Trying to make sense of information is a universal daily experience. For physicist Melvin Vopson, this pursuit goes well beyond the mundane—he's trying to prove that information has a physical presence. It's a weighty task that could lead to new insights about how we can manage the future of information storage. It could also lead to a fundamental shift in how we think about the universe.
Vopson, who studies information theory at University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom, wants to use an experiment to confirm that elementary particles have measurable mass. It would involve a matter-antimatter annihilation process that would shoot a beam of positrons at electrons in a piece of metal. Positrons and electrons are both subatomic particles, with the same mass and magnitude of charge. However, positrons are positively charged, and electrons are negatively charged. A sheet of metal has many free electrons, increasing the probability of collision with the incoming positrons.
Vopson proposes that a positron-electron annihilation should produce energy equivalent to the masses of the two particles. It should also produce an extra dash of energy: two infrared, low-energy photons of a specific wavelength (predicted to be about 50 microns), as a direct result of erasing the information content of the particles. Photons are particles of electromagnetic radiation.
No large-scale particle accelerator or particle collider is needed, Vopson says. "In fact, we need rather slow positrons, so the main challenge is to slow them down at thermal velocities. The experiment is challenging, but not unachievable." The infrared photons have very specific markers, so they should be easy to distinguish from any other energy the particles emit.
Vopson hopes to collaborate with other scientists to conduct this experiment. If successful, it would confirm hypothetical ideas about the energy and mass of information and how it relates to the physical universe. |
Trying to make sense of information is a universal daily experience. For physicist Melvin Vopson, this pursuit goes well beyond the mundane—he's trying to prove that information has a physical presence. It's a weighty task that could lead to new insights about how we can manage the future of information storage. It could also lead to a fundamental shift in how we think about the universe.
Vopson, who studies information theory at University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom, wants to use an experiment to confirm that elementary particles have measurable mass. It would involve a matter-antimatter annihilation process that would shoot a beam of positrons at electrons in a piece of metal. Positrons and electrons are both subatomic particles, with the same mass and magnitude of charge. However, positrons are positively charged, and electrons are negatively charged. A sheet of metal has many free electrons, increasing the probability of collision with the incoming positrons.
Vopson proposes that a positron-electron annihilation should produce energy equivalent to the masses of the two particles. It should also produce an extra dash of energy: two infrared, low-energy photons of a specific wavelength (predicted to be about 50 microns), as a direct result of erasing the information content of the particles. Photons are particles of electromagnetic radiation.
No large-scale particle accelerator or particle collider is needed, Vopson says. "In fact, we need rather slow positrons, so the main challenge is to slow them down at thermal velocities. The experiment is challenging, but not unachievable." The infrared photons have very specific markers, so they should be easy to distinguish from any other energy the particles emit.
Vopson hopes to collaborate with other scientists to conduct this experiment. If successful, it would confirm hypothetical ideas about the energy and mass of information and how it relates to the physical universe. |
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