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Article: "Light" Particle Beams.(discovery of electron beam refraction)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Poptronics
- Article date:
- September 1, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Poptronix, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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University of Southern California (USC) scientists and colleagues at UCLA and Stanford have found a way to bend beams of high-energy particles as though they were light waves. The particles, high-energy electrons, were traveling in a linear accelerator at nearly the speed of light. The researchers were trying to increase the speed of the particles by sending them through plasma. In the process, they discovered that the beam of electrons had refracted, acting like light waves rather than fast-moving particles. Light waves bend when passing diagonally from one material to another because the speed of light changes slightly according to the density of the material it is ...