Physics
Experiments with hydrogen atoms could soon reveal whether particles that were long thought to be forbidden by physics actually do exist
Photons could upend the standard model of particle physics
Eduard Muzhevskyi/Alamy
If photons possess more quantum states than expected, it would overhaul our understanding of all particle physics – and now physicists have identified a way to test this radical idea in an experiment.
Certain elementary particles have a property called spin. For particles of light, or photons, spin can be in one of two potential states, which manifests as the light being polarised in one of two directions. But what if photons had more options – what if they…
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