The experimental discovery of graviton modes in condensed matter "is one of the" Top Ten Scientific Advances in China "for the year 2024. On June 22, the reporter learned from the main author of the achievement, Professor Du Lingjie from Nanjing University, that he and his team recently confirmed that the previously observed "graviton mode" originated from the geometric oscillation of "partons" in the associated electrons.
The international academic journal Nature Physics published relevant new results online on the 22nd.
In 2024, Du Lingjie's team successfully observed the "graviton mode" in condensed matter using a self-designed and manufactured resonant inelastic polarized light scattering system in extreme environments where the temperature was only about 0.05 degrees Celsius higher than absolute zero and the magnetic field strength was more than 100000 times that of the Earth's average magnetic field. However, the mechanism of the generation of the "graviton mode" is still unclear.
Our experimental equipment is like a miniature particle collider. Large colliders use high-energy electrons to collide with protons, and we use photons to collide with electrons in gallium arsenide quantum wells, "Du Lingjie said.
In the late 1960s, theoretical physicist Feynman proposed the existence of "partons" inside protons based on the deep inelastic scattering phenomenon that occurs when electrons collide with protons. Later, some scholars introduced the concept of "partons" into the fractional quantum Hall effect, believing that under extreme conditions such as extremely low temperatures and strong magnetic fields, seemingly "iron plates" of correlated electrons would split into several "partons".
In a new study, Du Lingjie's team attempted to collide photons with a group of strongly correlated electrons in a stronger magnetic field, resulting in the observation of a novel inelastic light scattering phenomenon in higher energy regions and the discovery of high-energy "graviton modes". The team found that the "graviton mode" changes with the variation of the "parton" by adjusting the experimental conditions. For example, if a "parton" becomes electrically neutral, its corresponding "graviton mode" will also disappear.
These results indicate that the 'graviton mode' originates from the geometric oscillations of different 'partons' in the associated electrons, "said Du Lingjie. (Looking into the New Era)