8.Physics News from the Web
Items selected from the bulletins of the IOP and the American Institute of Physics
a)Optical rotation sheds light on vacuum
b)Hottest topic in physics revealed
c)Top papers
d)WMAP data put cosmic inflation to the test
a)Optical rotation sheds light on vacuum
Physicists in Italy have demonstrated that empty space can cause light to rotate in the presence of a large magnetic field. Although the effect seen by Emilio Zavattini and co-workers on the PVLAS experiment at the INFN laboratory in Legnaro is extremely small, it could provide evidence for exotic new "dark matter" particles called axions (Phys. Rev. Lett. 96 110406). The link also links to an extended article on the search for dark matter.
b)Hottest topic in physics revealed
Carbon nanotubes are the hottest topic in physics, according to a new way of ranking the popularity of different scientific fields. Nanowires are second, followed by quantum dots, fullerenes, giant magnetoresistance, M-theory and quantum computation. The new ranking has been developed by Michael Banks, a PhD student at the Max Planck Institute for Solid-State Physics in Stuttgart, Germany. He thinks the new index could be a quick and simple way of determining the most important subject areas in physics and could even help graduate students choose which field to do their PhD in physics.
c)Top papers
In a special readers' poll Robert P Crease seeks nominations for the most interesting paper of all time. The article talks about possible top papers and also has links to articles on The Greatest Equations Ever and to The Most Beautiful Experiments.
d)WMAP data put cosmic inflation to the test
Measurements of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background open up a new window on the universe when it was just 10^-35 s old.