The New Atomic Clock Can Run For 14 Billion Years
By: Arslan Mirza
Tags: Research, Atomic Clock, Physics, Atomsolutions, Quantum Physics

They use a peculiar phenomenon called quantum entanglement, in which particles are closely connected together

The researchers explained that quantum entanglement helps reduce the uncertainty that occurs when the atom oscillates and enables precise timing.

Atomic clocks can reveal the elusive “dark matter” that constitutes more than three-quarters of the universe, and can also be used to study the influence of gravity on time.

Edwin Pedrozzo Penafiel, an electronics engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said: “Compared with the most advanced optical clocks, the quantum entanglement-enhanced optical atomic clock has the potential to achieve more High precision.”

Just as a floor-standing pendulum clock uses the swing of a pendulum for timing, atomic clocks use lasers to measure the regular vibrations of atomic clouds.

This is the most stable periodic event that scientists can currently observe

In an ideal situation, people can use the motion of a single atom to time. However, on the atomic scale, the peculiar rules of quantum mechanics come into play.

At the same time, the measurement results are affected by statistical probabilities, and the average value must be averaged to produce reliable data.

The physicist Simone Colombo from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology explained that when the number of atoms is increased, the average value of all these atoms tends to be correct.

The current atomic clock can measure thousands of ultra-cold atoms, use lasers to gather them in “optical traps,” and then detect them with another laser with a frequency similar to the vibration frequency of the measured atom

However, even this method has a certain degree of quantum uncertainty, but as the research team has shown, some of these problems can be eliminated by quantum entanglement. Through quantum entanglement, a set of related measurement results of atoms can be obtained.

The researchers explained that this means that the individual oscillations of entangled atoms tighten around a common frequency, thereby improving the accuracy of clock measurements.

In their latest clock design, Penafiel and colleagues entangled about 350 ytterbium atoms (rare earth elements).

The ytterbium atoms oscillate 100,000 times per second, which is faster than the oscillations of palladium atoms (the element used in traditional atomic clocks)

The fact that the frequency is higher means that if the atomic oscillations are tracked accurately, this new type of clock can even distinguish differences in a shorter time range.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Like an ordinary atomic clock

The research team trapped atoms in an optical cavity surrounded by two mirrors, and then emitted laser light through the optical cavity, causing the laser to bounce between the two mirrors, repeatedly interacting with atoms and entangled them together.

MIT CHINA physicist Chi Shu said:

“It’s like light acts as a communication link between atoms. The first atom of seeing light can slightly change the light, and this light will also change the second. One atom, the third atom, after many cycles, the atoms collectively understand each other and begin to show similar behavioral characteristics.”

Then, the research team used another laser to measure the average frequency of atoms, similar to the method used in existing atomic clocks. The team found that this quantum entanglement allowed the clock to reach the desired accuracy at four times the speed.

MIT CHINA physicist Vladan Ruretick said: We can make the clock more accurate by measuring longer. The question is how long it takes you to reach a certain accuracy.

Many phenomena require a fast time. Measured by scale. The latest clock design can be used to better solve various mysteries in the universe. As the universe ages, will the speed of light change?

Will the charge change? You can use a more accurate atomic clock Perform detection.

Democritus said:

“Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion.”