What sound makes an atom? Scientists have discovered that this is a re note.
So say scientists from the Technical University of Chalmers (Gothenburg, Sweden), published a new study in which they recorded the sound that emits a single atom.
“We opened a new door to the world of quantum physics, we“ heard ”atoms and“ talked ”with them,” co-author of the research, Per Delsing , a professor of physics from Chalmers University, said. "Our long-term goal is to use quantum physics in such a way as to benefit from the principles of its work, for example, when creating ultra-fast computers."
For his research, Delsing and his colleagues created an artificial atom of 0.01 millimeters in size and placed it on one end of a superconducting material. They then passed sound waves through the surface of the material so that they “bounce off” the atom, and recorded the sound that came back using a tiny microphone mounted on the other end of the superconductor material.
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The figure shows that the artificial atom on the right generates sound waves that look like ripples on the surface of a solid material. The sound, known as surface acoustic waves, is recorded by a “microphone” located on the left — it consists of metal elements hooked into a “lock”
"In accordance with theoretical principles, the sound emanating from an atom is divided into quantum particles," said the study's co-author, Martin Gustafson, PhD from Columbia University. "Such particles are the weakest forms of sound that we can fix."
This sound turned out to be a “re” note about 20 octaves higher than the fifth (last and incomplete) octave of the piano — it is much higher than the range that the human ear can perceive.
The researchers said that sound manipulation at the quantum level could lead to new developments in quantum computing. The sound has a short wavelength and moves in space at a speed of 100,000 times slower than the speed of light, which means that it is much easier to control.
“Whether this research will affect quantum computing technology is too early to speak, but it definitely expands the set of techniques that we can apply in our work,” said Steve Rolston, one of the leaders of the Joint Institute for Quantum Physics at the University of Maryland, in an interview with Discovery News. in the study did not participate.
The study itself was published in the journal Science on September 11 of this year.
“We opened a new door to the world of quantum physics, we“ heard ”atoms and“ talked ”with them,” co-author of the research, Per Delsing , a professor of physics from Chalmers University, said. "Our long-term goal is to use quantum physics in such a way as to benefit from the principles of its work, for example, when creating ultra-fast computers."
For his research, Delsing and his colleagues created an artificial atom of 0.01 millimeters in size and placed it on one end of a superconducting material. They then passed sound waves through the surface of the material so that they “bounce off” the atom, and recorded the sound that came back using a tiny microphone mounted on the other end of the superconductor material.
')
The figure shows that the artificial atom on the right generates sound waves that look like ripples on the surface of a solid material. The sound, known as surface acoustic waves, is recorded by a “microphone” located on the left — it consists of metal elements hooked into a “lock”
"In accordance with theoretical principles, the sound emanating from an atom is divided into quantum particles," said the study's co-author, Martin Gustafson, PhD from Columbia University. "Such particles are the weakest forms of sound that we can fix."
This sound turned out to be a “re” note about 20 octaves higher than the fifth (last and incomplete) octave of the piano — it is much higher than the range that the human ear can perceive.
The researchers said that sound manipulation at the quantum level could lead to new developments in quantum computing. The sound has a short wavelength and moves in space at a speed of 100,000 times slower than the speed of light, which means that it is much easier to control.
“Whether this research will affect quantum computing technology is too early to speak, but it definitely expands the set of techniques that we can apply in our work,” said Steve Rolston, one of the leaders of the Joint Institute for Quantum Physics at the University of Maryland, in an interview with Discovery News. in the study did not participate.
The study itself was published in the journal Science on September 11 of this year.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/364201/
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