
Device creates particles with negative mass, and a novel way to generate lasers - sethbannon
http://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/vamivakas-microcavity-negative-mass-generate-lasers-290202/
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ISL
To address the inevitable complaint: There exists a concept called "effective
mass", which can be negative.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_mass_(solid-
state_ph...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_mass_\(solid-
state_physics\))

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deepnotderp
Yes, but "negative mass " evokes the idea of non-Baryonic exotic matter. It's
a nontrivial difference since exotic matter has applications for things like
Alcubierre drives.

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dTal
Thank you for clarifying - my immediate reaction was "oh shit, do we have warp
drives now?"

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deepnotderp
They created roton- like quasiparticles, not exotic matter. The polariton
laser is cool though.

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arkades
I appreciate people posting novel scientific findings on HN. This isn’t that:
this is a typically overblown press release from a uni press office. I’m not
sure such explicit marketing material masquerading as a science article is a
value-add here.

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ascientist
As a scientist in a related field, I totally disagree. I feel this is a very
balanced article. From my own experience being interviewed by popular press
(and in some cases, with my work being overblown to my dismay), I particularly
appreciate how Prof Vamivakas was cautious to say that applications are "down
the road."

This is a press release, to be sure, but not overblown. This is legitimately
an interesting result.

(Full disclosure: I am in no way connected to this work.)

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lulmerchant
It's still a clickbait headline, no matter how interesting it otherwise is.
"Negative mass" and "negative effective mass" change the implications quite a
lot. One potentially means wormholes, warp drives, quantum gravity, faster
than light travel, and time travel. The other does not.

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tritium
See also: _Excitonium_

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15885404](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15885404)

Sounds like polaritons and excitons are part of the same area of study, that a
number of groups are looking at right now.

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deepnotderp
Condensed matter physics.

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thrill
Dupe:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16114250](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16114250)

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candiodari
Aren't even things like air bubbles in water things with "negative" mass, in
some of the same ways these particles described here would be ?

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mywittyname
What are the technological implications of this?

Is there hope that this could be the future of semiconductors as a replacement
for NMOS?

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lambdasquirrel
Could someone explain to a layman if this is the kind of negative mass you’d
need for an Alcubierre drive? ;P

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ajkjk
It's not.

