Hundreds of different sounds surround us every day. Have you ever thought about the structure of sound? From the course of school physics, we know about sound waves, but everything in our Universe consists of elementary particles. And the sound wave is no exception. In order to thoroughly study what makes sound, physicists at Stanford University have created a very sensitive microphone. It can be called to some extent a "quantum microphone", because it can pick up the vibrations of elementary sound particles called phonons.
What is a phonon
Back in 1907, Albert Einstein suggested the possibility of phonons. It is a particle that is an accumulation of vibrational energy. Phonons are emitted by excited atoms and appear as sounds of different frequencies. Each phonon contains a certain amount of vibrational energy. The unit of energy is referred to as Fock. If 1 Fock is registered in a sound wave, then it contains 1 phonon. If 2 Fock - 2 phonons and so on. It is on the Fock measurement principle that the "quantum microphone" is based.
What is a "quantum microphone" and how does it work
A quantum microphone is a resonator cooled to an ultra-low temperature. But you cannot see it with the naked eye, since it is so small that it can only be seen under an electron microscope with a high magnification. The resonator is connected to a circuit within which pairs of bound electrons circulate. The deflection in the motion of these pairs of electrons arises as a result of the action of phonons on them. This effect is captured by the resonator, registered and transmitted to the system for analysis.
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Why do you need a "quantum microphone"
First of all, the device is necessary in order to more accurately study the nature of sound waves, as well as to understand the process of phonon formation. Moreover, the "quantum microphone" is capable of generating single phonons when the operating mode is changed. That is, it can literally be used as a generator of elementary particles (in this case, only sound particles) and, unlike the Large Hadron Collider, this does not require particle collisions at high speeds. Everything happens due to the generation of minor vibrations at the atomic level.
This will make it possible to create microscopic devices capable of storing and reproducing quantum information encoded in the parameters of elementary particles of sound (phonons). In addition, such systems can act as converters of mechanical signals into optical signals and vice versa, which can be used to create quantum computers and other elements of high-tech gadgets in the future.