Evidence for light-by-light scattering in heavy-ion collisions with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Journal:
Nature Physics
Published:
DOI:
10.1038/nphys4208
Affiliations:
292
Authors:
2847
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Research Highlight

Lighting the path to a better understanding of matter

© MirageC/Moment/Getty

Physicists have used collisions between lead ions to observe light being scattered by light, paving the way for a better understanding of the properties of matter, according to a study published in Nature Physics.

The phenomenon, called light-by-light scattering, is impossible in classical physics because particles of light, or photons, carry no charge. Quantum physics predicts the possibility of photon-photon interactions, but so far their detection has remained elusive.

Using data from the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider, an international team of physicists, including researchers from the University of Cape Town, sifted through more than four billion events resulting from the collisions of lead ions and have identified 13 that could be two photons interacting with each other.

This finding could lead to more precise measurements of light-by-light scattering, and could yield the discovery of new particles.

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References

  1. Nature Physics 13, 852–858 (2017). doi: 10.1038/nphys4208
Institutions Authors Share
European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Switzerland
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German Electron Synchrotron (DESY), Germany
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University of Freiburg (Uni Freiburg), Germany
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Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), United States of America (USA)
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Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Germany
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Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), United States of America (USA)
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Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), Russia
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CEA Institute of Research into the Fundamental Laws of the Universe (IRFU), France
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Laboratoire d'Annecy-le-Vieux de Physique des Particules (LAPP), France
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Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN HH), Romania
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INFN Section in Milano, Italy
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Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU), Czech Republic
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University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), China
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National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece
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Indiana University Bloomington (IUB), United States of America (USA)
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INFN Frascati National Laboratory (LNF), Italy
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AlbaNova University Center - Stockholm Center for Physics, Astronomy and Biotechnology (AlbaNova), Sweden
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Yale University, United States of America (USA)
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Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute (PNPI), NRCKI, Russia
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Carleton University, Canada
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G.I. Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (INP), SB RAS, Russia
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Simon Fraser University (SFU), Canada
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INFN Section in Pavia, Italy
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P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute (LPI), RAS, Russia
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University of Würzburg (JMU), Germany
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National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (UOA), Greece
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University of Pittsburgh (Pitt), United States of America (USA)
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Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), Japan
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The University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada
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University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst), United States of America (USA)
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Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil
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Iowa State University, United States of America (USA)
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Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), China
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Shandong University (SDU), China
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University of Belgrade, Serbia
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Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), Greece
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University of Alberta (U of A), Canada
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Novosibirsk State University (NSU), Russia
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University of Pisa (UNIPI), Italy
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INFN Section in Pisa, Italy
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Nagoya University, Japan
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Instituto de Física La Plata (IFLP CONICET-UNLP), Argentina
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University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits University), South Africa
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University of Genova, Italy
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INFN Gruppo Collegato di Cosenza, Italy
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University of Milan (UNIMI), Italy
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University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
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Jozef Stefan Institute (IJS), Slovenia
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University of Calabria (UNICAL), Italy
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Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
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University of Lisbon (ULISBOA), Portugal
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Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (IIT), Israel
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Northern Illinois University (NIU), United States of America (USA)
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Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU), Russia
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Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM), Spain
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Osaka University, Japan
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INFN Section in Roma Tor Vergata, Italy
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INFN Gruppo Collegato di Udine, Italy
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Waseda University, Japan
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A.I. Alikhanov Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP), NRCKI, Russia
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Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU), Georgia
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Louisiana Tech University, United States of America (USA)
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University of Pavia (UNIPV), Italy
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Tsinghua University, China
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University of Naples Federico II (UNINA), Italy
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Institute of Experimental Physics, SAS, Slovakia
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KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
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Tufts University, United States of America (USA)
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The University of Adelaide (Adelaide Uni), Australia
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B.I. Stepanov Institute of Physics, NASB, Belarus
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The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas), United States of America (USA)
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Giessen University (JLU), Germany
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University of Roma Tre, Italy
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Boğaziçi University (BU), Turkey
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University of Innsbruck (LFU), Austria
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Antonio Nariño University (UAN), Colombia
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Nanjing University (NJU), China
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University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy
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Institute of Physics, ANAS, Azerbaijan
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University of Salento, Italy
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Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC), Chile
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Ankara University, Turkey
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University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil
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Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), Brazil
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University Hassan II Casablanca (UHII), Morocco
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Mohammed V University, Morocco
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Université Mohammed Premier (UMP), Morocco
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University of Udine (UNIUD), Italy
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University of Coimbra (UC), Portugal
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Tomsk State University (TSU), Russia
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Institute of Particle Physics (IPP), Canada
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Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy
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York University, Canada
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University of Gaziantep (GAUN), Turkey
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A. Alikhanyan National Laboratory (AANL) / Yerevan Physics Institute (YerPhi), Armenia
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Cadi Ayyad University (UCA), Morocco
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Jagiellonian University (UJ), Poland
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Tokyo Metropolitan University (TMU), Japan
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National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), Taiwan
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Shinshu University (SU), Japan
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University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa
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Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science, Japan
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Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology - State University (MIPT), Russia
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Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Spain
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Istanbul Aydin University (IAU), Turkey
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University of Johannesburg (UJ), South Africa
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National Institute of Nuclear Physics and Particle Physics (IN2P3), CNRS, France
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TOBB University of Economics and Technology, Turkey
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Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey
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Federal University of São João del-Rei (UFSJ), Brazil
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Okayama University, Japan
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Belarusian State University (BSU), Belarus
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Kyoto University of Education, Japan
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Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (UAIC), Romania
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National Institute for Research and Development of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies (INCDTIM), Romania
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Ochanomizu University, Japan
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West University of Timișoara (UVT), Romania
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Hiroshima Institute of Technology, Japan
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Transilvania University of Brașov (UniTBv), Romania
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Georgian Technical University (GTU), Georgia
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Ilia State University, Georgia
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Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy (INRNE), BAS, Bulgaria
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Manhattan College (MC), United States of America (USA)
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California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento State), United States of America (USA)
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Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), China
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Stanford University, United States of America (USA)
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Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics (RMKI), HAS, Hungary
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Giresun University, Turkey
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Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa
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University of Malaya (UM), Malaysia
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Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU), Russia
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An-Najah National University, Palestinian territories
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University of Minho (UM), Portugal
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Trento Institute for Fundamental and Application Physics (TIFPA), Italy
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University of Trento (UNITN), Italy
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University of Louisville (UofL), United States of America (USA)
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University of Porto (UP), Portugal
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Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Spain
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Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter (CICQM), China
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Parthenope University of Naples, Italy
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University of Fribourg (UNIFR), Switzerland
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Borough of Manhattan Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY BMCC), United States of America (USA)
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King's College London (KCL), United Kingdom (UK)
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Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), Italy
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Politehnica University of Bucharest (UPB), Romania
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New University of Lisbon (UNL), Portugal
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Centre National de l'Energie, des Sciences et des Techniques Nuclaires / Rabat (CNESTEN), Morocco
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