Physicists Capture First Glimpse of Unbound Atoms: Groundbreaking Study
Washington D.C., [US], May 8 (ANI): Physicists captured the first images of individual atoms freely interacting in space. The pictures reveal correlations among the 'free-range' particles that until now were predicted but never directly observed.
MIT physicists have managed to capture the first pictures of single atoms interacting with each other in open space.
Their findings, appearing in the journal Physical Review Letters, will help scientists visualize never-before-seen quantum phenomena in real space.
The images were taken using a technique developed by the team that first allows a cloud of atoms to move and interact freely.
The researchers then turn on a lattice of light that briefly freezes the atoms in their tracks, and apply finely tuned lasers to quickly illuminate the suspended atoms, creating a picture of their positions before the atoms naturally dissipate.
The physicists applied the technique to visualize clouds of different types of atoms, and snapped a number of imaging firsts. The researchers directly observed atoms known as "bosons," which bunched up in a quantum phenomenon to form a wave.
They also captured atoms known as "fermions" in the act of pairing up in free space -- a key mechanism that enables superconductivity.
"We can observe individual atoms within these fascinating atom clouds and understand their interactions with one another, which is truly stunning," explains Martin Zwierlein, who holds the position of Thomas A. Frank Professor of Physics at MIT.
In the same journal issue, two other groups report using similar imaging techniques, including a team led by Nobel laureate Wolfgang Ketterle, the John D MacArthur Professor of Physics at MIT. Ketterle's group visualized enhanced pair correlations among bosons, while the other group, from Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, led by Tarik Yefsah, a former postdoc in Zwierlein's lab, imaged a cloud of noninteracting fermions.
The study by Zwierlein and his colleagues is co-authored by MIT graduate students Ruixiao Yao, Sungjae Chi, and Mingxuan Wang, and MIT assistant professor of physics Richard Fletcher.
These methods enable you to observe the general form and architecture of an atomic ensemble, yet they do not reveal the individual atoms within it," Zwierlein points out. "This is similar to observing a cloud in the sky without being able to discern the individual water molecules that compose it.
In an effort to capture images of atoms interacting without constraints, he and his team adopted a significantly distinct methodology. They employed what they call "atom-resolved microscopy." This process begins with confining a group of atoms within a loosely defined trap created using a laser beam. (ANI)
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