Physicists observe negative mass *Updated*

[arbellason55]

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39642992

https://news.wsu.edu/2017/04/10/negative-mass-created-at-wsu/

Quote

Hypothetically, matter can have negative mass in the same sense that an electric charge can be either negative or positive. People rarely think in these terms, and our everyday world sees only the positive aspects of Isaac Newton’s Second Law of Motion, in which a force is equal to the mass of an object times its acceleration, or F=ma.

Quote

Conditions for negative mass

He and his colleagues created the conditions for negative mass by cooling rubidium atoms to just a hair above absolute zero, creating what is known as a Bose-Einstein condensate. In this state, predicted by Satyendra Nath Bose and Albert Einstein, particles move extremely slowly and, following the principles of quantum mechanics, behave like waves. They also synchronize and move in unison as what is known as a superfluid, which flows without losing energy.

Led by Peter Engels, WSU professor of physics and astronomy, researchers on the sixth floor of Webster Hall created these conditions by using lasers to slow the particles, making them colder, and allowing hot, high energy particles to escape like steam, cooling the material further.

The lasers trapped the atoms as if they were in a bowl measuring less than a hundred microns across. At this point, the rubidium superfluid has regular mass. Breaking the bowl will allow the rubidium to rush out, expanding as the rubidium in the center pushes outward.

To create negative mass, the researchers applied a second set of lasers that kicked the atoms back and forth and changed the way they spin. Now when the rubidium rushes out fast enough, if behaves as if it has negative mass.

So Washington State University physicists have created a superfluid out of rubidium atoms which satisfies the conditions for negative mass. Apparently the process has been done before in lab conditions but given the complexity of the procedure it is not done very often. So basically what makes this fluid unique is that it has a negative mass which does the opposite of certain things that an object with normal mass would do. For instance instead of the fluid moving with the direction of a force applied to it it moves towards the source of the force. It also has the trait of not losing energy while it flows unlike any other fluid with a normal mass. What makes this attempt special is that they currently have control over the substance which makes it possible for them to actually conduct experiments and research on negative mass which has never really been possible before. This research may shed further light on the true nature of things like dark energy, black holes and neutron stars. I personally think this is really cool but I have no clue what applications this might have. One application I have a theory on is that a battery made out of said fluid might be useful as it does not loose energy while moving so perhaps it would be a good way to store energy? 

 

*UPDATE*

https://www.sciencealert.com/physicists-say-they-ve-created-a-fluid-with-negative-mass 

So after some further reading it turns out they did not actually create a fluid with negative mass but rather made fluid rubidium act as though it had a negative mass which doesn't precisely prove that elements exist naturally with such a mass but that it is highly possible. It is still quite a feat to get it to act as though it has a negative mass however. Experiments to further explore this unique state are still possible with this procedure and may help with the discovery of matter that does have a natural negative mass.

 

Edited April 20, 2017 by arbellason55

[sazrocks]

WORMHOLES FTW!

[arbellason55]

I've never played the game but isn't Mass Effect's whole thing with long distance space travel use negative mass?

[Radiant]

damn this is nice

[WereCat]

Wow, I really want this fluid now

[othertomperson]

9 minutes ago, arbellason55 said:

I've never played the game but isn't Mass Effect's whole thing with long distance space travel use negative mass?

A lot of science fiction (and actual general relativity) relies on negative mass-energy for a warp drive to be possible.

[arbellason55]

Just now, othertomperson said:

A lot of science fiction (and actual general relativity) relies on negative mass-energy for a warp drive to be possible.

Perhaps now we can find out if any of it is actually possible. (hopes it is)

[WereCat]

If you push it and it goes towards you, does it go away from you when you pull it?

[vorticalbox]

well the fluid doesn't slow like say water, it could maybe used in power generation? 

 

1 minute ago, othertomperson said:

A lot of science fiction (and actual general relativity) relies on negative mass-energy for a warp drive to be possible.

even with negative it is still only theoretical that we can even bend space time. 

 

I mean as you approach a blackhole space time bends to where you can no longer move forward in time, so we think.

 

There is no way to know if spacetime would recover from it. 

[sazrocks]

16 minutes ago, arbellason55 said:

I've never played the game but isn't Mass Effect's whole thing with long distance space travel use negative mass?

More wormholes, you have to use negative mass to create them/keep them open. At least, that's one theory.

[arbellason55]

1 minute ago, sazrocks said:

More wormholes, you have to use negative mass to create them/keep them open.

Wormholes would be cool. (potential Stargate hype intensifies) 

[TheRandomness]

So... you'd push it, and it'd push back? That's quite amazing.

[christianled59]

I almost dont to believe this. Holy shit.

[arbellason55]

I am going to take a wild guess and say we have some potentially fun times ahead of us, 5-10 years before we get something really big from this?

[othertomperson]

22 minutes ago, vorticalbox said:

well the fluid doesn't slow like say water, it could maybe used in power generation? 

 

even with negative it is still only theoretical that we can even bend space time. 

 

I mean as you approach a blackhole space time bends to where you can no longer move forward in time, so we think.

 

There is no way to know if spacetime would recover from it. 

...next you'll be telling me Asari aren't real  

[arbellason55]

I wonder what it would do in a vacuum environment.

[FPSwithaWacomTablet]

Oh shit, he discovered the Gray elements. Quick, hide them or the BETA are gonna start coming...

[RadiatingLight]

2 hours ago, WereCat said:

If you push it and it goes towards you, does it go away from you when you pull it?

there is no way to pull a liquid without actually pushing from the other side.

[WereCat]

5 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

there is no way to pull a liquid without actually pushing from the other side.

Hmmm, when I think about it...you are right.

[mynameisjuan]

How does cooling them then shooting them with a laser make them colder?

[Granular]

Err, so if F=ma, does pushing the liquid pull it closer to you?

Or did my narrow minded physics teachers neglected to account for negative mass and the equation is actually F=|m|a ?

[Sniperfox47]

1 hour ago, mynameisjuan said:

How does cooling them then shooting them with a laser make them colder?

Heat is movement of particles. Since lasers are burst of photons, and photons have mass-equivelency, they can apply a force to an object upon collision, causing that object to slow and thus reducing the heat of a substance.

 

Laser cooling is that basis of most applications that rely on temperatures near absolute 0.

[JoseGuya]

17 minutes ago, Granular said:

Err, so if F=ma, does pushing the liquid pull it closer to you?

Or did my narrow minded physics teachers neglected to account for negative mass and the equation is actually F=|m|a ?

F=ma is correct. If m is negative, F would have the opposite direction of the acceleration. 

[VerticalDiscussions]

So could this be the way we will be able to bring blackholes closer to us instead of them bringing us closer to them?

[You_are_a_cunt]

GREAT SCOTT!

They've found my research. I don't know how, but they found it!

 

QUICK MARTY, WE'VE GOT TO GO BACK AND HIDE EVERYTHING!