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Move over, electron. Step aside, Higgs boson. The fundamental particles that make up physics’ standard model get a lot of air time. But there is another breed of particle, just as important, that is often overlooked. That’s understandable, for in a sense “quasiparticles” do not exist at all, though they have a lot in common with regular particles and are essential for understanding the world (see “Lessons in reality from particles that don’t exist“). They only pop up within the confines of solid materials, but their unique properties could revolutionise modern technology…
Phonons: Electric cowboys
Smashing protons in CERN’s Large Hadron Collider led to the discovery of the Higgs boson. It couldn’t have happened without phonons.
At normal temperatures, phonons are collective oscillations of atoms that shuttle heat around solids. But at very low temperatures, these quasiparticles act as cowboys that corral electrons into herds that move as one with almost zero resistance. This is how low-temperature superconductivity arises, and the huge electromagnetic fields superconducting magnets create are what curves protons round the LHC’s circular racetrack. Such magnets are also used in MRI scanners, where they force oxygen atoms in tissues into a dance that emits traceable radio signals.
Phonons are also key to the workings of fledgling thermoelectric materials. These convert heat into electricity, with the long-held dream of allowing a car’s waste engine heat to power its electrics.
Magnons: Sultans of …
More on these topics:
https://amazingreveal.com/blog/2016/09/07/five-particles-that-dont-exist-yet-could-change-our-world/
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