Now a table-top particle accelerator!

June 21, 2013 16:04

Physicists have built a super-powerful tabletop particle accelerator that can generate energies and speeds previously reached only by major facilities, shrinking the size from the length of two football fields to just one inch.

"We have accelerated about half a billion electrons to 2 gigaelectronvolts over a distance of about one inch," said Mike Downer, professor of physics in the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin.

"Until now that degree of energy and focus has required a conventional accelerator that stretches more than the length of two football fields. It's a downsizing of a factor of approximately 10,000," said Downer.

The results mark a major milestone in the advance toward the day when multi-gigaelectronvolt (GeV) laser plasma accelerators are standard equipment in research laboratories around the world, researchers said.

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

'Aaj batting tera Jassi bhai karega'

Jasprit Bumrah was seen practicing some shots in the nets ahead of MI's clash against DC.

What's Nirmalaji Queueing For?

Celebs and commoners cast their votes in the second phase of the Lok Sabha election on Friday, April 26, 2024

Is Salman Planning To Move Out Of Mumbai?

'With his safety in the city being jeopardised, Bhai is looking at moving to his farmhouse in Panvel permanently.'

Arms, ammunition found in CBI raid in Bengal's Sandeshkhali

The CBI during its probe got inputs of a large cache of arms hidden in Sandeshkhali. On Friday morning, a CBI team started a search operation during which the arms, including foreign-made pistols, were seized, the officials said.

Kotak Mahindra Bank's loan, deposit growth may be impacted after RBI curbs

Kotak Mahindra Bank's loan and deposit growth are likely to be affected after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked the private-sector lender not to take on board new customers through the bank's online and mobile banking channels and...