来自Swinburne科技大学的研究团队通过观测一颗磁星，可能首次直接检测到了真空双折射现象——这是一种由物理学家Werner Heisenberg在1930年代预测的量子效应1。研究人员利用NASA的成像X射线偏振探测器（IXPE）、国际空间站上的NICER X射线望远镜以及澳大利亚Parkes射电望远镜，对磁星1E1547.0-5408进行了观测1。在这颗磁星极其强大的磁场中，X射线表现出异常高的偏振水平，且偏振方向与磁场方向相一致，这与虚粒子在磁场作用下被对齐的理论预测相符1。
检测到这一现象的难度极高。研究团队的Dr. Marcus Lower指出："要检测真空双折射，需要一个强度超过我们在地球上制造的任何磁场100多倍的磁场"1。这项研究已发表在《自然》杂志上，为人类观察量子真空的奇异物理特性提供了新的观察窗口1。
Researchers have likely achieved the first direct detection of vacuum birefringence, a quantum phenomenon predicted by Werner Heisenberg in the 1930s.1 The international team used NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) to observe the magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408 and discovered that X-rays emitted from its extraordinarily powerful magnetic field exhibited anomalously high levels of polarization, with the polarization direction aligning with the magnetar's magnetic field orientation.1 The findings align with theoretical predictions that virtual particles in a vacuum become aligned by strong magnetic fields, providing a new observational window into the exotic physics of the quantum vacuum.1
The observation required an exceptionally intense magnetic environment. According to Dr. Marcus Lower, "Detecting vacuum birefringence requires a magnetic field that is over 100 million times stronger than any we've ever made on Earth."1 The research team employed multiple instruments in their investigation, including the IXPE aboard NASA's space observatory, the NICER X-ray telescope on the International Space Station, and the Parkes radio telescope in Australia.1 The study, titled "Vacuum birefringence and the polarized X-ray emission of a radio magnetar," was published in Nature in 2026.1
评论
还没有评论，欢迎留下第一条。