What is the smallest particle in the universe. What is the smallest particle in the universe

The answer to the ongoing question: what is the smallest particle in the universe has evolved with humanity.

People once thought that grains of sand were the building blocks of what we see around us. Then the atom was discovered and it was considered indivisible until it was split to reveal the protons, neutrons and electrons within. They didn't turn out to be the smallest particles in the universe either, as scientists discovered that protons and neutrons are made up of three quarks each.

So far, scientists have not been able to see any evidence that there is something inside quarks and that the most fundamental layer of matter or the smallest particle in the universe has been reached.

And even if quarks and electrons are indivisible, scientists don't know if they are the smallest bits of matter in existence or if the universe contains objects that are even smaller.

The smallest particles in the universe

They come in different flavors and sizes, some have an amazing bond, others essentially vaporize each other, many of them have fantastic names: baryons and mesons quarks, neutrons and protons, nucleons, hyperons, mesons, baryons, nucleons, photons, etc. .d.

The Higgs boson is a particle so important to science that it is called the "God particle". It is believed that it determines the mass of all others. The element was first theorized in 1964 when scientists wondered why some particles are more massive than others.

The Higgs boson is associated with the so-called Higgs field which is believed to fill the universe. Two elements (the Higgs field quantum and the Higgs boson) are responsible for giving others mass. Named after the Scottish scientist Peter Higgs. On March 14, 2013, the confirmation of the existence of the Higgs Boson was officially announced.

Many scientists claim that the Higgs mechanism has solved the missing piece of the puzzle to complete the existing "standard model" of physics that describes known particles.

The Higgs boson fundamentally determined the mass of everything that exists in the universe.

Quarks

Quarks (translated as crazy) are the building blocks of protons and neutrons. They are never alone, existing only in groups. Apparently, the force that binds quarks together increases with distance, so the farther away, the harder it will be to separate them. Therefore, free quarks never exist in nature.

Quarks fundamental particles are structureless, dotted about 10-16 cm in size.

For example, protons and neutrons are made up of three quarks, with protons having two identical quarks while neutrons have two different ones.

Supersymmetry

It is known that the fundamental "bricks" of matter - fermions - are quarks and leptons, and the keepers of the force of bosons are photons, gluons. The theory of supersymmetry says that fermions and bosons can turn into each other.

The predictive theory says that for every particle known to us, there is a sister particle that we have not yet discovered. For example, for an electron it is a selekron, for a quark it is a squark, for a photon it is a photino, and for a higgs it is a higgsino.

Why don't we observe this supersymmetry in the Universe now? Scientists believe that they are much heavier than their conventional cousins, and the heavier they are, the shorter their lifespan. In fact, they begin to break down as soon as they arise. The creation of supersymmetry requires a very a large number energy that only existed shortly after the big bang and could possibly be created in large accelerators like the Large Hadron Collider.

As to why the symmetry arose, physicists speculate that the symmetry may have been broken in some hidden sector of the universe that we cannot see or touch, but can only feel gravitationally.

Neutrino

Neutrinos are light subatomic particles that whistle everywhere at the close speed of light. In fact, trillions of neutrinos are streaming through your body at any given moment, although they rarely interact with normal matter.

Some come from the sun, while others come from cosmic rays interacting with the Earth's atmosphere and astronomical sources such as exploding stars on milky way and other distant galaxies.

Antimatter

It is believed that all normal particles have antimatter with the same mass but opposite charge. When matter and meet, they destroy each other. For example, the antimatter particle of a proton is an antiproton, while the antimatter partner of an electron is called a positron. Antimatter is one of the most expensive substances in the world that people have been able to identify.

Gravitons

In the field of quantum mechanics, all fundamental forces are transmitted by particles. For example, light is made up of massless particles called photons that carry electromagnetic force. Similarly, the graviton is a theoretical particle that carries the force of gravity. Scientists have yet to discover gravitons, which are hard to find because they interact so weakly with matter.

Threads of energy

In experiments, tiny particles such as quarks and electrons act as single points of matter with no spatial distribution. But point objects complicate the laws of physics. Since one cannot get infinitely close to a point, since active forces, can become infinitely large.

An idea called superstring theory can solve this problem. The theory states that all particles, instead of being pointlike, are actually small filaments of energy. That is, all objects of our world consist of vibrating threads and membranes of energy. Nothing can be infinitely close to the thread because one part will always be slightly closer than the other. This "loophole" seems to solve some of the problems of infinity, making the idea attractive to physicists. However, scientists still have no experimental evidence that string theory is correct.

Another way of solving the point problem is to say that space itself is not continuous and smooth, but is actually made up of discrete pixels or grains, sometimes called the spatiotemporal structure. In this case, two particles cannot approach each other indefinitely, because they must always be separated by the minimum grain size of space.

black hole point

Another contender for the title of the smallest particle in the universe is a singularity (a single point) at the center of a black hole. Black holes form when matter condenses in a small enough space that gravity grabs onto it, causing the matter to be drawn inward, eventually condensing into a single point of infinite density. At least according to the current laws of physics.

But most experts don't consider black holes to be truly infinitely dense. They believe that this infinity is the result internal conflict between two valid theories general theory relativity and quantum mechanics. They suggest that when the theory of quantum gravity can be formulated, the true nature of black holes will be revealed.

Planck length

Threads of energy and even the smallest particle in the universe can be the size of a “plank length”.

The length of the bar is 1.6 x 10 -35 meters (the number 16 preceded by 34 zeros and a decimal point) - an incomprehensibly small scale that is associated with various aspects of physics.

The Planck length is the "natural unit" for measuring length, which was proposed by the German physicist Max Planck.

The Planck length is too small for any instrument to measure, but beyond that, it is thought to represent the theoretical limit of the shortest measurable length. According to the uncertainty principle, no instrument should ever be able to measure anything less than this, because in this range the universe is probabilistic and uncertain.

This scale is also considered the dividing line between general relativity and quantum mechanics.

The Planck length corresponds to the distance where the gravitational field is so strong that it can start making black holes out of the field's energy.

Apparently now, the smallest particle in the universe is about the size of a plank length: 1.6 10 −35 meters

conclusions

From the school bench it was known that the smallest particle in the Universe, the electron, has a negative charge and a very small mass, equal to 9.109 x 10 - 31 kg, and the classical radius of the electron is 2.82 x 10 -15 m.

However, physicists are already working with the smallest particles in the universe, the Planck size, which is about 1.6 x 10 −35 meters.

The neutrino, an incredibly tiny particle in the universe, has held the close attention of scientists for nearly a century. More awards for neutrino research Nobel Prizes than for work on any other particles, and for its study huge installations are being built with the budget of small states. Alexander Nozik, senior researcher at the Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, lecturer at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and participant in the Troitsk nu-mass experiment to search for the neutrino mass, tells how to study it, but most importantly, how to catch it at all.

Mystery of the Stolen Energy

The history of the study of neutrinos can be read as a fascinating detective story. This particle tested the deductive abilities of scientists more than once: not every of the riddles could be solved immediately, and some have not been solved so far. Let's start with the history of discovery. radioactive decays various kinds began to be studied in late XIX century, and it is not surprising that in the 1920s, scientists had in their arsenal instruments not only for recording the decay itself, but also for measuring the energy of emitted particles, albeit not very accurate by today's standards. With the increase in the accuracy of the instruments, the joy of scientists grew, and the bewilderment associated, among other things, with beta decay, in which an electron flies out of a radioactive nucleus, and the nucleus itself changes its charge. Such a decay is called two-particle, since two particles are formed in it - a new nucleus and an electron. Any high school student will explain that it is possible to accurately determine the energy and momentum of fragments in such a decay, using conservation laws and knowing the masses of these fragments. In other words, the energy of, for example, an electron will always be the same in any decay of the nucleus of a certain element. In practice, a completely different picture was observed. The energy of electrons was not only not fixed, but also spread out into a continuous spectrum to zero, which baffled scientists. This can only happen if someone is stealing energy from beta decay. But there seems to be no one to steal it.

Over time, the instruments became more and more accurate, and soon the opportunity to attribute such an anomaly to the error of the equipment disappeared. Thus a mystery arose. In search of its solution, scientists expressed various, even completely absurd assumptions by today's standards. Niels Bohr himself, for example, made a serious statement that conservation laws do not apply in the world elementary particles. Saved the day by Wolfgang Pauli in 1930. He was unable to attend the physics conference in Tübingen and, unable to participate remotely, sent a letter that he asked to be read. Here are excerpts from it:

“Dear radioactive ladies and gentlemen. I ask you to listen attentively at the most convenient moment to the messenger who delivered this letter. He will tell you that I have found an excellent tool for the law of conservation and correct statistics. It lies in the possibility of the existence of electrically neutral particles ... The continuity of the Β-spectrum will become clear if we assume that during Β-decay, such a “neutron” is emitted with each electron, and the sum of the energies of the “neutron” and the electron is constant ... "

At the end of the letter were the following lines:

“Don't take risks, don't win. The severity of the situation when considering the continuous Β-spectrum becomes especially striking after the words of prof. Debye, who told me with regret: "Oh, it's better not to think of all this ... as new taxes." Therefore, every path to salvation must be seriously discussed. So, dear radioactive people, put it to the test and judge."

Later, Pauli himself expressed fears that, although his idea saves the physics of the microcosm, a new particle will never be discovered experimentally. They say he even argued with his colleagues that if the particle exists, it will not be possible to detect it during their lifetime. In the next few years, Enrico Fermi created a theory of beta decay involving a particle he called the neutrino, which agreed brilliantly with experiment. After that, no one had any doubts that the hypothetical particle actually exists. In 1956, two years before Pauli's death, the neutrino was experimentally discovered in inverse beta decay by the group of Frederick Reines and Clyde Cowan (Reines received a Nobel Prize for this).

The Case of the Missing Solar Neutrinos

As soon as it became clear that neutrinos, although difficult, can still be registered, scientists began to try to capture neutrinos of extraterrestrial origin. Their most obvious source is the Sun. Nuclear reactions are constantly taking place in it, and it can be calculated that through every square centimeter earth's surface about 90 billion solar neutrinos pass per second.

At that time, the most effective method for catching solar neutrinos was the radiochemical method. Its essence is as follows: the solar neutrino arrives on Earth, interacts with the nucleus; it turns out, say, a 37Ar nucleus and an electron (this is the reaction that was used in the experiment of Raymond Davis, for which he was later awarded the Nobel Prize). After that, by counting the number of argon atoms, one can say how many neutrinos interacted in the detector volume during the exposure time. In practice, of course, things are not so simple. It must be understood that it is required to count single argon atoms in a target weighing hundreds of tons. The ratio of masses is approximately the same as between the mass of an ant and the mass of the Earth. It was then that it was discovered that ⅔ of solar neutrinos had been stolen (the measured flux turned out to be three times less than predicted).

Of course, in the first place, suspicion fell on the Sun itself. After all, we can judge his inner life only by indirect signs. It is not known how neutrinos are born on it, and it is even possible that all models of the Sun are wrong. Quite a lot of different hypotheses were discussed, but in the end, scientists began to lean towards the idea that it was not the Sun that mattered, but the cunning nature of the neutrinos themselves.

A small historical digression: in the period between the experimental discovery of neutrinos and experiments on the study of solar neutrinos, several more interesting discoveries occurred. First, antineutrinos were discovered and it was proved that neutrinos and antineutrinos participate in interactions in different ways. Moreover, all neutrinos in all interactions are always left-handed (the projection of the spin on the direction of motion is negative), and all antineutrinos are right-handed. Not only is this property observed among all elementary particles only for neutrinos, it also indirectly indicates that our Universe is not symmetrical in principle. Secondly, it was found that each charged lepton (electron, muon and tau lepton) has its own type, or flavor, of neutrino. Moreover, neutrinos of each type interact only with their lepton.

Let's return to our solar problem. Back in the 1950s, it was suggested that the lepton flavor (a type of neutrino) should not be conserved. That is, if an electron neutrino was born in one reaction, then on the way to another reaction, the neutrino can change clothes and run as a muon. This could explain the lack of solar neutrinos in radiochemical experiments sensitive only to electron neutrinos. This hypothesis was brilliantly confirmed by measurements of the solar neutrino flux in scintillation experiments with a large water target SNO and Kamiokande (for which another Nobel Prize was recently awarded). In these experiments, it is no longer the reverse beta decay that is being studied, but the neutrino scattering reaction, which can occur not only with electron, but also with muon neutrinos. When, instead of a flux of electron neutrinos, they began to measure the total flux of all types of neutrinos, the results perfectly confirmed the transition of neutrinos from one type to another, or neutrino oscillations.

Attack on the Standard Model

The discovery of neutrino oscillations, having solved one problem, created several new ones. The bottom line is that since the time of Pauli, neutrinos have been considered massless particles like photons, and this suited everyone. Attempts to measure the neutrino mass continued, but without much enthusiasm. Oscillations have changed everything, because for their existence the mass, however small, is indispensable. The discovery of mass in neutrinos, of course, delighted experimenters, but puzzled theorists. First, massive neutrinos do not fit into the Standard Model of particle physics, which scientists have been building since the beginning of the 20th century. Secondly, the same mysterious left-handedness of the neutrino and the right-handedness of the antineutrino is well explained only again for massless particles. In the presence of mass, left-handed neutrinos should with some probability turn into right-handed neutrinos, that is, into antiparticles, violating the seemingly unshakable law of conservation of the lepton number, or even turn into some kind of neutrinos that do not participate in the interaction. Today, such hypothetical particles are called sterile neutrinos.

Super-Kamiokande Neutrino Detector © Kamioka Observatory, ICRR (Institute for Cosmic Ray Research), The University of Tokyo

Of course, the experimental search for the neutrino mass immediately resumed abruptly. But the question immediately arose: how to measure the mass of something that cannot be caught in any way? There is only one answer: not to catch neutrinos at all. To date, two directions are being most actively developed - a direct search for the mass of neutrinos in beta decay and the observation of neutrinoless double beta decay. In the first case, the idea is very simple. The nucleus decays with the emission of an electron and a neutrino. It is not possible to catch a neutrino, but it is possible to catch and measure an electron with a very high accuracy. The electron spectrum also carries information about the neutrino mass. Such an experiment is one of the most complex in particle physics, but its undoubted advantage is that it is based on the basic principles of conservation of energy and momentum and its result depends on little. Now the best limit on the neutrino mass is about 2 eV. This is 250 thousand times less than that of an electron. That is, the mass itself was not found, but only limited by the upper frame.

With double beta decay, everything is more complicated. If we assume that a neutrino turns into an antineutrino during a spin flip (this model is named after the Italian physicist Ettore Majorana), then a process is possible when two beta decays occur simultaneously in the nucleus, but the neutrinos do not fly out, but contract. The probability of such a process is related to the neutrino mass. The upper limits in such experiments are better - 0.2 – 0.4 eV - but depend on the physical model.

The massive neutrino problem has not yet been solved. The Higgs theory cannot explain such small masses. It requires a significant complication or the involvement of some more cunning laws, according to which neutrinos interact with the rest of the world. Physicists involved in the study of neutrinos are often asked the question: “How can the study of neutrinos help the average layman? What financial or other benefit can be derived from this particle? Physicists shrug. And they really don't know it. Once the study of semiconductor diodes belonged to purely fundamental physics, without any practical application. The difference is that the technologies that are being developed to create modern experiments in neutrino physics are already widely used in industry, so every penny invested in this area pays off pretty quickly. Now several experiments are being carried out in the world, the scale of which is comparable to the scale of the Large Hadron Collider; these experiments are aimed exclusively at studying the properties of neutrinos. In which of them it will be possible to open a new page in physics, it is not known, but it will be opened for sure.

What do we know about particles smaller than an atom? And what is the smallest particle in the universe?

The world around us... Who among us has not admired its enchanting beauty? His bottomless night sky, strewn with billions of twinkling mysterious stars and the warmth of his affectionate sunlight. Emerald fields and forests, stormy rivers and boundless sea expanses. Sparkling peaks of majestic mountains and luscious alpine meadows. Morning dew and nightingale trill at dawn. A fragrant rose and a quiet murmur of a stream. A blazing sunset and the gentle rustle of a birch grove...

Is it possible to think of anything more beautiful than the world around us?! More powerful and impressive? And, at the same time, more fragile and tender? All this is the world where we breathe, love, rejoice, rejoice, suffer and mourn... All this is our world. The world in which we live, which we feel, which we see and which we at least somehow understand.

However, it is much more diverse and complex than it might seem at first glance. We know that luscious meadows would not have appeared without the fantastic riot of an endless round dance of flexible green blades of grass, lush trees dressed up in emerald robes - without a great many leaves on their branches, and golden beaches - without numerous sparkling grains of sand crunching under bare feet in the rays of summer gentle sun. The big always consists of the small. Small - from even more small. And this sequence, probably, has no limit.

Therefore, blades of grass and grains of sand, in turn, consist of molecules that are formed from atoms. Atoms, as you know, are composed of elementary particles - electrons, protons and neutrons. But they, as it is believed, are not the final authority. Modern science claims that protons and neutrons, for example, consist of hypothetical energy clusters - quarks. There is an assumption that there is an even smaller particle - the preon, which is still invisible, unknown, but supposed.

The world of molecules, atoms, electrons, protons, neutrons, photons, etc. called microworld. He is the basis macrocosm- the world of man and the magnitudes commensurate with it on our planet and mega world- the world of stars, galaxies, the Universe and Cosmos. All these worlds are interconnected and do not exist one without the other.

We have already met the mega world in the report on our first expedition. "Breath of the Universe. Journey first" and we already have an idea about distant galaxies and the Universe. On that perilous journey, we discovered the world of dark matter and dark energy, explored the depths of black holes, reached the tops of glittering quasars, and miraculously avoided the Big Bang and no less Big Crunch. The universe appeared before us in all its beauty and grandeur. During our journey, we realized that stars and galaxies did not appear on their own, but were painstakingly, over billions of years, formed from particles and atoms.

It is particles and atoms that make up the whole world around us. It is they, in their countless and diverse combinations, that can appear before us either in the form of a beautiful Dutch rose, or in the form of a severe heap of Tibetan rocks. Everything we see consists of these mysterious representatives of the mysterious microworld. Why "mysterious" and why "mysterious"? Because humanity, unfortunately, still knows very little about this world and about its representatives.

It is impossible to imagine the modern science of the microcosm without mentioning the electron, proton or neutron. In any reference material in physics or chemistry, we will find their mass to the ninth decimal place, their electric charge, lifetime, and so on. For example, in accordance with these reference books, an electron has a mass of 9.10938291 (40) x 10 -31 kg, an electric charge - minus 1.602176565 (35) x 10 -19 C, a lifetime - infinity or at least 4.6 x 10 26 years old (Wikipedia).

The accuracy of determining the parameters of an electron is impressive, and pride in scientific achievements civilization fills our hearts! True, at the same time some doubts creep in, which, with all the desire, cannot be completely driven away. Determining the mass of an electron equal to one billion - billion - billionth of a kilogram, and even weighing it to the ninth decimal place, I believe, is not at all an easy task, as well as measuring the lifetime of an electron at 4,600,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 000 years.

Moreover, no one has ever seen this very electron. The most modern microscopes make it possible to see only an electron cloud around the nucleus of an atom, within which, as scientists believe, an electron moves with great speed (Fig. 1). We do not yet know for sure neither the size of the electron, nor its shape, nor the speed of its rotation. In reality, we know very little about the electron, as well as about the proton and the neutron. We can only speculate and guess. Unfortunately, for today it while all our possibilities.

Rice. 1. Photograph of electron clouds taken by physicists of the Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology in September 2009

But an electron or a proton is the smallest elementary particles that make up an atom of any substance. And if our technical means of studying the microworld do not yet allow us to see particles and atoms, maybe we can start with something about more and more known? For example, from a molecule! It is made up of atoms. A molecule is a larger and more understandable object, which, quite possibly, is more deeply studied.

Unfortunately, I have to disappoint you again. Molecules are understandable to us only on paper in the form of abstract formulas and drawings of their supposed structure. We still cannot get a clear image of a molecule with pronounced bonds between atoms.

In August 2009, using the technology of atomic force microscopy, European researchers for the first time managed to obtain an image of the structure of a fairly large molecule of pentacene (C 22 H 14). The most modern technology has made it possible to see only five rings that determine the structure of this hydrocarbon, as well as spots of individual carbon and hydrogen atoms (Fig. 2). And that's all we can do for now...

Rice. 2. Structural representation of the pentacene molecule (top)

and her photo (below)

On the one hand, the photographs obtained allow us to assert that the path chosen by chemists, describing the composition and structure of molecules, is no longer in doubt, but, on the other hand, we can only guess that

How, after all, does the combination of atoms occur in a molecule, and elementary particles - in an atom? Why are these atomic and molecular bonds stable? How are they formed, what forces support them? What does an electron, proton or neutron look like? What is their structure? What is an atomic nucleus? How do proton and neutron coexist in the same space and why do they reject an electron from it?

There are a lot of questions of this kind. Answers too. True, many answers are based only on assumptions that give rise to new questions.

My very first attempts to penetrate the secrets of the microworld came across a rather superficial idea modern science many fundamental knowledge about the structure of microworld objects, about the principles of their functioning, about the systems of their interconnections and relationships. It turned out that humanity still does not clearly understand how the nucleus of an atom and its constituent particles - electrons, protons and neutrons - are arranged. We have only general ideas about what actually happens in the process of fission of the atomic nucleus, what events can occur during the long course of this process.

The study of nuclear reactions was limited to observing the processes and ascertaining certain cause-and-effect relationships, derived experimentally. Researchers have learned to determine only behavior certain particles under one or another impact. That's all! Without understanding their structure, without revealing the mechanisms of interaction! Only behavior! Based on this behavior, the dependences of certain parameters were determined and, for greater importance, these experimental data were clothed in multi-level mathematical formulas. That's the whole theory!

Unfortunately, this was enough to bravely set about building nuclear power plants, various accelerators, colliders and the creation of nuclear bombs. Having received primary knowledge about nuclear processes, mankind immediately joined in an unprecedented race for the possession of powerful energy subject to it.

By leaps and bounds, the number of countries with nuclear capabilities in service has grown. nuclear missiles in huge numbers they looked menacingly in the direction of unfriendly neighbors. Nuclear power plants began to appear, continuously generating cheap electrical energy. Enormous funds were spent on nuclear development of more and more new designs. Science, trying to look inside the atomic nucleus, intensively erected super-modern particle accelerators.

However, the matter did not reach the structure of the atom and its nucleus. The fascination with the search for more and more new particles and the pursuit of Nobel regalia relegated to the background a deep study of the structure of the atomic nucleus and its constituent particles.

But superficial knowledge about nuclear processes immediately showed up negatively during the operation of nuclear reactors and provoked the emergence of spontaneous nuclear chain reactions in a number of situations.

This list provides dates and locations for the occurrence of spontaneous nuclear reactions:

08/21/1945. USA, Los Alamos National Laboratory.

May 21, 1946. USA, Los Alamos National Laboratory.

03/15/1953. USSR, Chelyabinsk-65, Mayak Production Association.

04/21/1953. USSR, Chelyabinsk-65, Mayak Production Association.

06/16/1958. USA, Oak Ridge, Y-12 Radiochemical Plant.

10/15/1958. Yugoslavia, B. Kidrich Institute.

December 30, 1958 USA, Los Alamos National Laboratory.

01/03/1963. USSR, Tomsk-7, Siberian Chemical Combine.

07/23/1964. USA, Woodryver, Radiochemical plant.

December 30, 1965 Belgium, Mol.

03/05/1968. USSR, Chelyabinsk-70, VNIITF.

December 10, 1968 USSR, Chelyabinsk-65, Mayak Production Association.

May 26, 1971 USSR, Moscow, Institute of Atomic Energy.

December 13, 1978. USSR, Tomsk-7, Siberian Chemical Combine.

09/23/1983. Argentina, Reactor RA-2.

May 15, 1997 Russia, Novosibirsk, plant of chemical concentrates.

06/17/1997. Russia, Sarov, VNIIEF.

09/30/1999 Japan, Tokaimura, Plant for the production of nuclear fuel.

To this list must be added numerous accidents with air and underwater carriers of nuclear weapons, incidents at nuclear fuel cycle enterprises, emergencies at nuclear power plants, emergencies during the testing of nuclear and thermonuclear bombs. The tragedy of Chernobyl and Fukushima will forever remain in our memory. Behind these catastrophes and emergencies, thousands dead people. And it makes you think very seriously.

Just the thought of working nuclear power plants that can instantly turn the whole world into a continuous radioactive zone, is terrifying. Unfortunately, these concerns are well founded. First of all, the fact that the creators of nuclear reactors in their work used not fundamental knowledge, but a statement of certain mathematical dependencies and behavior of particles, on the basis of which a dangerous nuclear structure was built. For scientists, until now, nuclear reactions are a kind of "black box" that works, subject to the fulfillment of certain actions and requirements.

However, if something begins to happen in this “box” and this “something” is not described by the instructions and goes beyond the scope of the knowledge gained, then we, apart from our own heroism and non-intellectual labor, cannot oppose anything to the nuclear element that has broken out. Masses of people are forced to simply humbly wait for the impending danger, prepare for terrible and incomprehensible consequences, moving to a safe, in their opinion, distance. Nuclear specialists in most cases just shrug their shoulders, praying and waiting for help from higher powers.

Japanese nuclear scientists, armed with the most modern technology, still cannot curb the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, which has long been de-energized. They can only state that on October 18, 2013, the level of radiation in groundwater exceeded the norm by more than 2,500 times. A day later, the level of radioactive substances in the water increased by almost 12,000 times! Why?! Japanese specialists cannot yet answer this question or stop these processes.

Creation risk atomic bomb somehow justified. The tense military-political situation on the planet required unprecedented measures of defense and attack from the opposing countries. Submitting to the situation, atomic researchers took risks, not delving into the subtleties of the structure and functioning of elementary particles and atomic nuclei.

However, in peacetime, the construction of nuclear power plants and colliders of all types had to begin only on condition, what science has completely figured out the structure of the atomic nucleus, and the electron, and the neutron, and the proton, and their relationships. Moreover, nuclear reactions at nuclear power plants must be strictly controlled. But you can really and effectively manage only what you know thoroughly. Especially if it concerns the most powerful type of energy today, which is not at all easy to curb. This, of course, does not happen. Not only during the construction of nuclear power plants.

Currently, there are 6 different colliders in Russia, China, the USA and Europe - powerful accelerators of oncoming particle flows that accelerate them to tremendous speed, giving the particles a high kinetic energy to then push them against each other. The purpose of the collision is to study the products of particle collisions in the hope that in the process of their decay it will be possible to see something new and still unknown.

It is clear that researchers are very interested to see what will come of all this. Particle collision velocities and research spending are on the rise, but knowledge of the structure of what collides is already for many, many years remain at the same level. There are still no substantiated predictions about the results of the planned studies, and there cannot be. Not by chance. We are well aware that it is possible to predict scientifically only on the condition of accurate and verified knowledge of at least the details of the predicted process. Modern science does not yet have such knowledge about elementary particles. In this case, it can be assumed that the main principle of existing research methods is the position: "Let's try to do it - let's see what happens." Unfortunately.

Therefore, it is quite natural that today issues related to the danger of ongoing experiments are being discussed more and more often. It's not even about the possibility of microscopic black holes appearing in the course of experiments, which, growing, can devour our planet. I do not really believe in such a possibility, at least at the current level and stage of my intellectual development.

But there is a more serious and more real danger. For example, at the Large Hadron Collider, streams of protons or lead ions collide in various configurations. It would seem, what kind of threat can come from a microscopic particle, and even underground, in a tunnel, encased in powerful metal and concrete protection? A particle weighing 1.672 621 777 (74) x 10 -27 kg and a solid multi-ton tunnel of more than 26 kilometers in the thickness of heavy soil are clearly incomparable categories.

However, the threat exists. In experiments, uncontrolled release is likely huge amount energy, which will appear not only as a result of the break of intranuclear forces, but also the energy located inside the protons or lead ions. Nuclear explosion of modern ballistic missile, based on the release of the intranuclear energy of the atom, will seem no worse than a New Year's cracker compared to the most powerful energy that can be released during the destruction of elementary particles. We can suddenly let the fabulous genie out of the bottle. But not that complaisant good-natured and jack-of-all-trades who only obeys and obeys, but an uncontrollable, all-powerful and ruthless monster who knows no mercy and mercy. And it will not be fabulous, but quite real.

But the worst thing is that, as in nuclear bomb, a chain reaction can begin in the collider, releasing more and more portions of energy and destroying all other elementary particles. At the same time, it does not matter at all what they will consist of - metal structures of the tunnel, concrete walls or rocks. Energy will be released everywhere, tearing apart everything that is connected not only with our civilization, but with the entire planet. In an instant, only pitiful shapeless shreds can remain from our sweet blue beauty, flying across the great and vast expanses of the Universe.

This, of course, is a terrible, but quite real scenario, and many Europeans today understand this very well and actively oppose dangerous unpredictable experiments, demanding the security of the planet and civilization. Each time these speeches are more and more organized and increase the internal concern about the current situation.

I am not against experiments, because I understand very well that the path to new knowledge is always thorny and difficult. Without experimentation, it is almost impossible to overcome it. However, I am deeply convinced that each experiment should be carried out only if it is safe for people and the surrounding world. Today we have no such security. No, because there is no knowledge about those particles with which we are already experimenting today.

The situation turned out to be much more alarming than I had imagined before. Seriously worried, I plunged headlong into the world of knowledge about the microworld. I confess that this did not give me much pleasure, since in the developed theories of the microworld it was difficult to catch a clear relationship between natural phenomena and the conclusions on which some scientists based themselves, using the theoretical positions of quantum physics, quantum mechanics and the theory of elementary particles as a research apparatus.

Imagine my amazement when I suddenly discovered that knowledge about the microcosm is based more on assumptions that do not have clear logical justifications. Having saturated mathematical models with some conventions in the form of Planck's constant with a constant exceeding thirty zeros after the decimal point, various prohibitions and postulates, theorists, however, describe in sufficient detail and accurately a whether practical situations that answer the question: "What happens if ...?". However, the main question: “Why is this happening?”, unfortunately, remained unanswered.

It seemed to me that to know the boundless Universe and its so distant galaxies, spread over a fantastically vast distance, is a much more difficult matter than to find the path of knowledge to what, in fact, "lies under our feet." Building on the foundation of its average and higher education, I sincerely believed that our civilization no longer has any questions about the structure of the atom and its nucleus, or about elementary particles and their structure, or about the forces that hold the electron in orbit and maintain a stable connection of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of the atom.

Up to this point, I had not had to study the basics of quantum physics, but I was confident and naively assumed that this new physics is what will really lead us out of the darkness of misunderstanding of the microworld.

But, to my deep chagrin, I was mistaken. Modern quantum physics, the physics of the atomic nucleus and elementary particles, and indeed the entire physics of the microcosm, in my opinion, are not just in a deplorable state. They are stuck in an intellectual impasse for a long time, which cannot allow them to develop and improve, moving along the path of cognition of the atom and elementary particles.

Researchers of the microcosm, rigidly limited by the established steadfastness of the opinions of the great theoreticians of the 19th and 20th centuries, have not dared to return to their roots for more than a hundred years and start again the difficult path of research into the depths of our surrounding world. My critical view of the current situation around the study of the microworld is far from being the only one. Many progressive researchers and theorists have repeatedly expressed their point of view on the problems that arise in the course of understanding the foundations of the theory of the atomic nucleus and elementary particles, quantum physics and quantum mechanics.

An analysis of modern theoretical quantum physics allows us to draw a quite definite conclusion that the essence of the theory lies in the mathematical representation of certain averaged values ​​of particles and atoms, based on the indicators of some mechanistic statistics. The main thing in the theory is not the study of elementary particles, their structure, their connections and interactions in the manifestation of certain natural phenomena, but simplified probabilistic mathematical models based on the dependences obtained during the experiments.

Unfortunately, here, as well as in the development of the theory of relativity, the derived mathematical dependences were put in the first place, which overshadowed the nature of phenomena, their interconnection and causes of occurrence.

The study of the structure of elementary particles was limited to the assumption of the presence of three hypothetical quarks in protons and neutrons, the varieties of which, as this theoretical assumption developed, changed from two, then three, four, six, twelve ... Science simply adjusted to the results of experiments, forced to invent new elements, the existence of which has not yet been proven. Here we can also hear about preons and gravitons that have not yet been found. One can be sure that the number of hypothetical particles will continue to grow, as the science of the microworld goes deeper and deeper into a dead end.

The lack of understanding of the physical processes occurring inside elementary particles and nuclei of atoms, the mechanism of interaction of systems and elements of the microcosm brought hypothetical elements - carriers of interaction - such as gauge and vector bosons, gluons, virtual photons, to the arena of modern science. It was they who topped the list of entities responsible for the processes of interaction of some particles with others. And it does not matter that even their indirect signs have not been found. It is important that they can somehow be held responsible for the fact that the nucleus of an atom does not fall apart, that the Moon does not fall to the Earth, that the electrons are still rotating in their orbit, and the planet's magnetic field still protects us from cosmic influence. .

From all this it became sad, because the more I delved into the theory of the microcosm, the more my understanding of the dead-end development of the most important component of the theory of the structure of the world grew. The position of today's science of the microcosm is not accidental, but natural. The fact is that the foundations of quantum physics were laid by Nobel Prize winners Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Erwin Schrödinger, Wolfgang Pauli and Paul Dirac in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Physicists at that time had only the results of some initial experiments aimed at studying atoms and elementary particles. However, it must be admitted that these studies were also carried out on imperfect equipment corresponding to that time, and the experimental database was just beginning to fill up.

Therefore, it is not surprising that classical physics could not always answer the numerous questions that arose in the course of the study of the microworld. Therefore, at the beginning of the twentieth century in the scientific world they started talking about the crisis of physics and the need revolutionary changes in the system of microworld research. This provision definitely pushed progressive theoretical scientists to search for new ways and new methods of cognition of the microworld.

The problem, we must pay tribute, was not in the outdated provisions of classical physics, but in an underdeveloped technical base, which at that time, which is quite understandable, could not provide the necessary research results and give food for deeper theoretical developments. The gap had to be filled. And it was filled. new theory- quantum physics, based primarily on probabilistic mathematical representations. There was nothing wrong with this, except that, in doing so, they forgot philosophy and broke away from the real world.

Classical ideas about the atom, electron, proton, neutron, etc. were replaced by their probabilistic models, which corresponded to a certain level of development of science and even made it possible to solve very complex applied engineering problems. The lack of the necessary technical base and some successes in the theoretical and experimental representation of the elements and systems of the microcosm have created conditions for a certain cooling of the scientific world towards a deep study of the structure of elementary particles, atoms and their nuclei. Especially since the crisis in the physics of the microcosm seemed to have been extinguished, a revolution had taken place. Science community enthusiastically rushed to the study of quantum physics, not bothering to understand the basics of elementary and fundamental particles.

Naturally, such a situation in the modern science of the microworld could not but excite me, and I immediately began to prepare for a new expedition, for a new journey. Journey into the microcosm. We have already made a similar journey. It was the first trip to the world of galaxies, stars and quasars, to the world of dark matter and dark energy, to the world where our Universe is born and lives a full life. In his report "Breath of the Universe. Journey first» We tried to understand the structure of the Universe and the processes that take place in it.

Realizing that the second journey would also not be easy and would require billions of trillions of times to reduce the scale of space in which I would have to study the world around me, I began to prepare to penetrate not only into the structure of an atom or molecule, but also into the depths of the electron and proton, neutron and photon, and in volumes millions of times smaller than the volumes of these particles. This required special training, new knowledge and advanced equipment.

The upcoming journey assumed a start from the very beginning of the creation of our world, and it was this beginning that was the most dangerous and with the most unpredictable outcome. But it depended on our expedition whether we would find a way out of the current situation in the science of the microworld or whether we would remain balancing on the shaky rope bridge of modern nuclear energy, every second exposing the life and existence of civilization on the planet to mortal danger.

The thing is that in order to get to know the initial results of our research, it was necessary to get to the black hole of the Universe and, neglecting the sense of self-preservation, rush into the flaming hell of the universal tunnel. Only there, under conditions of ultra-high temperatures and fantastic pressure, carefully moving in the rapidly rotating streams of material particles, we could see how the annihilation of particles and antiparticles takes place and how the great and mighty ancestor of all things - Ether, is reborn, to understand all the ongoing processes, including the formation of particles , atoms and molecules.

Believe me, there are not so many daredevils on Earth who can decide on this. Moreover, the result is not guaranteed by anyone and no one is ready to take responsibility for the successful outcome of this journey. During the existence of civilization, no one has even visited the black hole of the galaxy, but here - UNIVERSE! Everything here is grown-up, grandiose and cosmic scale. There are no jokes here. Here, in an instant, they can turn the human body into a microscopic red-hot energy clot or scatter it across the endless cold expanses of space without the right to restore and reunite. This is the Universe! Huge and majestic, cold and red-hot, boundless and mysterious…

Therefore, inviting everyone to join our expedition, I have to warn you that if someone has doubts, it is not too late to refuse. Any reason is accepted. We are fully aware of the magnitude of the danger, but we are ready to courageously confront it at all costs! We are preparing to dive into the depths of the universe.

It is clear that to protect yourself and stay alive, plunging into a red-hot, filled powerful explosions and nuclear reactions, the universal tunnel, is far from a simple matter, and our equipment must be suitable for the conditions in which we will have to work. Therefore, it is imperative to prepare the best equipment and carefully think over the equipment for all participants in this dangerous expedition.

First of all, on the second trip we will take what allowed us to overcome a very difficult path through the expanses of the Universe when we were working on a report on our expedition. "Breath of the Universe. Journey first. Of course, this laws of the world. Without their application, our first trip could hardly have ended successfully. It was the laws that made it possible to find the right path among the heaps of incomprehensible phenomena and the dubious conclusions of researchers in their explanation.

If you remember, law of balance of opposites, predetermining that in the world any manifestation of reality, any system has its opposite essence and is or strives to be in balance with it, allowed us to understand and accept the presence in the world around us, in addition to ordinary energy, also dark energy, and also, in addition to ordinary matter, dark matter. The law of the balance of opposites made it possible to assume that the world not only consists of ether, but also the ether consists of its two types - positive and negative.

The law of universal interconnection, implying a stable, repeating connection between all objects, processes and systems in the Universe, regardless of their scale, and law of hierarchy, ordering the levels of any system in the Universe from the lowest to the highest, made it possible to build a logical "ladder of beings" from the ether, particles, atoms, substances, stars and galaxies to the Universe. And, then, find ways to transform an incredibly huge number of galaxies, stars, planets and other material objects, first into particles, and then into streams of hot ether.

We found confirmation of these views in action. law of development, which determines the evolutionary movement in all spheres of the world around us. Through the analysis of the action of these laws, we came to a description of the form and understanding of the structure of the Universe, we learned the evolution of galaxies, we saw the mechanisms of formation of particles and atoms, stars and planets. It became completely clear to us how the big is formed from the small, and the small is formed from the big.

Only understanding law of continuity of motion, which interprets the objective necessity of the process of constant movement in space for all objects and systems without exception, allowed us to come to the awareness of the rotation of the core of the Universe and galaxies around the universal tunnel.

The laws of the structure of the world were a kind of map of our journey, which helped us move along the route and overcome its most difficult sections and obstacles encountered on the way to understanding the world. Therefore, the laws of the structure of the world will also be the most important attribute of our equipment on this journey into the depths of the Universe.

Second important condition success in penetrating the depths of the universe will certainly be experimental results scientists, which they held for more than a hundred years, and the whole stock of knowledge and information about phenomena microworld accumulated by modern science. During the first trip, we were convinced that many natural phenomena can be interpreted in different ways and draw completely opposite conclusions.

Wrong conclusions, supported by cumbersome mathematical formulas, as a rule, lead science into a dead end and do not provide the necessary development. They lay the foundation for further erroneous thinking, which, in turn, form the theoretical provisions of the developed erroneous theories. It's not about formulas. Formulas can be absolutely correct. But the decisions of researchers about how and on what path to move forward may not be entirely correct.

The situation can be compared with the desire to get from Paris to the Charles de Gaulle airport on two roads. The first is the shortest, which can be spent no more than half an hour using only a car, and the second is exactly the opposite, around the world by car, ship, special equipment, boats, dog sleds across France, the Atlantic, South America, Antarctica, Pacific Ocean, the Arctic and finally through the north-east of France directly to the airport. Both roads will lead us from one point to the same place. But for how long and with what effort? Yes, and to be accurate and get to the destination in the process of a long and difficult journey is very, problematic. Therefore, not only the process of movement is important, but also the choice of the right path.

In our journey, just like in the first expedition, we will try to take a slightly different look at the conclusions about the microcosm that have already been made and accepted by everyone. scientific world. First of all, in relation to the knowledge gained as a result of studying elementary particles, nuclear reactions and existing interactions. It is quite possible that as a result of our immersion in the depths of the Universe, the electron will appear before us not as a structureless particle, but as some more complex object of the microcosm, and the atomic nucleus will reveal its diverse structure, living its unusual and active life.

Let's not forget to take logic with us. It allowed us to find our way through the most difficult places of our last journey. Logics was a kind of compass, indicating the direction of the right path on a journey through the expanses of the universe. It is clear that even now we cannot do without it.

However, one logic will obviously not be enough. In this expedition, we can not do without intuition. Intuition will allow us to find what we cannot even guess about yet, and where no one has looked for anything before us. It is intuition that is our wonderful assistant, whose voice we will carefully listen to. Intuition will make us move, regardless of rain and cold, snow and frost, without firm hope and clear information, but it is she who will allow us to achieve our goal in spite of all the rules and guidelines that all mankind has become accustomed to from the school bench.

Finally, we can't go anywhere without our unbridled imagination. Imagination- this is the tool of knowledge we need, which will allow us to see without the most modern microscopes what is much smaller than the smallest particles already discovered or only assumed by researchers. Imagination will show us all the processes that take place in a black hole and in a universal tunnel, provide mechanisms for the emergence of gravitational forces during the formation of particles and atoms, guide us through the galleries of the atom's nucleus and make it possible to make a fascinating flight on a light rotating electron around a solid but clumsy company of protons and neutrons in the atomic nucleus.

Unfortunately, on this journey into the depths of the Universe, we will not be able to take anything else - there is very little space and we have to limit ourselves even to the most necessary things. But that can't stop us! We understand the purpose! The depths of the universe are waiting for us!

The smallest particle of sugar is a sugar molecule. Their structure is such that sugar tastes sweet. And the structure of water molecules is such that pure water does not seem sweet.

4. Molecules are made up of atoms

And the hydrogen molecule is the smallest particle of hydrogen substance. The smallest particles of atoms are elementary particles: electrons, protons and neutrons.

All known matter on Earth and beyond is made up of chemical elements. Total naturally occurring elements - 94. When normal temperature 2 of them are in a liquid state, 11 are in a gaseous state, and 81 (including 72 metals) are in a solid state. The so-called "fourth state of matter" is plasma, a state in which negatively charged electrons and positively charged ions are in constant motion. The grinding limit is solid helium, which, as it was established back in 1964, should be a monoatomic powder. TCDD, or 2, 3, 7, 8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, discovered in 1872, is lethal at a concentration of 3.1 10–9 mol/kg, which is 150 thousand times stronger than a similar dose of cyanide.

Matter is made up of individual particles. Molecules of different substances are different. 2 oxygen atoms. These are polymer molecules.

Just about the complex: the mystery of the smallest particle in the universe, or how to catch a neutrino

The Standard Model of elementary particle physics is a theory that describes the properties and interactions of elementary particles. All quarks also have an electric charge that is a multiple of 1/3 of the elementary charge. Their antiparticles are antileptons (the antiparticle of the electron is called the positron for historical reasons). Hyperons, such as Λ-, Σ-, Ξ- and Ω-particles, contain one or more s-quarks, decay rapidly and are heavier than nucleons. Molecules are the smallest particles of a substance that still retain its chemical properties.

What financial or other benefit can be derived from this particle? Physicists shrug. And they really don't know it. Once the study of semiconductor diodes belonged to purely fundamental physics, without any practical application.

The Higgs boson is a particle so important to science that it has been nicknamed the "God particle". It is she, as scientists believe, that gives mass to all other particles. These particles begin to break down as soon as they are born. Creating a particle requires a huge amount of energy, such as that produced by the Big Bang. Concerning bigger size and the weights of the superpartners, scientists believe the symmetry has been broken in a hidden sector of the universe that cannot be seen or found. For example, light is made up of zero-mass particles called photons that carry electromagnetic force. Similarly, gravitons are the theoretical particles that carry the force of gravity. Scientists are still trying to find gravitons, but it is very difficult to do this, since these particles interact very weakly with matter.

This world is strange: some loves strive to create something monumental and gigantic in order to become famous all over the world and go down in history, while others create minimalist copies of ordinary things and amaze the world with them no less. This review contains the smallest items that exist in the world and at the same time are no less functional than their full-sized counterparts.

1. SwissMiniGun gun

The SwissMiniGun is no bigger than a regular wrench, but it is capable of firing tiny bullets that shoot out of the barrel at speeds in excess of 430 km/h. That's more than enough to kill a man at close range.

2. Car Peel 50

Weighing just 69 kg, the Peel 50 is the smallest vehicle ever to be approved for road use. This three-wheeled "pepelats" could reach a speed of 16 km / h.

3. Kalou School

UNESCO recognized the Iranian Kalou school as the smallest in the world. It has only 3 students and a former soldier, Abdul-Muhammed Sherani, who is now a teacher.

4. Teapot weighing 1.4 grams

It was created by ceramics master Wu Ruishen. Although this teapot weighs only 1.4 grams and fits on the tip of your finger, you can brew tea in it.

5. Sark Prison

Sark Prison was built in the Channel Islands in 1856. There was room for only 2 prisoners, who, moreover, were in very cramped conditions.

6. Tumbleweed

This house was called "Perakati-field" (Tumbleweed). It was built by Jay Schafer of San Francisco. Although the house is smaller than some people's closets (its area is only 9 square meters), it has workplace, bedroom and bath with shower and toilet.

7. Mills End Park

Mills End Park in Portland is the smallest park in the world. Its diameter is only ... 60 centimeters. At the same time, the park has a swimming pool for butterflies, a miniature Ferris wheel and tiny statues.

8. Edward Niño Hernandez

The growth of Edward Niño Hernandez from Colombia is only 68 centimeters. The Guinness Book of Records recognized him as the smallest person in the world.

9. Police station in a telephone booth

In fact, it is no more than a telephone booth. But it was actually a functioning police station in Carabella, Florida.

10. Sculptures by Willard Wigan

British sculptor Willard Wigan, who suffered from dyslexia and poor school performance, found solace in creating miniature works of art. His sculptures are barely visible to the naked eye.

11. Bacterium Mycoplasma Genitalium

12. Porcine circovirus

Although there is still debate about what can be considered "alive" and what is not, most biologists do not classify the virus as a living organism due to the fact that it cannot reproduce or has no metabolism. A virus, however, can be much smaller than any living organism, including bacteria. The smallest is a single-stranded DNA virus called porcine circovirus. Its size is only 17 nanometers.

13. Amoeba

The size of the smallest object visible to the naked eye is approximately 1 millimeter. This means that under certain conditions, a person can see an amoeba, a ciliate shoe, and even a human egg.

14. Quarks, leptons and antimatter...

During last century scientists have made great strides in understanding the vastness of space and the microscopic "building blocks" of which it is composed. When it came to figuring out what is the smallest observable particle in the universe, people faced certain difficulties. At some point they thought it was an atom. Then the scientists discovered the proton, the neutron, and the electron.

But it didn't end there. Today, everyone knows that when you push these particles against each other in places like the Large Hadron Collider, they can be broken into even smaller particles, such as quarks, leptons, and even antimatter. The problem is that it is impossible to determine what is the smallest, since the size at the quantum level becomes irrelevant, as well as all the usual rules of physics do not apply (some particles have no mass, and others even have negative mass).

15. Vibrating strings of subatomic particles

Given what was said above about the fact that the concept of size does not matter at the quantum level, we can recall string theory. This is a slightly controversial theory, suggesting that all subatomic particles are made up of vibrating strings that interact to create things like mass and energy. Thus, since these strings do not technically have a physical size, it can be argued that they are in some sense the "smallest" objects in the universe.