New shards of electron
charge found
Bizarre quasiparticles that result
from interactions among electrons but carry only one-fifth the electron's
charge have been found under conditions of extreme cold, confined electron
motion, and strong magnetic fields.
References:
Reznikov, M., R. de Picciotto, et al. 1999. Observation of
quasiparticles with one-fifth of an electron's charge. Nature
399(May 20):238.
Further Readings:
Ehrenstein D. 1997. Slicing an electron's charge into three. Science
277(Sept. 19):1766.
Hellemans, A. 1999. Picking up bits of the electron's charge. Science
284(May 21):1251.
Kane, C.L., and M.P.A. Fisher. 1997. A shot in the arm for fractional
charge. Nature 389(Sept. 11):119.
Peterson, I. 1998. Physics Nobel spotlights quantum effect. Science
News 154(Oct. 17):247.
Sackett, P.D. 1983. 'Hall effect' research reaches new plateaus.
Science News 123(June 25):405.
Thomsen, D.E. 1984. Fractional Hall effect by electrons in chorus.
Science News 126(Aug. 25):116.
Sources:
Rafi de Picciotto
Bell Labs-Lucent Technologies
Room 1C-329
Murray Hill, NJ 07974
From Science
News, Vol. 155, No. 25, June 19, 1999, p. 399.
Copyright © 1999, Science Service.
