NEUTRONS TRAPPED!
Scientists demonstrated for the first time that they can confine
neutrons, one of the basic particles of matter, in a three-dimensional
magnetic trap. Researchers from the Commerce Department's National Institute
of Standards and Technology, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the
Hahn-Meitner Institute in Germany and Harvard University (lead
institute) reported this discovery in the Jan. 6, 2000 Nature. The achievement may help expand our knowledge of the creation of matter during the Big Bang.
br>Links:
Nature
Heads-Up Physics Teachers: QUANTUM - CLASSICAL CONNECTION SEVERED
Theorist Bo Gao of the University of Toledo chilled neutral atoms to nearly absolute zero to measure energy levels, and discovered that Niels Bohr's 1913 theory of quantum-classical connection, or the corresponence principle for interactions of atoms doesn't hold up. The report was filed in the November 22 issue of Physical Review Letters. It's not predicted to affect research, however textbook writers and teachers should percolate the news through to their students.
Links:
Science News