Physicists Become Ghostbusters After Capturing 4D Invisible Structure In Particle Accelerator
If you were one of the many fans disappointed by Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire over the weekend, do not give up on the paranormal or sell off your proton packs just yet. Science may have come to the rescue once again, as physicists captured something strange outside of our relatively lame 3D existence. They may have actually “busted” a 4D ghost.
Real Scientists With Real Particle Accelerators
Over at the famed European Organization for Nuclear Research (AKA CERN) in Switzerland, scientists were attempting high-fives all over the place when they observed a pretty wild phenomenon involving the way particles behave outside of our traditional understanding of space and time and into what is effectively a fourth spatial dimension.
Until now, the overwhelming majority of scientists, researchers, theoreticians, and other incredibly bright people have worked under the assumption that there are three spatial dimensions and one other dimension: time. What many call a “4D ghost” (because it sounds awesome) is an added dimension picked up in the particle accelerator experiment and seems to be connected at a higher level. However, no one knows precisely what those implications could be.
Phase Space
The researchers explain this as phase space, which can represent one or more simultaneous moving states. That’s why it’s considered to be 4D or ghost-like when seen through the particle accelerator. Physicist Giuliano Franchetti describes it like this: “With these resonances, what happens is that particles don’t follow exactly the path we want and then fly away and get lost.”
Multidimensional Ghosts
If you’re looking for a relevant visual, think about something like a tuning fork’s sympathetic ringing or Loki reverberating to an almost blurring effect while on the cusp of one place and another. That ghosting effect would be something that Egon (RIP) would undoubtedly love to play around with. If he and Ray could figure out that Jackie Wilson can elicit a visceral reaction from Psychomagnotheric Slime, imagine how much help they could be with the rest of the crew working on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and bustin’ other 4D ghosts.
Challenges The Understanding Of Physics
What’s important here is that previous theories considered “too out there,” “incredibly unlikely,” or “almost non-zero” may have an afterlife of their own. The 4D ghost discovery itself challenges the conventional understanding of particle physics and could lead to a domino effect in future discoveries now that attention is paid to it and likely resources are available to CERN and other facilities like it as a result.
Speculation and intrigue are already spreading through the scientific communities and fandoms alike. Sci-fi fans and philosophers are rejoicing in the new possibilities for discovering what’s just beyond (or the great beyond). Do we have a first peek into multiverses and timelines, à la Constellation, Loki, Rick and Morty, or others?
Only The First Step Of Many
Oddly enough, science is not necessarily always known for its exactness. There is quite a bit more research to do, numbers to crunch, and theories to develop before we get a clearer picture of what this all means. However, the folks at CERN are off to a fantastic start—almost as great as two incredible first installments of a beloved franchise, which makes us hope that the next step in their research doesn’t turn into a bomb.
Source: Nature Physics
