In a world of swinging pendulums and ticking clocks, marking the passage of time is as simple as counting the seconds between then’ or ‘now.
At the quantum scale of buzzing electronic electrons, however ‘then’ cannot always be predicted. Worse, ‘now” often blurs into a fog of uncertainty. For some situations, a stopwatch is not going to suffice.
Researchers from Uppsala University (Sweden) believe that the quantum fog could provide a solution.
Their experiments on the Rydberg states, which are wave-like in nature, have led them to discover a novel method of measuring time that doesn’t require a starting point.
Rydberg AtomsThese are the balloons that have been inflated by the particle kingdom. These atoms, which are filled with lasers rather than air, contain electrons in very high energy states and orbit far from the nucleus.
However, not all lasers can puff up an atom to cartoonish heights. Lasers can be used to induce electrons into higher energy states, which is useful for many purposes.
In certain applications, a second laser may be used to monitor electron positions and the passing of time. These are called “These ‘pump-probeFor instance,’techniques can measure the speed and performance of ultrafast electronic devices.
It is possible to convert atoms into Rydberg state. Engineers: A handy tipDesigning is no exception. novel componentsFor quantum computers. It’s not surprising that physicists have accumulated a lot of information about how electrons move when they are nudged into Rydberg states.
Quantum animals are able to move more like tiny beads on an abacus than like a night at the roulette table where every roll and jump is incorporated into one game of chance.
Rydberg wavepack is the mathematical guidebook that governs this wild game.
Like actual waves in the pond, interference can result in unique ripple patterns. You can put enough Rydberg packets in the same atomic pool to create unique patterns. Each pattern represents the time it takes for each wave packet to evolve.
These were the “fingerprints” of time that the physicists behind this new set of experiments sought to prove. They proved to be consistent and reliable enough for use as a quantum timestamping method.
Their research consisted of measuring the laser-excited helium molecules and matching their results with theoretical predictions in order to demonstrate how their signature results could be held up for a period of time.
“If you’re using counters, you have to define zero. Marta Berholts, a physicist from the University of Uppsala, Sweden, was the leader of the team. New Scientist.
“The benefit of this is that you don’t have to start the clock – you just look at the interference structure and say ‘okay, it’s been 4 nanoseconds.'”
A guide book of Rydberg waves packets is possible to be used with other forms or pump-probespectroscopy that measures events on a very small scale.
It is important to note that fingerprints do not require a time and place for starting or stopping. It would be similar to measuring the race of an unknown sprinter against a group of competitors running at a fixed speed.
Technicians could detect the presence of interfering Rydberg state signatures in atoms from a pump probe and observe a timestamp of events that are as brief as 1.7 trillionthsof a second.
Future quantum watch experiments may replace the helium atoms with other atoms or use laser pulses of different energies to expand the guidebook of timestamps to better suit a wider range of conditions.
This research was published in Physical Review Research.
