A type of
atomic vibration never before seen in ordinary solid materials has been observed in uranium.
These light bursts excite
atomic vibrations to very large amplitudes, where their response to the driving electric field becomes nonlinear and conventional description fails to predict their behaviour.
Their analysis revealed that the
atomic vibrations in the crystal lattice were too sluggish to transmit much heat.
The author explores crystal structure and crystal diffraction, crystal binding and elastic constants,
atomic vibrations and lattice specific heat, free electrons theory and simple metals, and many other related subjects.
"When you touch an object and it feels 'hot' you are literally sensing the 'buzzing' of the
atomic vibrations. The new definition directly links the unit of temperature to this basic physical reality."
But when it does, it's less likely to set another electron free than it is to create
atomic vibrations that squander the electron's excess energy on heat.
Scientists at the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) and Brookhaven National Lab have an ongoing collaborative program to study the lattice dynamics (
atomic vibrations) in the PZN and PMN relaxor compounds.