Physicists just found more hints of an elusive particle that’s its own antiparticle

Almost 80 years ago, an Italian physicist proposed that a particle could exist as both matter and antimatter at the same time. Called the Majorana fermion, this mysterious state of matter set off a decades-long hunt, with scientists finding the first real evidence of its existence earlier this year.

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CrazyNeutrino said:

Physicists just found more hints of an elusive particle that’s its own antiparticle

Almost 80 years ago, an Italian physicist proposed that a particle could exist as both matter and antimatter at the same time. Called the Majorana fermion, this mysterious state of matter set off a decades-long hunt, with scientists finding the first real evidence of its existence earlier this year.

More…

(Not the darn Majorana neutrino again I hope, it doesn’t exist, again) I’ll read article later.

mollwollfumble said:

CrazyNeutrino said:

Physicists just found more hints of an elusive particle that’s its own antiparticle

Almost 80 years ago, an Italian physicist proposed that a particle could exist as both matter and antimatter at the same time. Called the Majorana fermion, this mysterious state of matter set off a decades-long hunt, with scientists finding the first real evidence of its existence earlier this year.

More…

(Not the darn Majorana neutrino again I hope, it doesn’t exist, again) I’ll read article later.

Not a Majorana neutrino, good. Not even a Majorana fermion. This is a Majorana quasiparticle.

> The problem with building a computer out of quantum bits (or qubits) is that it’s incredibly difficult to make a record of what state they previously held once they’ve been switched, and there’s no point having a computer that can’t retain information. But physicists think Majorana fermions could be the key to solving all of that. “Information could be stored not in the individual particles, but in their relative configuration, so that if one particle is pushed a little by a local force, it doesn’t matter,”

LOL. ROFL. PMSL.

The absurdity of that statement just sort of sneaks up on you, doesn’t it.

mollwollfumble said:

> The problem with building a computer out of quantum bits (or qubits) is that it’s incredibly difficult to make a record of what state they previously held once they’ve been switched, and there’s no point having a computer that can’t retain information. But physicists think Majorana fermions could be the key to solving all of that. “Information could be stored not in the individual particles, but in their relative configuration, so that if one particle is pushed a little by a local force, it doesn’t matter,”

LOL. ROFL. PMSL.

The absurdity of that statement just sort of sneaks up on you, doesn’t it.

Do you understand?

The LOL is because a Majorana fermion can store less information than a Dirac fermion such as an electron. Therefore to store anything on Majorana particles you have to go bigger, using relative configuration of many particles. We already use relative configuration of many electrons – we call it “magnetism”. So the LOL is the spin-doctoring of the claim.

The ROFL is because Majorana fermions don’t exist. Try storing information in a nonexistent computer and see how far you get. ROFL.

The PMSL is because is a Majorana fermion did exist then it would be either a neutrino or a neutralino. The mere thought of restraining neutrinos so they stay on a computer chip and interact with circuitry boggles the mind, neutrinos don’t interact like that. The neutralino (which doesn’t exist) is even worse. You’d need to fit a device more powerful than the LHC on a computer chip to generate them in the first place, and they would only last milliseconds or microseconds before decaying. PMSL.