A group of researchers found that the maximum possible speed of propagation of sound waves is about 36 km / s.
Sound waves are disturbanceswhich move energy between points in space and can move at different speeds, depending on the density of the moving medium. For example, you can learn about the approach of a train earlier by the noise from the rail tracks than by hearing it through the air.
Scientists knew that waves couldn't travel faster than the speed of light, but they didn't know how fast.sound can move. Physicists from Queen Mary University of London, Cambridge University and the Vereshchagin Institute for High Pressure Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences decided to unravel this mystery.
Since the speed of movement of sound waves dependsfrom the constant fine structure and the ratio of the masses of the proton to the electron, then it can move most rapidly in metallic hydrogen, with which it is very difficult to conduct experiments under terrestrial conditions due to the difficulty of obtaining (it is formed at a pressure of 4.18 million atmospheres). Therefore, scientists performed state-of-the-art quantum mechanical calculations to establish an indicator as close as possible to the theoretical fundamental limit.
The results showed about 36 km/s, which is about twice as fast as the speed of sound in diamond, the world's hardest known material.
Let us recall that recently researchers also discovered a new type of matter inside neutron stars.
</p>Read this:
Scientists have created a laser that violates the laws of light propagation
Physicists recreate black hole plasma conditions with ultra-powerful laser
Physicists have developed a new method of nuclear fusion using relativistic effects
Bugatti Chiron set a new speed record at 490 km / h
Scientists have created a pocket particle accelerator that accelerates electrons to 99.99% of the speed of light
Physicists are one step closer to creating a gamma laser