Nanotechnology Now

Our NanoNews Digest Sponsors
Heifer International



Home > Press > Insights on quantum mechanics

This sketch shows how a quantum gas microscope hones in on individual atoms in the gas.
This sketch shows how a quantum gas microscope hones in on individual atoms in the gas.

Abstract:
Harvard physicists create simulative process to gauge unseen forces

By Steve Bradt, Harvard Staff Writer

Insights on quantum mechanics

Cambridge, MA | Posted on June 19th, 2010

For the first time, physicists at Harvard University have tracked individual atoms in a gas cooled to extreme temperatures as the particles reorganized into a crystal, a process driven by quantum mechanics. The research, described in the journal Science, opens new possibilities for particle-by-particle study and engineering of artificial quantum materials.

"Much of modern technology is driven by engineering materials with novel properties, and the bizarre world of quantum mechanics can contribute to this engineering toolbox," said Markus Greiner, an assistant professor of physics at Harvard, who led the research team. "For example, quantum materials could be used to turn heat into electricity, or in cables that transport electricity very efficiently in a power grid."

"The challenge in understanding the behavior of such materials is that although we have many ideas about how they might work, we lack the tools to verify these theories by looking at and manipulating these materials at the most basic atomic level," Greiner said. "This is the problem we have set out to tackle."

To circumvent the challenges of studying such materials, Greiner and his colleagues created an artificial quantum material, a cold gas of rubidium atoms moving in a lattice made of light. This pancake-shaped cloud, known as a Bose-Einstein condensate, allowed them to study the physics of quantum materials at a much larger scale, essentially simulating what happens in a real material.

The physicists watched individual atoms participate in a dramatic collective transition between two states of matter, similar to the transition that happens when water freezes into ice. But this transition was driven not by temperature but by the researchers' manipulation of interactions between the atoms.

"We counted the number of atoms at each site of the lattice," said co-author Waseem Bakr, a graduate student in Harvard's Department of Physics. "When the interactions between the atoms are weak, the number of atoms varies significantly in different sites due to uncertainty that is intrinsic to quantum mechanics. When we increase the interactions, these fluctuations vanish, and the atoms arrange into an almost perfect crystal."

Such a transition from a superfluid state — in which particles can move with no resistance — to an insulating Mott state — where the atoms can no longer move — was first observed by Greiner and colleagues in 2001. However, a quantum gas microscope developed last year by Greiner's group now allows observation of individual atoms as they undergo this transition.

"This microscope is a versatile tool which should be able to shed light on many other phenomena related to quantum materials, such as magnetic materials," Greiner said. "It could even be used for computations that require enormous resources on current computers."

While a simulation similar to the current experiment could, in principle, be carried out on a computer, Greiner said that such an approach would quickly become infeasible for a system with more than a few dozen atoms.

Greiner and Bakr's co-authors in Harvard's Department of Physics and at the Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms are Amy Peng, Eric Tai, Ruichao Ma, Jonathan Simon, Jonathon Gillen, and Lode Pollet, as well as Simon Foelling of Harvard and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. Their work was supported by the Army Research Office, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the National Science Foundation, the Swiss National Science Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

####

For more information, please click here

Contacts:
Tel: 617.495.1000

Copyright © Harvard University

If you have a comment, please Contact us.

Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Bookmark:
Delicious Digg Newsvine Google Yahoo Reddit Magnoliacom Furl Facebook

Related News Press

Physics

INRS and ELI deepen strategic partnership to train the next generation in laser science:PhD students will benefit from international mobility and privileged access to cutting-edge infrastructure June 6th, 2025

Quantum computers simulate fundamental physics: shedding light on the building blocks of nature June 6th, 2025

A 1960s idea inspires NBI researchers to study hitherto inaccessible quantum states June 6th, 2025

Magnetism in new exotic material opens the way for robust quantum computers June 4th, 2025

Govt.-Legislation/Regulation/Funding/Policy

INRS and ELI deepen strategic partnership to train the next generation in laser science:PhD students will benefit from international mobility and privileged access to cutting-edge infrastructure June 6th, 2025

Electrifying results shed light on graphene foam as a potential material for lab grown cartilage June 6th, 2025

Institute for Nanoscience hosts annual proposal planning meeting May 16th, 2025

Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025

Possible Futures

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researchers several steps closer to harnessing patient's own T-cells to fight off cancer June 6th, 2025

Researchers unveil a groundbreaking clay-based solution to capture carbon dioxide and combat climate change June 6th, 2025

Cambridge chemists discover simple way to build bigger molecules – one carbon at a time June 6th, 2025

A 1960s idea inspires NBI researchers to study hitherto inaccessible quantum states June 6th, 2025

Academic/Education

Rice University launches Rice Synthetic Biology Institute to improve lives January 12th, 2024

Multi-institution, $4.6 million NSF grant to fund nanotechnology training September 9th, 2022

National Space Society Helps Fund Expanding Frontier’s Brownsville Summer Entrepreneur Academy: National Space Society and Club for the Future to Support Youth Development Program in South Texas June 24th, 2022

How a physicist aims to reduce the noise in quantum computing: NAU assistant professor Ryan Behunin received an NSF CAREER grant to study how to reduce the noise produced in the process of quantum computing, which will make it better and more practical April 1st, 2022

Announcements

INRS and ELI deepen strategic partnership to train the next generation in laser science:PhD students will benefit from international mobility and privileged access to cutting-edge infrastructure June 6th, 2025

Electrifying results shed light on graphene foam as a potential material for lab grown cartilage June 6th, 2025

Quantum computers simulate fundamental physics: shedding light on the building blocks of nature June 6th, 2025

A 1960s idea inspires NBI researchers to study hitherto inaccessible quantum states June 6th, 2025

Tools

Portable Raman analyzer detects hydrogen leaks from a distance: Device senses tiny concentration changes of hydrogen in ambient air, offering a dependable way to detect and locate leaks in pipelines and industrial systems April 25th, 2025

Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025

New 2D multifractal tools delve into Pollock's expressionism January 17th, 2025

New material to make next generation of electronics faster and more efficient With the increase of new technology and artificial intelligence, the demand for efficient and powerful semiconductors continues to grow November 8th, 2024

Research partnerships

INRS and ELI deepen strategic partnership to train the next generation in laser science:PhD students will benefit from international mobility and privileged access to cutting-edge infrastructure June 6th, 2025

Superconductors: Amazingly orderly disorder: A surprising effect was discovered through a collaborative effort by researchers from TU Wien and institutions in Croatia, France, Poland, Singapore, Switzerland, and the US during the investigation of a special material: the atoms are May 14th, 2025

HKU physicists uncover hidden order in the quantum world through deconfined quantum critical points April 25th, 2025

SMART researchers pioneer first-of-its-kind nanosensor for real-time iron detection in plants February 28th, 2025

Quantum nanoscience

A new study provides insights into cleaning up noise in quantum entanglement:When it comes to purifying quantum entanglement, new theoretical work highlights the importance of tailoring noise-minimizing solutions to specific quantum systems May 16th, 2025

Superconductors: Amazingly orderly disorder: A surprising effect was discovered through a collaborative effort by researchers from TU Wien and institutions in Croatia, France, Poland, Singapore, Switzerland, and the US during the investigation of a special material: the atoms are May 14th, 2025

Programmable electron-induced color router array May 14th, 2025

Unraveling the origin of extremely bright quantum emitters: Researchers from Osaka University have discovered the fundamental properties of single-photon emitters at an oxide/semiconductor interface, which could be crucial for scalable quantum technology February 28th, 2025

NanoNews-Digest
The latest news from around the world, FREE




  Premium Products
NanoNews-Custom
Only the news you want to read!
 Learn More
NanoStrategies
Full-service, expert consulting
 Learn More











ASP
Nanotechnology Now Featured Books




NNN

The Hunger Project