- Category: Science & Technology
(Image Credit: Wikipedia) By Clara Moskowitz, Staff Writer - LiveScience.com - 16 December 2009 The Borromean rings, a symbol dating back to the second century, were recreated with lithium atoms.
When physicist Vitaly Efimov heard his theory had finally been proven, he ran up to the younger scientist who had verified it and gave him a high five.
Efimov had predicted a quantum-mechanical version of Borromean rings, a symbol that first showed up in Afghan Buddhist art from around the second century. The symbol depicts three rings linked together; if any ring were removed, they would all come apart.
Vitaly Efimov, a professor of physics at the University of Washington. Efimov theorized an analog to the rings using particles: Three particles (such as atoms or protons or even quarks) could be bound together in a stable state, even though any two of them could not bind without the third. The physicist first proposed the idea, based on a mathematical proof, in 1970. Since then, no one has been able to demonstrate the phenomenon in the lab — until recently.
A team of physicists led by Randy Hulet of Rice University in Houston finally achieved the trio of particles, and published their findings in the online journal Science Express.
"It was very exciting, because after 40 years of this prediction being out there, it was finally verified," Hulet told LiveScience...MORE...
