世界物理年：对质能公式E=mc²的直接检验。

World Year of Physics: a direct test of E=mc2.

作者信息

Rainville Simon, Thompson James K, Myers Edmund G, Brown John M, Dewey Maynard S, Kessler Ernest G, Deslattes Richard D, Börner Hans G, Jentschel Michael, Mutti Paolo, Pritchard David E

机构信息

Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, and Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.

出版信息

Nature. 2005 Dec 22;438(7071):1096-7. doi: 10.1038/4381096a.

DOI:10.1038/4381096a

PMID:16371997

Abstract

One of the most striking predictions of Einstein's special theory of relativity is also perhaps the best known formula in all of science: E=mc(2). If this equation were found to be even slightly incorrect, the impact would be enormous--given the degree to which special relativity is woven into the theoretical fabric of modern physics and into everyday applications such as global positioning systems. Here we test this mass-energy relationship directly by combining very accurate measurements of atomic-mass difference, Delta(m), and of gamma-ray wavelengths to determine E, the nuclear binding energy, for isotopes of silicon and sulphur. Einstein's relationship is separately confirmed in two tests, which yield a combined result of 1-Delta(mc2)/E=(-1.4+/-4.4)x10(-7), indicating that it holds to a level of at least 0.00004%. To our knowledge, this is the most precise direct test of the famous equation yet described.

摘要

爱因斯坦狭义相对论最惊人的预言之一或许也是所有科学领域中最广为人知的公式

E=mc² 。倘若发现这个方程式哪怕有一点点错误，其影响都将是巨大的——毕竟狭义相对论已深深融入现代物理学的理论架构以及诸如全球定位系统等日常应用之中。在此，我们通过结合对原子质量差Δm以及伽马射线波长的极为精确的测量，来直接检验这种质能关系，从而确定硅和硫同位素的核结合能E。在两项测试中分别证实了爱因斯坦的这一关系，综合结果为1 - Δmc² / E = (-1.4 ± 4.4)×10⁻⁷ ，这表明该关系的成立精度至少达到0.00004%。据我们所知，这是迄今对这个著名方程式所进行的最精确的直接测试。