Gas, Solid, Liquid, Plasma, Quantum Spin Liquid

[IsaacNewton]

Physicists just discovered a new state of matter called ‘quantum spin liquid’

Physicists say they have discovered a state of matter. Yes it's called Quantum Spin Liquid. Sounds like a 'liquid' to me. Maybe they should have called it a pliquid. In any case knowledge expands again. Always a good thing.

 

[SixFoot]

And to think, we all grew up knowing there were only 3 states of matter. I love it.

 

[IsaacNewton]

And to think, we all grew up knowing there were only 3 states of matter. I love it.

Well, 4 states. They've known about plasma for a long time. Now there are 5. Now that physicists are getting close to the fine details of the universe we are finding much of it is like science fiction, really unexpected science fiction.

Empty space is not empty space. It is a medium like water. Read A Universe From Nothing by Lawrence Krauss. With the discovery of the Higg's Boson at CERN the puzzle is filled in by another piece. I mean the story of tens of thousands of smart people working daily for over a century that has brought this knowledge out into the open is an incredible story in itself.

 

[Old Rocks]

Is the Bose State Condensate a separate state of matter? If not, where does it belong?

 

[IsaacNewton]

No idea what that is.

 

[SixFoot]

And to think, we all grew up knowing there were only 3 states of matter. I love it.

Well, 4 states. They've known about plasma for a long time. Now there are 5. Now that physicists are getting close to the fine details of the universe we are finding much of it is like science fiction, really unexpected science fiction.

Empty space is not empty space. It is a medium like water. Read A Universe From Nothing by Lawrence Krauss. With the discovery of the Higg's Boson at CERN the puzzle is filled in by another piece. I mean the story of tens of thousands of smart people working daily for over a century that has brought this knowledge out into the open is an incredible story in itself.

Lawrence Krauss is my second favorite physicist to listen to ( next to Michio Kaku whom I listen to on his radio show). I still haven't quite gotten the gist of the Higg Boson. Is it a particle, or a field (or two things at the same time depending on if you're "observing" it)? If it's a field, "empty" space seems to make a lot more sense to me.

 

[IsaacNewton]

And to think, we all grew up knowing there were only 3 states of matter. I love it.

Well, 4 states. They've known about plasma for a long time. Now there are 5. Now that physicists are getting close to the fine details of the universe we are finding much of it is like science fiction, really unexpected science fiction.

Empty space is not empty space. It is a medium like water. Read A Universe From Nothing by Lawrence Krauss. With the discovery of the Higg's Boson at CERN the puzzle is filled in by another piece. I mean the story of tens of thousands of smart people working daily for over a century that has brought this knowledge out into the open is an incredible story in itself.

Lawrence Krauss is my second favorite physicist to listen to ( next to Michio Kaku whom I listen to on his radio show). I still haven't quite gotten the gist of the Higg Boson. Is it a particle, or a field (or two things at the same time depending on if you're "observing" it)? If it's a field, "empty" space seems to make a lot more sense to me.

Michio Kaku is too cool. Great to live in a time when phsyics is cool and we have cool physicists to explain this stuff.

Re the Higgs, I'm not an expert either. There is a Higgs field and a Higgs particle. The Higgs field appears to be the mollases that permeates the entire universe. It is what empty space is (from what I understand). Other particles, like electrons, derive their mass from movement through the Higgs field. The Higgs boson is a particle that confirms the Higgs field exists. That is about all I know and why I said the universe is far stranger than we thought. FAR stranger.

It makes sense in one way. The universe is expanding faster than the speed of light in all directions. If space itself is expanding that means it started from a small volume and the volume is increasing. So just as with inflating a balloon, an increase in volume means something is filling this 'space'. Which means space itself is some medium whose volume is increasing.Space itself is being created in this process.

Most people I talk to do not have the proper understanding of how the universe began. Almost everyone thinks there was just empty space and then the big bang happened in that empty space. Science tells us there was not even empty space. There was the absolute value of nothing. NO thing. No matter and no empty space. A hard concept for the human mind to interpret. And outside of the known universe there is nothing. There is no 'barrier' to cross because there is nothing on the other side, not even empty space. There is no 'there' there.

The whole subject is fascinating in any case.