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Unpublished images of atoms to interact freely in space. “It’s a visual confirmation of behaviors planned for decades.”
It is an innovative milestone in quantum physics: the first images of atoms to interact freely in space.
This innovation allows scientists to visualize quantum interactions between individual atoms in the real space – phenomena that had only been theorized so far.
The method that served as the basis for this was the “Microscopy with atomic resolution”which allowed clouds of atoms to naturally interact within a little confining laser trap before they freeze them momentarily in space through a net of light.
Then the physicists of MIT – Massachusetts Institute of Technology applied a laser lighting accurate; Thus, atoms fluoresece and allowed to obtain clear images of their positions before dispersing themselves.
This new approach allowed physicists observe – for the first time – fundamental quantum behaviors between different types of atoms. For example, they managed to capture bosons (particles that can share quantum states) to form wave patterns – bunching. They also managed to capture fermons (particles that normally repel each other) to pair free space-an essential mechanism for superconductivity.
“What we are seeing is a quantum phenomenon directly – We managed to see individual atoms and how they interact with each other”Martin Zwierlein, leader of the study.It is a visual confirmation of behaviors provided for decades“The physics teacher added.
The physicists also managed to see a Bose-Einstein condensate – A special state of matter in which the bosons occupy the same quantum state. In addition, it was possible to directly observe their expected trend to group. This behavior is linked to the concept of “Onda de de Broglie”or wave of matter (about a century), which is based on modern quantum mechanics.
