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2024-11-11

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Bizarre particle gains or loses mass depending on direction it travels (newatlas.com)

submitted 5 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Summary

Scientists have discovered semi-Dirac fermions, particles that bizarrely gain or lose mass depending on the direction they travel.

Found in the semi-metal material ZrSiS, these quasiparticles are massless when moving at light speed in one direction but gain mass when slowing down in another, due to resistance within the material’s electronic structure.

This behavior, tied to Einstein’s E=mc², was unexpected and may lead to applications similar to graphene.

Researchers are now studying the unexplained quantum interactions behind this phenomenon, published in Physical Review X.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 days ago (2 children)

and may lead to applications similar to graphene.

Graphene has applications now?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 days ago

Yes; theoretical ones.

[–] lemming 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Surprisingly, I just read it actually does, and quite a few. None revolutionary and eye-catching like everybody hoped, but apparently, most of us has graphene in our smartphones, for example. I don't remember specifics, I can try to look for the article where I read it, if you want very much.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

For me, it's the phone's OS!