Helium atom precision measurements and calculations have a history of nearly a century. In the 1960s, theorists discovered that the fine-structure split (23P0-23P2) of the 23P energy level of helium ...

Artificial atoms allow scientists to push the laws of physics to the limit, gaining insight into what we are familiar with already and what we are yet to discover. Researchers have now created a new ...

Helium-3 is the lighter cousin of ordinary helium, helium-4. Its atomic nucleus has two protons and two neutrons (hence the 4 after the abbreviation for the element); in helium-3, one of the neutrons ...

Physicists have created the first-ever atomic vortex beam — a swirling tornado of atoms and molecules with mysterious properties that have yet to be understood. By sending a straight beam of helium ...

In experiments at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, an international research collaboration has measured the radius of the atomic nucleus of helium five times more precisely than ever before. With the ...

Liquid 4 He becomes superfluid and flows without resistance below temperature 2.17 K. Superfluidity has been a subject of intense studies and notable advances were made in elucidating the phenomenon ...

How big is a helium atom? Or maybe the better question is: How small? After an intricate game of particle jockeying, physicists have now measured the radius of the helium nucleus five times more ...

Physicists have created the first one-dimensional helium-based model system to advance research with applications to creating smaller microchips. Physicists at Indiana University and the University of ...