Sunday, August 23, 2026

Astronomers Use Rare Ultra-Magnetic Star to Crack a Quantum Mystery

A Swinburne astronomer may have just confirmed one of the quirkiest aspects of quantum mechanics: that seemingly empty space can alter the behavior of light. Credit: NASA.

An international team observed a magnetar known as 1E 1547.0–5408 using NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), leading to what could be the first detection of vacuum birefringence taking place in the magnetar’s ultra-strong magnetic field. These findings could potentially resolve a long-standing mystery quantum mechanics.



No comments:

Post a Comment