A celebrated physicist from the Tel Aviv University in Israel was in India to demonstrate how a phenomenon known as quantum locking allows a superconductor disk to float over a magnetic rail with zero energy. Quantum levitation could be the next best thing to happen in the world of science. Deebashree Mohanty speaks with this physicist to know more
Imagine a world where the train floats over magnetic rails, where energy consumption is almost negligible and travel becomes cheap. Imagine a world where a few live wires could be turned to be superconductors and through these wires one can make the smallest and most convenient MRI machines. The 47-year-old Dr Boaz Almog from Israel is taking baby steps to make the unreal look as real. It’s not magic, he insists. It is physics. “Quantum levitation is not a new discovery or an invention of any sorts. We have just tried to present it in an interesting way just to attract attention. It is sad that not many people are opting to major in Physics any more. Probably due to lack of specialised jobs or because they feel this profession doesn’t pay big bucks. We have tried to influence that decision making in some sense. Physics is not just a subject to be picked up by a nerd. There are a lot of interesting practical stuff to be discovered and presented,” Dr Almog who is here to demonstrate his this phenomena in IIT Kanpur’s Techkriti tells you.
Not a man short of humour, Dr Almog is quick to point out that he is not a professor yet. Only a doctor, he insists laughingly. “I have a long way to go to get there. And I am not that old too,” he says. At six feet, Dr Almog is one of the most sort after physicists, not just for his work and presence in global conferences but he is also known for his good looks. “Oh that! Yes many people (especially women) have complimented me over the fact that I treat myself well. Why notIJ Don’t physicists have a lifeIJ I am a normal person who likes to party and get high sometimes,” Dr Almog tells you. When he is not doing all this, Dr Almog is in his private lab at the Tel Aviv University trying to unravel what other mysteries superconductors have in store for us.
Superconductors have been around for much long in the world of science. But with the advancement of technology, physicists are trying to explore many areas in this field. Quantum locking and levitation being the latest to have taken the world by a storm. “There is only key player in this magical phenomena - the superconductor. Superconductivity is a phenomena of exactly zero electrical resistance and expulsion of magnetic fields occurring in certain materials when cooled below characteristic critical temperature. In normal elements, the electrons collide with the atoms to release energy which produces heat. However, in a superconductor there is no collision and hence no energy loss.I have always been interested in this particular branch of physics because there is a lot of evidence that supports everything mentioned in theory. levitation over a magnetic rail is probably the most interesting part and our team in Israel has been working on these experiments for over two years now. What we see is unbelievable. Give it another year and levitating could be used in many forms,” Dr Almog tells you.
For instance, levitation could become the new way of travel where the train could be made to levitate in air. The idea of magnetic levitation (MAGlEV) transportation has been around since the early 1900s. The benefit of eliminating the wheel/rail friction to obtain higher speeds and lower maintenance costs has great appeal. The basic idea of a MAGlEV train is to levitate it with magnetic fields so there is no physical contact between the train and the rails (guideways). Although it is not as simple as it sounds. To get from this simple concept to a real operational system involves enormous technological developments. “It may be possible for us to consider that option in India as well. At present, due to the weight of the train and the friction it creates on the rail, means more energy required to maneuver the train in any given direction. That makes it less efficient and more expensive. But with this new phenomena, we could make the train levitate over a superconductor magnetic field which will make energy consumption next to nothing. There are such trains that float over the magnetic field in France and Japan. Why can’t we make it the universal ruleIJ,” Dr Almog enquires.
A decade earlier, Dr Almog was not as keen a physisct as he is today. A trained singer, Dr Almog had at one time decided to quit a well paying job at a software company to form a band of boys. Till today when he is confronted with a massive problem relating to his work, Dr Almog prefers to sing himself out. “It is the best way of relaxation for me. I enjoy my songs and at times my drinks. These are the only two vices that I have I started working early on to support my family. As a software engineer with no prior work experience, the Backweb Technologies Inc was an ideal job. But a year later I was bored of what I was doing. At that time I did consider leaving everything else and forming a band. We had some concrete plans and had even raised a good enough capital. But destiny had something else in store for me,” Dr Almog says, adding that every other member of this half formulated band is a scientist.
This being his first visit to India, Dr Almog is hoping to taste authentic Indian khana and also meet with some professors who are regarded as God in his part of town. “There is so much I already know about this country. It is almost as if I have been here before. India is the hub of physics and scientific developments and I want to meet some professors who are considered to be legendary to our people there,” he tells you. Dr Almog is, at present, a researcher at the Tel-Aviv University. From 2001-2002 he worked as a software engineer for Backweb Technologies Inc. He earned his PhD in 2010 and Masters degree in 2004 from the same university where he studied high temperature superconductors and the superconductivity at the interface between a superconductor and ferromagnetic metal in nanostructures. In 2001, he received his BSc in Physics and Computer Science from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
“I was always a smart child but my parents wouldn't have ever thought of me being a physicist. I was more into computer science and software development before my best friend advised me to take up physics just so we could be in the same class in the same university. Unwillingly I took it up. The first six months were quite a pain although I had majored in Science, this was certainly not a piece of cake for me. Another two months and I found it quite engaging. Within the next four months, superconductivity became my favourite subject. I would spend hours in the library trying to decode what my professors had taught us earlier that day. I would not go out on summer holidays because I wanted to learn more about superconductors. I even broke up with my girlfriend because she felt I was too hung up about this subject. But I was fascinated,” Dr Almog says, adding that now he is happy that people are coming to understand the importance of superconductors in their daily lives.
He says that by making superconductor wires it is possible to make a 6 foot MRI machine. An experiment that he and his colleagues are still working on. “By making live wires superconductors there would be no need for the various electrical connections that we find in MRI machines these days,” he says, adding that at this stage he would not like to disclose other key findings of his research. A friendly person and a doting father, Dr Almog wants a world where everything will be run by science and technology.
“The Higgs Boson discovery and now implementing the quantum levitation are just the beginning. There is a lot more that physicists are working on the world over. When they come up with their findings. It is going to challenge every notion, every theory and every thing that we ever believed in,” he leaves you with this thought.
Predictions 2013