Posted on 06/05/2008 4:21:54 PM PDT by LibWhacker
ST. LOUIS — Quark stars, exotic objects that have yet to be directly observed, are part of a new theory to explain some of the brightest stellar explosions recorded in the universe.
Super-luminous supernovae, which produce more than 100 times more light energy than normal supernovae and occur in about one out of every 1,000 supernovae explosions, have long baffled astrophysicists. The problem has been finding a source for all of that extra energy.
University of Calgary astrophysicists Denis Leahy and Rachid Ouyed think they have a possible source — the explosive conversion of a neutron star into a quark star.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Being an Astrophysicist must be fun. You get to make stuff up about something you've never seen ... kinda like my 4-year old does.
No one’s ever “seen” an electron, or a proton or a neutron. Or a neutron star or a black hole.
We infer their existence by applying the known “laws of physics” to observations.
But the “Laws of Physics” keep changing. I’m all a’twitter over the seven (eight?) new dimensions holding string theory together. And what about that dark matter sneaking around every where?
Don’t even get me started on the Universe’s expansion actually accelerating. Whew!
Direct conversion of mass to energy via quark force hypercompression. The quark force (between, for example, a quark-antiquark pair) is interesting in that, unlike most other forces in nature it gets stronger as the particles in the system move apart (it takes more and more energy to pull them apart the further apart that they get). After enough energy has been put into the system, the additional energy "snaps" the bond, creating an anti-quark for the quark and a quark for the anti-quark (or some similar particles depending on the quark system; essentially creating mass out of energy in a very inefficient process). This is why "naked" quarks don't exist in nature..
Like most things in nature, the reverse process can occur too. If, for example, you had two quark-antiquark pairs and a sufficient means to collapse them (such as the density in the core of a neutron star of sufficient mass), a reaction could occur that would result in the mass being "halved" and energy being released.
(Note that the quark-antiquark pair example is somewhat contrived, but similar and essentially equivalent reactions resulting in very efficient matter to energy conversion should be just as possible with a dense neutron baryon mass).
I'm surprised they figured out the existence of quark stars yet failed to jump to this conclusion.
“The Laws of Physics” are the name of a consistent set of rules for explaining observations. New observations, new laws.
The Newtonians had it all their own way for over two centuries. More and more observations confirmed Newton’s Laws with ever greater precision and certainty. All that remained was to find that tiny little inner planet, Vulcan, to explain the precession of the perhelion of Mercury, and find experimental evidence of the ether (for surely the flaws of Michelson-Morely would be uncovered.)
Dirac “made up” anti-matter. According to his theory, it could exist, so he said it should exist. Turns out it does exist.
There was a time, not too long ago, when scientists believed there was “luminiferous aether” that allowed light to be transmitted, and that continental drift/plate tectonics were a wild theory. Electronics required vaccuum tubes, and there might be a world-wide market for as many as six computers.
As we learn more, things change. . .
ahh heck you beat me to it.
Pretty sad.
It’s in the math.
You are more correct than you realize. Let me explain. The Scientific Method is merely a formalization of the reasoning process that most of us go through in life. Your 4 year old (I have one too), invents theories about things. As he gains knowledge and wisdom, if the theory pans out, he keeps it. If not, it is discarded. Whats great about it, is that it self correcting, and it works.
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