一个国际研究团队通过观测磁星1E1547.0-5408，可能首次获得了海森堡近90年前预言的真空双折射效应的证据1。研究人员利用帕克斯射电望远镜、美国宇航局的IXPE和NICER X射线望远镜进行观测，发现该磁星发射的X射线呈现极高偏振性，且偏振方向与磁场方向保持一致，这被认为是真空双折射发生的迹象1。
真空双折射效应的检测需要极端条件才能实现1。根据理论预测，所需磁场强度需要超过地球实验室制造磁场的1亿倍以上，这样的极端磁场只有在磁星等天体附近才能自然存在1。这项研究由乔治·华盛顿大学物理研究生Rachael E. Stewart担任第一作者，其成果已发表在《自然》杂志2026年656期第590页1。
Researchers have potentially observed vacuum birefringence for the first time, confirming a phenomenon predicted by physicist Werner Heisenberg nearly 90 years ago 1. The international team detected highly polarized X-rays from the magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408, with the polarization direction aligning with the object's magnetic field—a signature indicating that empty space itself was altering light 1.
The observation was made using the Parkes radio telescope alongside NASA's IXPE and NICER X-ray telescopes 1. Vacuum birefringence, a quantum effect where intense magnetic fields cause electromagnetic radiation to split into two perpendicular polarization components, requires magnetic field strengths exceeding 100 million times stronger than any laboratory field on Earth to detect 1. The magnetar's extraordinarily powerful magnetic environment provided the extreme conditions necessary to observe this elusive phenomenon.
The findings were published in Nature in 2026 by a collaboration involving researchers from George Washington University, Swinburne University of Technology, and other institutions 1. Rachael E. Stewart, a physics graduate student at George Washington University, led the research effort 1.
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