A team led by researchers at Osaka University and the University of California, San Diego has used simulations to demonstrate how matter can be created experimentally using just light, which in the future could help test long-standing theories about the composition of the universe.One of the most astonishing predictions of quantum physics is that matter can be created entirely from light, or photons, and in fact, objects called pulsars have achieved this feat. Directly generating matter in this way has not yet been achieved in the laboratory, but it would help further test fundamental quantum physics theories and the fundamental makeup of the universe.
In a recent study published in Physical Review Letters, a research team led by researchers at Osaka University simulated the conditions of photon-photon collisions using only lasers. Due to the simple setup and ease of implementation with existing laser intensities, experiments are expected to be conducted in the near future.
Theoretically, photon-photon collision is the basic means of producing matter in the universe. It is derived from Einstein's famous equation E=mc². In fact, researchers have created matter from light indirectly: by accelerating metal ions such as gold into each other at high speeds. At such high speeds, each ion is surrounded by photons, which when passing each other create matter and antimatter.
However, in modern laboratories, producing matter using only lasers is a challenge because extremely high-power lasers are required. Simulating how this feat is achieved in the laboratory could lead to experimental breakthroughs, so that's what the researchers set out to do.
"Simulation experiments demonstrated that dense plasma can self-organize into a photon-photon collider when interacting with the laser's strong electromagnetic field," explains Dr. Sugimoto, first author of the study. "This collider contains a dense swarm of gamma rays with a density ten times greater than the density of electrons in plasma and an energy a million times greater than the energy of photons in lasers."
Photon-photon collisions in the collider produce electron-positron pairs, and the plasma electric field generated by the laser accelerates the positrons. This creates a positron beam.
"This is the first simulation of accelerating positrons from a linear Brett-Weller process under relativistic conditions," said co-author Professor Arefiev of the University of California, San Diego. "We believe our proposal is experimentally feasible and we look forward to implementing it in the real world."
Dr. Vyacheslav Lukin, director of the National Science Foundation program that supported the work, said: "This research demonstrates a potential way to explore the mysteries of the universe in a laboratory setting. The future possibilities of high-power laser facilities today and in the future become even more fascinating."
Applications of this work to the fictional matter-to-energy conversion technology featured in Star Trek remain fictitious. Still, the work has the potential to help experimentally confirm theories of how the universe is made, and may even help discover previously unknown physics.
Reference: K. Sugimoto, Y. He, N. Iwata, I-L. Yeh, K. Tangtartharakul, A. Arefiev and Y. Sentoku, August 9, 2023, "Physical Review Letters".
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.065102
Compiled source: ScitechDaily