Condensed matter physics
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Name the assistant in Humphrey Davy’s lab who, in 1823, liquefied all the gases known at the time excluding hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. In the post-industrial era, Davy was among the first scientists to deduce atoms were not indivisible by observing the physical properties of matter.
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In 1900, German physicist ____ _____ tried to explain the path of an electron moving through solid metal. His model was quite imperfect but became the basis for early steps in the study of quantum mechanics by others. Fill in the blanks.
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In the 1930s, Arnold Sommerfeld used quantum mechanics to solve many open problems. But his model couldn’t explain the _____ eect. Here, a metal doped with a magnetic impurity counterintuitively causes the metal’s resistance to increase as it approaches absolute zero. Fill in the blank.
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In 1980, Gerhard Dorda, Michael Pepper, and X discovered the quantum Hall eect. When a strong magnetic field is applied top-down on a cold, 2D sheet of electrons, an electric resistance arises across the sheet’s breadth. And the resistance value can only increase or decrease in fixed steps. Name X, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1985.
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A Bose-Einstein condensate is an exotic state of matter in which quantum phenomena, otherwise invisible to the naked eye, become visible. Name the three physicists who led two teams in 1995 to first produce it in the lab, later sharing a Nobel Prize for the feat.
Answers to May 16 quiz:
1. The cycle the Sun completes after two solar cycles – Ans: Hale cycle
2. Small, dark patches the Sun develops as it nears the peak of a solar cycle – Ans: Sunspots
3. Astronomer for whom law relating location of sunspots on the Sun is named – Ans:
Gustav Spörer
4. Process that produces the Sun’s magnetic field – Ans: Solar dynamo
5. Name for period between 1645 and 1715 –
Ans: Maunder Minimum
Visual: Tachocline
First contact: Vijayram Ganasala | K.N. Viswanathan | ViswanadhaRao Batchu | Saurav Agarwal | Rahul Raj