Quantum technologies, with their potential to accelerate data processing, improve drug development and create new sensing applications, are at the center of scientific research. Experimentally studying quantum behavior remains challenging due to the short duration over which most systems can sustain these effects.
A recent study succeeded in expanding this quantum behavior and opening up 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,” he 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 changes physics. The larger the system and the greater the couplings with the environment, the more likely the system is to behave in classical, non-quantum ways – and you lose your ability to study things at the quantum level. »
Kaden Hazzard (left to right), Zewen Zhang and Jonathan Stepp. Photo credit: Photo by Gustavo Raskosky/Rice University
A “magic trap” for expanding quantum behavior
Rice scientists and their collaborators managed to extend quantum behavior in an experimental system nearly 30 times by using ultracold temperatures and laser wavelengths to create a “magic trap” that helped delay the occurrence of decoherence. The study is the first experimental demonstration of its kind and opens new foundations for the study of quantum interactions.
The group of Simon Cornish from the Department of Physics at the University of Durham in the United Kingdom worked with Hazzard and his group at Rice to cool molecules to a billion times below room temperature, creating a unique quantum mechanical system. They then use microwave radiation to cause these molecules to undergo quantum rotation – a situation comparable to molecules aligning and rotating clockwise and counterclockwise at the same time.
Zewen Zhang (left to right), Jonathan Stepp and Kaden Hazzard. Photo credit: Gustavo Raskosky/Rice University
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This study successfully extended quantum behavior using a “magic trap” created by ultracold temperatures and laser wavelengths. This advance could open new perspectives for the study of quantum interactions and have significant implications for the development of quantum technologies.
For 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”?
A “magic trap” is 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 have significant implications for the development of quantum technologies.
synthetic
This innovative research has opened a new avenue for studying quantum interactions by extending the quantum behavior of an experimental system. The use of a “magic trap” created by ultracold temperatures and laser wavelengths made it possible to delay the appearance of decoherence.
For 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”?
A “magic trap” is 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 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
Caption: Artist's imagination of molecules rotating in a trap in a quantum superposition, with rotation rates varying clockwise (red) and counterclockwise (blue) in space. Photo credit: Hazzard Group/Rice University
Hazzard, K., Cornish, S., et al. (2024). Extending quantum behavior with a magic trap. Natural physics.
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