Borromean Rings Mean Good News for Quantum Physics Geeks

This story is a bit science-y, but if you stick with me, you'll get a tale of Afghan Buddhism, lithium atoms and a dream 40 years deferred.

Ready? It all begins with this guy named Vitaly Efimov, a physicist, who had proposed an advanced idea in 1970, his reasoning based on a mathematical proof, according to MSNBC.

His theory was the answer to a special case of the "three-body" problem, which is the question of how to estimate the manner in which three objects will operate together based on certain variables.

His theory was a quantum-mechanical take on Borromean rings, a symbol of three linked rings that first appeared in Afghan Buddhist art during the second century. The idea is that if any of the rings is taken out, they will all come apart.

Efimov thought that particles like atoms or protons might act the same way, binding together in a stable triad that would be destroyed if one were removed. He couldn't demonstrate the physical phenomena, and neither could anyone else. Until now.

Enter Randy Hulet and his team of physicists at Houston's Rice University, who have recently published an article in the online journal Science Express documenting their success at joining a trio of particles. The team produced the triangular bonds, called Efimov trimers, out of lithium atoms, and then redid the experiment to create another trio with 515 times the binding energy of the first trimer.

In October, Hulet presented the team's findings at a conference in Rome. Efimov high-fived him, ecstatic that his theory had been borne out after so many years. "He was so enthusiastic and so excited to see this prediction become true," Hulet told MSNBC.

Image courtesy of stock.xchng