cosmological constant was first proposed by Einstein as a mechanism to obtain a stable solution of the
gravitational field equation that would lead to a static universe, effectively using dark energy to balance gravity.
[]
Not only was the mechanism an inelegant example of fine-tuning, it was soon realized that Einstein's static universe
would actually be unstable because local inhomogeneities would ultimately lead to either the runaway expansion or
contraction of the universe. The equilibrium is unstable: if the universe expands slightly, then the expansion releases
vacuum energy, which causes yet more expansion. Likewise, a universe which contracts slightly will continue
contracting. These sorts of disturbances are inevitable, due to the uneven distribution of matter throughout the
universe. More importantly, observations made by Edwin Hubble showed that the universe appears to be expanding
and not static at all. Einstein reportedly referred to his failure to predict the idea of a dynamic universe, in contrast to
a static universe, as his greatest blunder.
[27]
Following this realization, the cosmological constant was largely ignored
as a historical curiosity.
Alan Guth proposed in the 1970s that a negative pressure field, similar in concept to dark energy, could drive cosmic
inflation in the very early universe. Inflation postulates that some repulsive force, qualitatively similar to dark
energy, resulted in an enormous and exponential expansion of the universe slightly after the Big Bang. Such
expansion is an essential feature of most current models of the Big Bang. However, inflation must have occurred at a
much higher energy density than the dark energy we observe today and is thought to have completely ended when
the universe was just a fraction of a second old. It is unclear what relation, if any, exists between dark energy and
inflation. Even after inflationary models became accepted, the cosmological constant was thought to be irrelevant to
the current universe.
The term "dark energy", echoing Fritz Zwicky's "dark matter" from the 1930s, was coined by Michael Turner in
1998.
[28]
By that time, the missing mass problem of big bang nucleosynthesis and large scale structure was
established, and some cosmologists had started to theorize that there was an additional component to our universe.
The first direct evidence for dark energy came from supernova observations of accelerated expansion, in Riess et al.
[]
and later confirmed in Perlmutter et al.
[]
This resulted in the Lambda-CDM model, which as of 2006 is consistent
with a series of increasingly rigorous cosmological observations, the latest being the 2005 Supernova Legacy
Survey. First results from the SNLS reveal that the average behavior (i.e., equation of state) of dark energy behaves
like Einstein's cosmological constant to a precision of 10%.
[]
Recent results from the Hubble Space Telescope
Higher-Z Team indicate that dark energy has been present for at least 9 billion years and during the period preceding
cosmic acceleration.
Dark energy
221
Bibliography
HubbleSite press release: New Clues About the Nature of Dark Energy: Einstein May Have Been Right After All
[29]
.
1998 paper announcing the dark energy discovery: Riess et al.
[30]
1999 paper confirming dark energy discovery Perlmutter et al.
[31]
.
The group that first detected cosmic acceleration: High-Z supernova search team
[32]
and the group that confirmed
it Supernova Cosmology Project
[33]
.
Sean Carroll's technical reviews: Why is the universe accelerating?
[34]
, The Cosmological Constant
[35]
, and
Dark Energy and the Preposterous Universe
[36]
.
Jim Peebles, Testing General Relativity on the Scales of Cosmology
[37]
.
"The World's Most Successful Nearby Supernova Search Engine", The Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope
[38]
.
Supernova Acceleration Probe (SNAP)
[39]
, a proposed satellite experiment.
A reanalysis
[40]
of an experiment by Koch et al.
[41]
to find the broad-band spectrum of Josephson junction noise
current claims to connect it to the spectral frequency upper limit predicted by matching estimates of the dark
energy density to the measured vacuum energy density. This claim is not yet accepted. For disputes, see.
[42][43][44]
Christopher J. Conselice, "The Universe's Invisible Hand," Scientific American. February, 2007.
Panek, Richard (2011). The 4% universe. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN978-0-618-98244-8.
References
[1] [1] The first paper, using observed data, which claimed a positive Lambda term was
[2] The Nobel Prize in Physics 2011 (http:/ / www.nobelprize. org/ nobel_prizes/ physics/ laureates/ 2011/ press. html). Perlmutter got half the
prize, and the other half was shared between Schmidt and Riess.
[3] . They find a best fit value of the dark energy density, UNIQ-math-0-af1fa29fcd015e94-QINU of 0.713+0.0270.029(stat)+0.0360.039(sys),
of the total matter density, UNIQ-math-1-af1fa29fcd015e94-QINU , of 0.274+0.0160.016(stat)+0.0130.012(sys) with an equation of state
parameter w of 0.969+0.0590.063(stat)+0.0630.066(sys).
[5] Dark energy is real (http:/ / wigglez.swin.edu. au/ site/ prmay2011a. html), Swinburne University of Technology, 19 May 2011
[17] http:/ / www.msnbc. msn. com (http:/ / www.msnbc. msn. com/ id/ 44690771/ ns/ technology_and_science-science/ #. ToNr_6h4Cdd)
[23] Is the universe expanding faster than the speed of light? (http:/ / curious. astro. cornell. edu/ question. php?number=575) (see the last two
paragraphs)
[26] Using Tiny Particles To Answer Giant Questions (http:/ / www. npr. org/ templates/ story/ story. php?storyId=102715275). Science Friday,
3 Apr 2009. According to the transcript (http:/ / www.npr. org/ templates/ transcript/ transcript. php?storyId=102715275), Brian Greene
makes the comment "And actually, in the far future, everything we now see, except for our local galaxy and a region of galaxies will have
disappeared. The entire universe will disappear before our very eyes, and it's one of my arguments for actually funding cosmology. We've got
to do it while we have a chance."
[27] [27] George Gamow, in his autobiography "My World Line: An Informal Autobiography" (1970), p. 44. "Much later, when I was discussing
cosmological problems with Einstein, he remarked that the introduction of the cosmological term was the biggest blunder he ever made in his
life." - Here the "cosmological term" refers to the cosmological constant in the equations of general relativity, whose value Einstein initially
picked to ensure that his model of the universe would neither expand nor contract; if he hadn't done this he might have theoretically predicted
the universal expansion that was first observed by Edwin Hubble.
[28] The first appearance of the term "dark energy" is in the article with another cosmologist and Turner's student at the time, Dragan Huterer,
"Prospects for Probing the Dark Energy via Supernova Distance Measurements", which was posted to the ArXiv.org e-print archive in August
1998 (http:/ / arxiv.org/ abs/ astro-ph/ 9808133) and published in Physical Review D in 1999 (Huterer and Turner, Phys. Rev. D 60, 081301
(1999)), although the manner in which the term is treated there suggests it was already in general use. Cosmologist Saul Perlmutter has
credited Turner with coining the term in an article (http:/ / www. lbl. gov/ Science-Articles/ Archive/ dark-energy. html) they wrote together
with Martin White of the University of Illinois for Physical Review Letters (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ astro-ph/ 9901052v2), where it is
introduced in quotation marks as if it were a neologism.
[29] http:/ / hubblesite. org/ newscenter/ newsdesk/ archive/ releases/ 2004/ 12/ text
[30] http:/ / xxx. lanl. gov/ abs/ astro-ph/ 9805201
[31] http:/ / xxx. lanl. gov/ abs/ astro-ph/ 9812133
[32] http:/ / cfa-www.harvard. edu/ cfa/ oir/ Research/ supernova/ HighZ. html
[33] http:/ / panisse. lbl.gov/
[34] http:/ / xxx. lanl. gov/ abs/ astro-ph/ 0310342
Dark energy
222
[35] http:/ / xxx. lanl. gov/ abs/ astro-ph/ 0004075
[36] http:/ / xxx. lanl. gov/ abs/ astro-ph/ 0107571
[37] http:/ / xxx. lanl. gov/ abs/ astro-ph/ 0410284
[38] http:/ / astron. berkeley. edu/ ~bait/ kait. html
[39] http:/ / snap. lbl.gov/
External links
Dark Energy (http:/ / www. bbc. co. uk/ programmes/ p003k9g5) on In Our Time at the BBC. ( listen now (http:/ /
www. bbc. co. uk/ iplayer/ console/ p003k9g5/ In_Our_Time_Dark_Energy))
Dark energy: how the paradigm shifted (http:/ / physicsworld. com/ cws/ article/ indepth/ 2010/ jun/ 02/
dark-energy-how-the-paradigm-shifted) Physicsworld.com
Dennis Overbye (November 2006). "9 Billion-Year-Old 'Dark Energy' Reported" (http:/ / www. nytimes. com/
2006/ 11/ 17/ science/ space/ 17dark. html?em& ex=1163998800& en=f02de71136ca5dd5& ei=5087 ). The New
York Times.
"Mysterious force's long presence" (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 2/ hi/ science/ nature/ 6156110. stm) BBC News
online (2006) More evidence for dark energy being the cosmological constant
"Astronomy Picture of the Day" (http:/ / antwrp. gsfc. nasa. gov/ apod/ ap020529. html) one of the images of the
Cosmic Microwave Background which confirmed the presence of dark energy and dark matter
SuperNova Legacy Survey home page (http:/ / www. cfht. hawaii. edu/ SNLS) The Canada-France-Hawaii
Telescope Legacy Survey Supernova Program aims primarily at measuring the equation of state of Dark Energy.
It is designed to precisely measure several hundred high-redshift supernovae.
"Report of the Dark Energy Task Force" (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ astro-ph/ 0609591)
"HubbleSite.org Dark Energy Website" (http:/ / hubblesite. org/ hubble_discoveries/ dark_energy/ ) Multimedia
presentation explores the science of dark energy and Hubble's role in its discovery.
"Surveying the dark side" (http:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ astro-ph/ 0607066)
"Dark energy and 3-manifold topology" (http:/ / th-www. if. uj. edu. pl/ acta/ vol38/ pdf/ v38p3633. pdf) Acta
Physica Polonica 38 (2007), p.36333639
The Dark Energy Survey (https:/ / www. darkenergysurvey. org/ )
The Joint Dark Energy Mission (http:/ / jdem. gsfc. nasa. gov/ )
Harvard: Dark Energy Found Stifling Growth in Universe (http:/ / chandra. harvard. edu/ press/ 08_releases/
press_121608. html), primary source
April 2010 Smithsonian Magazine Article (http:/ / www. smithsonianmag. com/ science-nature/
Dark-Energy-The-Biggest-Mystery-in-the-Universe. html)
HETDEX Dark energy experiment (http:/ / hetdex. org/ )
Exotic matter
223
Exotic matter
In physics, exotic matter is a term which refers to matter which would somehow deviate from the norm and have
"exotic" properties. There are several uses of the term.
Hypothetical particles which have "exotic" physical properties that would violate known laws of physics, such as
a particle having a negative mass.
Hypothetical particles which have not yet been encountered, such as exotic baryons, but whose properties would
be within the realm of mainstream physics if found to exist. Futurist Ray Kurzweil has speculated that by the end
of the 21st century it may be possible by using femtotechnology to create new chemical elements composed of
exotic baryons that would eventually constitute a new periodic table of elements in which the elements would
have completely different properties than the regular chemical elements.
[1]
States of matter which are not commonly encountered, such as BoseEinstein condensates and quarkgluon
plasma, but whose properties are perfectly within the realm of mainstream physics.
States of matter which are poorly understood, such as dark matter.
Negative mass
Negative mass would possess some strange properties, such as accelerating in the direction opposite of applied force.
For example, an object with negative inertial mass and positive electric charge would accelerate away from objects
with negative charge, and towards objects with positive charge, the opposite of the normal rule that like charges
repel and opposite charges attract. This behaviour can produce bizarre results: for instance, a gas containing a
mixture of positive and negative matter particles will have the positive matter portion increase in temperature
without bound. However, the negative matter portion gains negative temperature at the same rate, again balancing
out.
Despite being completely inconsistent with a common-sense approach and the expected behavior of "normal" matter,
negative mass is completely mathematically consistent and introduces no violation of conservation of momentum or
energy. It is used in certain speculative theories, such as on the construction of wormholes. The closest known real
representative of such exotic matter is the region of pseudo-negative pressure density produced by the Casimir effect.
Imaginary mass
A hypothetical particle with imaginary rest mass would always travel faster than the speed of light. Such particles are
called tachyons. There is no confirmed existence of tachyons.
If the rest mass is imaginary this implies that the denominator is imaginary since the total energy is an observable
and thus must be real; therefore the quantity under the square root must be negative, which can only happen if v is
greater than c. As noted by Gregory Benford et al., special relativity implies that tachyons, if they existed, could be
used to communicate backwards in time
[2]
(see Tachyonic antitelephone article). Since time travel is considered to
be non-physical, tachyons are believed by physicists either to not exist, or else to be incapable of interacting with
normal matter.
[citation needed]
In quantum field theory, imaginary mass would induce tachyon condensation.
Exotic matter
224
References
[1] Kurzweil, Ray The Age of Spiritual Machines 1999
Article Sources and Contributors
225
Article Sources and Contributors
Matter Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=552190273 Contributors: -: Wik3d Playful:-, .:Ajvol:., 01011000, 200.191.188.xxx, 200.255.83.xxx, 336, 9258fahsflkh917fas,
A8UDI, Abdullais4u, Abshirdheere, Abtract, Acroterion, Adambro, Addshore, Aeon1006, Aeonx, Afoxtrotn00b, Ahoerstemeier, Aitias, Ajraddatz, Alan Liefting, Alansohn, Alaphent,
Alcmaeonid, Ale jrb, Alex43223, AlexGWU, Alexcs123, Alexf, AlexiusHoratius, Altar, Anaxial, Andonic, Andy M. Wang, Andy85719, Anetode, Angela, Angr, Animum, Anir1uph, Anonymi,
Anonymous Dissident, Antandrus, Arctic Kangaroo, Arman Cagle, Army1987, Arnesh, Art Carlson, Arthena, Ascidian, Ash, Ashanda, Ashley Y, Asperal, Astavats, Atlant, AuburnPilot, Auric,
Austinben1011, Autiger, Avenue, Avicennasis, AzaToth, Azcolvin429, BabyNuke, Banus, Bart133, Barticus88, Bassoonboy, Be94ware, Ben robbins, Ben-Zin, BenRG, Bensaccount, Bhny,
Bibibita, BigBarrelRollingHoss, Bigger digger, Bihco, Blood Red Sandman, Bluerasberry, BobbyPeru, Bobo192, Bogey97, Bomac, Bongwarrior, Brainmuncher, Breno, Brentdeezee, Brews
ohare, BriEnBest, Brianjd, Brittany taylorr, Bry9000, Bvcrist, Byelf2007, CDN99, CES1596, CHollman82, CWenger, CWii, CYD, Calle Cool, Calor, Camembert, Can't sleep, clown will eat me,
Canadian-Bacon, Canaen, CaptColon, Carey Evans, Carmichael, CaroleHenson, Casull, Cenarium, Chamal N, Charles Matthews, CharlesC, Chez37, Chichui, Chiles Malesters, Christophenstein,
Chuunen Baka, Chzz, Cic, Classified as matter, Cloudo, Codyfitz8, Cometstyles, Connormah, Conostrov, Conversion script, CoreyM1232, Courcelles, Cpkondas, Cpl Syx, CrazedEwok,
Crazycomputers, Curlingpro47, Cyan, D, DARTH SIDIOUS 2, DH85868993, DMacks, DSatYVR, DVD R W, DaGizza, Dan.g, Danger, Daniel G J, Dantheman531, DarkFalls, Darth Panda,
Dauto, Db099221, Dbtfz, DeadEyeArrow, DennyColt, Deor, DerHexer, Devcas, Devildude666, Dhollm, Dicklyon, Dirac66, Discospinster, Djdjordje12345, Djinn112, Dna-webmaster, Dogatdog,
DougsTech, Doulos Christos, Dpr, Dr.Kane, DragonflySixtyseven, Dreadstar, Dream of Nyx, Drmies, Dungodung, Dycedarg, E Wing, EagerToddler39, Eastgate, Editorman12342, Edwy,
Efiiamagus, Elias Enoc, Eliz81, ElvisPresley1, Eminem69041, Enochlau, Enormousdude, Epbr123, Erichardson2626, Esurnir, EugeneZelenko, Exeunt, FF2010, Facts707, Favonian, FayssalF,
FeloniousMonk, Fieldday-sunday, Fireglowe, FisherQueen, Flapping Fish, Fogster, Former user, Fotoni, Frank.hedlund, Funandtrvl, GSMOL, Gakrivas, Galoubet, Gamerstuff75, Gamewizard71,
Gandalf61, Gatorsalldawa, Ghitis, Giftlite, Gilliam, Gimie the beat boys, Ginsengbomb, Giorgio51, Giraffedata, Glenn, Gobonobo, Gogo Dodo, Goober6521, Goodvac, GorillaWarfare, Goshwak,
Grafen, Graham87, Grandpsykick, Gravitan, Grayshi, Greenguy1090, Gregbard, Griffinofwales, Grim23, Grokmoo, Gurchzilla, Guymandudeme, Gwernol, Haade, Hacker8484, Hadal, HaeB,
Haham hanuka, Hallenrm, Harry, Hattiel, Hazard-SJ, Hbent, Headbomb, Heiji hattori is LOVE, Heron, HexaChord, Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, Ht686rg90, Hyacinth, Hydrogen Iodide, IVAN3MAN,
Iain99, Ianwestapleton, Icalanise, Ilkali, Iluso, Indon, Injinera, Inka 888, Insanity Incarnate, Int19h, Ioeth, Ionescuac, Ipatrol, Irbisgreif, IronGargoyle, Isis, Isis4563, It Is Me Here, Ixfd64, J.
Naven, J.delanoy, J04n, JForget, JHFTC, JKeck, JRSpriggs, JSquish, Jake Wartenberg, Jaloqin, JamesBWatson, Jan Lapre, Janarius, Jashiin, Jaw959, Jayakar, Jayron32, Jerzy, Jiddisch,
JimWae, Jimothytrotter, Jj137, Jmanigold, Jmanvball, JoanneB, JoeSmack, Joel grover, John D. Croft, John of Reading, JohnBlackburne, Jojit fb, Joseph Solis in Australia, Joule36e5, Jpbowen,
Jpfairweather, Jpk, Jsharpminor, JuJube, Juansmith, Juliancolton, Junglecat, Jusdafax, Kajasudhakarababu, Kalathalan, Karol Langner, Kbh3rd, Kchiles, Keegscee, Kerotan, Kevin B12,
Khestwol, Killiondude, Kimtiger12345, King of Hearts, Kingpin13, Kinston eagle, Kizor, Kjkolb, Kocio, Kotjze, Kudret abi, Kww, Kyoko, L1A1 FAL, La Pianista, LarchOye, Laurinavicius,
Leliathomas, Leompersi, Lesgles, Leszek Jaczuk, Levineps, Lloydsd, Logan, Lolbading, Looxix, Lord Anubis, Lord pain377, Lorkki, Lrrasd, Luckas Blade, Lupo, MHWiki, MPerel, Machine
Elf 1735, Madbehemoth, Madchester, Magixdx, Majorly, MarSch, Marek69, MargyL, MarsRover, Martpol, Materialscientist, Mattermatters, Maurice Carbonaro, Maurreen, Maxgaineducation,
Mbell, McVities, MehFooL, Mejor Los Indios, Melsaran, Menchi, Merlion444, Metron4, MichaelMaggs, Mifapetrenko, Mifter, Mikko Paananen, MindReality, Minesweeper, Minesweeper.007,
MisterSheik, Morgis, MorrisRob, Moustacheluvr69, Mr. Billion, Mr.24SevenCrashHolly, Munita Prasad, Mxn, N5iln, Nakon, Naraht, Nathan, Natkeeran, Natl1, NawlinWiki, Negovori,
Neurolysis, NewEnglandYankee, Newone, Newtman, Nick Number, NievesO, Nihil novi, Nihiltres, Nike, Nisamayarg, Nishu pcp, Nk, Noah Salzman, Noformation, NuclearWarfare, O, Ocanter,
Oda Mari, Okapi, Oking83, Orbst, Oreo Priest, Oswald07, Ott, Oualidi13, OverlordQ, Oxymoron83, P. S. F. Freitas, PaRaLyZeDHoRSe, Paleorthid, Pantuflas, Papadopc, Patrick, Paul Sinclair,
Peter470, Peterdjones, PhilOak, Philip Trueman, Piano non troppo, Piast93, Pinethicket, Polly, Portalian, Pratyya Ghosh, Prestonmag, Previously ScienceApologist, Professor Caramel Revenge,
Protonk, Puchiko, Pvkeller, Quadell, Quiddity, Quiqui1, Qwertuy, Qxz, R'n'B, RJHall, RadicalBender, Rashack, Razorflame, Reaper Eternal, Reflections of Memory, Remember, Res2216firestar,
Retired username, Rettetast, RexNL, Rich Farmbrough, RichardF, RickDC, Rjd0060, Rjwilmsi, Rm, Rmosler2100, Roadrunner, Ronhjones, Rotational, Rracecarr, Rrburke, Rreagan007, Rrh02,
Rs2360, RuM, Ryguasu, S3000, SCZenz, SCriBu, Saebjorn, Sam Korn, Sanchom, Sandrapalaje, Sanjeevgen, Sbharris, SchfiftyThree, SchreiberBike, Sean Whitton, Sebastiangarth, Senator
Palpatine, Seraphim, Shadowlapis, Sharkface217, ShikyoSays, Simonalexander2005, Singhking97, Sj, Skizzik, Sm8900, Smalljim, Smiddle, Snigbrook, Snowolf, Solarra, Solipsist, Some jerk
on the Internet, Somecrazydude, Soptx, Sosaalhabab, Soukhoi, Southwing17, SpaceFlight89, SpiderJon, Spinningspark, Squids and Chips, Stephenb, Steven Zhang, Stevertigo, Strait, Studerby,
Suisui, Supaman89, Superguy342, THEN WHO WAS PHONE?, TYelliot, Tangotango, Taranet, Tarquin, Tbhotch, Tcisco, Techman224, Ted Longstaffe, Templarion, Tergadare, Thatguyflint,
The Anome, The Arbiter, The High Fin Sperm Whale, The Rambling Man, The Strange Kid, The Thing That Should Not Be, The-G-Unit-Boss, TheDJ, TheMightyGrecian, TheOldJacobite,
TheXenocide, Thecheesykid, Thingg, Think outside the box, Thumani Mabwe, Tide rolls, Tiggerjay, Tim Starling, TimSE, TimothyRias, Tiniet, Tiptoety, Tjsnuff, Tnxman307, Tojo940, Tomos,
Tony Fox, TonyTheTiger, Trevor MacInnis, Trevyn, Tricko20, Triwbe, Troy392004, Trunks ishida, Trusilver, Tuckah parent, Turnurban, Ugur Basak, Ultraexactzz, UnitedStatesian, Unyoyega,
Vadept, Van helsing, Vanished User 4517, Vav11, Versus22, Vgranucci, Vianello, Vicenarian, Vidit1, Vijai Singh, Vranak, Vrenator, Vsmith, Vssun, Vuerqex, Vyznev Xnebara, Waggers,
Walkerma, Wallawaller, Waroe, Washout4, Wavelength, Wdfarmer, Weather228, Whammes2, Where, Whosyourjudas, WikHead, Wiki alf, Wikieditor06, Wikipelli, Willking1979, Wimt,
Wknight94, Woohookitty, World, Wst Nam, Wussification, Wwheaton, Wykypydya, Wywin, XJaM, XRK, Xevi, Yachtsman1, YakbutterT, Yamamoto Ichiro, Yevgeny Kats, YvonneM, Zegoma
beach, Zkunz1, ZooFari, Zzuuzz, 1485 anonymous edits
Phase Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=540279618 Contributors: 130.94.122.xxx, 200.191.188.xxx, 2001:6B0:1:1350:18B3:DB50:94BA:469A, Addihockey10, Afluegel,
Ahoerstemeier, Aka042, Alansohn, Albertnetymk, Alex Bakharev, Alex43223, Alksub, Allstarecho, Amatulic, Amr.rs, Andres, Andrewwclui, AngelovdS, Art Carlson, Baffclan, Banus, Beetstra,
Beland, BenFrantzDale, Berland, Betacommand, Bh3u4m, Bigbluefish, BioPupil, Bobblehead, Bomac, Bonadea, Bongwarrior, Booyabazooka, Brendan064, Brien Clark, Bryan Derksen, CYD,
Cacycle, CanisRufus, Cedars, Chebbs, Chris the speller, Chych, ComaVN, Complexica, Conversion script, Copistopplayer, Cowplopmorris, CrossingStyx, DVdm, Dbmag9, Dcirovic,
Delusion23, Dgw, Dhollm, Dirac66, Dirkbb, Dogbert66, Donarreiskoffer, Dougher, DrBob, Dryftburn, Dtheobald, Duncan harvie, EdC, EdH, Eh kia, El C, Equendil, Erodium, Everyking,
Faradayplank, Femto, Filemon, FlorianMarquardt, FocalPoint, Foobaz, Funandtrvl, Furrykef, Future Perfect at Sunrise, Gabriel Kielland, Gaia Octavia Agrippa, Gaius Cornelius, Gareth
Griffith-Jones, Gazjo, Gentgeen, Geonator, Giftlite, Glane23, Glenn, Graham87, Guoguo12, Guy Macon, Hairy Dude, Harp, Head, Headbomb, Hello32020, Hmwith, HolIgor, Iapetus, Ihsam,
IronGargoyle, Iwoelbern, JRuby, James086, Jannex, Jarel&Dale, Jauhienij, Jeffhoy, Joe Decker, Johnsarelli, Jonathan Hall, Joshua Davis, Jqt, Jrockley, Jusjih, Karlhahn, Kcavness, Keilana,
Knutux, Krash, Kukini, Lakers, Leptictidium, LiberalMedium, Linas, Little Mountain 5, Logger9, Looxix, Loren.wilton, LorenzoB, Lowellian, MK8, Madbard, Malcolmxl5, Marie Poise,
MarsRover, Massimo Macconi, Mausy5043, Mav, Mayooranathan, Meco, Mgiganteus1, Michael Hardy, Michael Shields, Micki, Mike2vil, Mr2001, Mxn, Mygerardromance, Mythealias, N5iln,
Newone, Nickkid5, Nscozzaro, Nunocordeiro, Oatesyrulz, Olof, Omegatron, Onaraighl, OwenX, Ozhiker, Patrick, PaulKishimoto, Peterlin, Physchim62, Pieter Kuiper, Pinethicket, Pizza Puzzle,
Pnrj, PoliticalJunkie, Polyparadigm, PoptartKing, Previously ScienceApologist, Puckly, Purodha, Pvkeller, RDBrown, RJFJR, Radagast3, Randwicked, Ranjithsutari, Ranveig, Razorflame, Reach
Out to the Truth, Reitzaleah, Rgdboer, Rigadoun, Rmhermen, Rogper, RoyBoy, Rs2, Runch, Schneelocke, SebastianHelm, Seddon, Shandris, Siddhant, Skidude9950, Smooth O, Snowolf, Some
jerk on the Internet, Soulman, Spearhead, Spellcast, Spitfire, Srleffler, SyahirSQRT2, TakuyaMurata, Tarquin, Terfili, ThaddeusB, The Rambling Man, Tide rolls, Tony1, Treyt021, Trusilver,
Uncle Dick, Utcursch, V8rik, Victor Blacus, VivaRose, Vsmith, Vuo, Waggers, Wakeham, West.andrew.g, Whatisron, Willemo, Willtron, Windchaser, Wknight94, Yekrats, Zercam, Zuejay,
, 331 anonymous edits
Phase diagram Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=551957347 Contributors: Afluegel, Alex685, Alexandrov, Alphachimp, AndyVolykhov, AngelHerraez, Anterior1,
Arbitrarily0, Arctixfox, Arthena, Avicennasis, Baderimre, Bantman, Barkeep, Bdodo1992, Beland, Ben Standeven, BiT, Bigbluefish, Bkappius, Bobo192, Booyabazooka, Borgx, CJLL Wright,
CarlosPatio, Charles Matthews, Choij, Closedmouth, Cmglee, Copistopplayer, Cst17, Daelanus, Davepape, DavidJ710, Decoratrix, Denelson83, Dheknesn, Diderot, Dino, Dirac66, Diverman,
Dltlek, Doradus, Dr. Walrusgfs, Dr.K., Duoduoduo, EdC, El Belga, Emok, EugeneZelenko, Excirial, Femto, GTBacchus, Gareth Owen, Ge215, Giftlite, Glloq, Grafen, H Padleckas,
Hemmingsen, Hydrogen Iodide, Itub, J04n, JJ Harrison, John of Reading, Karnesky, Khazar, Kku, KnightRider, Kopeliovich, LadyofShalott, Lavaka, Li-sung, Ligulem, Linas, Linuxlad, Logger9,
Lowellian, MOiRe, Materialscientist, Matthieumarechal, Mdd, Meisam.fa, Michael Hardy, Michbich, Mild Bill Hiccup, Mlibby, Mpa5220, Mythealias, Ngebbett, Numbo3, Oleg Alexandrov,
OneEyedD0rf, PentonCourt, Petergans, Philip Trueman, Phys, Piano non troppo, Pvkeller, Reptile209, Rgdboer, Riceplaytexas, Ronhjones, Rspanton, Russell C. Sibley, Rmih, Sasuke Sarutobi,
Sbwoodside, Sdrtirs, Skatebiker, Stardust8212, Tarquin, Terrancommander, TheTito, Tom harrison, Urhixidur, Uriyan, Uvainio, V8rik, Vanis314, Vsaishravan, Vsmith, Wizard191, Wknight94,
Yanksports22, Yyy, 123 anonymous edits
State of matter Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=552207782 Contributors: 123Hedgehog456, 2001:4C28:194:520:1A03:73FF:FE0A:7831,
2001:558:6033:DE:7CCE:8213:18C:E76E, 2D, 2over0, ABF, Addshore, Ainlina, Alansohn, Alessgrimal, Alexfiles, Allen4names, Alpha Quadrant (alt), Amaury, Amdz96, Anaxial,
Andreasmperu, AndrewN, Andypandy2020, Angrysockhop, Art Carlson, ArthurDenture, Athenanoenvoy, Averysamantha, Backpackadam, Barneca, Bazzargh, Beaserbebbeb, Beetstra,
Blurpeace, BobEnyart, Bombshell, Bongwarrior, Boulaur, Brandmeister, Brianga, Burner0718, CWii, CYD, CaSJer, CambridgeBayWeather, CanadianLinuxUser, Cesaar, ChE Fundamentalist,
Charliekarst, Chemicalrubber, ChrisGualtieri, Chuanenlin123, Chzz, Closedmouth, Cmglee, Coralmizu, Corvus cornix, Courcelles, Cratylus3, CrazyRob926, Cremepuff222, Cryonic07,
CuteHappyBrute, D99figge, DARTH SIDIOUS 2, Daniele Pugliesi, Daniels220, Darth Panda, Dekisugi, Dendodge, Denisarona, Dhollm, DidgeGuy, Dillard421, DillonLMcCabe, Dinesh smita,
Dirac66, Discospinster, Djr32, Docu, DoubleBlue, Dr. Footfoe, DragonflySixtyseven, Dylan620, Edgar181, Eh kia, Elassint, ElfQrin, Empireheart, Epbr123, Escape Orbit, Excirial,
Faithlessthewonderboy, Falcon8765, Father Goose, Fieldday-sunday, FisherQueen, Flyingidiot, Friend20gan, Funandtrvl, Gamewizard71, Gareth Griffith-Jones, Ghiraddje, Giftlite, Glogger,
GoEThe, Gombang, GorillaWarfare, Grim23, Gkhan, HPeugeot, Hairhorn, Hallows AG, Hamhat, Headbomb, Heron, HexaChord, Hielor, Hornlitz, Horselover Frost, Hydriotaphia,
IBeAiMpErS0naT0r, II MusLiM HyBRiD II, IW.HG, Icelazer3, Igoldste, ImhotepBallZ, Imnotminkus, Iridescent, J.delanoy, JDP90, JDspeeder1, JNW, Ja 62, Jack Schlederer, Jackol, James086,
January, JasonAQuest, Jauhienij, Jay-Sebastos, Jayron32, JediMaster362, Jeff G., Jeffhoy, Jennavecia, Jesanj, Jim1138, JimWae, JinJian, Jj137, Johann137, Jojhutton, Jonathan Hall, Joseph Solis
in Australia, Julesd, Kanonkas, Katherine, Kathovo, Kazvorpal, Kenvancleve, Keramos, Khalid Mahmood, King of Hearts, Kingpin13, Kipala, Knowledgeum, Kraftlos, Kumamah, Kyle1278,
LOL, Lagooncopperorange, Leftspk, Lewismith3, Lfmm11, Libcub, Lince celeste, Logger9, Lothar von Richthofen, Lugia2453, MITBeaverRocks, Mad.martian999, Madhero88, Madkayaker,
Mantike, Marie Poise, Mark Fole, MarsRover, Martial75, Materialscientist, Mato, Mausy5043, Mayooranathan, Micki, Mike Rosoft, Mikhailov Kusserow, Miquonranger03, Monkey Bounce,
Moocha, Moomoomoo, Mtheodric, Mtpaley, Mygerardromance, Myrin1, N5iln, NHRHS2010, NerdyScienceDude, NewEnglandYankee, Newone, Nintend06, Noctibus, Nsaa, Nubiatech, Oleg
Alexandrov, OllieFury, Olof, Oneiros, Orange Suede Sofa, Oswald07, Overthinkingly, PJtP, Pb30, Pepijn Schmitz, Perfecttwoegan, Phantomsteve, Pharaoh of the Wizards, Philg88, Philip
Article Sources and Contributors
226
Trueman, Piano non troppo, Pinethicket, Pinkadelica, Pol098, Polyamorph, Possum, Pot, PranksterTurtle, Prognitor, PseudoOne, Pseudomonas, Pvkeller, Quangbao, Quantumspinhall,
Quinsareth, R'n'B, Rdsmith4, Reaper Eternal, RedHillian, Reddi, RekishiEJ, Rgdboer, Rich Farmbrough, Rich257, RiverStyx23, Ronhjones, Rumping, Rursus, Ruud Koot, Saeed.Veradi, Seani,
ShajiA, Shanes, ShatteredSpiral, Shirtwaist, Singhalawap, Skarebo, Skihatboatbike, Sm8900, Smalljim, Snigbrook, Snow Blizzard, SoWhy, Socal gal at heart, Spirit469, Spitfire, Srleffler, Svick,
THEN WHO WAS PHONE?, Tatchell, Tbhotch, Tempodivalse, Th4n3r, Thatguyflint, The Illusive Man, The Sharminator, The Thing That Should Not Be, TheSun, Theimmaculatechemist,
Theo10011, Thingg, Tide rolls, Tizeff, Tltltetd, Tommy2010, Troy 07, TrufflesTheLamb, TutterMouse, UAK32, Ugncreative Usergname, Uncle Dick, Urdna, Useight, Valenciano, Venny85,
Victuallers, Vishnava, Vsmith, Vuo, Walden, Wasteman1066, Wavelength, Westonpark, Whazie, Wiki Raja, William Avery, Willtron, Winchelsea, Wookie501, Xp54321, Xvijayx, Xxanthippe,
YK Times, Yamumyadad, Yetisyny, Yettie0711, Yintan, Ykhwong, Yonir, Yourmomblah, Yunshui, Yuriybrisk, Zane45177, Zardoz, Zetawoof, ZooFari, Zundark, Zvn, , 1074
anonymous edits
Solid Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=552675830 Contributors: 129.186.19.xxx, 2602:306:CDE8:9DD0:6829:623B:EF54:10D6, 2over0, A Stop at Willoughby, A3RO,
ActivExpression, Afluegel, AgaRed, AgainErick, Ahoerstemeier, Akanemoto, Alan012, Amalas, Anaxial, Andres, Andrewa, Andy M. Wang, Anetode, Animum, Anon lynx, ArglebargleIV,
Asiaglass, AtheWeatherman, Attack 2400, BD2412, Ballervision, Baseball Watcher, Bdve, Belovedfreak, Bensaccount, Bidpald253, BigDwiki, BigPimpinBrah, Black and White, Blanchardb,
Blindgrapefruit2, Bobo192, Bomac, Bonusballs, Boulaur, Brandonrush, Bruce1ee, Caltas, CardinalDan, Cenarium, Cgs, Chaojoker, Charles Matthews, CommonsDelinker, Conversion script, Css,
DARTH SIDIOUS 2, DMacks, DVdm, Danski14, Darrendeng, Dbiel, Delldot, Digital-h, Dilos100, Dirac66, Djhfsdhf, Djr32, Donarreiskoffer, Ducknish, Dycedarg, Dysprosia, EconoPhysicist,
Eddideigel, Edgar181, El C, ElKevbo, Equendil, Eric Drexler, Esmhead, Excirial, Fahed ahmed, Falcon8765, Fast kartwheels, Fatkat61, Fatkid72, Fl, Fleetsbridge, FlorianMarquardt, FocalPoint,
Fratrep, FreplySpang, Furmanj, G1076, Gamewizard71, Gene Nygaard, Gentgeen, Ghjthgh, Giftlite, Glenn, Gr8xoz, Grafen, Graham87, Gruntler, Hareesa, Harlem Baker Hughes, HawkShark,
Headbomb, Heron, Hhhippo, Hplovecraftpwns, Huigh4444, I dream of horses, Icairns, Ilovelakai, Immunize, J.delanoy, J04n, JSquish, JaGa, Jahiegel, Jan 1922, Jauhienij, Javierito92, Joanjoc,
Joeblakesley, John, Jose77, Jrockley, Jusdafax, Jusjih, Kaleau, Keenan Pepper, Kingpin13, Kipala, Kooky, Krish Dulal, Kuru, Lear's Fool, Lectonar, Leuko, Levineps, Lightmouse, Lir, Lmatt,
Logger9, Lotje, Lou1986, Lovetinkle, Lrrasd, Luckymama58, Lugia77, Marie Poise, MarkBuckles, MarsRover, Materialscientist, Mav, Mayooranathan, Mentifisto, Methcub, Mindmatrix,
MisterSheik, Monkey Bounce, Mvp08, Narayansg, NativeForeigner, NawlinWiki, Neelix, Netalarm, Newsjunker, NightFalcon90909, Nihiltres, Nubiatech, Nunquam Dormio, OllieFury, Olof,
Pbuffat, Philip Trueman, Pinethicket, Pinky sl, Polyamorph, Quantumobserver, R'n'B, RAult, RenamedUser01302013, Rhrad, Rjwilmsi, Rror, RunOrDie, Ryan032, ST47, Salsb, SchfiftyThree,
SchreiberBike, Seaphoto, SebastianHelm, Sfztang, Shadowjams, Sharkface217, Shijualex, Shizhao, Sketchmoose, Smack, Snigbrook, Solidboy123, Sparkylad, Spirit469, Steven McTowelie the
second, Stoive, StuRat, Suisui, Tantalate, Taxman, Tetraedycal, Tgeairn, Thatgains, The High Fin Sperm Whale, The Thing That Should Not Be, The Wordsmith, TheSun, Theo10011,
Theopolisme, Tide rolls, Tim Starling, Toddst1, Tommy2010, Tosha, Trusilver, Unmerklich, User A1, Vanished User 1004, Vary, Venske, Ventilate, VernoWhitney, Vincent de Ruijter,
Vrenator, Walkerma, Warlord dehacker, Wavelength, Widr, Willtron, Wizardboy777, Wknight94, Woohookitty, Writ Keeper, X VeNTe, Xman0444, Xxanthippe, Ybbor, Yekrats, Yintan, Yms,
Youbejoking, Youngoat, Yunshui, Zachlipton, Zaereth, 436 anonymous edits
Liquid Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=550471190 Contributors: -Ozone-, 129.186.19.xxx, 1sgfxn, 2602:306:CDE8:9DD0:6829:623B:EF54:10D6, 4students, A little
insignificant, A. Parrot, A8UDI, Abaoabao, Abc123def455, Acdx, Acornembryo, Acroterion, Adacus12, Afluegel, Agquarx, Ahoerstemeier, Aitias, Akanemoto, Alansohn, Albert0, Allstarecho,
Altenmann, Ameerajanmohamed, Animum, Antandrus, ArielGold, AuburnPilot, AwamerT, B jonas, Bejnar, Beland, BenFrantzDale, Bensaccount, Bhamv, Bidabadi, Bike CharlieCard, Black
Kite, Blainster, Bobo192, Boing! said Zebedee, BokicaK, Bomac, Bongwarrior, Boulaur, Bradynowinstores, Brian Crawford, Brion VIBBER, Brumski, Bryan Derksen, Bsmithurst, CWii,
Cacycle, Cadiomals, Calmer Waters, Cenarium, Cfp, Chaldean, Chhe, Chris the speller, Christian75, Clemwang, ClockworkLunch, Closedmouth, ComfyKem, Conversion script, Courcelles,
Cremepuff222, Crowsnest, D.bolmatov, DARTH SIDIOUS 2, DRLB, Da Joe, DaiTengu, Dan Hickman, Dancter, DanielDeibler, Danski14, David.Mestel, Debresser, DennisIsMe, Deor,
DerHexer, Dethme0w, Dhaluza, Difluoroethene, Divna Jaksic, Djr32, Dogah, Donarreiskoffer, Drerhymez, Ducknish, Egmontaz, El C, Enviroboy, Epbr123, Eric Drexler, Erutuon, Esben,
Euryalus, EvenGreenerFish, Everyguy, Excirial, FastLizard4, Favonian, Fcb981, Fito, FiveRings, FocalPoint, Foodeatingperson, Fowen123, Frau Holle, FreplySpang, Gamewizard71, Gary King,
Garzo, Gentgeen, Georgia guy, Giftlite, Ginkgo100, Ginsengbomb, Gogo Dodo, Graham87, Gurch, Gkhan, H Padleckas, Hal3y+st3phh, Hard Sin, Heron, Hl540511, Hodja Nasreddin,
HugeGrayLover, Hut 8.5, I dream of horses, Icairns, Ilovelakai, Imran, Iohannes Animosus, Ixfd64, J heisenberg, JHunterJ, JSquish, Jasper Deng, Jauhienij, Jeremiah, Jim1138, JimVC3,
Jman12369874, Jmccabe871, John, John of Reading, JohnaG-A, Johnsatterfield, Jose77, JoshHolloway, Jrobinjapan, Jrockley, Junglecat, Jusjih, Karenjc, Karl Palmen, Kbh3rd, Kevin,
Kevin12xd, Khalid Mahmood, KingTT, Kingpin13, Kipala, Kooky, Koyaanis Qatsi, Kpjas, Krish Dulal, Kutera Genesis, LAX, LFaraone, LOLSmaterThanYou, Ledgermayne101,
LidiaFourdraine, Lir, Logger9, Lowellian, Luckymama58, MECU, MGTom, Malo, ManiacalMonkey, Manuel Trujillo Berges, Mareino, Marek69, Marie Poise, Marquetry28, MarsRover,
Materialscientist, Matthieumarechal, Mbeychok, Memphis670, Merovingian, Meters, Michael Hardy, Mike dill, Mike92591, MikeLynch, Mikemoral, Mindmatrix, Mishuletz, Moe Epsilon,
Mouchumi, Moverton, Moyogo, Mozillaman425, Mufo, Nathanael Bar-Aur L., NawlinWiki, Nayvik, NerdyScienceDude, Nneonneo, Olivier, Olof, Omc, Omicronpersei8, Oxymoron83, Paul
Slocum, Peter Karlsen, Peterlin, Philip Trueman, Phillip is the name, Physchim62, Physicsandshiz, Pikapika123, Pinethicket, Polyamorph, Poophole10101, Poopyhead88, Poor Yorick, Priyamd,
Psyche825, Qurq, RA0808, Racerx11, Ranveig, Rash, Redaktor, Remag Kee, Rememberway, RenamedUser01302013, Revived, Rgrg, Richmond96, Rjwilmsi, Robinh, Robo Cop,
Rvaznyvfgxrvazny, Ryan Roos, Ryan032, Ryomaandres, SallyForth123, Sarrus, Scholar333, Sdrtirs, Sean D Martin, SebastianHelm, Sfan00 IMG, Shadowjams, Shoefly, Siim, Sjakkalle, Skizzik,
Slazenger, Smalljim, Some jerk on the Internet, Son111, Sonjaaa, Spirit469, Starghost, Steveprutz, Stj6, SummerPhD, Swestrup, Tacos r friends, Tanaats, Tantalate, Targaryen, Teamavolition,
Tedder, Tetracube, Tgeairn, The High Fin Sperm Whale, The Nameless, The Thing That Should Not Be, The Utahraptor, Tide rolls, TigerShark, Tigershrike, Tiggerjay, Toddst1, Tolly4bolly,
Tom.Reding, Tomtheman5, Tresiden, TwoTwoHello, TyA, Unyoyega, Van helsing, Vc-wp, Ventilate, Vrenator, Vsmith, Vuo, Walkerma, Wavelength, Wayne Slam, WaysToEscape, Widr,
WikiDao, Wikiman405, William Avery, Winchelsea, WizardOfOz, Woohookitty, Woudloper, Xeno, Xxanthippe, Yaluen, Yamamoto Ichiro, Yankszack, Yekrats, Yoenit, Yupi666, Yyy,
Zachorious, Zaereth, Zondor, ZooFari, Zorroeatsmaypo, Zotel, var Arnfjr Bjarmason, , , , 553 anonymous edits
Gas Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=552854235 Contributors: 129.186.19.xxx, 4, 478jjjz, AGToth, Abbeyvet, Abcboy151, Abhijitsathe, Academic Challenger, Adacus12,
Adam8257, Adamboy555, Adashiel, Afluegel, AgentPeppermint, Ahoerstemeier, Akanemoto, Alex.muller, Alexf, AlexiusHoratius, Algebraist, Allstarecho, Amazins490, Amberrock, Andre
Engels, Animum, Antandrus, Anthony Appleyard, Ashcool1999, Ashton1983, Astroview120mm, AtholM, AuburnPilot, Aude, AvicAWB, Avicennasis, Aycbubbles, AznBurger, Azylber,
BaByGuRRL19, Backburner001, Bailey Pitzer, Beetstra, Begoon, Behun, Ben-Zin, Bensaccount, Bidabadi, Bigtimepeace, Bilalrockstar5, BillC, Bjk343, Blake-, Blehfu, Bo Jacoby, Bobo192,
Bomac, Bongwarrior, Brian0918, BrownHairedGirl, Bruce1ee, Bryan Derksen, Btharper1221, Bullet4troubles, Bwilkins, CP\M, Caiaffa, Caltas, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, Canthusus,
Carl.bunderson, CarrieVS, Cgingold, Chachu207, Chaos Wolf, CharlotteWebb, ChemGardener, Cireshoe, Clausc, Closeapple, Closedmouth, Coiladam, Comeinayeahaa, Complexica, Conscious,
Conversion script, Cool Blue, CoolMike, Corusant, Corvus cornix, Cwkmail, D, D6, DARTH SIDIOUS 2, DMacks, DVD R W, Danski14, Darkfrog24, Darting., Dcarriker92, Dcflyer, Delbert
Grady, Delirium, Delldot, Denisarona, Dennislee272727, DerHexer, Dethme0w, Dhollm, Dhp1080, Dina, Dirtykorean, Disavian, Discospinster, Doczilla, Donarreiskoffer, DrAwesome, Drappel,
Dreaded Walrus, Drumguy8800, Dureo, Dylan Lake, DRahier, EEMIV, Eassin, Edmilne, Edward321, El C, Emily.xxo, EncMstr, Etafly, Etcyorz3t789, Euryalus, Everyking, Fabrictramp,
Faithlessthewonderboy, Fentonrobb, Fireman17, Flowerpotman, Flyer22, FocalPoint, Fraggle81, Fremsley, Fryed-peach, Gamewizard71, Gareth Wyn, Gary King, Gene Nygaard, Gentgeen,
GeoWriter, Gfoley4, Giftlite, Ginkgo100, Giraffedata, Glass Sword, Glen, Glenn, Gobonobo, Gogo Dodo, GoingBatty, GoodDamon, Gracenotes, Grafen, Granvo, Greenguy1090, Greswik,
Grstain, Gurch, H, Hahabacon123, Haham hanuka, Hallows AG, Hamzah145, Hankwang, Harrichr, Hasek is the best, Hawkmaster9, Hayabusa future, Hdt83, Headbomb, HeirloomGardener,
Herbee, Heron, Hmains, Hooiwind, Hschrage, Hu12, Hudmaster, Hut 8.5, I Has A Username, I luv carrots, IShadowed, Iantresman, Icairns, Ilikeeatingwaffles, Ilovelakai, Intelati, Iridescent,
Irishguy, Ishmaelblues, Isis4563, J.delanoy, JSquish, Jaimeglz, Jakesdamajorbomb, Jakew, Jalenjohnson129, JamAKiska, Jauerback, Jauhienij, Jeffhoy, Jerryseinfeld, Jim Douglas, Jimfbleak,
Jittat, Jiy, Jj137, Jmlk17, Joaquin008, John, John of Lancaster, John254, JohnSRoberts99, Johnleemk, Johnpacklambert, Jonodabomb, Jp-hickson, Jrockley, Jugander, Junglecat, Juro2351, Jusjih,
K193, Kablammo, Kaiserkarl13, Kalin1344, Karol Langner, Katalaveno, Katanada, Katefan0, Keenan Pepper, Keilana, Keri, KevinCuddeback, Kmarinas86, KnowledgeOfSelf, Kpark454, Krash,
Krish Dulal, Krzysfr, Kubigula, Kuru, LX, Lambiam, Lepidoptera, Leszek Jaczuk, Life of Riley, Lightmouse, Lights, Llull, Looxix, Lotje, Luckymama58, Lukecarpenter169, Lyctc, M84,
MER-C, Mac, Madbehemoth, Magasjukur, Majorly, Malbi, Maralia, Mark Arsten, MarsRover, Martarius, Materialscientist, Maximaximax, Mbc362, McVities, Melsaran, Mervyn, Michael
Hardy, Mikael Hggstrm, Mild Bill Hiccup, Miwanya, Mkardous, Mogest, MorrisRob, MrNoSignal26, Mufka, Murshed11, Myanw, N328KF, NHRHS2010, Nabz, Narayanese, Nathaniel Zhu,
NawlinWiki, NeilN, Nethency, NewEnglandYankee, Nibuod, Nicklovesgold, Nikai, Nixdorf, Noctibus, Noz92, Nposs, Nsevs, O.Koslowski, Oda Mari, Olin, Olof, Oxymoron83, Pablo9000,
Panoptical, Patrick, Pdn, Pencilcomics, Peruvianllama, Peterlin, PhilKnight, Philip Trueman, Phillipedison1891, Phoneuser, Pinethicket, Poopman101, Powerofgas, PrincessBrat, Prodego,
Prumpa, Puchiko, Quinsareth, Qutezuce, Qxz, R'n'B, RJFJR, RJHall, RJN, Rackmount-guy, Rakwiki, Razimantv, RazorICE, Red banksy, Redmusicjamin, Resurgent insurgent, Rettetast,
RichardMills65, Ridhwan95, Rifleman 82, Roland2, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, RunOrDie, Ryan Postlethwaite, Ryulong, SJP, SMC, Sadi Carnot, Saehry, Sango123, Sbakka, ScaldingHotSoup,
SchreiberBike, Scott MacLean, Scottiessoulja, Screwe, Sean Whitton, Sephiroth BCR, Shalom Yechiel, Sharkface217, Shawn Worthington Laser Plasma, Shizhao, Siim, SimonP, Skier lad,
Skyezx, Sman789, Snow Blizzard, Socrgrl3426, Soulspick, Sp3000, Spellmaster, Spirit469, SpuriousQ, SpyMagician, Stan Shebs, Stephenb, Stevage, Steven Zhang, Stifynsemons, Stizz, Sun
Creator, Superman1159, SusikMkr, Sylvain Mielot, SyntaxError55, Tarquin, Tbhotch, TedE, The High Fin Sperm Whale, The Nut, The Rambling Man, TheOtherJesse, Theon, Tide rolls,
TimBentley, Tiptoety, Tjmcgowan9, Tobias Bergemann, Tom harrison, Toudaiiji Neji, Trusilver, Tyler Daigle, Ucanlookitup, Uhai, V.V zzzzz, Vald, Venny85, Ventilate, Virtual Cowboy,
Vrenator, Vsmith, Wars, Wavelength, Waynesewell, Wenli, Wernher, Willtron, Wimt, Wknight94, Woodsstock, Woohookitty, Working Cat, Wtshymanski, Wwallacee, X!, Yahel Guhan,
Yamamoto Ichiro, YipYip, Youssefsan, Yuckfoo, Z.E.R.O., Zfr, Zrulli, , , 706 anonymous edits
Plasma Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=552743136 Contributors: .:Ajvol:., 03md, 1exec1, 2012Olympian, 2cuteforyou, 2over0, 793184265, A930913, ABCD, APH,
Aarghdvaark, Acroterion, Adi4094, Afluegel, AgainErick, Aitias, Akanemoto, Al126 at wiki, Alansohn, Aldude14, Alex Lazar, Alexey Feldgendler, All Is One, Allen3, Allowrocks2003040957,
Ameyabapat, Amideg, Andonic, Andrewrhchen, Andyjsmith, AnonyScientist, Anthony Appleyard, Applejuicefool, April, ArgentTurquoise, Arstchnca, Art Carlson, Arthena, Ash, Ask123,
AstroNomer, Astroview120mm, Atif.t2, AutoMe, Avoided, B0at, BD2412, Baa, Bachrach44, Bapi 123, Beatnik Party, Begoon, Beland, Beng341, Berland, Bharatmittal2007, Bidabadi,
Bill.albing, Bk0, Blue Tie, Blungee, BobMiller1701, Bobblewik, Bobo192, Bobryuu, Bogdan, Bongwarrior, Boredzo, Borgx, Boulaur, Brflorance, Brian Crawford, Brianski, Brookie, Bryan
Derksen, Bwili00, C'est moi, CambridgeBayWeather, CanadianLinuxUser, Canderson7, Capricorn42, CarbonCopy, CardinalDan, Cburnett, Cdupree, Chocolateoak, Cjc38, ClaudeSB, Claudio M
Souza, Closedmouth, CommonsDelinker, Complexica, Connor.carey, Conscious, Conundrumer, Conversion script, Coollettuce, Corpx, Corvus cornix, CosineKitty, Craigy144, Crouchingturbo,
DARTH SIDIOUS 2, DMacks, DRTllbrg, DV8 2XL, DVD R W, DanHickstein, Danski14, Danzence, Darkwind, Dashpool, David Edgar, David Latapie, DavidStern, Davidprior,
Dawnseeker2000, Dbroadwell, DeadEyeArrow, Deathknightlord, Deglr6328, DerHexer, Derfel071, DevOhm, Devin 496, Dgw, Dicklyon, Dinesh smita, Dingemansm, Discospinster, Djdan4961,
Article Sources and Contributors
227
Dkasak, Dlohcierekim, Donarreiskoffer, DoubleBlue, Dr.K., Drew R. Smith, Dspark76, Dust Filter, Earvy, East718, EdGl, Editor510, Edward321, Eecon, Efwiz, EightBall1989, El C, Electrified
mocha chinchilla, Elert, Eleven even, Elipongo, Eliz81, Ellywa, Elockid, Eminem69041, Enric Naval, Epbr123, Eric-Wester, EryZ, Evanreyes, Everyking, Evgeny, Evice, Exaudio, Explica, Eyas,
Eyesnore, FJM, FRS, FST777, FaerieInGrey, Fastily, Femto, Fermion, Fieldday-sunday, Figaro, Firebat08, Fitch, Fizyxnrd, Florian Blaschke, Franco3450, Fred J, Frenchman113, Frokor, Func,
F, Gail, Galoubet, Gamewizard71, Gegorg, Gene Nygaard, Gerinych, Giftlite, Giro720, Glacialfox, Glenn, Gmaxwell, GoldenGlory84, Gracefool, Graham87, GregAsche, Guest9999,
Guitarmankev1, Gunnar Larsson, Gwen Gale, HTMLCODER.exe, Hadal, Hairy Dude, Hamiltondaniel, Hammack, Hans Dunkelberg, Hans-wai, HappyCamper, Hard Sin, Hardware Hank,
Hatchetman459, Headbomb, HenryLi, Heron, Hgevs, Hkhenson, Hmwith, Honeyfur, Howsthatfordamage25, Hqb, Huevosgrandes, Huntster, Hydrargyrum, I dream of horses, IRP, IVAN3MAN,
Ian01, Iantresman, Icairns, IceKarma, Ileresolu, Ilke71, Illuvatar,, Ilyushka88, Indon, Inferno, Lord of Penguins, Inferno32, Insane Burner, Ioscius, Iridescent, IronGargoyle, Iwsh, Izno, Ifai,
J.delanoy, JDoorjam, JForget, JJ Harrison, JSquish, Jacob1207, Jafet, James.Denholm, Jan eissfeldt, Jauhienij, Jaxl, Jcoetzee, Jdawg34520, Jebba, Jebus989, JediMaster362, Jezzabr, Jh51681,
Jhenderson777, Jiminezwaldorf, JinJian, Jiy, Jjpratt, Joe Schmedley, Joems1324, John, John Nevard, JohnCD, JohnElder, Joseph Solis in Australia, Joyous!, Jrw6736, Julesd, Juliancolton,
Jungleback, Just James, Justpassin, Jwanders, Jwissick, K10wnsta, KaliHyper, Karol Langner, Katalaveno, Kate, Katieh5584, Kavantiger62, Keenan Pepper, Kelson, Ketiltrout, Khalid Mahmood,
Kharissa, Killer Chao, Kilogray, King of Hearts, Kkmurray, Knowledge Seeker, KnowledgeOfSelf, Koavf, Kostisl, Krash, Kri, Kruusamgi, Kthapelo, Kunak, Kungfuadam, Kuru, La bla la,
LarryRiedel, Laurens-af, Lcolson, Ld100, LeaveSleaves, Legofreak666, Leo Yeei, Leszek Jaczuk, Leyo, Lightblade, Linarutouzumaki, Linas, Liverpoolian!, Lookb4uleap, Lou Crazy,
LouriePieterse, Lviatour, M2o6n0k2e7y3, MAROBROS, MIB4u, MPD01605, MacTire02, Macedonian, Madhan49, MadmanNova, Magioladitis, MahriMan, Mako098765, Malinaccier,
Mandarax, Maniac7553, Manticore, Marechal Ney, Marian123456789, MarsRover, Martarius, Martino3, Marudubshinki, Mat-C, Materialscientist, MathStuf, Maurreen, Mav, Maxfisch, Maxim,
Maxis ftw, Mayumashu, McSly, Mejor Los Indios, Melifluous One, Melmaola, Mets501, Mg007, Mgmirkin, Mhsb, Michael Hardy, Midashboy, Mikeo, Mindgame123, Minimac, MinorEdit,
Mion, Miquonranger03, Modify, Moink, Monedula, Moodilman, Mouvement, Mr Anthem, Mr Poo, MrAnderson7, MrOllie, Mruthun Rajkumar, Mtheodric, Myasuda, Mygerardromance, Mtze,
NVLAUR, Nagy, NatulisKaos, Nayvik, Neachili, Neurolysis, Neverquick, News0969, Nfm, Nibuod, NickBush24, Nickptar, Nigelloring, Nikevich, Noisy, Noobz1112, Northamerica1000,
NuVanDibe, Nv8200p, Obradovic Goran, Ochib, Oliverdl, OllieFury, Olof, Omegatron, Opelio, Opiate5555, Optiguy54, Orange Suede Sofa, Originalwana, Ost316, Ostrichdude7, P199, PAR,
PMcQuillen, PRhyu, Pakaran, Paolo Di Febbo, Papadopc, Paraneoz, Patrick, Pauli133, Pedalle, Pediddle, Pedro, Petedskier, Peter, Phgao, Philip Trueman, Phoebe, PhotoBox, Photonique,
Physchim62, Piano non troppo, Pimp3245, Pinethicket, Pion, Pjacobi, PlasmaSoul, Plasmadyne, Pluma, Pol430, Polymerbringer, Poppy, Pranavsharma67, Preslethe, Previously ScienceApologist,
Prodego, Psychonaut, Qlarsen, Quibik, Qwertyasdfqwertyfdsa, RDC23, RG2, RJFJR, Radical Mallard, RagnarokEOTW, Raidon Kane, Raso mk, Rassnik, Razimantv, Reaper Eternal,
Recognizance, RedHillian, Reddi, Reginmund, Remember the dot, Rex the first, RexNL, Rich Farmbrough, Rich257, Richfife, RickOzone, Rigby, Rjd0060, Rjwilmsi, Roadrunner,
Rocketrod1960, Romodahomo, Rothorpe, RoySmith, Rtyq2, Rudolfensis, Rumping, Ruy Pugliesi, RxS, S, SCOTT FISHER, SDC, SJP, SMesser, Saehrimnir, Saehry, Saibod, Sakurambo,
SarekOfVulcan, SchfiftyThree, Sciurin, Secretsaregood, Shaddack, Shadowjams, Shamiryan, Shandris, Sharaith, Shawn Worthington Laser Plasma, ShipFan, Sina2, Sir Vicious,
Sivaraman99999, Skarebo, Sm8900, Smalljim, Smithu1976, Sniffles22, SoLando, Sol1869, Soliloquial, Solipsist, Some jerk on the Internet, Someguy1221, Sonoma-rich, Sparkie82, Spellcast,
SpiderJon, Spiffy sperry, Spike Wilbury, Spirit469, SquidSK, Srleffler, Starwiz, Stemonitis, Stepan Roucka, Sternenstaub, Stevenj, Stevertigo, Stonejag, Strig, Subdolous, Sunday8,
Superfreaky56, Susfele, Sushant gupta, SusikMkr, Svick, Swikid, Tamtamar, Tantalate, Tanthalas39, Tapper of spines, Teknic, Terrierhere, Tesseran, Tetracube, That Guy, From That Show!, The
ARK, The High Fin Sperm Whale, The Thing That Should Not Be, TheOriginalMexi, TheRanger, TheTrojanHought, Theda, Three1two, Tide rolls, Tigershrike, Tim Starling, Tiptoety, Tjoneslo,
Tmh, Tolly4bolly, Tommysun, Tomwsulcer, Tone, Tony Fox, TravisTX, Trelvis, Tusenfem, Tyler, Umapathy, Unbitwise, Ungtss, Unschool, V.narsikar, Van helsing, Vary, Vedant lath,
Velvetron, Vicarious, Vicki Rosenzweig, Vincent Liu, Vituzzu, Vivaviagra, Vrenator, Vsalimova, Vsmith, Vuo, W.F.Galway, Wagaf-d, Warharmer, Warpflyght, Wayne Slam, Wegesrand,
WhiteDragon, Whoville, Widr, Wiki alf, Wiki guy752, Wikiborg, Wikipedian2, Wikipelli, Wikiuser96, Wile E. Heresiarch, William Allen Simpson, Willtron, WingedSkiCap, Wizymon,
Wknight94, World-Famous K-Mart, Wysprgr2005, Xhb, Yamagawa10k, Yamamoto Ichiro, YemeniteCamel, Yoweigh, YukioSanjo, Yyy, Zachwoo, Zahakiel, Zeno Gantner, Zirland, , ,
1297 anonymous edits
Astrophysical plasma Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=543916308 Contributors: Aarghdvaark, Aeonx, Art Carlson, Bryan Derksen, Conscious, DabMachine, Dr.
Submillimeter, Enric Naval, Frietjes, Gaius Cornelius, Gene Nygaard, Headbomb, IVAN3MAN, Iantresman, Joke137, Keenan Pepper, KerathFreeman, La goutte de pluie, Previously
ScienceApologist, Qr189, Radagast83, Reddi, Saint Midge, Sakkura, Saxbryn, Shawn Worthington Laser Plasma, Tevatron, Vibhav 1, Worldtraveller, Zonder, 19 anonymous edits
BoseEinstein condensate Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=551168539 Contributors: 17Drew, 200.191.188.xxx, 2over0, 84user, Aaagmnr, Aardark, Adwaele, Akalabeth,
Akhuettel, Alfio, All Hail Hypnotoad!, AllHailZeppelin, Allium, Andi47, Anonymous 57, AppleMacReporter, AquamarineOnion, Archibald Fitzchesterfield, Arthena, Asrrin29, Astrophil,
AtheWeatherman, Avrahamleib, Awemond, Azure8472, BME-physics, Baileybrooks, Bakken, Baldoc83, Balenman, Ben Ben, BenRG, Benbest, Bender235, Bigmantonyd, BillFlis, BlaiseFEgan,
BlueMoonlet, Bogey97, Boleslaw, Brian Jackson, Brienanni, Bryan Derksen, Bugman, CRGreathouse, CYD, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, Chakazul, CharlotteWebb, Chris 73, Chrissmith,
Cjnm, Ckatz, Clarityfiend, Closedmouth, Cmossol, Coekon, Conversion script, Crazz bug 5, Cryonic07, Csingh23592, Custos0, Cyp, DARTH SIDIOUS 2, DSachan, DVdm, Darkwind, Dave6,
David Haslam, David Woodward, Dboiko, Deathgleaner, Dicklyon, Dilbert3, Dino, Dirac66, Directorstratton, Discospinster, Dogcow, Doktor Mephisto, Donarreiskoffer, DougEFresh1122,
Dr.alf, DrakeUnlimited, Dratman, Eep, Eequor, Egmontaz, Einstein9073, El C, Ellywa, ElusiveByte, Emil70, Enix150, EoGuy, Epbr123, Equendil, Erik4, Exeunt, FF2010, Fairskys, Fangz,
Feedmecereal, FelisSchrdingeris, Fiction Alchemist, Flameviper, FlappyJenkins, Fqr2010, Frank Lofaro Jr., Friginator, Fuxx, Gabbe, Gaff, Gareth Owen, Gene Nygaard, GeorgeLouis,
GeorgeMoney, Ggorelik, Giftlite, Gil987, Glaux, Glenn, Gnipahellir, Gogo Dodo, Grafikm fr, GreatWhiteNortherner, Groyolo, Grunt, Gkhan, HJ Mitchell, Haham hanuka, Hairy Dude,
Hajatvrc, Headbomb, Herbee, Hfastedge, Hichris, Howcheng, IRWolfie-, Inquisitus, Inter, Iridescent, J.delanoy, JD554, JFreeman, JMK, JV Smithy, JabberWok, Jaganath, Jakeng, Jeff3000, John
of Reading, Jojhutton, Jonverve, JorgeGG, Joriki, Josellis, Josh Grosse, Jpgordon, Jtw11, KHamsun, Kanags, Kapalama, KapilTagore, Karol Langner, Karpita, Katrielalex, Keimzelle, Kelvin
Case, Keri, Kfitzgib, King of Hearts, Kmarinas86, Kpjas, Kramer, Kyoko, Lambiam, Laurascudder, Leakeyjee, Lent1999, Lightmouse, Likebox, Limideen, Linas, Lone Isle, Loren Rosen,
LorenzoB, Lucretius, Lunaintern, Lycurgus, M-Falcon, MBlume, MC10, MITBeaverRocks, Maan361, Magioladitis, MagnaMopus, MaizeAndBlue86, Marcela louis, Martin451, Materialscientist,
Matt Gies, Matthew Yeager, Mattjball, Maymay, Mazarin07, Megaman en m, Melcombe, MetaplecticGroup, Mgiganteus1, Michael Hardy, Michael Slone, Mion, Miskaton, Mitchell26,
MonkeyMensch, Mooquackwooftweetmeow, Mr.viktor.stepanov, Mrt3366, Mxn, Myasuda, N734LQ, Natural Philosopher, Natural RX, Neil Dodgson, Neo139, Nickptar, Nickst, NightMonkey,
Nixn, Nkf31, Noisy, Northamerica1000, NuclearWarfare, Nurg, Nwinther, Obankston, OlEnglish, Olegt1, Olof, Omicronpersei8, Onorem, Orannis, Ost316, OwenX, Oxford Comma, PAR,
PaddyLeahy, Pauli133, Pete.Hurd, Phuzion, Physics16, Pion, Piotrus, Psycherevolt, Quantum 235, Quondum, Qxz, RJHall, Raistuumum, Razimantv, Reinderien, Reuqr, Rich.lewis, Rillian,
Rjwilmsi, Rm1271, Robinh, RossyMiles, Ruud Koot, Ruyn, SPat, Sadi Carnot, Sakurai23, Salmar, Sam Hocevar, Sam Van Kooten, Sasoriza, Sasquatch, Schneelocke, SchreiberBike,
SchuminWeb, Scorpion451, SebastianHelm, Serg3d2, Shade, Sinnerwiki, Sketchjoy, SkyLined, Slicky, Smjg, Snigbrook, Snowolf, Solarra, Sophosmoros, Spiff, Spinningspark, Spiralhighway,
Srleffler, Starryharlequin, Stebbins, Stevan White, SteveG23, Stuhacking, Sushant gupta, TOR, TakuyaMurata, Talon Artaine, Tarquin, Tashafairbairn, Taurrandir, Tcb Beany, TedE, Teles,
Tendays, Tethros, The Thing That Should Not Be, The.valiant.paladin, TheUfoFiles, Thegeneralguy, Thingg, ThomasK, Thumperward, Tide rolls, Tom-, Tom12519, Tonyfaull, Topher385,
Torsionalmetric, Toytoy, Trevheg, Truetyper, VectorField, Vivacissamamente, Voyajer, Vsmith, Wangi, Wavelength, WereSpielChequers, Whitepaw, Wikiborg, Wikid77, Wireader, Wknight94,
WolfmanSF, Woohookitty, Wowwii, WulfTheSaxon, Xiutwel, XxPantherNovaXx, Xyzzyplugh, ZICO, Zak.estrada, Zero over zero, 536 anonymous edits
Fermionic condensate Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=547621199 Contributors: Aeonx, Alain r, Alpha Quadrant (alt), Bluemoose, BradBeattie, CYD, Cedars, Charles
Matthews, Cimon Avaro, Difluoroethene, Dugosz, Fredrik, Fuzheado, Gdr, Glenn, Headbomb, Hellbus, Hmains, Jeffq, KHamsun, Kcordina, KnightRider, Laurascudder, Lysdexia, Majorly,
Maliz, Mbell, Mjamja, Netalarm, Nightscream, Ohconfucius, Philip Trueman, Phys, Prsephone1674, Schneelocke, SebastianHelm, Srbauer, Steuard, That Guy, From That Show!, The Help Fishy,
Usgnus, WhiteHatLurker, Xerxes314, 52 anonymous edits
Superconductivity Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=552570538 Contributors: 2over0, 52 6f 62, ASchwarz, AVand, Adwaele, Aeronautics, Agnel P.B., Ahoerstemeier,
Ahpook, Ahsbenton, Aitias, Akoufos, AlanDewey, Aleitner, Alfakim, Alias Flood, Anandaraja, Anatoly larkin, Andre Engels, Andrejj, Anoop ranjan, Arwen4014, AstroNomer, Astrobradley,
AtmanDave, AxelBoldt, Azhyd, Bakkouz, Bamse, Bertiethecat, Bkell, Bob man801, Bobblewik, Bobo192, Breadbox, Brews ohare, Brienanni, Britannic, BrokenSegue, Bryan Derksen,
Burntsauce, Bv.vasiliev, CALR, CBM, CYD, Calvin 1998, Calwiki, CambridgeBayWeather, CanadianLinuxUser, CanisRufus, Casomerville, Catcamus, Chaiken, Chaojoker, CharlesC,
Chasingsol, Chetvorno, Children of the dragon, Chim02, Christopher Thomas, Cimon Avaro, CinchBug, Citicat, Closedmouth, Cmapm, Codell, CommonsDelinker, Complexica, Connelly,
Conversion script, Coolkoon, Courtjester555, Cousins.inc, Cryoboy, Cryogenics, Csmallw, Ctiefel, Cyberpunks, Cyclonenim, DJ Clayworth, DVdm, Dalf, Dandv, Dasacus, Dave3457,
DaveOinSF, David spector, DavidLevinson, DeadEyeArrow, Deeceevoice, Deglr6328, Dgies, Dhollm, Dick Chu, Dirac66, Discospinster, Dmrmatt19, DocWatson42, Doctorpsi, Dominus,
Donarreiskoffer, DonyG, DopefishJustin, Doprendek, Dr. Universe, Dual Freq, Dugosz, E23, Editor at Large, Edward, Eep not for fat people, Egil, Elecwikiman, Elendil's Heir, Elliott-rhodes,
Embrittled, Enric Naval, Epbr123, Equazcion, Eras-mus, Evil Monkey, Eynar, FSUlawalumni, FT2, Fastfission, Felix0411, Femto, Ferkelparade, Fibonacci, Filou, Firien, Fischer.sebastian, Fish
and karate, Fittold27, Flning, Foobar, Forscite, Fosnez, Fraggle81, Fred Bauder, Furrykef, Fuzzylunkinz, GCarty, GeeJo, Gene Nygaard, Geni, Geoff Plourde, Gerrit, GiantSloth, Giftlite,
Gilderien, Ginga2, Glenn, GliderMaven, Goudzovski, GregorB, Gruntler, Guff2much, Gurch, Gwcdt, Hadal, Haj33, Hamiltondaniel, Hans Dunkelberg, Hao2lian, Harksaw, Harp, Haxwell,
Headbomb, Heller2007, Henry Delforn (old), Heron, Hightc, Hmtamza, Hqb, Hu, HumphreyW, Hydrargyrum, Hzh, IComputerSaysNo, Icairns, Ino5hiro, Irarum, JabberWok, Jan van Male,
Janolaf30, Japhet, JarahE, JasonSaulG, Jeck1335, Jeepo, Jeff3000, JeffreyRMiles, Jimw338, Jiyojolly, Jjasi, Jncraton, JoanneB, Joerg Reiher, John of Reading, JorisvS, JosephJohnCox, Josh
Parris, Joshua Davis, Jqt, Jtw11, Jubobroff, Julesd, Jwanders, K Eliza Coyne, Kaisershatner, Kam42705, Karada, Keilana, Kgf0, Kjkolb, Kmarinas86, Kostmo, Kubanczyk, Kuru, Kvng,
Kwamikagami, LMB, LSTech, LarRan, Lee, Lee Daniel Crocker, Leonard G., Leslie Mateus, Lester, Leszek Jaczuk, Light current, Lightdarkness, Limtohhan, Liquidcentre, Lokal Profil,
LouScheffer, Magister Mathematicae, Majormcmuffin, Manjish, ManosHacker, MarkPNeyer, MassimoAr, Materialscientist, Mathew10111, Matwilko, Mccready, Medeis, Melab-1, Melchoir,
Merope, Michael Hardy, Mikespedia, Mkouklis, Mojohaza1, Mollsmolyneux, MorkaisChosen, Moxfyre, MrBell, Mxn, Myscrnnm, NCurse, Names are hard to think of, Natty sci, Nbishop, Neha
simon, Neil Froschauer, Netscott, Neucleon, Ngebbett, Niceguyedc, Nigholith, Nightenbelle, Nineteenthly, NinjaDreams, Nk, Noctibus, Noommos, Nothingbutdreamer, OlavN, Oliphaunt, Oliver
brookes, Oliverdl, Olivier, Omegatron, Onopearls, Oscarthecat, Ost316, Pakaran, Papa November, Pascalf, Paul August, PaulHanson, Paulish, Pavel Vozenilek, Peter bertok, Petri Krohn, Pharaoh
of the Wizards, Phatom87, Phil Boswell, PhilHibbs, PhilipSargent, Pinethicket, Pion, Pong711, Protectionwi, Pstudier, Pwjb, Qaz123qaz, Quadell, Quarky2001, Quentar, Quintanilla, RHaworth,
RJFJR, Rama, Raschd, Reddi, Reflex Reaction, RevenDS, Richardc03, Rjwilmsi, Robinh, Rod57, Rorro, Rotational, Runewiki777, RyanLivingston, Sailsbystars, Salsb, Schmloof, Schrodingers
rabbit, Scottfisher, Searchme, Seidenstud, SeventyThree, Simon Arnold, Simonbp, Sina.zapf, Sjakkalle, SkerHawx, Skierpage, Slicky, Sligocki, Smartyllama, Snoyes, Sodapopinski, Someone42,
Spiel496, Spiralhighway, Stephan Schulz, Steven Weston, Stevenj, Stone, StradivariusTV, Subash.chandran007, THEN WHO WAS PHONE?, Takaaki, Tantalate, Tarlneustaedter, Taxman,
Article Sources and Contributors
228
Techdawg667, Tevonic, The Rambling Man, TheKMan, The_ansible, Theda, Theresa knott, Thumperward, Tiles, Tim1988, Tls60, Tobby72, Tom harrison, TomyDuby, Tonym88,
Toomontrangle, Topbanana, Traroth, Travisoto, Trekphiler, TrevorRC, Triddle, Trojancowboy, TubularWorld, Uncle Dick, Useight, UtherSRG, Van helsing, Vanished User 8a9b4725f8376,
Velella, Virtualerian, Vsmith, WMSwiki, Waleswatcher, Waveguy, Wavelength, Wertuose, Widr, WikiBaller, WikiHacker187, WikiMcGowan, Wimox, Wmahan, Wtshymanski, Wylie440,
Xantolus, Xerxes314, YBCO, Yintan, Zowie, 706 anonymous edits
BCS theory Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=550920681 Contributors: 63.225.130.xxx, Andrius.v, Anoop K Nayak, Archgoon, CYD, CanisRufus, Ccgrimm, Charles
Matthews, Chick Bowen, Christophulus, Conversion script, Count Iblis, Csmallw, DaGizza, David.s.hollman, Dipsydoo, Donarreiskoffer, Doomtroops1, Dysprosia, Eynar, Fcy,
FlorianMarquardt, Foobaz, GCarty, Giftlite, Gloriamarie, Goudzovski, Graham87, HMman, Handyunits, Headbomb, Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, Icairns, Jannikkappel, JarahE, JaredAllred, Jeff G.,
Jimw338, Jmnbpt, Jogundas Armaitis, JorisvS, Kri, Kwierschem, L Kensington, LeCire, Leo3232, Lindert, Lmatt, Loadmaster, Lowellian, MDM, Magioladitis, Masterpiece2000, Michael H 34,
Michael Hardy, NeilRubin, OlEnglish, Ospalh, Outofmine, PP Jewel, Phe, Phys, PianoDan, Pjacobi, Pt, Rich Farmbrough, Rjwilmsi, RockMagnetist, Rod57, Roo72, Rorro, Sheliak, Silvem,
Slightsmile, Stevertigo, Stevvers, Straightnochaser, Stuart Wimbush, Swarm, Tim Starling, Titus III, Tls60, Tlumaczek, Varchaswi, Venny85, Verloren, Vkvamsikrishna2, Xeltok, Ymblanter,
Zuzkafuska, 92 , anonymous edits
Neutron star Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=552662614 Contributors: "", 19.168, 84user, AMackenzie, AVM, Abb615, Acdx, Acroterion, Adrianwn, Airconswitch,
Akamad, Alain r, Alan.ca, Alansohn, Albert instine, Alemily, Alexa7890, Alfio, Algri, Alison, Amilnerwhite, Amorymeltzer, Anaxial, Anchoress, Andre Engels, Andrei Stroe, Andres, Andrew
Gray, Anonymous Dissident, Ansible, Antandrus, Anton Gutsunaev, Armbrust, Art LaPella, Arthur Rubin, Arzachel, Ashmoo, AstroNomer, Axl, BCROCE, Balcer, Bdesham, BeIsKr, Beyonda,
Biker Biker, BillC, Birbikram, Blairck, Bob 123456, Bobbuilder3, Bobzchemist, Bongwarrior, Borislav, Brandon, Brews ohare, Bryan Derksen, Bryansworld, Cababunga, Cacycle, Cadiomals,
Caid Raspa, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, Carmichael, Ceranthor, Cherlin, Chinacat, Chowder98100, Chris the speller, Chris90nz, Christopher Thomas, Cirt, Clay Juicer, Cline92, Closedmouth,
Conversion script, Coolbob2422, Craigheinke, Crispmuncher, Cst17, Czeror, Daniel Vollmer, Darth Panda, Dauto, David Gerard, DavidLevinson, Dawnseeker2000, Dayman2, Db099221,
DeNoel, Debivort, Dekaels, Delldot, Denali134, DerHexer, Dfpawlowski, Dfrg.msc, Djdaedalus, Dmattscott, Doctorwhofan2013, Doktor, Doradus, Dorftrottel, Doug Bell, Downwards, Draco2,
Druzhnik, E2eamon, Ebyabe, Edman007, Eequor, Elaak, Eleassar, Elentirno, Elfsareus, Endymi0n, Enviroboy, Eouw0o83hf, Epbr123, Erikev, Eugene chan, Exobiologist, Extra999, FFLaguna,
FalconL, Favonian, Feezo, Feitclub, Fieldday-sunday, Firsfron, FiveColourMap, Fl, Foobaz, Foxj, Fram, Furrykef, Fxer, G.Kiruthikan, GDallimore, GHe, Gail, Gaius Cornelius, Garion96, Gark,
Gene Nygaard, Geologyguy, Giftlite, Gilderien, Gimboid13, Glenn, Golbez, Greg L, GregorDS, Gspinoza, Guliolopez, Gurch, GwydionM, Haham hanuka, Hairy Dude, Hakunamenta, Hall
Monitor, Hamiltondaniel, HawkE65, Hda3ku, Headbomb, Hellbus, Herbee, Heron, Hongshi, HorsePunchKid, Huntered, IVAN3MAN, Icairns, IgWannA, Igoldste, Ilovecatsnicole,
IngerAlHaosului, Inka 888, Ioan Wynne-Jones, Iridescent, IzackN, J.delanoy, J1138fleming, J3nn r0ckz y0ur s0x, JDC, JDspeeder1, JPilborough, Jackfork, Jacob1207, Jamesmcguigan, Jauhienij,
JavinComi, Jengelh, Jheise, Jim1138, Jimduck, Jlattimer, Jman16984, JohnArmagh, JohnOwens, Jojo96, Jonathanfu, Jonik, JorisvS, Jpatros, Jsc83, Julesd, KFP, KKPie, Karol Langner,
Katalaveno, Keilana, Kheider, Kmarinas86, La goutte de pluie, Latka, Lawfulhippo, LeaveSleaves, Lights, Ligulem, Lomn, Lone St4lk3r, Looxix, LorenzoB, Lost tourist, M1ss1ontomars2k4,
MER-C, Madibootay, Mainy1996, Malber, Maniaphobic, Manning Bartlett, Marasama, Marek69, Markus Pssel, Marshallsumter, Martin451, MattieN, Mattjball, Maurice Carbonaro,
Mausy5043, Maximus Rex, Medeis, Mgiganteus1, Mhvk, Michael9422, Mike Peel, Mike Rosoft, Mikespoff, Mild Bill Hiccup, Millionsandbillions, Mindmatrix, Mirv, MithrandirAgain, Modify,
Mono, Mouagip, Moxy, Mwinog2777, Myasuda, Myrrhlin, Nacen, NeonGeniuses, Nestrs, NewEnglandYankee, Nibios, Nibuod, NickW557, Niteowlneils, Nitya Dharma, Njardarlogar, NoRad,
Noclevername, Nootron44, Northgrove, NuclearWarfare, Nwbeeson, Oerjan, OlEnglish, Olivierd, Omegatron, Ondenc, Onebravemonkey, Oo64eva, Originalwana, OverSS, PXE-M0F, Pakaran,
Palica, ParticleMan, Pascal666, Patrick1982, Peter bertok, Philip Trueman, Physicist, PieSnipa85, PlanetStar, Pne, Polyamorph, Poor Yorick, Potatoswatter, Potekhin, Pretendo, Prgrmr@wrk,
Quaoar, RBM 72, RJHall, RadicalOne, Randompoopcake, Randomtime, Raven4x4x, Reatlas, Rebrane, Red Act, Redyoshi49q, RexNL, Rich Farmbrough, Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ),
Richard L. Peterson, Richardmilgate, Ringbang, Rjd0060, Rjwilmsi, Rlclark3, Roadrunner, Robert K S, Robert Treat, Robert the Devil, Robertschulze, RonBeeCNC, Rotate, Rrburke, Rrsilbar,
Ruslik0, Russell E, Ryulong, Salsb, Sam Hocevar, Sambc, Satori, Scarian, Sceptre, SchfiftyThree, Scovetta, Sean.hoyland, Seaphoto, Sevenman, Shai-kun, Shulse123, SiriusB, Skybon,
Smithbrenon, SpaceFlight89, Spacepotato, Spam Max, SpectrumAnalyser, Stephen B Streater, Stismail, StradivariusTV, StringTheory11, Supernova87a, Svick, Sygnett, Synchronism, Tauris,
That Guy, From That Show!, The Prince of Darkness, The Yeti, TheOtherJesse, Thebeast373, Thisdick1300794318, Tide rolls, Tifaret, Tim Starling, Timwi, Tiptoety, Titoxd, Tobias Hoevekamp,
Todd, Tombomp, Traitor de, Trojancowboy, Unmerklich, Vampus, Van helsing, Vandalz0rs, Vicky.singh092, Vooz, Vsmith, Vt-aoe, Vuo, WalkinDownThirtyThree, Wavelength, Weeliljimmy,
What!?Why?Who?, Whoop whoop pull up, WikiDao, Wikianon, Wikibob, Wikicali00, Wikisteff, Wisq, WolfmanSF, Wwoods, Xcentaur, Xerxes314, Xeworlebi, Xpi6, Yamaguchi , Yath,
ZacBowling, Zacattack147, Zalgo, Zbxgscqf, Zero sharp, Zonafan39, Zucchini7, Zzzzzzzzzzz, , 663 anonymous edits
Pulsar Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=552853711 Contributors: 0utsider, 2001:558:6045:A0:391F:B005:179D:8DD9, AOL account, Ainunnajib, All Is One, Alphachimp,
Ammon.Lymphater, Anakin101, Ancheta Wis, Andrea105, Andrew Gray, Angr, AoS1014, Arsia Mons, Arthena, Ashill, Ashley Pomeroy, Attilios, AxelBoldt, Bender235, Bigdan201, Bobak,
Bongwarrior, Bonzo went to Bitburg, Brozozo, Byucougarfan, CONFIQ, CanadianLinuxUser, Chronus, Chupon, Colonies Chris, Coneslayer, Craigheinke, Cstaffa, Cuaxdon, Cuddlyopedia,
Curps, Dammit, Daniel l v, Danikolt, Davidhorman, DerHexer, Deviator13, Diego diaz espinoza, Dirac1933, Dna-webmaster, Dorftrottel, DrJolo, E0steven, Echo85, Echuck215, Elcobbola,
Elving, Epbr123, Eric Kvaalen, EricWesBrown, Esjs, Eusebeus, FT2, Fadookie, Faithlessthewonderboy, Fangfufu, Faradayplank, Fatlaserbunnys, Ferfder, Fieldday-sunday, Fkbreitl, FocalPoint,
Fotaun, Frencheigh, G.A.S, Gap9551, Garion96, Giftlite, Glen, Gluonik, Goodbye Galaxy, Grafen, Guitarman048, HPSCHD, Hairy Dude, Haiviet, Hamiltondaniel, Headbomb, Hekerui, Heoga,
IIBewegung, IRWolfie-, Iantresman, Icairns, IcedNut, Idaltu, Ignatzmice, Imareaver, InsayneWrapper, Ionesco, Irregulargalaxies, J.delanoy, JMK, Jab843, Jackfork, James McBride,
JasonAQuest, Jauhienij, Jdlambert, JeanKorte, Jebur, Jhibschman, Jicksta, Jim77742, Jm smits, Johnny Rendon, Joke137, Jorisverbiest, Julesd, Junkinbomb, Karthikramani0511, Kent Witham,
Kingpin13, Kriegman, Ktr101, La goutte de pluie, Lawrence Cohen, LiDaobing, Lightblade, Lightmouse, Linuxguymarshall, Lithium cyanide, Little Mountain 5, Littlerascal1226, LouScheffer,
Luca Naso, Lugnuts, Lunaintern, MCTales, MadGuy7023, Magioladitis, Malcohol, Malleus Fatuorum, Marco75, Marek69, Mario777Zelda, Marshallsumter, Martin451, McSaks, Melab-1, Mike
s, Mostafazizi, Mother.earth, Moxy, Mr10123, Mysid, NMChico24, Nacen, Natebarney, Negro woman from the south, Nhyty, Nick Number, Nickersonl, Njardarlogar, Noonenoes, Nuno Tavares,
Obankston, Oda Mari, Omicronpersei8, Originalwana, Otolemur crassicaudatus, PCDOS, Pablo-flores, Patrick1982, Pdn, Phusg, Pinethicket, Pixel ;-), Pmokeefe, Prari, Promethean,
Proofreader77, Psyche825, Qwfp, R-Joe, RJFJR, RJHall, RL0919, Radagast83, RadicalOne, Radix, Ravilov, RayTomes, Rbm astro, Reatlas, Recognizance, RedKnight7, Richard Arthur Norton
(1958- ), RichardYoung, Rnt20, Robinh, Rogermw, Rohrmatthew, Room429, Rothorpe, Rursus, Russell E, Ruud Koot, Ryanmcdaniel, Ryucloud, Sarahjane10784, Sargentaaron2004, Sbharris,
Sbugs, SchreiberBike, Scog, Selket, Sgottes, Siafu, Slightsmile, Smithbrenon, Spark Moon, Srleffler, Stephen Day, Stephenb, Steve Quinn, Steve ringg, StringTheory11, Stubblyhead,
SuicideRider003, Surajt88, SwisterTwister, Tangent747, Tansari24, Tauris, TenPoundHammer, Tezeti, The High Fin Sperm Whale, The Thing That Should Not Be, The Yeti, Thedjatclubrock,
Thegoodlocust, Tibfib, Tommy2010, Tomsworldtour, Toncho11, Treisijs, Trojancowboy, Tubbs334, Tubesidiom, TubularWorld, Tusixoh, Twang, Twas Now, U.yildiz, UBeR,
Under22Entreprenuer, UnitedStatesian, Useight, Van helsing, Vegasbri, Venus19000, Viridae, Whytecypress, Wikipedia brown, Wtshymanski, Wwheaton, Yakeyglee, Yamamoto Ichiro, Ygukhi,
Yintan, Zaharous, Zantan mpg, Zunaid, Zyxwvutsrqp, Zzzzzzzzzzz, , , , 339 anonymous edits
Magnetar Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=551594374 Contributors: 11cookeaw1, 1234567890Number, 2over0, AMCKen, Aarghdvaark, Adambro, Aldie, Ale And Quail,
Alex.tan, Alex17nico, Algri, Andre Engels, Anonymous Dissident, Anville, AstroHurricane001, Avriette, Banedon, Barsoomian, Bduke, Belg4mit, Ben Ben, Berean Hunter, Bilby, BillFlis, Bkell,
Bobblewik, Borislav, Borock, Brian0918, Bryan Derksen, Caliprincess, Chris the speller, Christopher Thomas, Colonies Chris, Croberts, Curps, Danim, Dark Shikari, Dawnseeker2000, Decora,
Dreish, Driftwoodzebulin, Ekrumme, Evercat, Fig wright, Flex, Fxer, Fxm12, G1VaE, Gark, Garrett.rinpoche, Gene Nygaard, Gengiskanhg, GirasoleDE, Glenn, Gpvos, GregorB, Gruber, Harold
f, Harp, Headbomb, Hellbus, Hephaestos, HorsePunchKid, Howardjp, Hydrargyrum, I do not exist, IVAN3MAN, Icairns, Iggymwangi, Ixfd64, JH-man, Jachin, James McBride, Jamesbootman,
Jaximili, Jehochman, Jimp, John of Reading, Jok2000, Jquarry, Kaini, Kanags, Karthikramani0511, Katydidit, Kazvorpal, Kingturtle, Krash, Ktr101, Ligulem, Logan.Phospholipid, Looxix,
LorenzoB, Maha ts, Marx01, Masqline, MichaelVernonDavis, Mini-Geek, Moe Epsilon, Mogism, Moosewag, Moxy, Myasuda, Nacen, NatureA16, Newone, Night Gyr, Noca2plus,
Ohnoitsjamie, Patrick1982, Persiancowboy, Peter bertok, Phil Boswell, Piano non troppo, Potekhin, ProfessorPaul, Psycardis, Qbert203, RJFJR, Rami radwan, Rcduncan, Rich Farmbrough,
Rickard Vogelberg, Rjwilmsi, Rothorpe, Royalmate1, Rursus, Russell E, Ryo, Salsa Shark, Salsb, Samyeah, Sangrolu, Sdsds, Smithbrenon, Smocking, Sonicology, Soulkeeper, Sray,
StarWarsFan1022, Steve Hart, Stevelinton, StringTheory11, Sudachi, Sweetmoose6, Telempe, The Yeti, Thiseye, Thorwald, Thric3, Tim Starling, Tjkiesel, Treisijs, Tubbs334, Westerlund1,
Wetman, Wizzy, Writingplanet, Xanzzibar, Yellowdesk, Zentropa, 165 anonymous edits
Quarkgluon plasma Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=552165000 Contributors: 1812ahill, 2001:db8, 28421u2232nfenfcenc, 4th-otaku, Ae77, Anthony Appleyard, Art
Carlson, Axl, Bambaiah, Bender235, Bradkittenbrink, Brews ohare, Cal 1234, CecilWard, Charles Matthews, CheekyMonkey, Chemya, Chris the speller, Ciceronibus, Cmdrjameson,
CommonsDelinker, Cyde, Dark Formal, David Edgar, David Newton, Deglr6328, Dmytro, Eb.eric, Enric Naval, Ethron, False vacuum, Fangfufu, Fences and windows, Firsfron, Flaming, Foice,
Fwb22, GregorB, Grendelkhan, Hairy Dude, Headbomb, Healyhatman, Hellbus, Herbee, HorsePunchKid, Hu, IVAN3MAN, Ilmari Karonen, J.delanoy, Jag123, Jbergquist, Jeepday,
JerryFriedman, Jesanj, Johann137, Joriki, Kalmiopsiskid, Karada, KasugaHuang, Khazar, Kmarinas86, Knowledge Seeker, Logan, Mako098765, Maros, Maurice Carbonaro, Meier99, Michael C
Price, Michael Hardy, Mjamja, Mnkyman, Momo Hemo, Mpatel, Mstrickl, MuDavid, Mushin, NawlinWiki, Naxuesen, Naznin farhah, Neier, Nick Number, Nihiltres, OlEnglish, Oldnoah, Pagw,
Pamputt, PeterSymonds, Petr Matas, Phys, Ptrslv72, Puzl bustr, Qmark42, Raktimabir, Rangoon11, Rick Block, Ruslik0, SDC, Saehry, SalGiandinoto, Salsb, Sam Korn, Savant13,
SebastianHelm, Shawn Worthington Laser Plasma, Silly rabbit, Silversmith, Skizzik, SkyLined, Squash, SqueakBox, Stepa, Stormcloud51090, Supercrisis, Taw, Theopolisme, Thunderhippo,
Tide rolls, Tom.Reding, Triwbe, Truthnlove, Vampus, Van helsing, Vuo, Wavelength, Xeno, Ybbor, Yill577, Yiosie2356, Ylai, Yuriybrisk, 147 , anonymous edits
QCD matter Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=541125136 Contributors: "", 23790AD, Anwarwaseem, Archelon, Army1987, Bambaiah, Beasticles, Brews ohare, Ceyockey,
Curb Chain, Dan Gluck, Dark Formal, Davidfstr, Dhollm, Eumolpo, FT2, Fences and windows, Gerasime, Goudzovski, GregorB, Hairy Dude, Headbomb, HiB2Bornot2B, Igodard,
IngerAlHaosului, Ixfd64, Jmath666, Johann137, KP-Adhikari, Kazvorpal, Leapfrog314, LokiClock, Mac Davis, Martarius, Maurice Carbonaro, Mcneile, Mgiganteus1, Mnmngb, Mogism,
Naviguessor, Nekura, Niteowlneils, OlEnglish, Ordovico, Rbwolf, SCZenz, Salsb, SeventyThree, SteelSoul, The Land, TimothyRias, Vuo, Wavelength, WhiteDragon, WolfmanSF, Xerxes314,
43 anonymous edits
Gluon Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=539430720 Contributors: 217.126.156.xxx, Abtal, Against the current, Ahoerstemeier, Alansohn, Anclation, Anonymous Dissident,
April Arcus, AxelBoldt, BD2412, Bambaiah, Batmanand, Bci2, Benjaminevans82, Brews ohare, Bryan Derksen, Bubba73, CYD, Cacadril, Cadiomals, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, Card,
Article Sources and Contributors
229
Cessator, Conversion script, D.shinkaruk, Dachannien, Danlaycock, Darkpoison99, Darrien, Davehi1, David Schaich, Decltype, Deflective, Donarreiskoffer, DrHjmHam, EJF, Edconrad, Eequor,
El C, Ellywa, Erudy, FredrickS, Gdarin, Giftlite, Gombang, Gordon Ecker, Gravitoweak, Gregbard, Guy Harris, HEL, Hadal, Hairy Dude, Hans Dunkelberg, Happycool, Headbomb, HedgeHog,
Herbee, Icairns, Imasleepviking, Inwind, Ioliver, JKeck, JSquish, JabberWok, Jimp, Jonthaler, Kazvorpal, Kbdank71, Keith Edkins, Kenny TM~, Kriak, Kwamikagami, Lilcal89012, Looxix,
MK8, Macumba, Maplelanefarm, Martynas Patasius, Mashford, Med, Melchoir, Merovingian, Mike Peel, Mike Rosoft, Mother.earth, Mpatel, Mujokan, Neil95, Nucularphysicist, Obradovic
Goran, Omsharan, Oreo Priest, Ottava Rima, PNG, Paine Ellsworth, Palica, Pekayer11, Phil Boswell, Phys, Physicsdavid, Planlips, ProfessorPaul, Qcdmaestro, Qsaw, Randolf Richardson,
Ravedave, RetiredUser2, RexxS, Rhlozier, Ricky81682, Rjwilmsi, RolteVolte, Rriegs, SCZenz, Salsb, Schneelocke, Shambolic Entity, Sheliak, Skippy le Grand Gourou, SkyLined, Srleffler,
Steven Zhang, Strait, StringTheory11, TakuyaMurata, Timothy jordan, Triclops200, TyA, Velella, Wavelength, Wwheaton, Xerxes314, Yaara dildaara, Yill577, Zelmerszoetrop, 163 anonymous
edits
Hadron Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=550040964 Contributors: 24.253.100.xxx, Acepectif, Adriaan, Aitias, Ajahnjohn, Alarichus, Alexllew, Amaamaddq, Anonymous
Dissident, Ansans, Antixt, Apparition11, Audriusa, Authoritative Physicist, Bambaiah, BenRG, Benjaminevans82, Bevo, Bobxii, Br77rino, Bryan Derksen, Chris Longley, ChrisGualtieri,
Chrumps, Conversion script, Cookiemobsta, DV8 2XL, Dagus2000, Danthewhale, DariusU, Darkwind, Davemck, Deflective, Dingar, Don4of4, Donarreiskoffer, Dratman, Drilnoth, Dylan
bossart, ESnyder2, Edward, Ehn, Ehrenkater, El C, El planeto, Enviroboy, Eog1916, Epbr123, Eratticus, Erik Zachte, Fangfyre, FrankTobia, Fruge, Fwb22, Gcm, Giftlite, Gil987, Glenn,
Goochelaar, Goudzovski, GrouchyDan, Hadron12, Headbomb, Hugh Hudson, Hydrargyrum, I dream of horses, Icairns, Insanity Incarnate, InternetMeme, JVersteeg, JarahE, Javert, Jbeans,
Jebus0, JesseW, Jimaginator, JohnSawyer, Johnshnappay, Jtuggle, Kaiba, Kbdank71, Khalid Mahmood, Kinkydarkbird, Kinu, Kokot.kokotisko, Korath, Koshoid, Kusma, Kwamikagami,
LOLx9000, Lazarus1907, LeadSongDog, LeaveSleaves, LiDaobing, Linas, Livajo, Lvwarren, Mana Excalibur, Manning Bartlett, Mashmeister, Maurice Carbonaro, Merovingian, Mike Rosoft,
Modify, My cat's breath smells like catfood, NE2, Naval Scene, NawlinWiki, Naznin farhah, NeverWorker, Nibios, Nikai, Njavallil, Ojigiri, Olya, Omnipaedista, Paolo.dL, Persian Poet Gal,
Peterlin, Pfeiferwalter, Phys, Physicist, Pinkadelica, Pkkphysicist, Possum, Pthompson, Q43, RadicalOne, Radishes, Rebroad, RexNL, Rishi.bedi, Rod57, Ron2, Rotational, Rustyfence, SCZenz,
SJCrew, Salsb, Sciencedude9998, Scriber, Sgpsaros, Shanes, SkyMachine, Strait, StringTheory11, Sunborn, Sunray, TakuyaMurata, Tayste, Telempe, Template namespace initialisation script,
Thingg, Thinking of England, Thisaccountwillbebanned, TimothyRias, Tjbright2, Tommy2010, Topbanana, Trapezoidal, Tuchomator, Twang, Useight, Velella, Vsmith, Vuo, Walterpfeifer,
Way2Smart22, Wiki alf, Wikid77, Wjhonson, Wordsmith, Wwheaton, Wwmbes, Xerxes314, Y2H, , , 182 anonymous edits
Quark Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=552569377 Contributors: 123456789malm, 128.104.137.xxx, 2001:770:10:300:0:0:86E2:5103, 24.253.100.xxx, 2T, 336, 879(CoDe),
A. di M., A5, ABF, ANOMALY-117, AOEU Warrior, AVand, Aadal, Aarchiba, Abduallah mohammed, Abdullais4u, Abeg92, AbigailAbernathy, Ace42, Addshore, AgadaUrbanit,
Ahoerstemeier, Aigarius, Aillema, Airplaneman, Akcarver, Akriasas, Alansohn, Alex2510, Algebra, Alison, Allstarecho, Amble, Ameliorate!, AnOddName, Anastrophe, Ancheta Wis, Andonic,
Andre Engels, AndriyK, Anonymous Dissident, Anupam, Anville, Arbor to SJ, ArchStanton69, Army1987, Arthur Quark, Atif.t2, AxelBoldt, Axezz, Azcolvin429, B jonas, BBandHB,
Bambaiah, Banus, Barak90, Bazza 7, Bci2, Beardo, Before My Ken, Ben-Zin, Bender235, Benjonson, Bentogoa, Bevo, Beyazid, Bigfun, Bility, Bkell, Bobo192, Bodhitha, Bongwarrior,
Bookaneer, Bossrat, Brazmyth, Bremen, Brews ohare, BrianWilloughby, Brianboulton, Bryan Derksen, C S, C.Fred, CE9958, CWii, Calmer Waters, Calrfa Wn, Caltas,
CambridgeBayWeather, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, Captain Courageous, Captain-tucker, Card, Casliber, CesarB, Cflm001, Chaos, Cheeseequalsyum, Chiechiecheist, Choonkiat.lee,
Chotarocket, Christoph Scholz, Chronitis, Cjean42, Closedmouth, CloudNine, Colonies Chris, CommonsDelinker, Conversion script, Coppertwig, CosineKitty, Crosbiesmith, Cryptic C62,
Crystal whacker, Crzrussian, Cuzkatzimhut, Cybercobra, Cyktsui, DJ Clayworth, DJ1AM, DRosenbach, DVdm, Dabomb87, Daggersteel10, Dahn, Danlaycock, Dante Alighieri, Dataphiliac,
Dauto, Davehi1, Davidiad, Dbzfrk15146, Dealer77, Deflective, Dekisugi, DelphinidaeZeta, Deltabeignet, Denis tarasov, DerHexer, Derek Ross, Devilist666, DexDor, Dhatfield, Dna-webmaster,
Dobromila, Docu, Don4of4, Donarreiskoffer, Dorvaq, DoubleBlue, Doug Bell, Dragonfiremage, Drestros power, Duskbrood, Dustybunny, Dysprosia, Ed g2s, Edconrad, Edgar181, Edge1212,
Edward, Ego White Tray, Eklipse, El C, Elandra, Elcobbola, Eldaran, Eleuther, Elfguy, Elliot100, Elroch, Epbr123, Ernsts, Eubulides, Evil Monkey, Exteray, Extruder, FJPB, Fangfyre,
Ferdyshenko, FergalG, Fwb22, GDallimore, GSlicer, Gail, Gareth Owen, Gary King, Giants2008, Giftlite, Giggy, Gilderien, Gilisa, Gilliam, Gimmetrow, Gintautasm, Glacialfox, Glenn, Glopso,
Gogo Dodo, Graham87, GrahamColm, Grahamec, Guguma5, Guillaume2303, Gunjan verma81, Guy Harris, Gwernol, HEL, Hairy Dude, Hallenrm, Happy-melon, Harland1, Harp, Headbomb,
Heathhunnicutt, Hello789, Herbee, Heron, Hfastedge, Hgpot, Himynameisdumb, Hoho, Holme053, Hurricanefan25, Husond, Icairns, Ice Ardor, Iceblock, Ikip, Incnis Mrsi, Inertiatic076, Insanity
Incarnate, InverseHypercube, J-Wiki, J.delanoy, JForget, JabberWok, Jackol, Jackvancs, JarlaxleArtemis, Jayen466, Jbeans, Jbmurray, Jbryancoop, Jdlambert, Jeff DLB, Jeff02, Jeffrey Mall,
Jeffreyts11, Jengod, Jigesh, Jim1138, Jimp, Jiy, John Darrow, John of Reading, John254, Johnbibby, Jojit fb, Jonathan Karlsson, Jonesey95, Jpacold, Jrobbinz123, Jrockley, Jschnur, Jtle515,
Julesd, Jwanders, Jna runn, KJBurns, Kaldari, Kamickalo, KaragouniS, Katanada, Kay Dekker, Kazvorpal, Kbdank71, Ke garne, Keegan, Keenan Pepper, Keilana, Kevin, Kevinmon, Khukri,
Knowledge Seeker, Kusma, Kwamikagami, LOL, Lancer, Lando Calrissian, Laurascudder, LeBofSportif, Leafyplant, Leflyman, Lights, LilHelpa, Linas, Lissajous, Loadmaster, Logical2u,
Looie496, Looxix, Lpgeffen, Lupin, Lysdexia, MD87, MER-C, MINTOPOINT, Mac Davis, MacsBug, Magioladitis, Majora4, Mallorn, Mancune2001, Mani1, Manofgrass, Maplelanefarm,
Marasama, Marek69, Marioedesouza, Markus Pssel, Materialscientist, Matt McIrvin, Mav, Maxtitan, Mbalelo, Mediran, Merovingian, Metacomet, Mgiganteus1, Michael C Price,
MichaelMaggs, Mike Christie, Mike Peel, Mindmatrix, Miquonranger03, Mmxx, Mogigoma, Moncrief, Monedula, MonkeyFoo, Montrealais, Mqjjb30e, Mr. Billion, Muhends, Mydogpwnsall,
Mygerardromance, Nanobug, Nathanwesley3, NawlinWiki, Nbarth, NeoPhyteRep, Nergaal, Nev1, Newone, Ngexpert5, Ngexpert6, Ngexpert7, NickGarvey, Nihiltres, Nikbuz, Njavallil, Nk,
Noetica, Nousernamesleft, Nrcprm2026, NuclearWinner, Nunh-huh, O'Dea, Obradovic Goran, Olathe, Oldnoah, Ollieho, Ops101ex, OrangeDog, Orion11M87, Paine Ellsworth, Palica,
PaulTanenbaum, Paulfriedman7, Pentalis, Peterlin, Peyre, Phantomsteve, Phil Boswell, PhySusie, Phys, Physics one, PierreAbbat, Pietdesomere, Piledhigheranddeeper, Pinethicket, Piotrus, Pitke,
Pkoppenb, Planlips, Pmokeefe, Poeloq, Psycherevolt, PxT, Quarksci, Qxz, RG2, RJHall, RSStockdale, RadicalOne, Randolf Richardson, Rangelov, Ravi12346, Reaper Eternal, Renverse, RexNL,
Rich Farmbrough, Richard L. Peterson, Rishab021, Rjwilmsi, RobJ1981, RobertG, Robertbyrne, Robprain, RoddyYoung, RojoEsLardo, Romit3, Ronhjones, Rsocol, Ruslik0, Ryan032, SCZenz,
SJP, SUPRATIM DEY, Saintlucifer2008, Saintswithin, Sallicio, SallyForth123, SallyScot, Salsb, Sam boron100, Sanders muc, SandyGeorgia, Sbharris, Sceptre, Schapel, Schneelocke,
ScottDavis, Scwlong, Sean.hoyland, Searsshoesales, Seresin, ShaunMacPherson, Sheliak, Shijualex, Shmomuffin, Silly rabbit, Sjorford, SkyLined, Slightsmile, SmokeyTheCat, Snowolf, Soap,
SocratesJedi, Some jerk on the Internet, Son of the right hand, Sonic h, Sopranosmob781, SpNeo, Spike Wilbury, SpyMagician, Srich32977, Sriharsh1234, Steve Quinn, Stoneymufc29,
Superpenguin1984, Susvolans, Synchronism, T Long, TKD, Tanvirzaman, Tarotcards, TeaDrinker, Texture, Thasaidon, That Guy, From That Show!, The Anome, The Thing That Should Not Be,
The Vector Kid, TheDoober, TheLemon1234, Thebannana, Tide rolls, Tiggydong, Timothy jordan, TimothyRias, Timwi, TomasBat, Tony1, TonyW, TriTertButoxy, Triona, Tripledot,
Truthnlove, Turian, Tyco.skinner, Tylerni7, Typewritten, Ugur Basak, Ukexpat, UtherSRG, Vainamainien, Vanished User 8a9b4725f8376, Vaughan Pratt, Vayalir, Veinor, Vicki Rosenzweig,
Vicki breazeale, VivaEmilyDavies, Vroo, Vuerqex, Vvarkey, WAS 4.250, Waggers, Walterpfeifer, Wankybanky, Wavelength, Wayward, Wdfarmer, Wdyoung, Weekendpartier,
WereSpielChequers, Widsith, WikiDao, Wikipelli, Wikitroll12345, Wimt, Winchelsea, Wisq, WolfmanSF, Worm That Turned, Worth my salt, Wotnow, Wronkiew, Wwheaton, X!, Xeno
malleus, Xerxes314, Xi rho, Yamamoto Ichiro, Yomangan, Yotcmdr, Yurik, ZICO, Zfr, Ziggurat, Zoe, , , 892 anonymous edits
Baryon Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=540719819 Contributors: 0, 128.196.133.xxx, ABCD, Ae77, Alan Peakall, Antixt, Artichoker, Ash, Atomician, AxelBoldt,
Bambaiah, BatteryIncluded, Ben MacDui, Ben-Zin, Bevo, Bigmantonyd, Bobo192, BrianADesmond, Bryan Derksen, Bugbrain 04, CalumH93, Charles Matthews, Chekaz, Diamond2,
DocWatson42, Doctorfluffy, Donarreiskoffer, DragonHawk, Dratman, Drphilharmonic, Dugosz, E2m, El C, ElusiveByte, Ergzay, Erkcan, Ethaniel, Gary King, Giftlite, Glenn, Hamiltondaniel,
Hcobb, Headbomb, Herbee, Heron, Hveziris, Icairns, JSquish, Jimp, John of Reading, JohnArmagh, Jonhstone12, Kaldari, Kbdank71, Kingdon, Korath, Kristof vt, Kseferovic, Lainagier,
LeadSongDog, Lou427, Mani1, Marioedesouza, Markinvancouver, Materialscientist, Maurice Carbonaro, Maxim Razin, Merovingian, Michael C Price, Mxn, Nightscream, NoiseEHC, Ojigiri,
Oleg Alexandrov, Oo64eva, Orionus, OwenBlacker, Paolo.dL, Paul A, Phys, Physicistjedi, Physicsdog, Plantsurfer, Previously ScienceApologist, R'n'B, R.e.b., Rich Farmbrough, SCZenz, Salsa
Shark, Salsb, Saxophlute, Sbyrnes321, Shadow1, ShaunMacPherson, Simen, Spartaz, Spellage, Stibu, StringTheory11, Sunray, Swpb, Tearmeapart, Template namespace initialisation script,
Tevatron, Tgeairn, Tim Starling, Timotheus Canens, Tobias Hoevekamp, Tompw, Torrazzo, Traroth, TrufflesTheLamb, TubularWorld, Verdy p, WaysToEscape, Wierdw123, Woohookitty,
Xerxes314, 105 anonymous edits
Degenerate matter Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=551390324 Contributors: 2, 84user, Alan Peakall, Aldaron, Anescient, Anomalocaris, Ashmoo, AstroNomer, Bender235,
Brews ohare, Brithans, Bryan Derksen, CYD, Captain Quirk, Chief buffalo chip, ChowRiit, ChrisGualtieri, Christopher Thomas, ChristopherWillis, Conscious, Dan East, Dark Formal,
Denisarona, Dirac1933, Dirac66, DocWatson42, Donarreiskoffer, Donreed, Doradus, Dsmith77, Enormousdude, Entropy1963, Erixmix, Eyu100, Fkmusgrave, Garyzx, Gene Nygaard, Grokmoo,
HarmonicSphere, Headbomb, Hede2000, Hellbus, Holme053, Hunnjazal, INick3, Jaganath, Jheise, John Newbury, JorisvS, Julesd, Julian.cancino, Just plain Bill, Kallog, Karch, Kevinpeck,
Kgbudge, Killing Vector, Kmarinas86, Kurgus, Lainagier, Lechatjaune, Leperous, Linas, Liquidmetalrob, Lycurgus, MajorVariola, Mardhil, Masterblooregard, Mhenriday, Michael Hardy,
Mindmatrix, Modify, Mossmanj, Myanw, Newone, Nickkid5, Olof, Pauli133, Percommode, Phynisha 25, Quondum, RG2, RJFJR, Rnt20, Roadrunner, Seeleschneider, Shawn Worthington Laser
Plasma, SkyLined, Sofar 2, Sschongster, Stephan Leeds, Steve98052, StrontiumDogs, Su-no-G, SuperHamster, Superborsuk, TSO1D, Tealwisp, Tim314, Tomdo08, Trevayne08, Trovatore,
Vhann, VivaEmilyDavies, Voyajer, Vranak, Warren Dew, WhiteDragon, Wikipedia brown, WolfmanSF, Wragge, WurmWoode, Ytrottier, Zedshort, ZeroOne, Zoicon5, 122 anonymous edits
Lepton Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=541849979 Contributors: A5, Abdullais4u, AgadaUrbanit, Ahoerstemeier, Ahruman, Alexeymorgunov, Andre Engels, Andy2308,
Anonymous Dissident, Antixt, Arjun01, Autotheist, Az29, Bambaiah, Bazza 7, Bcorr, Ben-Zin, Betterusername, Braincricket, Bryan Derksen, Casliber, Celebere, Ceoyoyo, Chris j wood,
ClockworkLunch, Cmj91uk, Complexica, Computerjoe, DannyWilde, DeadEyeArrow, DerekWinters, Dmuth, DocWatson42, Donarreiskoffer, Dysprosia, Ehrenkater, Erkcan, Fibonacci, Fruge,
Fwappler, Galaktiker, Giftlite, Giraffedata, Glenn, Gombang, HEL, Hamiltondaniel, Happy-melon, Harp, Headbomb, Herbee, Heron, Hmains, I hate whitespace, ICAPTCHA, Icairns, Icalanise,
IceUnshattered, Imc, J.delanoy, Jacob.jose, Jaxl, Jaysbro, Jhb110, John of Reading, Jrockley, Julesd, Katagun5, Knutux, Kurtan, LiDaobing, LucasVB, Macedonian, Manu-ve Pro Ski, Martinl,
Mastorrent, MathFacts, Maxim Sabalyauskas, Meno25, Mentifisto, Merovingian, Mesons, Michael C Price, Mike Rosoft, Mindmatrix, Mocirne, Mom2jandk, Morwen, Muhends, Mxn, Myasuda,
Neonumbers, NeverWorker, Newton2, Ngexpert7, NicoSan, Num1dgen, Numbo3, OlEnglish, Ouzo, Peterl, Phil Boswell, Photocopier, PierreAbbat, Planlips, Prasanna4s, RadicalOne, Radiojon,
RetiredUser2, Rjwilmsi, RobPlatt, SCZenz, Salsb, Sbyrnes321, Scimath Genius, Simon M, Smalljim, Smjg, Smoggyrob, Snigbrook, Spike Wilbury, Steveprutz, Strait, StringTheory11, Surajt88,
Sysin, Tetracube, That Guy, From That Show!, TimothyRias, Tormine, TriTertButoxy, TubularWorld, Tyler6360534, Wikiborg, Woohookitty, Xavic69, Xerxes314, Yevgeny Kats, ..24,
198 anonymous edits
Antimatter Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=552831101 Contributors: 0rangotang0, 1068411lck, 119, 1300cjs, 136.186.1.xxx, 142.177.93.xxx, 1exec1, 200.191.188.xxx,
212.186.255.xxx, 28421u2232nfenfcenc, 4.54.210.xxx, 83d40m, 84user, A. di M., ANTIcarrot, Academic Challenger, Acalamari, Agentbonbon, Agesworth, Aguyforyou, Aj8uppal, Alan
Article Sources and Contributors
230
Liefting, Alansohn, AlbertHall, AlexGWU, Alexander336, Alexbowyer, Alexf, Alhutch, Alibaba, Alphachimp, Alphachrome, Amakuru, Amaurea, Amaury, Amcbride, AnOddName,
AnOddShaman, Andre Engels, Andrel, Android Mouse, Antandrus, Anthony Appleyard, Anti-Chronon, Antimattersquared, Apostrophe, Archer7, Arctic Night, ArglebargleIV, ArnoldReinhold,
Arthena, AussieBoy, Austin123457, Ayla, B0at, BGManofID, Bachrach44, Bambaiah, Bananaclaw, Bart133, BashM, Bassbonerocks, Beamjockey, Beckett25, Becritical, Bejnar, BenFrantzDale,
BenKovitz, Bender235, Bennirubber, Bill Papa, Bill of rights1-10, Bill37212, Blackserenity, Bletch, Bobblewik, Bobo192, Bobttla, Bongwarrior, Bootedcat, Brambleclawx, Brandmeister (old),
Brews ohare, Bryan Derksen, BryanJones, Bsadowski1, Bubba73, Buda55x, C1k3, C628, CDN99, Cal 1234, CambridgeBayWeather, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, Cannywizard,
Captain-tucker, CardinalDan, Carlitosrosario, Carloschavez, Ccw412, Cenarium, Centurion328, Cfslattery1, Chairboy, CharlesC, Charmed4ever, Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry, Chasingsol,
Che fox, Childarsonist, Chinyboy123, Chris857, ChrisGualtieri, Christopher Thomas, Chuckie.awesome, Ciaran H, Cl8936, Cobaltcigs, Conversion script, Cookiemobsta, Cooldude7273, Corpx,
CosineKitty, Count Iblis, Courcelles, Crimson Enk, Cructacean, Crywalt, Cs302b, Cscseccot, D0762, DA3N, DARTH SIDIOUS 2, DHN, DJ Sturm, DJBullfish, DKqwerty, DRE, DTR, DV8
2XL, Dammit, Dana boomer, Daniel Case, Daniel Olsen, Darkfred, Dauto, Davidhorman, Db099221, Dbfirs, DeathRidesAhorse, Deglr6328, Delirium, DemonThing, DerHexer, Deror avi,
Dethdeeler, Dhardtke, Dhesi, Discospinster, DivineAlpha, Dljazz, Dlohcierekim, DocRuby, DocWatson42, Doceddi, Doczilla, Domitori, Doulos Christos, DragonflySixtyseven, Dreadstar,
Dreish, Drmies, Dsfsdfsdf, Dsmith7707, Dyslexic agnostic, Dysprosia, EEMIV, EbaumsHellYeah, Edc343, Edgar181, Edison, Eeekster, Eipakten, Eisnel, El Cid, El estremeu, Elroch,
Emperorbma, Empty2005, Emstidor, EnglishEfternamn, Enigmaman, Enviroboy, Epbr123, Erfa, Erik4, Esprit15d, Eternalmonkey, Evanissowrong, Evercat, Evil saltine, Excirial, Executor
Tassadar, Extransit, EyeSerene, Eyu100, FT2, Fabricationary, Facts707, Fastfission, Fcy, Fdodelap, Fett0001, Fiziker, Fizzackerly, Fleminra, Flyguy649, FoeNyx, Foober, Fraggle81, Fragglet,
Frazzydee, Fredil Yupigo, Friginator, Frymaster, Furrykef, GHe, Gaius Cornelius, Gandalf61, Gary King, Gawdl3y, Gdrg22, Geeoharee, Gene Nygaard, Giftlite, Gilliam, GlassLadyBug, Glenn,
Goudzovski, GregorB, Grifter tm, Grouchyowl, Gtdp, Gzabers, H0dges, Hadal, HaeB, Hah tea bag, Halmstad, Ham12343, HamburgerRadio, Hamiltondaniel, HappyCamper, Harp, Headbomb,
Herbee, Herk1955, Hhhippo, Hiding, Hmoul, Hoult66, Hteen, Hustvedt, Hypnosifl, Ian Pitchford, Ianneub, Idont Havaname, Ihope127, Ilithi Dragon, Illuusio, ImmortalKnight, Ingolfson,
Intangir, Iothiania, Iridescence, Irie212, Itinerant, J.delanoy, JDspeeder1, JFM, JLaTondre, JPMcGrath, JSquish, JaGa, JabberWok, Jaedza, JamesBWatson, Javajunkiewa, Jcarroll, Jdmitr2nr,
JediMaster362, Jeffq, JfLowell, Jh51681, JiFish, Jim10701, Jimp, Jnate19, JoergenB, John of Reading, JohnBoyTheGreat, Jorgenev, JorisvS, JosieSmosie, Jossi, Jos Gnudista, Jpk, Jrockley,
Jsjunkie, Jtkiefer, Jumping cheese, Justintime32, Kaisershatner, Karlheg, Karlwilbur, Karol Langner, Kchishol1970, Keenan Pepper, Keepsleeping, KenFehling, Kentaru z, King of Hearts,
Kingdom heartless, Klilidiplomus, Klotus7, Knowledge Seeker, Knutux, Krellis, Kungfuadam, KuroTatsuijin, Kvng, Kyutieboi, L Kensington, Landon1980, LeaveSleaves, Leonard^Bloom,
Lighted Match, Ligulem, Linuxmatt, Livajo, Lone Isle, Lotu, LouScheffer, Luk, Lumpio-, Lynch82, MECU, MONGO, Maalyex, Macbookair3140, Magister Mathematicae, Magnus Manske,
Mako098765, Mannafredo, Marasama, Mark, Martin451, Marzs, Massen, Matt Gies, Mattbr, MattieTK, Maxis ftw, McSly, Meaghan, Meelar, Mellery, Meph0, Mermaid from the Baltic Sea,
MetroCentral, Mh, Mhowkins, Mhsb, Michael Hardy, MichaelTinkler, Michaelmas1957, Midlandman, MidnightWolf, Mike Rosoft, Mikieminnow, Mindmatrix, Minesweeper, Mipadi, Miroku
Sanna, Mister Macbeth, Modern Democritus, Mont95, Mormegil, Mortense, Morwen, Mother.earth, MottyGlix, Moulder, MrXow, Mrtangent, Ms2ger, Munkay, Mussnoon, MyNikko, NCDane,
Naipicnirp, Nakon, Nburden, Nelon123, Neparis, NewEnglandYankee, Nick b 89, Nightscream, Nimbex, Nivix, Nk, Nleseul, Noimnotokay, Nonagonal Spider, Nuclear power plank,
NuclearWarfare, Oakmontowls, Od Mishehu, Ohwilleke, OlEnglish, Oleg Alexandrov, Omegatron, Onorem, Oore, Optimist on the run, Orchestral, Originalwana, Ost316, Ostertag, Ouro,
Oxymoron83, Ozuma, Pak21, Paleo1, Palica, Papadopc, Parklandspanaway, Patrick, Paulamicela, Pepve, Peter L, Phil Boswell, Philip Trueman, Phys, Piano non troppo, Pigman3211, Pion,
Piotrus, Pjacobi, Pjstewart, Plasticup, Powerzilla, Pretzelpaws, Previously ScienceApologist, Prototime, Proxima Centauri, Qwertyus, RG2, RHugh-baa, RJHall, RadicalOne, Rajrajmarley,
RandomStringOfCharacters, RaptorHunter, Rayray59063, ReCover, Rebroad, Rei, RenamedUser01302013, RexNL, Rhysis, Rich Farmbrough, Richard001, Rjwilmsi, RobJ1981, Robert K S,
Robert Merkel, Robma, Rocketrye12, Rodri316, Roentgenium111, Ronline, Rory096, RoryFilberg1102, RoyBoy, Rrburke, Rreagan007, Rsquire3, Ryantrudeau, S Quinn, SJ71, Sabariajay,
Sakkura, Sandraobianwuzia, Savidan, ScAvenger, ScarletSpiderfan, Scetoaux, Scottib, Seahorseruler, SebastianHelm, ShadeofTime09, Shadowjams, Shanes, Shawnc, Shoo tsukino, Silence,
Simnia, SimonP, Simonstone, Siryendor, Sissysue, Sj, Skeletor 0, Skomorokh, SkyLined, Skydiver, Slaughter182, Sligocki, Sneakums, Some jerk on the Internet, Sparkit, Sparkygravity, Special
Cases, Spellcast, Spiesr, Spinningspark, Spoxjox, Srleffler, Starghost, Stephen Compall, Stephenb, Stephenchou0722, SteveChervitzTrutane, Stevertigo, StradivariusTV, Strait, SuperGerbil,
Switchcraft, SwordSmurf, Sycthos, Syedgj, Symeon, Synchronism, Szarek, TORNELLcello, Tanaats, Tango, Teacherbrock, Tempodivalse, Tenth Plague, Terrancommander, The Thing That
Should Not Be, The-G-Unit-Boss, TheArchman, TheDuckLair, TheObtuseAngleOfDoom, Thecinimod, Thermactor, Thermoroach, Thiboded, Thingg, Thrane, Tiddly Tom, Tide rolls, Tim
Starling, Timwi, Titoxd, Tjsnuff, Tmxxine, Tobes00, Tom.Reding, Tomasedasonno3, Tonyfaull, Tree Biting Conspiracy, Trugster, Tttecumseh, Tumbarumba, Tyco.skinner, U5K0,
UberScienceNerd, Ugur Basak, Uncle G, UncleDouggie, Unmake, V1adis1av, VASANTH S.N., VMS Mosaic, ValleyOfMegiddo, Van helsing, Vector Potential, Veledan, Verkle, Vespristiano,
Vexmutz, Video game fan11, Vipanvig, Vishwarun.kannan, Vrenator, Vsmith, WLU, WaterCrane, WazzaMan, Werieth, Whatty123, Whitley777, WikHead, Wiki alf, Wikipelli, William Avery,
Winchelsea, Wirbelwind, Wknight94, Wolfire9, XJaM, Xen64, Xerxes314, Yamamoto Ichiro, Yelyos, Yonatan, Yourmotherismyfriend, Zafhore, Zbell4, Zelda, Zhaladshar, Zundark, ,
1205 anonymous edits
Dark matter Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=552675831 Contributors: 04aeverington, 100110100, 10metreh, 1414rwbt, 19merlin69, 1ForTheMoney, 1ofhissheep,
217.126.156.xxx, 5mgoblue5, A Softer Answer, A scientist, A. di M., A2Die, A8UDI, AGK, Aaarnooo, Aarghdvaark, AaronY, Aasim75, Abell 1367, Achowat, Acornwithwings, Adam78,
Adashiel, Adavidb, AdjustShift, Adrian Akau, Adrigon, Afjvanraan, Ag allstar, Ak47gforce, Aknochel, Aksel89, Alansohn, AlbertusmagnusOP, Aldebaran66, Aldnonymous, Alexander110,
Alfio, Allen4names, Allens, Alpertron, Amble, Anakata, Anaxial, Ancheta Wis, Ancient Anomaly, Andwor, Andwor42, Andycjp, Anonymi, Antandrus, Anthony Appleyard, Arbnos, ArdClose,
ArepoEn, Arion 3x3, Arkuat, ArnoldReinhold, Art LaPella, Artemis6234, Arthena, Artichoke-Boy, Arvindn, Ashill, Ashirgo, Ashmoo, Ashoat, Astrobayes, Astroceltica, Astrohap, Atif.t2,
AuburnPilot, Authorized User, Autotheist, Auvii, Avoided, AxelBoldt, BF, Babymushrooms, Balbers, Barbara Shack, Barbarinaz, Bart133, Bbbl67, Bclayabt, Bearcat, Benbest, Bender235,
Benna, Bentogoa, Bernd in Japan, Bhaskarns, Bhny, Big Brother 1984, BillC, BlackAndy, Blakelewis122, Blckavnger, Bletch, Bobblewik, Bobby D. Bryant, Bobo192, Bongwarrior, Bosmon,
Boud, Bped1985, Brews ohare, Brookie, Brusegadi, Bryan Derksen, Bsadowski1, Bth, Bubba hotep, Burner0718, Burschik, Byelf2007, CPitt76, CYD, Cadiomals, Cal 1234, Calabe1992,
Calliopejen1, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, CapitalR, Capricorn42, Captain-n00dle, CardinalDan, Carillonatreides, Carlif, Catgut, Catinthehat93, Charles Matthews, CharlesChandler,
Charlesrkiss, Charlie Wiederhold, CheerLeone, Cheeseray1, Chenyu, Chetvorno, Chill doubt, Chinchinthehun, Chris the speller, ChrisGualtieri, Chrishy man, Christopher Thomas, CinchBug,
Clint55555, Clone 209, Clpo13, Cmdrjameson, ColdCase, CommonsDelinker, Conversion script, Corabilek, Coredesat, CosineKitty, Cosmologist77, Cosoce, Count Iblis, Courcelles, Cprompt,
Cptmurdok, Craigheinke, Cromescythe, Crowstar, Crum375, Crystal7878, Curb Chain, Cureden, Curps, Cyberguy5, Cyberplasm, Cynical, CzechFalcon, D Phoesheezey, D-Notice, DCCougar,
DKOH, DUUJEEGWEEM, DV8 2XL, DW40, Dahliamtl, DanMS, DancingPenguin, Danlof, Darkerprojects, Darkmatter adam, Darkmatter654, Darkmatterotheruniverses, Davidlwinkler,
Davidmexican, Davy p, Dbirkhofer, Dbmag9, Deleance, Dendlai, DerHexer, Derek Ross, Dermeister, Descubes, Devilaza, Dheerajkakar, Diberri, Diego Grez, Dilaton, DirkXcal, Discospinster,
Dlohcierekim, Doc Strange, Docanton, Dogface, Dombom12, Domeinthebumhole, DopefishJustin, Dov Henis, Download, DrCrisp, DrHowzer73, Dragons flight, Dratman, Drbogdan, Drestros
power, Drmies, Drphilmarshall, Dualus, Ducknish, Durval, Dylan Lake, Dugosz, E is for Ian, Eastlaw, Edgar181, Edward, Edwinkaren, Eequor, Einstein vs Dark energys, Ekantik, El C,
Eleassar, Elentirno, Emc2, Engwar, Enviroboy, Epbr123, Eric Kvaalen, Eric TF Bat, Eric-Wester, Erodium, Escape Orbit, Esdacosta, Eugenespeed, Evil saltine, Evildeathmath, Experimental
Hobo Infiltration Droid, Fabrictramp, Falcon8765, False vacuum, Fama Clamosa, Fastilysock, Feldhaus, Feline1, Flux.books, Flying fish, Folajimi, Folkform, For.a.limited.time.only, Foroa,
Francophile124, FrankH, Frankenpuppy, Frankenschulz, Fredrikdn, Freederick, Fropuff, Fs644, Funandtrvl, Furrykef, GLaDOS, GabrielF, Gail, Gandalf61, Gark, Gary King, Gene Nygaard,
Geni, Giftlite, Gimmetoo, Girl Scout cookie, Glane23, Glenn, Gmeyerowitz, Gocows2, Gogo Dodo, GoingBatty, Goodnightmush, GorillaWarfare, Goudzovski, Gparker, Graham87,
Grammarmonger, Gravityking100, Gregbard, Greswik, Grrow, Gthomson, Gtkysor, Gurch, Guthrie, Guy Harris, Gwark, Gwernol, Gxojo, Gkhan, H2g2bob, Haasfelix, Hairy Dude, HalfShadow,
Hamiltondaniel, Hammer Raccoon, Haoie, Haukurth, Headbomb, Hellothere17, Henrykandrup, Herbee, Herbm, HiLo48, Hillman, Hires an editor, Honneydewp243, HorsePunchKid, Hunterf12,
Husond, Hypnosifl, I dream of horses, ICBB, IRP, IVAN3MAN, IW.HG, Ian Pitchford, Iantresman, Icairns, IddoGenuth, Ilikedeletingstufffromhere, Illumini85, Ilmari Karonen, Iluziat,
ImperatorExercitus, Imyfujita, Inductiveload, Infiniteglitch, Innotata, InsayneWrapper, InverseHypercube, Iohannes Animosus, Iridescent, Itsfullofstars, Iuhkjhk87y678, J.delanoy, JHunterJ,
JPFlip, JPX7, JSquish, JWSchmidt, JabberWok, James.S, Jazzman123, Jcarter1, Jclemens, Jdavidb, Jean-Pierre Petit, Jeff G., Jgoulden, Jimlester51, Jj1236, Jj137, Jmencisom, Joconnor,
Joedixon, Joehodge, John, John D. Croft, JohnBlackburne, Joke137, Jorfer, JorisvS, Joshua Issac, JoshuaZ, Joyous!, Jpk, Jradis1337, Junavia, Junjunone, Jusjih, Jwanders, Jxraynor, K7lim,
KGyST, KaiSeun, Kaisershatner, Kaivosukeltaja, Keenan Pepper, Kelvin Case, Kentgen1, Kgrad, KillYourLove, KimO, Kishanparekh, Kjoonlee, Kmaguire, Kmarinas86, Knightshield, Kocio,
Kongkokhaw, Korath, Koveras, Kozuch, Krash, Krich, Krifferjel, Krkaiser, Kroupap, Ktr101, Kubigula, Kudpung, Kurowoofwoof111, Kvark92, L Kensington, L1A1 FAL, Larry R. Holmgren,
Lars Lindberg Christensen, Lars T., Laudaka, Ldebain, Leandro.lelas, Leftydan6, Leojohns, Leondz, Letuo, Leuko, Lightmouse, Lights, LilHelpa, Lilian.Kaufmann, Linnell, Littlehollah,
Looxix, Loris Bennett, Lovemybluetooth, Lradrama, LtHija, Lugia2453, Lukasz.astrus, Lumidek, Luminique, Lzkelley, MER-C, MOBle, MONGO, Madcat87, Magicxcian, Maj den,
Malangthon, Mamling, Mandarax, Marc Venot, Marek69, MarekMahut, Mark Renier, Martin451, Mastertek, Materialscientist, Mathewsyriac, Maxis ftw, Mazarin07, Mbarbier, Mbell, McSly,
Mchavez, Mcorazao, Melikamp, Merick, Mgka79, Mhatthei, Micahqgecko, Michael Slone, Michael9422, Mike Peel, MikeWren, Mikedr, Minaker, Mindmatrix, Mintguy, MithrandirAgain,
Mkweise, Mmortal03, Mmxx, Mocirne, MonEyshOt42069210, Monkey Bounce, Moocha, Mr. Billion, Mr. Brownstone, MrBosnia, Murtasa, Mxn, Mygerardromance, N5iln, NHRHS2010,
NOrbeck, NacowY, Naddy, Nakon, Nanzilla, Natalya, Natl1, NatureA16, NawlinWiki, Nealmcb, Necessary Evil, Neekap, Neparis, Nestlefolife, Netalarm, NewEnglandYankee, Newone,
NickW557, Nickst, Nieuwenh, Nightbat, Nivix, Noctibus, Noosfractal, North Polaris, NotEither, Npmay, Nurg, Ohms law, Ohwilleke, Oldnoah, Oleg Alexandrov, Oliver Lineham, Opelio,
Oraclan, Ordovico, Originalwana, Orionus, Oscarthecat, Ospalh, Ost316, OtterSmith, Owen214, PCHS-NJROTC, PDH, PGWG, Pagw, Paine Ellsworth, Pallab1234, Palmer666palmer,
PapaMike, Parejkoj, Passaggio, Pathoschild, Patrick Gill, Pauli133, PedEye1, Pegship, Peledre, Peridon, Persian Poet Gal, Perusnarpk, PeteSF, Peter470, Ph.d Carl edenburgh, Pharaoh of the
Wizards, PhilHibbs, Philip Trueman, Philipum, Philza85, Phoenix-wiki, PhysicsExplorer, Pillar of Babel, Pinethicket, Pitpif, Pk2000, Plantsurfer, PlatypeanArchcow, Plek, Ploversegg, Plunge,
Pmokeefe, Populus, Potatoswatter, PrestonH, Previously ScienceApologist, Prisca6023, PromX1, PsychoDave, Pukkie, Puzl bustr, Qemist, Quin71901, Quinsareth, R.Andrae, RBM 72,
RHaworth, RJHall, RPellessier, Radagast83, Random astronomer, Rangek, Rarelight, Raspw, Ratemonth, Raven4x4x, Rdsmith4, Reatlas, RedBLACKandBURN, RedSpruce, Rednblu,
Redrose64, Rehnn83, Remember the dot, Res2216firestar, Reuben, Reyk, Rgoogin, Rich Farmbrough, Richmeister, Rickard Vogelberg, Rjwilmsi, Roadrunner, RobertFritzius, Robertinventor,
Robma, RockMagnetist, Rod57, Rolandwilliamson, RoyBoy, Rror, Rtfisher, Runningonbrains, Rursus, Rvnieuwe, S-n-ushakov, SCZenz, Sageman7, Sam Hocevar, Sangrolu, Sbharris, Schlafly,
Schmloof, Scikid, ScottJ, SeanMack, Seaphoto, SebastianHelm, Serketan, Sfan00 IMG, Shadowjams, Shanes, Sheliak, Shenme, Shirt58, Shriram, Silly rabbit, Silverthorn, Sintaku, Sirex98,
Skizzik, SkyMachine, Slightsmile, Smalljim, Smithbrenon, Smithfarm, Smoggyrob, Sniktaw, SoCalSuperEagle, Some jerk on the Internet, SonOfMog Worf, Spartan-James, Spencer, SpiderJon,
Spiral5800, SpookyMulder, SqueakBox, Squids and Chips, Srich32977, Starcluster, Starship Trooper, Stellea, Steve Quinn, Stevenfruitsmaak, Stevenscollege, Stevenwilkins, Stevertigo, Stigmj,
Stlwebs, Storm Rider, Strait, Strichek, Styxpaint, Suomichris, SuperBuuBuu, Superbeecat, Supspirit, SusanLesch, SusanaMultidark, Suslindisambiguator, Svolin, Swatjester, SwordSmurf,
Synchronism, T a y l o s, TTN, Tachyonics, Tamfang, Tangotango, Tarotcards, Tarquin, Tassedethe, Taw, Tawker, Tcncv, Tempodivalse, Ternity0127, Terra Novus, Tesseran, Tgeairn, The
Anome, The High Fin Sperm Whale, The Rambling Man, The Thing That Should Not Be, TheTimesAreAChanging, Thehelpfulone, Themusicgod1, Theophilus reed, Therealintellectual,
Article Sources and Contributors
231
Thinghy, Tide rolls, Timothy McVeigh, TimothyRias, Timwi, Tolly4bolly, Tombomp, Tomer Ish Shalom, Tomer yaffe, Tommy2010, Tonyle, Torqueing, Travies10, Tresiden, Trojanmice,
Trolololman12, Troy 07, Trusilver, Tugrul irmak, Tvaughan, Tyler6298, UberScienceNerd, Ultima821, Ultraexactzz, Uncle Milty, Unconcerned, Uruk2008, UrukHaiLoR, Urvabara, V1adis1av,
Vanished User 0001, Vanished user, Vanished user 39948282, VegaDark, Versus22, Viciouspiggy, Villarinho, Vsmith, Vssun, Vttoth, WAS 4.250, WadiElNatrun, Waleswatcher, Wanchung Hu,
Wasell, Wavelength, Webmaster369, WelshMatt, Wereon, Whisky drinker, Whisky5, Wibubba48, Wiggit002, William Avery, WilliamKF, Willking1979, Wisq, Wjs64, Wperdue, XJaM,
Xerxes314, Xp54321, Xxanthippe, Yamaguchi , Ybidzian, Yeastbeast, Yellowdesk, Yomomma8102, Zadignose, Zandperl, Zelda, Zelmerszoetrop, Zhanghia, Zurich Astro, ^demon, orri,
, , 1558 anonymous edits
Lambda-CDM model Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=548147258 Contributors: Amble, Andycjp, Art LaPella, Astrohou, Azcolvin429, Beetstra, Boud, Brandmeister, Brews
ohare, Bryan Derksen, Bubba73, Caco de vidro, Catdogqq, Cenarium, Ceyockey, Charles Matthews, Coldcreation, Craig Pemberton, DAID, Dcljr, Dr.enh, Droog Andrey, Duae Quartunciae, Fire
Vortex, Forseti, Gandalf61, Giftlite, Harizotoh9, Headbomb, Hertz1888, Hve, Hypnosifl, Ich42, Jj1236, Joke137, Jonathanischoice, Junjunone, Karch, Khazar2, Macevoy, MariAlexan,
McGeddon, Michael Hardy, Mike Peel, Milk Coffee, Mnmngb, Parejkoj, Phoenix2, Pjacobi, Plumbago, Pmokeefe, Previously ScienceApologist, Puzl bustr, RedAndr, Rico402, Rnt20,
Roadrunner, Scog, Sehatfield, Sheliak, Spebudmak, Suslindisambiguator, SwordSmurf, Telekenesis, The Anome, Timwi, Vertium, Vuvar1, Wjs64, Yannick Copin, Yobol, Zbxgscqf, 82
anonymous edits
WIMPs Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=546466043 Contributors: 0-Jenny-0, A. di M., Ace111, AdamSolomon, Andre Engels, Antixt, Arvindn, Aszewci, Autotheist,
Awolf002, Brandizzi, Bryan Derksen, Chris the speller, Ciroa, Conversion script, Count Iblis, Csmallw, Cydelin, Cyrius, Damian Yerrick, Dauto, Deglr6328, Denverjeffrey, Difluoroethene,
Doug80, Dratman, Dysprosia, Eequor, El C, Esdacosta, Fischej, Fredrik, Frongle, Fueled, Gadfium, Gshahali, Gwickwire, Haraujo, Hashar, Headbomb, Hellbus, Hypershock, IVAN3MAN,
Jakohn, Kizor, Kmarinas86, KnightRider, Larry_Sanger, LilHelpa, LucasVB, MarkBoulay, Martian, Maximus Rex, Memetics, Mhatthei, Michael9422, Mig21bp, Mindloss, Mr. Billion, Nerd
bzh, NuclearWarfare, Ost316, Penguinstorm300, Pjacobi, PoizonMyst, Puzl bustr, RekishiEJ, Rentier, Reuben, Rgamble, Riana, Rjwilmsi, Roadrunner, Salsb, Sbharris, Scrawfo, Sj, Skizzik,
Snowolf, Stephen Poppitt, Strait, Styxpaint, Tasc, Tedder, The Anome, Timwi, Tommy2010, Tone, Trongphu, V1adis1av, Waltpohl, WebTV3, Wnt, Woz2, Xenoglossophobe, Zunaid, Zurich
Astro, 100 anonymous edits
Galaxy formation and evolution Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=550789257 Contributors: -- April, 195.92.168.xxx, 209.2.165.xxx, 212.185.227.xxx, Aarghdvaark, Abtract,
Ahoerstemeier, Alastair Haines, Andycjp, Archanamiya, Arpingstone, AstroNomer, Astrotwitch, AxelBoldt, Azcolvin429, Bacteria, Benstrick, Boud, Bruin69, Bryan Derksen,
CambridgeBayWeather, Celiviel, Cgingold, Charles Matthews, CharlotteWebb, Chris 73, ColinFrayn, Conversion script, Cosmo0, Crag, Dark jedi requiem, Doc Perel, Dr. Submillimeter, Eric
Kvaalen, Eric M. Jones, Evil Monkey, FT2, FlorianMarquardt, Gandalf61, Giftlite, GorgonzolaCheese, Grafen, Grendelkhan, Gurch, GwydionM, HKL47, Harry, Headbomb, Hebb l, Hetar,
Hubie59, Hurricane Floyd, IVAN3MAN, Iantresman, Icairns, Ilmari Karonen, Immunize, Jahter, Jitterro, Jmencisom, John D. Croft, Jorichoma, Jyril, Karol Langner, Keflavich, Kot Barsik,
Kris1284x, Lights, LikeHolyWater, Lonesomehenry, Looxix, Luckypengu07, MJT1331, Megaton, Merovingian, Michael C Price, Modest Genius, Muad, Nikai, Noisy, Nuno Tavares, Oashi,
Olivier, Originalwana, Palica, Paymanpayman, Pika ten10, Previously ScienceApologist, Pringl123, QuadrivialMind, R6144, RJHall, RetiredUser2, Reuben, Richard Nowell, RickV88,
Roadrunner, Robma, Rod57, Rodasmith, Rushbugled13, Ruslik0, Saiph8, Scog, Sheliak, Shp0ng1e, SqueakBox, Stirling Newberry, Sverdrup, Template namespace initialisation script, Tetracube,
Tide rolls, Tothebarricades.tk, Trevor MacInnis, TutterMouse, UrukHaiLoR, Vanished User 0001, Viking59, Viriditas, Vsmith, Ward3001, Warut, Wavelength, Wsiegmund, Zigger, 127
anonymous edits
Dark matter halo Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=542561480 Contributors: Adam.phi.kadmon, Aeron Daly, Ahoerstemeier, Amir136990, Amirber, Andwor50, Beno1000,
Bm gub, Boud, Brews ohare, Chris the speller, Cosmo0, DCCougar, Djxerox, Editfreak66, Gandalf61, Hamiltondaniel, Headbomb, Jeremygoodman, Jj1236, Jtsch, Marasama, Mhatthei, Micasta,
Oldnoah, Onebravemonkey, Previously ScienceApologist, RedBLACKandBURN, Reuben, Rjwilmsi, Robertvan1, Scikid, Shanes, WTM, Will Orrick, WilliamKF, Zurich Astro, 35 anonymous
edits
Dark energy Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=552474488 Contributors: 2over0, 879(CoDe), AC+79 3888, ARC Gritt, Abd, Acm, Acroterion, Adfellin, Adi4094,
Ahoerstemeier, Aknochel, Akshay Lattimardi, Aldebaran66, Alpha plus (a+), Amble, Ancheta Wis, Andreaprins, Andwor, Andy M. Wang, Andycjp, Antandrus, Anupamsr, Aquijex, Arbitrarily0,
Archmagusrm, Arnavion, Art Carlson, AstroPaul, Avidallred, Awolf002, BLP-outrageous move logs, Bagster, Barbarinaz, Batintherain, Bayardo, Bbbl67, Beland, BenRG, Bender235, Benna,
Bernd in Japan, BillWilliam, BitterMan, Bobby D. Bryant, Boradis, BradTheBadWiki, BruceR, Byelf2007, CJLL Wright, CRGreathouse, CambridgeBayWeather, Can't sleep, clown will eat me,
Caribbean H.Q., Carl1011, Casimir9999, Ccalen, Cheeseray1, Chester Markel, Chrislk02, Christian424, Christopher Thomas, CityOfUr, Ckatz, Cmichael, ColdCase, Colin.campbell.27,
Combatman, CosineKitty, Cosmopolitan, Cosmos72, Cosoce, Courcelles, Craigsjones, Curb Chain, Curps, Cxat, Cybercobra, D-Notice, D.M. from Ukraine, DV8 2XL, DW40, Da rulz07,
Dachshund, Dan Gluck, Daniel C, Darren22, Davewho2, Davidhorman, Dawnseeker2000, Dbachmann, Deathglass, Delaszk, DerHexer, Dgirl1723, Diego Moya, Diliff, Discospinster, Doc
Savage, DonJuan, Donarreiskoffer, Donauland, Dr.alf, Dragons flight, Drbogdan, Drilnoth, Dysepsion, Earthandmoon, Edgar181, El C, Electron9, Empyrius, Ems57fcva, Enormousdude, Eric
Forste, FFLaguna, Falcorian, Faradayplank, Fayenatic london, FeanorStar7, Federicoturner, Fences and windows, Finncarey, Fire Vortex, FiveColourMap, FoolsWar, Fourthark, FrankH,
Frankenschulz, Freyr, Frigotoni, Fulcanelli, Gandalf61, Geoffrey.landis, Gerhardtschmerhardt, Giftlite, Glane23, Glenn, Gmusser, Gnixon, Goaliemaster121, Gordonben, Gravitophoton,
GregorB, Grrow, Gurusoft2, Gwark, Gzornenplatz, HCPotter, HappyCamper, Headbomb, Helge Ros, Helvitica Bold, Henry Flower, Herbee, Herk1955, Heuristics, HexaChord,
Hippokrateszholdacskai, Hotdiggity, Hottscubbard, HowardFrampton, Hypnosifl, IRWolfie-, IVAN3MAN, Icosmology, Iiar, Ilmari Karonen, Iluziat, InverseHypercube, Isateach, Isnow,
J.Sarfatti, J.delanoy, JForget, JHussein, JRSpriggs, Ja 62, Jackfork, Jcmargeson, Jeff3000, Jeffq, JimJast, Jimmilu, Jj1236, Jjabellar, Jlechem, Jlsilva, Joedixon, Joema, Johann1870,
JohnBlackburne, Johnassassin, Joke137, Jomel, Jordgette, Jorfer, JorisvS, Jusdafax, JustinWick, Jyril, Karol Langner, Keenan Pepper, Kentgen1, Kevin B12, Kevinwiatrowski, KnowledgeOfSelf,
Komowkwa, Korath, Kozuch, Kungfuadam, Kvgyarmati, Kwamikagami, Landroo, Lavateraguy, LiamE, Likebox, LindaYeah, Logical2u, LordCmOnur, Loren.wilton, Loris Bennett, Lpgeffen,
LucasVB, Lycurgus, MER-C, Malangthon, Malerin, Manuel Anastcio, Marek69, Martarius, Materialscientist, Matias Pocobi, Maurice Carbonaro, Mazarin07, Mcspaans, Megane, Meier99,
Melchoir, Merick, MiceEater, Michael C Price, Michael Hardy, Michael Wood-Vasey, Michael9422, Migrainus, MikeSmith10, Mindmatrix, Mlaine, Mlsmith10, Msikma, Murad.Shibli, Nadyes,
Natty4bumpo, NatureA16, NawlinWiki, Nealmcb, Nernom, Netdragon, Nevit, Nickst, Noncompliant one, Obsidianmile, Oli Filth, Omnibus, Orionus, Ost316, OttoMkel, Ours18, OwenX,
Oxfordwang, PL290, Parejkoj, Paul venter, Paulstarpaulstar, Pb30, Peak, Perl, Philip Trueman, Pillar of Babel, Pinethicket, Pjacobi, Poindexter Propellerhead, Potatoswatter, Previously
ScienceApologist, Quaeler, Quantanew, RJHall, Radical Robert, RadioActive, RainbowOfLight, RayNorris, Razorflame, Reddi, Reuben, Rich Farmbrough, Richard L. Peterson, Rjwilmsi,
Rkomatsu, Rlove, Roadrunner, Rob Maguire, RockMagnetist, Rodhullandemu, Rory096, RoyBoy, Rpf, Rracecarr, Rursus, Rwxrwxrwx, Ryulong, S h i v a (Visnu), SC, SCZenz, SDC, SJP,
Salleman, SamuelR, Sbharris, Schewek, Scott McNay, SebastianHelm, Seleucus, Shadowjams, Shahidur Rahman Sikder, Sheliak, Silverhand, Simplizissimus, Sionus, Sirex98, Skizzik,
Slightsmile, Slugmaster, Smithbrenon, Sneakums, Snow Blizzard, Soetermans, Sohmc, Someguy1221, Sophia8891, Spebudmak, Stebbins, Stevecrye, Stevertigo, Strait, Suslindisambiguator,
SwordSmurf, Systemizer, Szczureq, Sawomir Biay, TADEET, TechnoFaye, Tgeairn, The Anome, The Thing That Should Not Be, TheRingess, Three887, Tim Shuba, Tim Starling,
TimothyRias, Tms9, Tobby72, Tom Lougheed, Tomer Ish Shalom, Treesmill, Trevor.tombe, Tripbeetle, Tristanb, TrulyBlue, Trusilver, Tsuite, Tunborough, Turelli, Tyciol, Uncle G,
UncleDouggie, Unclejoe0306, Uruk2008, Urvabara, UtherSRG, Velho, Venny85, Vespristiano, Videokunst, Vixus, Vsmith, Vuo, Wanchung Hu, Wavelength, Wellsmax, Wik, Woodingdean,
WorldWideJuan, Wperdue, Writtenonsand, Wtmitchell, Xerxesx18, Yceren Loq, Yheyma, Zanardm, Zandperl, , 600 anonymous edits
Exotic matter Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=551218070 Contributors: 9258fahsflkh917fas, Aaagmnr, Alan Peakall, Alexnye, Aliento, Antixt, Aragorn2, Astral, Beland,
Bkell, Bryan Derksen, Ca7ch, Cadiomals, Capitolcity, CharlesC, Christopher Thomas, ConradPino, Cpl Syx, Darth Sitges, David Latapie, DavidLeighEllis, Dbfirs, Dean Wormer,
Driftwoodzebulin, Ejurgaite, EricJamesStone, Erik Garrison, ErkDemon, Eternalemp, FireCrack, Geeoharee, Geoffrey.landis, Gigo300, Grg Bsh, Hans Dunkelberg, Happy-melon,
Headbomb, Hmains, Hypnosifl, Icairns, Inquisitus, Intangir, Itub, JDspeeder1, JYolkowski, John.D.Ward, Keraunos, Kmarinas86, Korath, Krackpipe, LOL, Lethe, Mac Davis, Matjlav,
Mboverload, Meneth, Michaelbusch, Nakon, Nathanael Bar-Aur L., Nimur, NotARusski, Omegatron, OneDoubleO, P0LARIS, Paul August, PedantryIsMyMiddleName, Phil Boswell, Pjacobi,
PseudoAdmin^*(3d), Quale, R'n'B, RMHED, Red Act, Salsb, Samwb123, SeaRisk, Slant, Slightsmile, SteveThePhysicist, Superwj5, Tassedethe, Teknic, Thatguyflint, The Thing That Should
Not Be, TwistOfCain, Tzarius, Unara, Unbitwise, V1adis1av, Vampus, Vuyane, WereSpielChequers, WhiteDragon, Woohookitty, Xiroth, 132 anonymous edits
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
232
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
File:Sugar 2xmacro.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Sugar_2xmacro.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: Lauri Andler(Phantom)
File:Stilles Mineralwasser.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Stilles_Mineralwasser.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: Walter J. Pilsak,
Waldsassen, Germany
File:Gasfas.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Gasfas.png License: Public Domain Contributors: User Rogper on sv.wikipedia
File:Plasma-lamp 2.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Plasma-lamp_2.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Contributors: Luc Viatour
File:DNA chemical structure.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:DNA_chemical_structure.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
Contributors: User:Madprime
File:Standard Model of Elementary Particles.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Standard_Model_of_Elementary_Particles.svg License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Contributors: MissMJ
File:Quark structure proton.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Quark_structure_proton.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 Contributors:
Made by Arpad Horvath
File:Size IK Peg.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Size_IK_Peg.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Contributors: RJHall, chris
(vector)
File:Phase diagram for pure substance.JPG Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Phase_diagram_for_pure_substance.JPG License: Creative Commons
Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: Brews ohare
File:Matter Distribution.JPG Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Matter_Distribution.JPG License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: Brews
ohare
File:Rotation curve (Milky Way).JPG Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Rotation_curve_(Milky_Way).JPG License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0
Contributors: Brews ohare
Image:Argon ice 1.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Argon_ice_1.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: Brian0918, Er Komandante, Ies,
Rursus, 9 anonymous edits
File:Steel pd.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Steel_pd.svg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: Original uploader was User A1 at en.wikipedia
Image:phase-diag2.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Phase-diag2.svg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: me Original uploader was
Matthieumarechal at en.wikipedia
Image:Phase-diag2.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Phase-diag2.svg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: me Original uploader was
Matthieumarechal at en.wikipedia
Image:TS-Wasserdampf engl.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:TS-Wasserdampf_engl.png License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: Markus
Schweiss
Image:Mollier enthalpy entropy chart for steam - US units.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Mollier_enthalpy_entropy_chart_for_steam_-_US_units.svg License:
Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: emok (talk). Original uploader was Emok at en.wikipedia
Image:Pressure-enthalpy chart for steam, in US units.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Pressure-enthalpy_chart_for_steam,_in_US_units.svg License: Creative
Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: Emok
Image:Temperature-entropy chart for steam, US units.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Temperature-entropy_chart_for_steam,_US_units.svg License: Creative
Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: Emok
File:pVT 3D diagram.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:PVT_3D_diagram.png License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: Donald L.
Smith//
Image:Brosen ironcarbon.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Brosen_ironcarbon.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Contributors:
Brosen, Ies, Lead holder, Pieter Kuiper, Qwazzy, Wizard191, , 3 anonymous edits
Image:Eutektikum new.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Eutektikum_new.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Contributors:
Eutektikum.gif: Dr. Bder Imre derivative work: Michbich (talk)
Image:Binary Boiling Point Diagram new.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Binary_Boiling_Point_Diagram_new.svg License: Creative Commons
Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 Contributors: Binary_Boiling_Point_Diagram.PNG: H Padleckas derivative work: Michbich (talk)
Image:Phase diagram of water.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Phase_diagram_of_water.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors:
Cmglee
File:Four Fundamental States of Matter.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Four_Fundamental_States_of_Matter.png License: Creative Commons
Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: User:Spirit469
Image:Stohrem.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Stohrem.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: by Materialscientist
Image:Teilchenmodell Fluessigkeit.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Teilchenmodell_Fluessigkeit.svg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors:
Kaneiderdaniel. Original uploader was Kaneiderdaniel at de.wikipedia
File:Gas molecules.gif Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Gas_molecules.gif License: Public Domain Contributors: User:Chuanenlin123
File:Electron Sea (Plasma).jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Electron_Sea_(Plasma).jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors:
User:Spirit469
File:Physics matter state transition 1 en.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Physics_matter_state_transition_1_en.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share
Alike Contributors: ElfQrin
File:Magnify-clip.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Magnify-clip.png License: Public Domain Contributors: User:Erasoft24
file:Silica.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Silica.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Silica.jpg: en:User:Jdrewitt
file:SiO Quartz.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:SiO_Quartz.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Wimmel
File:Sbs block copolymer.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Sbs_block_copolymer.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: InsufficientData, Lymantria, Peterlewis
Image:Liquid helium Rollin film.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Liquid_helium_Rollin_film.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: I, AlfredLeitner, took this
photograph as part of my movie "Liquid Helium,Superfluid"
Image:Bose Einstein condensate.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bose_Einstein_condensate.png License: Public Domain Contributors: NIST/JILA/CU-Boulder
File:Insulincrystals.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Insulincrystals.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Chrumps, Jurema Oliveira, Perditax, Photohound
file:BernoullisLawDerivationDiagram.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:BernoullisLawDerivationDiagram.svg License: GNU Free Documentation License
Contributors: MannyMax (original)
File:Fcc_lattice_4.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Fcc_lattice_4.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: Cdang, David Eppstein, INeverCry,
RockMagnetist, Thierry Dugnolle
File:Chrysler Building detail.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Chrysler_Building_detail.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: User Postdlf
on en.wikipedia
File:Different minerals.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Different_minerals.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0 Contributors:
Brocken Inaglory
File:Si3N4bearings.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Si3N4bearings.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: David W. Richerson and Douglas W. Freitag; Oak
Ridge National Laboratory (federal lab.)
File:Glass ceramic cooktop.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Glass_ceramic_cooktop.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: Original uploader
was Lupo at en.wikipedia
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
233
File:PaperAutofluorescence.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:PaperAutofluorescence.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors:
Richard Wheeler (Zephyris)
File:Selfassembly Organic Semiconductor Trixler LMU.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Selfassembly_Organic_Semiconductor_Trixler_LMU.jpg License:
Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0 Contributors: Frank Trixler; adapted from LMU/CeNS: Organic Semiconductor Nanostructures
File:Plastic household items.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Plastic_household_items.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: ImGz
File:Stsheat.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Stsheat.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: Cwbm (commons), Huntster, Kozuch, Turbojet,
Wikier, , 2 anonymous edits
File:Kohlenstofffasermatte.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Kohlenstofffasermatte.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: Ariadacapo, Frank
C. Mller, Gerrit41, Saperaud, 1 anonymous edits
File:Siliconchip by shapeshifter.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Siliconchip_by_shapeshifter.png License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0
Contributors: Original uploader was David Carron at en.wikipedia
File:Nano Si 640x480.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Nano_Si_640x480.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Glenn, Materialscientist, Twisp, 4 anonymous
edits
File:Woven bone matrix.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Woven_bone_matrix.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Robert M. Hunt. Original uploader was
Robert M. Hunt at en.wikipedia
File:Torres1.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Torres1.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: Breeze, Carlos yo, Jespinos, Prissantenbr,
Ronaldino, W!B:, Wouterhagens, Xlboy, 1 anonymous edits
File:1D normal modes (280 kB).gif Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:1D_normal_modes_(280_kB).gif License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors:
Badseed, Herbythyme, Pabouk, Pieter Kuiper, 2 anonymous edits
File:Water drop 001.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Water_drop_001.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Contributors: Amorymeltzer, Apalsola, Dimi
z, FlickreviewR, Mywood, Sergey kudryavtsev, Tomer T, Zaqarbal
File:Hot and cold water immiscibility thermal image.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Hot_and_cold_water_immiscibility_thermal_image.jpg License: Creative
Commons Zero Contributors: User:Zaereth
File:2006-01-14 Surface waves.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:2006-01-14_Surface_waves.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: Roger
McLassus
File:Phase-diag2.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Phase-diag2.svg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: me Original uploader was
Matthieumarechal at en.wikipedia
File:Teilchenmodell Fluessigkeit.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Teilchenmodell_Fluessigkeit.svg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors:
Kaneiderdaniel. Original uploader was Kaneiderdaniel at de.wikipedia
File:Lennard-Jones Radial Distribution Function.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lennard-Jones_Radial_Distribution_Function.svg License: Public Domain
Contributors: Grigory Sarnitskiy
File:Gas particle movement.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Gas_particle_movement.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: User:Closeapple
File:Purplesmoke.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Purplesmoke.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Macluskie
File:CFD Shuttle.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:CFD_Shuttle.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: NASA
File:Diffusion animation.gif Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Diffusion_animation.gif License: Public Domain Contributors: Bulwersator
File:3D model hydrogen bonds in water.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:3D_model_hydrogen_bonds_in_water.svg License: Creative Commons
Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: User Qwerter at Czech wikipedia: Qwerter. Transferred from cs.wikipedia; Transfer was stated to be made by User:sevela.p. Translated to english by by
Michal Maas (User:snek01). Vectorized by Magasjukur2
File:MountRedoubtEruption.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:MountRedoubtEruption.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: R. Clucas
File:Boyle air pump.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Boyle_air_pump.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Robert Boyle
File:Daltons symbols.gif Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Daltons_symbols.gif License: Public Domain Contributors: Hystrix, JamAKiska, Kurzon, Qvarie, Tanner
Swett, 1 anonymous edits
File:Compressibility Factor of Air 75-200 K.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Compressibility_Factor_of_Air_75-200_K.png License: Public Domain Contributors:
Power.corrupts
File:Vortex-street-1.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Vortex-street-1.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Bob Cahalan, NASA GSFC
File:Schlierenfoto Mach 17 Delta - NASA.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Schlierenfoto_Mach_17_Delta_-_NASA.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors:
Ariadacapo, Pieter Kuiper, Stahlkocher
File:Lightning3.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lightning3.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: U.S. Air Force photo by Edward Aspera Jr.
File:NeTube.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:NeTube.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 Contributors: User:Pslawinski
File:Space Shuttle Atlantis in the sky on July 21, 2011, to its final landing.jpg Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Space_Shuttle_Atlantis_in_the_sky_on_July_21,_2011,_to_its_final_landing.jpg License: unknown Contributors: Huntster, Mattisse, Ras67
File:plasma fountain.gif Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Plasma_fountain.gif License: Public Domain Contributors: Original uploader was Iantresman at en.wikipedia
File:Plasma scaling.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Plasma_scaling.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Croquant, Cwbm (commons), Magog the Ogre, Pierre
cb, Pieter Kuiper, WikipediaMaster
File:Lightning over Oradea Romania 3.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lightning_over_Oradea_Romania_3.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Mircea
Madau
File:Main tycho remnant full.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Main_tycho_remnant_full.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: NASA/MPIA/Calar Alto
Observatory, Oliver Krause et al.
File:Magnetic rope.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Magnetic_rope.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: CharlesChandler, Jaybear
File:Plasma jacobs ladder.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Plasma_jacobs_ladder.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors:
Chocolateoak
File:Simple representation of a discharge tube - plasma.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Simple_representation_of_a_discharge_tube_-_plasma.png License:
Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: Rudolfensis
File:Cascade process of ionization.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Cascade_process_of_ionization.png License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0
Contributors: Rudolfensis
File:HallThruster 2.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:HallThruster_2.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Original uploader was Dstaack at en.wikipedia
File:Wispy 'Plasma Dancer' on the limb of the Sun.ogv Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wispy_'Plasma_Dancer'_on_the_limb_of_the_Sun.ogv License: Public Domain
Contributors: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
File:Plasma Spraying Process.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Plasma_Spraying_Process.jpg License: Attribution Contributors: http://www.zircotec.com
File:Meissner effect p1390048.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Meissner_effect_p1390048.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
Contributors: Mai-Linh Doan
File:Meissner effect.ogv Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Meissner_effect.ogv License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: User:Jubobroff
File:Stickstoff gekhlter Supraleiter schwebt ber Dauermagneten 2009-06-21.jpg Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Stickstoff_gekhlter_Supraleiter_schwebt_ber_Dauermagneten_2009-06-21.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike
3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0 Contributors: Henry Mhlpfordt
File:CERN-cables-p1030764.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:CERN-cables-p1030764.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 Contributors:
Rama
File:Cvandrhovst.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Cvandrhovst.png License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Contributors: User:Chaiken
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
234
File:Ehrenfest Lorentz Bohr Kamerlingh Onnes.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Ehrenfest_Lorentz_Bohr_Kamerlingh_Onnes.jpg License: Public Domain
Contributors: Coyau, Cycn, Deadstar, Enboifre, JdH, Martin H.
File:Sc history.gif Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Sc_history.gif License: Public Domain Contributors: Department of Energy (Transferred by RJB1/Originally uploaded
by Materialscientist)
File:ybco.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Ybco.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Haj33
File:Neutron Star Manhattan.ogv Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Neutron_Star_Manhattan.ogv License: Public Domain Contributors: NASA/Goddard Space Flight
Center
File:Crash and Burst.ogv Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Crash_and_Burst.ogv License: Public Domain Contributors: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
File:Neutron star collision.ogv Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Neutron_star_collision.ogv License: Public Domain Contributors: NASA/Dana Berry
File:Neutronstar 2Rs.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Neutronstar_2Rs.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 Contributors: Derivative work:
Mouagip Original author: Corvin Zahn, Physics education group Kraus, Theoretische Astrophysik Tbingen, Tempolimit Lichtgeschwindigkeit
Image:Neutron star cross section.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Neutron_star_cross_section.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0
Contributors: Robert Schulze
Image:IsolatedNeutronStar.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:IsolatedNeutronStar.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Original uploader was Northgrove at
en.wikipedia
Image:2004 stellar quake full.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:2004_stellar_quake_full.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: NASA
Image:Crab Lucky video2.gif Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Crab_Lucky_video2.gif License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: Cambridge University
Lucky Imaging Group
File:Vela Pulsar jet seen by Chandra Observatory.ogv Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Vela_Pulsar_jet_seen_by_Chandra_Observatory.ogv License: Public Domain
Contributors: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Toronto/M. Durant, et al.
Image:Chandra-crab.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Chandra-crab.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Optical: NASA/HST/ASU/J. Hester et al. X-Ray:
NASA/CXC/ASU/J. Hester et al.
Image:Vela Pulsar jet.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Vela_Pulsar_jet.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: NASA/CXC/PSU/G.Pavlov et al.
Image:Pulsar schematic.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Pulsar_schematic.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0 Contributors:
User:Mysid, User:Jm smits
Image:Pioneer plaque sun.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Pioneer_plaque_sun.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: NASA; vectors by Mysid
File:Fermi's Gamma-ray Pulsars.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Fermi's_Gamma-ray_Pulsars.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT
Collaboration
Image:Magnetar-3b-450x580.gif Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Magnetar-3b-450x580.gif License: Public Domain Contributors: Danim, Fxer, RuM, Ruslik0, Snaily
Image:Magnetar SGR 1900+14.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Magnetar_SGR_1900+14.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Image:SGR 1806-20 108530main cloudballPrint.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:SGR_1806-20_108530main_cloudballPrint.jpg License: Public Domain
Contributors: Danim, Mattes, Ruslik0, Superborsuk, 1 anonymous edits
File:QCD phase diagram.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:QCD_phase_diagram.png License: Public Domain Contributors: Original uploader was Dark Formal at
en.wikipedia
File:Feynmann Diagram Gluon Radiation.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Feynmann_Diagram_Gluon_Radiation.svg License: Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Contributors: Joel Holdsworth (Joelholdsworth)
File:CERN LHC Tunnel1.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:CERN_LHC_Tunnel1.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: Avian,
Herbythyme, Julian Herzog, Soerfm, 14 anonymous edits
File:Feynman Diagram Y-3g.PNG Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Feynman_Diagram_Y-3g.PNG License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors:
User:DrHjmHam
file:speakerlink-new.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Speakerlink-new.svg License: Creative Commons Zero Contributors: User:Kelvinsong
Image:Hadron colors.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Hadron_colors.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: Hadron_colors.png:
Army1987 derivative work: TimothyRias (talk)
Image:Quark structure proton.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Quark_structure_proton.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 Contributors:
Made by Arpad Horvath
Image:Standard Model of Elementary Particles.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Standard_Model_of_Elementary_Particles.svg License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Contributors: MissMJ
Image:Murray Gell-Mann.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Murray_Gell-Mann.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Contributors: jurvetson of
flickr.com
Image:Beta Negative Decay.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Beta_Negative_Decay.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Joel Holdsworth (Joelholdsworth)
Image:Quark weak interactions.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Quark_weak_interactions.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Original work: Modified
by:TimothyRias
File:Strong force charges.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Strong_force_charges.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors:
User:Cjean42
Image:Quark masses as balls.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Quark_masses_as_balls.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0
Contributors: Incnis Mrsi
File:QCDphasediagram.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:QCDphasediagram.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: TimothyRias
Image:Baryon-decuplet-small.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Baryon-decuplet-small.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Trassiorf
Image:Baryon-octet-small.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Baryon-octet-small.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Trassiorf
File:Beta Negative Decay.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Beta_Negative_Decay.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Joel Holdsworth (Joelholdsworth)
Image:Muon-Electron-Decay.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Muon-Electron-Decay.svg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: DnetSvg,
Plasticspork
Image:Right left helicity.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Right_left_helicity.svg License: Public domain Contributors: en:User;HEL, User:Stannered
Image:Lepton-interaction-vertex-eeg.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lepton-interaction-vertex-eeg.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Contributors:
TimothyRias
Image:Lepton-interaction-vertex-evW.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lepton-interaction-vertex-evW.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Contributors: TimothyRias
Image:Lepton-interaction-vertex-pvW.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lepton-interaction-vertex-pvW.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Contributors: TimothyRias
Image:Lepton-interaction-vertex-eeZ.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lepton-interaction-vertex-eeZ.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0
Contributors: TimothyRias
Image:Lepton isodoublets fixed.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lepton_isodoublets_fixed.png License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0
Contributors: HEL (talk)
File:PositronDiscovery.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:PositronDiscovery.jpg License: unknown Contributors: Carl D. Anderson (1905-1991)
file:Antimatter Explosions.ogv Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Antimatter_Explosions.ogv License: Public Domain Contributors: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
file:Antimatter Explosions 2.ogv Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Antimatter_Explosions_2.ogv License: Public Domain Contributors: NASA/Goddard Space Flight
Center
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
235
File:CMS Higgs-event.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:CMS_Higgs-event.jpg License: unknown Contributors: Lucas Taylor
file:Ilc 9yr moll4096.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Ilc_9yr_moll4096.png License: Public Domain Contributors: Drbogdan, Nagualdesign, 1 anonymous edits
File:Crab Nebula.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Crab_Nebula.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: NASA, ESA, J. Hester and A. Loll (Arizona State
University)
File:Folder Hexagonal Icon.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Folder_Hexagonal_Icon.svg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: Anomie, Mifter
File:080998 Universe Content 240.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:080998_Universe_Content_240.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Credit: NASA /
WMAP Science Team
File:Fermi Observations of Dwarf Galaxies Provide New Insights on Dark Matter.ogv Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Fermi_Observations_of_Dwarf_Galaxies_Provide_New_Insights_on_Dark_Matter.ogv License: Public Domain Contributors: NASA/Goddard
Space Flight Center
File:Artists impression of the expected dark matter distribution around the Milky Way.ogv Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Artists_impression_of_the_expected_dark_matter_distribution_around_the_Milky_Way.ogv License: unknown Contributors: ESO/L. Calada
File:GalacticRotation2.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:GalacticRotation2.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 Contributors: PhilHibbs
File:Gravitationell-lins-4.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Gravitationell-lins-4.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: NASA, N. Benitez (JHU), T. Broadhurst
(Racah Institute of Physics/The Hebrew University), H. Ford (JHU), M. Clampin (STScI),G. Hartig (STScI), G. Illingworth (UCO/Lick Observatory), the ACS Science Team and ESA
File:1e0657 scale.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:1e0657_scale.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: NASA/CXC/M. Weiss
File:COSMOS 3D dark matter map.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:COSMOS_3D_dark_matter_map.jpg License: Attribution Contributors: User:Quibik
Image:Lambda-Cold Dark Matter, Accelerated Expansion of the Universe, Big Bang-Inflation.jpg Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lambda-Cold_Dark_Matter,_Accelerated_Expansion_of_the_Universe,_Big_Bang-Inflation.jpg License: Creative Commons
Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: User:Coldcreation
Image:CDMS parameter space 2004.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:CDMS_parameter_space_2004.png License: Public Domain Contributors: PNG created with
Inkscape and Photoshop by Kieff from a JPEG data plot.
File:ALMA Pinpoints Early Galaxies.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:ALMA_Pinpoints_Early_Galaxies.jpg License: unknown Contributors: Jmencisom, Stas1995
Image:NGC891.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:NGC891.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 Contributors: Martin Baessgen
Image:HubbleTuningFork.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:HubbleTuningFork.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Original uploader was Cosmo0 at
en.wikipedia (Original text : None given)
Image:Artists impression of a gamma-ray burst shining through two young galaxies in the early Universe.jpg Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Artists_impression_of_a_gamma-ray_burst_shining_through_two_young_galaxies_in_the_early_Universe.jpg License: unknown Contributors:
ESO/L. Calada
Image:M101 hires STScI-PRC2006-10a.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:M101_hires_STScI-PRC2006-10a.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Contributors: Andersmusician, Denniss, Fabian RRRR, Gorgo, Juiced lemon, KGyST, Lars Lindberg Christensen, Papa November, Ruslik0, Takabeg, Tryphon, Winiar, Yann, 3 anonymous edits
Image:warped galaxy.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Warped_galaxy.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team
(STScI/AURA)
Image:Abell S740, cropped to ESO 325-G004.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Abell_S740,_cropped_to_ESO_325-G004.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors:
J. Blakeslee (Washington State University)
Image:NGC4676.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:NGC4676.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: NASA, H. Ford (JHU), G. Illingworth (UCSC/LO),
M.Clampin (STScI), G. Hartig (STScI), the ACS Science Team, and ESA
Image:Antennae galaxies xl.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Antennae_galaxies_xl.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage
Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration
File:Dark matter halo.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Dark_matter_halo.png License: Public Domain Contributors: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Cosmo0
File:DMPie 2013.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:DMPie_2013.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: User:Szczureq
License
236
License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/