Physicists rarely observe resonance in a molecule

In a study published in the scientific journal Naturephysically Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) It may have solved one of the biggest mysteries of how chemical reactions occur. molecules. The researchers explain that for the first time they have been able to observe a resonance in the collision of ultracold molecules.

Resonance is a physical phenomenon that occurs when a system receives a frequency force equal to or very close to the natural frequency of that system. For example, when a singer hits a certain note and manages to break a glass bowl, the resonance that occurs in the glass is responsible for turning it into small pieces of glass.

Because the resonance of atoms and molecules occurs on a much smaller scale, until now scientists have not been able to observe how resonance causes molecules to react chemically. Now, The MIT team claims that it is possible to observe a resonance during the collision of ultracold molecules. – the researchers suggest that advancing this discovery in the future could help direct and control some chemical reactions.

molecular resonance

“This is the first time a resonance has been observed between two extremely cold molecules. There are suggestions that the molecules are so complex that they’re like a dense forest that you can’t recognize a single resonance from,” MIT physics professor and study author John D. MacArthur said in a statement.

The discovery could help to understand the intermediate state of this chemical reaction of molecules, also known as the ‘intermediate complex’. The observation was carried out on atoms and molecules cooled to temperatures just above absolute zero, as ultra-cold conditions make it easier to see subtle resonance signals.

The first observation of resonances occurred in 1998, however, only in extremely cold atoms. As the scientists explain, molecules are much more complex to observe than atoms, so they weren’t so sure they could catch the resonances.

“This kind of resonance, first seen in simple atoms and later in more complex atoms, led to incredible advances in atomic physics. Now that it is seen in these molecules as well, let’s first understand it in detail, then leave it to our imaginations and think about how far it will go. [a descoberta] “It may well be,” said Harvard physics professor John Doyle, who was not involved in the study.