Researchers at JILA, a joint institute of NIST and the University of Colorado Boulder, have developed a new imaging technique that allows them to “see” quantum behavior in an atomic clock. The technique combines spectroscopy with high-resolution microscopy to create rapid, precise measurements of quantum behavior in a three-dimensional strontium lattice atomic clock.
The new imaging method produces visual representations of atoms in their ground state (blue) or excited state (red), with white regions representing a mixture of both states. This allows researchers to map small frequency shifts across different regions of the lattice, improving the precision and speed of measurements.
The technique has already achieved a record precision in measuring frequency of 2.5 x 10^-19 (error of just 0.25 parts per billion billion) in 6 hours. Imaging spectroscopy is expected to greatly improve the precision of the JILA atomic clock and other atomic clocks.
In the future, the method may allow scientists to study the connection between quantum physics and gravity, as the atoms in the clock could be used as a gravity sensor to test the interplay between different fields of physics.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2018/03/jila-team-invents-new-way-see-quantum-world
Keywords: atoms, quantum, mechanics, imaging, precision
