Using this method, you can fix short-term processes.
Physicists from Uppsala University proposed a completely new measurement method of time, based on the unique “imprints” formed by Rytberg atoms. According to Science Alert, this method helps to accurately measure time without having information about the starting point.
Rydberg atoms are atoms that resemble balloons inflated by laser energy instead of air. They contain electrons in extremely high energy states spinning far from the nucleus.
The traditional approach to measuring time is based on comparing the number of time units that have passed between two given moments. But at the quantum level, it is difficult to measure the starting point, even a very accurate stopwatch will not work.
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The movement of Rydberg atoms resembles not the sliding of beads on a calculator, but the game of roulette, when the ball bounces and rolls. The set of such movements is called a Rydberg wave packet.
Like waves in a pond, several such “packets” lead to the formation of a unique pattern of ripples. The presence of several Rytberg packets in the same “atomic pond” will lead to the fact that each of the unique patterns represents a certain time required for these wave packets to evolve in accordance with each other.
In the course of the study, the scientists observed helium atoms that were affected by a laser. Then the researchers compared the results of observations with theoretical predictions. A series of experiments have shown that they are constant and reliable enough to be used to measure time.
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“If you use a counter, you have to define zero. You start counting at some point. The advantage of this method is that you don't need to start the clock — you just look at the interference pattern and say, 'Okay, 4 nanoseconds have passed,'” explained the lead author of the study Marta Berholtz.
