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Quantum physics

A ménage à trois laid bare

Quantum bodies that can't settle down together in pairs get on fine in a cosy threesome. This startling claim about the private life of particles has just seen its first experimental confirmation.

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Figure 1: Floppy triangles.
Figure 2: Features predicted7,8,9,10,11 and observed2 in ultracold three-body recombination.

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Esry, B., Greene, C. A ménage à trois laid bare. Nature 440, 289–290 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/440289b

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