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I'm having a hard time parsing whether this kind of particle has ever been experimentally observed or if it's just theoretical. I'm also confused how it's inco
by daxfohl 5y ago
I'm having a hard time parsing whether this kind of particle has ever been experimentally observed or if it's just theoretical.
I'm also confused how it's incompatible with quantum field theory, but it was discovered in a simulation of some sort. If the simulation was compatible with QFT, then the particle should be too, right? If the simulation was not compatible with QFT then why do we think this is a possible particle?
- techdragon 5y agoI have a little heuristic I use for pretty much every particle/quantum physics phenomena I come across, I assume “theoretical” until such time I’m presented with evidence. These fields are so dominated by theoreticians that experiments are considered by some in the field to be a “different discipline” and something they need not worry about.
- k__ 5y agoI had the impression particles are all just theoretical. Like, they're just some extreme field values.
- mr_mitm 5y agoThe article touches on your first comment: > Fractons are quasiparticles — particle-like entities that emerge out of complicated interactions between many elementary particles inside a material. Quasiparticles are common models in physics. Sound waves in solid matter are sometimes modeled as phonons, for example. Do they exist? Sure. But they're not what you probably think when you hear the word "particle".
- daxfohl 5y agoSure, but being a quasiparticle doesn't mean it's been observed. It could still be entirely theoretical.