Evidence for light-by-light scattering in heavy-ion collisions with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Journal:
Nature Physics
Published:
Affiliations:
292
Authors:
2847

Research Highlight

Lighting the path to a better understanding of matter

© MirageC/Moment/Getty

© MirageC/Moment/Getty

Physicists have used collisions between lead ions to observe light being scattered by light, paving the way for a better understanding of the properties of matter, according to a study published in Nature Physics.

The phenomenon, called light-by-light scattering, is impossible in classical physics because particles of light, or photons, carry no charge. Quantum physics predicts the possibility of photon-photon interactions, but so far their detection has remained elusive.

Using data from the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider, an international team of physicists, including researchers from the University of Cape Town, sifted through more than four billion events resulting from the collisions of lead ions and have identified 13 that could be two photons interacting with each other.

This finding could lead to more precise measurements of light-by-light scattering, and could yield the discovery of new particles.

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References

  1. Nature Physics 13, 852–858 (2017). doi: 10.1038/nphys4208
Institutions Authors Share
European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Switzerland
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Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), United States of America (USA)
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University of Freiburg (Uni Freiburg), Germany
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Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), United States of America (USA)
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Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Germany
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Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), Russia
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STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL), United Kingdom (UK)
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Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU), Czech Republic
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P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute (LPI), RAS, Russia
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G.I. Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (INP), SB RAS, Russia
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INFN Section in Pavia, Italy
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Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute (PNPI), NRCKI, Russia
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Simon Fraser University (SFU), Canada
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The University of Warwick (Warwick), United Kingdom (UK)
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Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil
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University of Pittsburgh (Pitt), United States of America (USA)
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Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo), Japan
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The University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada
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University of Würzburg (JMU), Germany
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Shandong University (SDU), China
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University of Belgrade, Serbia
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Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), Greece
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University of Alberta (U of A), Canada
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INFN Section in Pisa, Italy
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University of Pisa (UNIPI), Italy
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Novosibirsk State University (NSU), Russia
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Instituto de Física La Plata (IFLP CONICET-UNLP), Argentina
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Nagoya University, Japan
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University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits University), South Africa
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University of Calabria (UNICAL), Italy
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University of Genova, Italy
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The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), China
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Jozef Stefan Institute (IJS), Slovenia
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University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
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Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
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Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM), Spain
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Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU), Russia
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Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (IIT), Israel
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INFN Section in Roma Tor Vergata, Italy
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INFN Gruppo Collegato di Udine, Italy
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A.I. Alikhanov Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP), NRCKI, Russia
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Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials (RCPTM), PU, Czech Republic
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Waseda University, Japan
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Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU), Georgia
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Tsinghua University, China
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University of Naples Federico II (UNINA), Italy
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University of Pavia (UNIPV), Italy
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The University of Adelaide (Adelaide Uni), Australia
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Boğaziçi University (BU), Turkey
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Antonio Nariño University (UAN), Colombia
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The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas), United States of America (USA)
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Giessen University (JLU), Germany
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University of Innsbruck (LFU), Austria
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B.I. Stepanov Institute of Physics, NASB, Belarus
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University of Roma Tre, Italy
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Institute of Experimental Physics, SAS, Slovakia
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KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
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Institute of Physics, ANAS, Azerbaijan
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Nanjing University (NJU), China
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University of Salento, Italy
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University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy
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Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), Brazil
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University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil
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Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC), Chile
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University Hassan II Casablanca (UHII), Morocco
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Mohammed V University, Morocco
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University of Coimbra (UC), Portugal
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University of Udine (UNIUD), Italy
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Tomsk State University (TSU), Russia
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Institute of Particle Physics (IPP), Canada
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Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy
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University of Gaziantep (GAUN), Turkey
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Jagiellonian University (UJ), Poland
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National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), Taiwan
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Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science, Japan
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Cadi Ayyad University (UCA), Morocco
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Shinshu University (SU), Japan
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University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa
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Tokyo Metropolitan University (TMU), Japan
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York University, Canada
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A. Alikhanyan National Laboratory (AANL) / Yerevan Physics Institute (YerPhi), Armenia
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Istanbul Aydin University (IAU), Turkey
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University of Johannesburg (UJ), South Africa
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Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Spain
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Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology - State University (MIPT), Russia
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Federal University of São João del-Rei (UFSJ), Brazil
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Transilvania University of Brașov (UniTBv), Romania
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Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (UAIC), Romania
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National Institute for Research and Development of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies (INCDTIM), Romania
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West University of Timișoara (UVT), Romania
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Kyoto University of Education, Japan
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Belarusian State University (BSU), Belarus
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Okayama University, Japan
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University of Granada (UGR), Spain
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National Institute of Nuclear Physics and Particle Physics (IN2P3), CNRS, France
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California State University, Fresno (Fresno State), United States of America (USA)
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Ochanomizu University, Japan
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University of Minho (UM), Portugal
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Trento Institute for Fundamental and Application Physics (TIFPA), Italy
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University of Trento (UNITN), Italy
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University of Louisville (UofL), United States of America (USA)
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An-Najah National University, Palestinian territories
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Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Spain
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University of Porto (UP), Portugal
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Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter (CICQM), China
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Parthenope University of Naples, Italy
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Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU), Russia
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Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa
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Georgian Technical University (GTU), Georgia
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Manhattan University, United States of America (USA)
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California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento State), United States of America (USA)
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Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), China
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Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy (INRNE), BAS, Bulgaria
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Stanford University, United States of America (USA)
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HUN-REN Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics (RMKI), Hungary
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Giresun University, Turkey
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University of Malaya (UM), Malaysia
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King's College London (KCL), United Kingdom (UK)
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University of Fribourg (UNIFR), Switzerland
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Borough of Manhattan Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY BMCC), United States of America (USA)
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Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), Italy
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Politehnica University of Bucharest (UPB), Romania
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New University of Lisbon (UNL), Portugal
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Centre National de l'Energie, des Sciences et des Techniques Nuclaires / Rabat (CNESTEN), Morocco
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