Quantum gravity observed at CERN's ALPHA-g
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Physicists at the ALPHA-g experiment in CERN have just observed how gravity pulls on quantum particles.
The team used atoms cooled to nearly absolute zero. In this state, atoms act more like ripples in a pond than solid billiard balls. Researchers split the atom’s quantum wave, letting one part fall while holding the other still. Bringing the waves back together showed exactly how gravity shifted the falling piece.
🧪
For centuries, we have measured gravity by watching how it moves large objects, like planets or dropped keys, following Einstein’s weak equivalence principle. Before this, we had never confirmed that these same rules apply when matter behaves as a quantum wave. This experiment finally bridges the gap between everyday gravity and the invisible world of quantum mechanics.
🌌
#quantumphysics #cern #science
ScienceDaily: Technology
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⚛️
Physicists at the ALPHA-g experiment in CERN have just observed how gravity pulls on quantum particles.
The team used atoms cooled to nearly absolute zero. In this state, atoms act more like ripples in a pond than solid billiard balls. Researchers split the atom’s quantum wave, letting one part fall while holding the other still. Bringing the waves back together showed exactly how gravity shifted the falling piece.
🧪
For centuries, we have measured gravity by watching how it moves large objects, like planets or dropped keys, following Einstein’s weak equivalence principle. Before this, we had never confirmed that these same rules apply when matter behaves as a quantum wave. This experiment finally bridges the gap between everyday gravity and the invisible world of quantum mechanics.
🌌
Even the smallest particles cannot escape gravity.
#quantumphysics #cern #science
ScienceDaily: Technology
Subscribe
CERN transports 92 antiprotons by road
🚀
In March 2026, researchers at CERN in Geneva successfully transported 92 antiprotons by truck for the first time. This marks a new milestone in handling antimatter.
The team from the BASE experiment, led by Stefan Ulmer and Christian Smorra from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, used a purpose-built portable trap. Antimatter is incredibly unstable and vanishes upon touching ordinary matter. To prevent this, the vessel acts like a high-tech vacuum-sealed container that suspends the particles in place. Moving the trap out of the main accelerator allows physicists to conduct ultra-precise experiments at different laboratories across Europe.
This success follows the team's earlier achievement in October 2024, when they first used the same mobile trap to transport regular protons. By proving the hardware works for both particle types, the BASE researchers have shown that antimatter no longer needs to be trapped inside a massive, stationary facility to be studied. The team successfully kept the antiprotons inside the mobile vessel for over a month.
#CERN #Antimatter #Physics
Interesting Engineering
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🚀
In March 2026, researchers at CERN in Geneva successfully transported 92 antiprotons by truck for the first time. This marks a new milestone in handling antimatter.
The team from the BASE experiment, led by Stefan Ulmer and Christian Smorra from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, used a purpose-built portable trap. Antimatter is incredibly unstable and vanishes upon touching ordinary matter. To prevent this, the vessel acts like a high-tech vacuum-sealed container that suspends the particles in place. Moving the trap out of the main accelerator allows physicists to conduct ultra-precise experiments at different laboratories across Europe.
This success follows the team's earlier achievement in October 2024, when they first used the same mobile trap to transport regular protons. By proving the hardware works for both particle types, the BASE researchers have shown that antimatter no longer needs to be trapped inside a massive, stationary facility to be studied. The team successfully kept the antiprotons inside the mobile vessel for over a month.
#CERN #Antimatter #Physics
Interesting Engineering
Subscribe