Physicists recently unveiled to the public the world's most accurate watch, whose unique design is based on the special organization of strontium atoms in three-dimensional space. It turned out that this device is useful not only for measuring time, but also for searching for mysterious dark matter in the depths of space.
Scientists at the Boulder's JILA Laboratory at the University of Colorado have developed an incredibly accurate quantum atomic clock based on a unique three-dimensional structure. The project literally set a new benchmark for quality factor - a metric that characterizes measurement accuracy. The clock forms strontium atoms into a cube, which is 1000 times denser than the previous one-dimensional clock. For the first time, design allows scientists to successfully use the so-called "quantum gas" for this purpose.
The most accurate watch in the world
An atomic clock (aka quantum, or molecular clock) is a device for measuring time, in which not a silicon mechanism is used as a periodic process, but vibrations occurring at the atomic and molecular levels. For example, according to the international SI system, 1 second is equal to 9 192 631 770 periods of electromagnetic radiation arising from the transition between two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium-133 atom.
Previously, each atom in an atomic clock was considered a separate particle, and therefore interactions between atoms could cause inaccuracies in the measurements made. However, the "quantum many-body system" used in the new project organizes atoms according to a certain pattern, which allows them to block their interaction, regardless of how many atoms scientists eventually introduced into the apparatus. A state of matter known as a degenerate Fermi gas (a gas made up of Fermi particles) allows all the atoms in the system to be quantized.
"The most important aspect of the potential of a quantum gas clock is its ability to increase the number of atoms, which results in a huge increase in stability," explains physicist Jun Yeh of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), who worked on the project. According to him, humanity is entering "a truly exciting era when we can subject matter to quantum engineering to measure specific quantities." In laboratory tests, the error was 3.5 x 10 quintillion - this is the first atomic clock to achieve such impressive accuracy.
Thomas O'Brien, NIST's quantum physics chief and project leader, states that "a strontium clock using a quantum gas is a striking example of a" new quantum revolution "technology, sometimes referred to as" quantum 2.0. " He is also confident that such an approach and the development of similar technologies in the future will allow the use of quantum correlations for a wide range of measurements and even for technologies that are not related to time.
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Time and space
The atomic clock, for example, is great for research into understanding dark matter. Researchers have already suggested that the study of minor errors in the operation of atomic clocks will track nothing more than "pockets" of dark matter in space. Previous studies have shown that an atomic clock system and even one such highly sensitive apparatus can register changes in the vibration frequency of atoms and laser radiation if they pass through an area of dark matter. Considering that the new project is much more stable and accurate than its predecessors, perhaps it will help us unravel one of the most interesting mysteries of the Universe.
Vasily Makarov
