Di-positronium
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Di-positronium, or dipositronium, is a molecule consisting of two atoms of positronium. It was predicted to exist in 1946 by John Archibald Wheeler,[1] and subsequently studied theoretically, but was not observed until 2007 in an experiment done by David Cassidy and Allen Mills at the University of California, Riverside. The researchers made the positronium molecules by firing intense bursts of positrons into a thin film of porous silica, which is the chemical name for the mineral quartz. Upon slowing down in silica, the positrons were captured by ordinary electrons to form positronium atoms.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ J. A. Wheeler, Polyelectrons, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 48, #3 (1946), pp. 219–238.
- ^ Cassidy, D. B. & Mills, Jr., A. P. (2007-09-13), “The production of molecular positronium”, Nature 449: 195–197, DOI 10.1038/nature06094
[edit] External links
- Molecules of Positronium Observed in the Laboratory for the First Time, press release, University of California, Riverside, September 12, 2007.
- Mirror particles form new matter, Jonathan Fildes, BBC News, September 12, 2007.
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