His measurements suggest that muons also differ from electrons in a property called magnetic moment, which governs a particle's interaction with magnetic fields.

ECONOMIST: Particle physics

These are superpositions of ones and zeros and are represented by, for example, the direction of spin (with respect to a magnetic field) of a particle such as an electron.

ECONOMIST: Quantum computing

By 1968 he had concluded that they could be kept in order by stochastic (ie, random) cooling: identifying a wayward particle on one side of the accelerator ring, sending a signal directly across to the other end, and tweaking the magnetic field to nudge the oncoming errant particle back into the beam.

ECONOMIST: Simon van der Meer | The

The energy released in fusion is carried mostly by neutrons, a type of subatomic particle that has no electric charge and hence cannot be confined by the magnetic bottle.

ECONOMIST: Fusion power: Nuclear ambitions | The