{"id":62531,"date":"2026-07-09T18:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T18:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/?guid=49c589b48ca1760db1f74ba86ab11a35"},"modified":"2026-07-09T18:00:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T18:00:13","slug":"special-relativity-can-warp-chemical-bonds-now-weve-seen-it-happen-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/2026\/07\/09\/special-relativity-can-warp-chemical-bonds-now-weve-seen-it-happen-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Special relativity can warp chemical bonds \u2013 now we\u2019ve seen it happen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2533691\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/09111608\/SEI_304616192.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1350\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/09111608\/SEI_304616192.jpg?resize=300,225 300w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/09111608\/SEI_304616192.jpg?resize=400,300 400w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/09111608\/SEI_304616192.jpg?resize=600,450 600w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/09111608\/SEI_304616192.jpg?resize=800,600 800w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/09111608\/SEI_304616192.jpg?resize=1024,768 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 1288px) 837px, (min-width: 1024px) calc(57.5vw + 55px), (min-width: 415px) calc(100vw - 40px), calc(70vw + 74px)\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><div class=\"wp-image__caption--icon\"><svg width=\"15\" height=\"15\" viewbox=\"0 0 15 15\"><use href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/themes\/newscientist\/images\/icon-circle-chevron.svg#icon-circle-chevron\"><\/use><\/svg><\/div><div class=\"wp-image__caption--text\">In some heavy atoms, like those of bismuth (pictured in crystalline form), electrons move at relativistic speeds<\/div><div class=\"wp-image__caption--credit\">savva_25\/Shutterstock<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>Albert Einstein\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/definition\/special-relativity\/\">theory of special relativity<\/a> can reshape chemical bonds within molecules, and researchers have just seen it happen for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>The theory of special relativity describes how moving at speeds close to the speed of light would affect travellers\u2019 experience of space and time. Because of this, it is usually associated with particle accelerators and spacefaring objects, but within some heavy atoms, electrons experience relativistic speeds too.<\/p>\n<div class=\"advert-wrapper advert__mid-article\">\n\t<div class=\"advert\">\n\t\t<div class=\"advert__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"advert__copy\">\n\t\t\t\t\tAdvertisement\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"advert__slot\" id=\"mid-article-slot\">\n\t\t\t\t<script>\n\t\t\t\t\tif( window?.adverts?.addToArray ) {\n\t\t\t\t\t\twindow.adverts.addToArray( {\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"pos\": \"mid-article-slot\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t} );\n\t\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>\n\t<\/p><div class=\"read-more__standard wp-block-newscientist-read-more\">\n\t\t<a class=\"read-more__standard--wrapper no-animation\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2449347-chemists-discovered-the-first-new-chemical-bond-in-more-than-a-decade\/\">\n\t\t\t<strong>Read more<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<p>Chemists discovered the first new chemical bond in more than a decade<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/vivo.brown.edu\/display\/lw28\">Lai-Sheng Wang<\/a> at Brown University in Rhode Island and his colleagues have now managed to take an unprecedented look at how this breaks the standard notion of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2449347-chemists-discovered-the-first-new-chemical-bond-in-more-than-a-decade\/\">chemical bonds<\/a> within a charged molecule made from bismuth and carbon.<\/p>\n<p>Within the molecule, a bismuth atom and a carbon atom were connected by three bonds, one of which the researchers expected to be of \u201csigma\u201d type and two of \u201cpi\u201d type. The difference between these two types stems from electrons\u2019 quantum character \u2013 each electron is \u201csmeared\u201d across some region of space, instead of being a tight ball, and whether these regions overlap head on or side by side determines the type of chemical bond they create between the atoms.<\/p>\n<p>In their experiment, Wang and his colleagues <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2492571-we-have-detected-a-single-electron-with-unprecedented-speed\/\">mapped the distribution of electrons<\/a> throughout the molecule, effectively getting a look at its bonds. But instead of seeing electrons distributed in shapes associated with sigma and pi bonds, the team noticed that two of the bonds resembled two different mixes of sigma and pi shapes. \u201cTheir characters are different from our normal understanding,\u201d says Wang. \u201cYou can\u2019t really call it the sigma and pi.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His team turned to <a href=\"http:\/\/tyr0.chem.wsu.edu\/~kipeters\/\">Kirk Peterson<\/a> at Washington State University, whose calculations ultimately showed that this mixing was a consequence of electrons near the bismuth nucleus feeling such a strong electromagnetic interaction that they moved at relativistic speeds. He says this effect hadn\u2019t previously been captured in an experiment.<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/p><div class=\"wp-block-newscientist-newsletter-promotion\">\n\t<div class=\"newsletter-promotion__content\">\n\t\t<p class=\"newsletter-promotion__tagline\">Subscriber-only newsletter<\/p>\n\t\t<h4 class=\"newsletter-promotion__title\">\n\t\t\tSign up to Lost in Space-Time\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t<p class=\"newsletter-promotion__excerpt\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t<div class=\"newsletter-promotion__actions\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"button button--secondary button--has-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/sign-up\/lost-in-space-time\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<span>Sign up to newsletter<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<svg width=\"18\" height=\"18\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" style=\"--fill-color: #000\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<use href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/themes\/newscientist\/images\/icon-arrow-right.svg#icon-arrow-right\"><\/use>\n\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"newsletter-promotion__background\">\n\t\t<span class=\"newsletter-promotion__gradient\"><\/span>\n\t\t<div class=\"newsletter-promotion__image__wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"image__wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/16102053\/lost_in_space-time_2025_ed_newsletter_landingtiles_2400px3.jpg?w=600&amp;h=450&amp;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-4x3-sm size-4x3-sm wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 432px) 412px, (min-width: 300px) 373px, 100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/16102053\/lost_in_space-time_2025_ed_newsletter_landingtiles_2400px3.jpg?resize=300,225 300w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/16102053\/lost_in_space-time_2025_ed_newsletter_landingtiles_2400px3.jpg?resize=400,300 400w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/16102053\/lost_in_space-time_2025_ed_newsletter_landingtiles_2400px3.jpg?resize=600,450 600w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/16102053\/lost_in_space-time_2025_ed_newsletter_landingtiles_2400px3.jpg?resize=800,600 800w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/16102053\/lost_in_space-time_2025_ed_newsletter_landingtiles_2400px3.jpg?resize=1024,768 1024w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/16102053\/lost_in_space-time_2025_ed_newsletter_landingtiles_2400px3.jpg?resize=1920,1440 1920w\">\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>\u201cThe hardest thing about [studying] heavy elements is a lack of really good experimental data,\u201d says Peterson. \u201cTo have such a beautiful experiment to be able to essentially compare very high-level theory to data is really a luxury.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wang says one important part of the new experiment is that he and his colleagues could make the molecule very cold before looking at its electrons. This dampened any jitters and excitations that would have made the final images imprecise.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<\/p><div class=\"read-more__standard wp-block-newscientist-read-more\">\n\t\t<a class=\"read-more__standard--wrapper no-animation\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2478223-a-new-version-of-the-periodic-table-could-change-how-we-measure-time\/\">\n\t\t\t<strong>Read more<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<p>A new version of the periodic table could change how we measure time<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\n<p>\u201cAs you go down to the bottom of the periodic table, the usual quantum mechanics is no longer sufficient, you need to take into account the effects of relativity,\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/dirac.ups-tlse.fr\/saue\/?page=curriculum\">Trond Saue<\/a> at the University of Toulouse in France. He says that all elements in the same row of the periodic table as bismuth are affected by relativistic effects \u2013 for instance, gold would be the same colour as silver and mercury would not be liquid without them.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.chem.helsinki.fi\/~pyykko\/\">Pekka Pyykk\u00f6<\/a> at the University of Helsinki in Finland says that for bismuth, the relativistic effect on its bonding with carbon could influence how organic bismuth compounds are used in chemical reactions. In fact, <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1002\/anie.6127002\">a recent study<\/a> by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research in Germany has already shown that relativistic effects help make this heavy metal a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2251480-can-static-electricity-make-chemistry-more-efficient-and-greener\/\">good catalyst<\/a>, or accelerator, of chemical processes.<\/p>\n<p>Wang says that the team now wants to repeat their experiment but swap bismuth for elements close to it in the periodic table to see when exactly special relativity makes the traditional chemical bond structure collapse.<\/p>\n<div class=\"journal-reference__wrapper wp-block-newscientist-read-more\">\n\t<strong>Journal reference:<\/strong>\n\t<p>\n\t\t<em>Science<\/em>\n\t\t<a class=\"journal-reference__link no-animation\" href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/science.aei1285\">\n\t\t\tDOI: 10.1126\/science.aei1285\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An experiment with a charged molecule of bismuth and carbon reveals how effects from Albert Einstein\u2019s special relativity reshape the standard understanding of chemical bonds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":541,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[201],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chemistry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62531"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/541"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62531"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62532,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62531\/revisions\/62532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}