SHIN HASKE ZAI IYA YIN KARO DA HASKE? — The Knowledge Frontier

Idan aka haska fitila biyu ta yadda layukan haskensu suka gicciye, kowane layi yana ci gaba kamar ɗayan ba ya nan. Wannan shi ne ƙa’idar superposition (superposition principle), a zuciyar ilmin haske (optics). Tana aiki ne saboda lissafin (equations) electromagnetism masu layi ne (linear), kuma ta dace da abin da muke gani a kullum.

Tun aikin Euler, Heisenberg da Kockel a shekarun 1930, masana fiziks sun san cewa wannan ƙa’ida ba daidai take sosai ba. Kimiyyar quantum tana cika sararin wofi (vacuum) da sauye-sauye (fluctuations) masu wucewa da sauri — a quantum electrodynamics, ma’auratan electron da positron na kama-da-wane (virtual pairs). Ta hanyarsu, haske zai iya jin haske. Sakamako biyu suna biyowa: watsewar haske-da-haske (light-by-light scattering), inda layin haske ɗaya ke karkatar da photon na wani, da birefringence na sararin wofi (vacuum birefringence), inda sararin wofi ke sauya polarization na hasken da ke ratsawa ta cikin fili (field) mai ƙarfi. Babu ɗayansu da aka tabbatar da shi ta gwaji tukuna a ƙaramin kuzari, inda photon ke ɗauke da kuzari ƙasa da nauyin (mass) electron sosai.

X-ray a kan laser mai tsanani

Ƙungiyar haɗin gwiwa ta BIREF@HIBEF — kusan masu bincike 80, ciki har da ƙungiyoyi a Helmholtz Institute Jena da Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf — ta shirya karon a European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser da ke Schenefeld, a Jamus:

pump ɗin (mai tunzurawa): laser ɗin ReLaX, bugun hasken infrared na kusa (near-infrared) na femtosecond 23 masu ɗauke da joule 4, da aka mayar da hankalinsu kan wani wuri mai kusan micrometre 1.1 da 1.4, suna kaiwa watt 7.7 × 10²¹ a kowane santimita murabba’i;
probe ɗin (mai bincike): bugun X-ray na keV 8.766, kowanne da photon kusan biliyan 100, da aka harba gaba da gaba cikin pump ɗin.

Fili mai tsanani na pump ɗin ya kamata ya ɗan sanya polarization a sararin wofi (polarize the vacuum), kuma wasu ’yan photon na X-ray ya kamata su fito da polarization ɗinsu a juye. Ko a yanayi mafi dacewa, wannan kusan photon ɗaya cikin 10¹³ ne — kuma waɗannan photon suna tafiya a hanya ɗaya da sauran biliyan 100.

Zanen 3D na tsarin gwajin: wani shamaki, ruwan tabarau (lens), madubi mai siffar parabola, ƙofa (aperture) da mai raba haske bisa polarization a kan hanyar layin X-ray.

Tsarin dark-field: wata waya tana jefa inuwa a cikin layin X-ray, siginar sararin wofi na quantum da aka ƙirƙira a wurin karon tana ratsawa ta ƙofar (aperture), kuma mai raba haske (beam splitter) yana raba polarization biyu na siginar. — Hoto na 1, Matheron, Šmíd da abokan aiki (2026), arXiv:2611.04531.

Ɓoye layin haske a cikin inuwa

Dabarar ita ce filin duhu (dark field). Ana sanya wata waya ta tungsten da aka goge, mai kauri micrometre 250, a cikin layin X-ray kafin a mayar da hankalinsa (focus). Tana jefa inuwa. A wurin mayar da hankali inuwar tana ɓacewa; bayansa, inuwar tana sake bayyana — amma siginar da karon ya ƙirƙira tana bazuwa cikinta. Sannan wata ƙofa (aperture) ta micrometre 40 tana toshe babban layin haske ta bar yankin da ke cikin inuwa ya wuce, kuma wani lu’ulu’u (crystal) na germanium yana raba polarization biyu zuwa na’urorin ƙirga photon guda biyu. Kusan photon na X-ray 4 cikin tiriliyan ɗaya na babban layin haske ne kawai suka zubo cikin hanyar polarization da aka juya.

Pump ɗin yana harbawa a hertz 0.5, probe kuma a hertz 10, don haka kowane karo yana zuwa da harbe-harbe 19 na kwatance (reference shots) ba tare da pump ba. A cikin karo 2,751 da harbe-harbe 52,441 na kwatance, hanyar da aka juya ta ƙirga photon 0.4649 a kowane harbi tare da pump, 0.4636 ba tare da shi ba: babu bambanci. Bayan an cire hayaniyar baya (background), ƙarin (excess) ya kasance photon −0.0024 a kowane harbi, wanda ya dace da sifili.

Shiru mai bayyanawa ninki biliyan goma

Don sanin ma’anar wannan shiru, ƙungiyar ta kwaikwayi dukkan gwajin, layin haske bayan layin haske da ruwan tabarau bayan ruwan tabarau, har da rashin daidaituwar (misalignment) da aka auna ta kowane harbi. Quantum electrodynamics tana hasashen jimillar photon 0.0008 kacal a hanyar da aka juya ga dukkan gangamin gwajin: nesa ƙasa da abin da wannan zagaye zai iya ganowa.

Sakamakon iyaka ce ta sama (upper limit). A tabbaci na 95%, watsewar haske-da-haske ba ta wuce ninki 70,000 na ƙimar da quantum electrodynamics ta hasashe, a kuzarin karo na electronvolt 116. Da an samu siginar da ta fi photon 56 a cikin karo 2,751, da ta fita fili. Gwaje-gwajen baya a ƙaramin kuzari sun kai iyakoki ne kawai masu rauni kusan ninki biliyan goma.

Jadawalin iyakoki na sama a kan watsewar haske-da-haske daga gwaje-gwaje da dama idan aka kwatanta da kuzarin karo, inda wannan gwajin yake nesa ƙasa da sauran.

Iyakoki na sama a kan watsewar haske-da-haske, idan aka kwatanta da hasashen quantum (layin ja mai ɗigo-ɗigo a 1): wannan gwajin, a 70,000, idan aka kwatanta da gwaje-gwajen baya na ƙaramin kuzari. — Hoto na 4, Matheron, Šmíd da abokan aiki (2026), arXiv:2611.04531.

Rufe giɓin

Giɓin na 70,000 ba ya fin ƙarfin cimmawa, a cewar marubutan. Gudanar da ReLaX a ƙimominsa da aka wallafa na joule 8 da hertz 1 zai ba da siginar da ta ninka sau 8 a cikin lokaci ɗaya; tsarin dark-field da aka ’yanta daga ƙuntatawar cibiyar da ake amfani da ita yanzu zai inganta kawar da hayaniyar baya da fiye da ninki dubu; na’urorin gano masu sauri za su ƙara wani ninki goma ko fiye. Tare, waɗannan ingantawa ya kamata su ba da damar ganin haske yana watsewa daga haske a karon farko kai tsaye a ɗakin gwaji — sannan a auna lambobin biyu, a da b, da quantum electrodynamics ke danganta wa martanin sararin wofi.