Shining Light Through Walls - Sixty Symbols

Dr Clare Burrage discusses Axions.

This project features scientists from The University of Nottingham

Sixty Symbols videos by Brady Haran

[LikelyToBeEatenByAGrue]

All of the trolling commenters saying "oh, they're just making stuff up!". That's what forming a hypothesis is. The difference between scientists and others is what comes after. They test the hypothesis and try to provide evidence. Make predictions and see if those predictions are backed up by observation. You can't create new science without "making up" a hypothesis.

[marv]

Im blown away at how simple yet ingenious these physics experiments can be!

[MagisterMalleus]

In most areas of science if a theory doesn't work you come up with a new theory. In physics if a theory doesn't work you come up with a new particle.

[JustOneAsbesto]

A window is basically a wall you can shine light through.

[Desmaad]

Could we have her on more often? Female physicists seem so scarce as to be invisible, and having her on more would be encouraging.

[MuadDib]

I like Clare, she seems nice. She has a sort of Ed Copeland vibe going on.

[Unnjit]

Two questions about the experiment.
 After the light (assuming a specific wavelength) turns into a axion, then back into light. Does the light detected change wavelengths or does it stay the same as before? If so, would there be a range of wavelengths in the detector?

[mageover]

So for senior lab in Undergrad, my partner and I built a scaled down version of this experiment. We trying to measure the Verdet constant of water by trying to Faraday rotate polarized light. It turns out if you do the same experiment in a vacuum, and you get this rotation, it also indicate axions.

[gimpdoctor]

to everyone who is saying "hurr they're just making shit up!"
Yes, yes they are. That's how one hypothesizes.
Having said that you are nearing in on the reality that physics is in great need currently of a different theory than the standard model, which is all bandaged up and delicate. If you have a better idea then by all means physicists are all ears. Until then please don't criticize the best ideas we have

[mageover]

It seem people think that SM doesn't work so we are just making up particles. That's not really whats happening. SM works very well, it just there is no reason why CP violation should be so small. It can be small, but we don't know why it is. It's like mass, there wasn't any reason for the electron to have mass, but Higgs figured out if there was another particle yet to observed that interacts in a certain way, then we are able to explain the mass of all sorts of particles(with exception of the neutrino, we can now explain the mass of every other SM particle). Same things here, if this particle exists then we know why CP violation is such a low number.  

[nilayjain]

omg that was amazing. she explained the topic in a clear and concise manner. is she a professor too?

[mhoroub]

There are two experiments at CERN looking for Axions: CAST which is looking for solar axions and OSQAR looking for axions from photon conversion 

[shafey]

So what is the magnet for? what does it do in the experiment?

[HellsMascot]

What about the engineering of the axion detection apparatus ensures there is no background noise?

[PINGPONGROCKSBRAH]

I like how the video is about subatomic particles and yet the background footage is an infomercial for soap.

[BubuSnow]

In case they detected a photon on the other side, how can they tell if it is an Axion and not just an extreme case of quantum tunneling?

[sanDuck_laws]

Awesome video! I hope they find this elusive particle. I am curious though: What type of light are they using and what type of wall? I mean visible light can pass through a wall of window glass, and radio waves can pass through some concrete building walls, so what then is the specific structure of their experiment?

[TheRealBanana]

It looks like they've moved onto a new version called ALPS II and it is got some pretty impressive stats. They will be shining a 70 watt 1064nm laser beam through a 5.3 tesla magnetic field! I hope Sixty Symbols will go back in the future to get an update on their experiment.

[Willard_and_Wee-un]

>Youtube settings (three bars beside logo)>manage subscriptions (bottom left)>wildly click check boxes (everywhere)>select actions (like you are Action Jackson)> never miss a video again

[PokeDude]

Hey guys, I've got a question. Dr. Burrage says in this video that there is no background count in this experiment. Now, my knowledge of gauge bosons is far from complete (I've only watched a single video about it in my A-level class), but as the gauge boson of the electromagnetic field is the photon, wouldn't the magnets cause some background radiation to be registered? Or would they be too low energy to be picked up / in the wrong frequency range for the receiver?

By the way, what a nice and short video. Learned about something new today, so thanks again to the Sixty Symbols team!