Physicists have created a controlled magnetic field with an induction of 1200 Tesla, which is 400 times more than the magnets of modern medical tomographs and about 50 million times more than the natural field of the Earth. Such powerful fields can be useful in the research of unusual materials and in the creation of thermonuclear reactors. The results are published in the Review of Scientific Instruments.
Magnetic fields determine many physical processes. Despite the fact that a person in everyday life usually does not face strong magnetic fields directly, they exist everywhere. For example, the Earth's magnetic field constantly acts on us, the induction of which is approximately 3-5 ✱ 10 -5 Tesla. Unlike humans, electrons in metals at the nanometer scale experience a field of about 1000 Tesla. Even more powerful fields exist in space - in neutron stars they can reach 10 8 T.
There are several different ways to create a powerful magnetic field, usually they involve a sharp compression of the conductive body. The strongest fields ever created by man were compressed with explosives. This method can only be used in open spaces and is only suitable for demonstration, since such a process proceeds in an uncontrolled manner. Scientists set an absolute record using this method in 2001, when they were able to create a field with an induction of 2800 Tesla in a volume of about 5 millimeters.
In the new work, physicists were able for the first time to obtain a field of more than 1000 Tesla in a laboratory, which makes it possible to conduct experiments with it. They used the method of electromagnetic flow compression, in which the compression is achieved by electromagnetic forces caused by the flow of a huge current. The maximum induction that scientists measured was about 1200 Tesla.
Such a field, in particular, can be useful for studying the quantum phases of a substance, since such fields should transfer all electrons in metals to the lowest energy state. Also, fields of similar strength are needed in order to maintain a thermonuclear reaction with the release of energy in reactors of some designs.