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Chinese scientists make historic breakthrough with first observation of graviton-like particles

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Chinese scientists make historic breakthrough with first observation of graviton-like particles

2024-09-17 17:29 Last Updated At:09-18 01:27

Scientists from Nanjing University in east China's Jiangsu Province have reached a groundbreaking milestone by observing graviton-like quasi-particles for the first time, solving a nearly century-old scientific puzzle through their dedicated and patient research.

Professor Du Lingjie and his team from the Nanjing University's School of Physics successfully made the observation in recent months, completing a feat that has eluded scientists since the concept of the graviton was proposed in the 1930s.

The breakthrough comes thanks to the scientists' perseverance, which saw them spending hours working away in a pitch-black laboratory, where they developed the world's first experimental set-up capable of detecting these previously elusive particles.

The research focuses on the so-called fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE), a form of quantum liquid, with the team employing novel optical methods to study chiral gravitons.

Du, who has dedicated over a decade to the study of quantum physics, explained the significance of their work using a familiar analogy.

"Imagine the Earth's gravity as a stretched elastic sheet. A massive object, like an apple, creates a depression on this sheet. A small ball rolling across this sheet will move towards the depression, similar to how gravity works. This deformation is akin to ripples in spacetime, known as gravitational waves, and the corresponding particle is the graviton," he explained.

Despite the abstract nature of their research, Du remains steadfast in his pursuit, believing this discovery could revolutionize future technologies, and said that advances in electronic devices, new materials, and fields like network communication, big data, and artificial intelligence may all benefit from this deeper understanding of matter.

In making the breakthrough, the research team operates under often challenging conditions in their lab, which functions as a massive microscope designed to observe these particles. The setup took three years to build and requires ultra-low temperatures, strong magnetic fields, and complete darkness to function effectively.

This environment keeps the team in isolation, and sees them often working from the early morning until late into the night.

"We already feel like we're on a different 'time zone' from other young people in their 20s. When they're out in the sunlight, we're stuck in the dark lab. By the time we finish our experiments, it's often already late at night," said researcher Yang Zihao.

The team say their dedication to the cause is fueled by the feeling they experience while uncovering each new discovery.

"Research in fundamental physics doesn't always yield results quickly - it's like searching for a needle in a haystack. But every discovery we make along the way brings us excitement and motivates us to keep exploring further," said Liang Jiehui, another of the researchers.

The team's latest achievement was published in the renowned Nature journal in March, gaining significant recognition among the international science community, marking the first observation of quasi-particles exhibiting graviton characteristics in condensed matter.

Chinese scientists make historic breakthrough with first observation of graviton-like particles

Chinese scientists make historic breakthrough with first observation of graviton-like particles

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Exhibitors reap benefits at 7th CIIE, eyeing more future opportunities

2024-11-11 22:32 Last Updated At:23:27

Exhibitors, buyers and guests from different countries and from all walks of life have reaped fruitful gains from the 7th China International Import Expo (CIIE), anticipating "overflow effect" from the popular platform and a steady flow of opportunities.

With a theme of "New Era, Shared Future", the six-day expo attracted about 3,500 global exhibitors from 129 countries and regions to its business exhibition.

Among the exhibitors, about 297 are Global 500 companies or industry leaders, setting a new record. More than 400 new products, technologies, and services were showcased by multinationals at this year's CIIE.

"We believe that CIIE is an excellent platform for us to present our latest technologies and products and our latest achievements in sci-tech research. It also allows us to demonstrate the joint efforts between us and our partners, and the process of turning these research results into mature commercial products," said Li Yonggang, technical marketing director of Qualcomm China's marketing department.

The seventh CIIE saw signing of tentative deals worth a total of 80.01 billion U.S. dollars for one-year purchases of goods and services, a 2 percent increase over last year's CIIE. The area booked for the next CIIE exhibition zone exceeded 100,000 square meters.

These figures demonstrate strong confidence from global enterprises in both CIIE and the Chinese market. Exhibitors this year are also eager to leverage the "overflow effect" of CIIE, expecting it to bring further opportunities for growth in China.

"CIIE really demonstrates China's commitment to high level openness but also to drive this open economy and to make sure that there is a building of cross fertilization in terms of innovative approaches and to make sure there is a forum here to showcase those and to make sure that together we can really make the difference for healthy China 2030," said Anna Van Acker, senior vice president of MSD.

Exhibitors reap benefits at 7th CIIE, eyeing more future opportunities

Exhibitors reap benefits at 7th CIIE, eyeing more future opportunities

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