2024-01-21 22:05:00
Quantum technologies, with their potential to accelerate computing, improve drug development and create new sensing applications, are at the heart of scientific research. The experimental study of quantum behaviors remains a challenge, due to the short duration over which most systems can maintain these effects.
A recent study succeeded in extending this quantum behavior, opening new perspectives for the study of quantum interactions.
« The reason mysterious features of quantum physics tend to disappear so quickly is a process called decoherence “, said Kaden Hazzardassociate professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and co-author of a study published in Nature Physics.
« This happens when a quantum system interacts with its environment and it changes physics. The larger the system and the greater the couplings with the environment, the more the system will behave in a classical, non-quantum way – and you lose your ability to investigate things at the quantum level. »
Kaden Hazzard (left to right), Zewen Zhang and Jonathan Stepp. Credit: Photo by Gustavo Raskosky/Rice University
A “magic trap” to extend quantum behavior
THE Rice scientists and their collaborators successfully extended quantum behavior in an experimental system nearly 30 times using ultracold temperatures and laser wavelengths to generate a “ magic trap » which helped delay the onset of decoherence. The study is the first experimental demonstration of its kind and provides new ground for the study of quantum interactions.
The group of Simon Cornish of the Department of Physics of theDurham University in the UK collaborated with Hazzard and his group at Rice to cool molecules to a billion times below room temperature to create a unique quantum mechanical system. They then set these molecules to rotate quantumly – a situation analogous to molecules aligning and rotating both clockwise and counterclockwise at the same time – using microwave radiation. .
Zewen Zhang (left to right), Jonathan Stepp and Kaden Hazzard. Credit: Gustavo Raskosky/Rice University
Synthetic
This study succeeded in extending the quantum behavior using a “magic trap» generated by ultra-cold temperatures and laser wavelengths. This advance could open new perspectives for the study of quantum interactions and could have significant implications for the development of quantum technologies.
For a better understanding
What is quantum decoherence?
Quantum decoherence is the process by which a quantum system loses its quantum properties, such as superposition and entanglement, due to its interaction with the environment.
What is a “magic trap”?
And “magic trapis an experimental technique that uses ultracold temperatures and laser wavelengths to extend the quantum behavior of a system.
What are the implications of this study?
This study could open new perspectives for the study of quantum interactions and could have significant implications for the development of quantum technologies.
Synthetic
This innovative research has opened a new avenue for the study of quantum interactions, by extending the quantum behavior of an experimental system. The use of a “magic trap», generated by ultra-cold temperatures and laser wavelengths, made it possible to delay the appearance of decoherence.
For a better understanding
What is quantum decoherence?
Quantum decoherence is the process by which a quantum system loses its quantum properties, such as superposition and entanglement, due to its interaction with the environment.
What is a “magic trap”?
And “magic trapis an experimental technique that uses ultracold temperatures and laser wavelengths to extend the quantum behavior of a system.
What are the implications of this study?
This study could open new perspectives for the study of quantum interactions and could have significant implications for the development of quantum technologies.
What is quantum physics?
Quantum physics is a branch of physics that deals with phenomena at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles.
What is quantum technology?
Quantum technology is a new generation of devices and systems that exploit the properties of quantum mechanics, such as superposition and entanglement.
References
Illustration caption: Artist’s conception of molecules rotating in a quantum superposition in a trap, with clockwise (red) and counterclockwise (blue) rotation rates varying in ‘space. Credit: Hazzard Group/Rice University
Hazzard, K., Cornish, S., et al. (2024). Prolonging Quantum Behavior with a Magic Trap. Nature Physics.
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