Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Physicists grab individual atoms in ground-breaking experiment
From https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200220130518.htm
Physicists grab individual atoms in ground-breaking experiment
[...]
A myriad of equipment including lasers, mirrors, a vacuum chamber, and microscopes assembled in Otago's Department of Physics, plus a lot of time, energy, and expertise, have provided the ingredients to investigate this quantum process, which until now was only understood through statistical averaging from experiments involving large numbers of atoms.
The experiment improves on current knowledge by offering a previously unseen view into the microscopic world, surprising researchers with the results.
"Our method involves the individual trapping and cooling of three atoms to a temperature of about a millionth of a Kelvin using highly focused laser beams in a hyper-evacuated (vacuum) chamber, around the size of a toaster. We slowly combine the traps containing the atoms to produce controlled interactions that we measure," says Associate Professor Mikkel F. Andersen of Otago's Department of Physics.
[...]
Date: February 20, 2020
Source: University of Otago
Summary: In a first for quantum physics, researchers have 'held' individual atoms in place and observed previously unseen complex atomic interactions.
[...]
A myriad of equipment including lasers, mirrors, a vacuum chamber, and microscopes assembled in Otago's Department of Physics, plus a lot of time, energy, and expertise, have provided the ingredients to investigate this quantum process, which until now was only understood through statistical averaging from experiments involving large numbers of atoms.
The experiment improves on current knowledge by offering a previously unseen view into the microscopic world, surprising researchers with the results.
"Our method involves the individual trapping and cooling of three atoms to a temperature of about a millionth of a Kelvin using highly focused laser beams in a hyper-evacuated (vacuum) chamber, around the size of a toaster. We slowly combine the traps containing the atoms to produce controlled interactions that we measure," says Associate Professor Mikkel F. Andersen of Otago's Department of Physics.
[...]
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
