Scientists have discovered a new way to measure time
The second loses its meaning
The second may be a practical way of measuring the time that passes between “before” and “now” for humans, but on the quantum scale of electrons, “before” is not fixed and “now” is an uncertainty. Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden decided to use lasers and helium atoms to create an absolute precision timer, without counting seconds.
Their experiments in the Rydberg wave state revealed that the measurement of time does not need a precise starting point. Rydberg atoms are like the overinflated balloons of the particle realm. Blown up by a laser instead of air, these atoms contain electrons in a high energy state, orbiting away from the nucleus. A second laser is used to observe the changes in the position of the electrons, including the passage of time.
The movement of electrons, rather than marbles on an abacus, are more like marbles on a roulette wheel. The mathematical rule behind this electron Rydberg roulette is referred to as a Rydberg wave packet. Like waves in a lake, a Rydberg wave packet moving through space creates interference, resulting in unique wave patterns. With several Rydberg wave packets in the same atomic “lake” and their unique waves, we have the distinct time each packet takes to evolve relative to another.
This uniqueness showed scientists that this method was reliable and continuous enough to be used as a form of measuring time at the quantum level. Experiments confirmed the theory.
If you are using a scale, you must set it to zero. You start counting from one point onwards. The advantage of our method is that you don’t need to start the clock – you just look at the interference structures and say, OK, 4 nanoseconds have passed.
The accuracy of the method can even reach 1.7 trillionths of a second. Future quantum clock experiments could replace the helium atoms with other atoms or use lasers of different power to adapt to the conditions of the experiments.
The research was published in Physical Review Research .
