What do Racquel Welch and quantum physics have in common?June 30, 2006Leicester scientist leads 'Fantastic voyage' The study aims to delve into a 'void' or empty space in which atoms move, which has a large intrinsic energy density known as zero-point energy Recent investment by the University of Leicester in the Virtual Microscopy Centre and the Nanoscale Interfaces Centre has put the University in a key position to take a lead in Casimir force measurements in novel geometries.
The Casimir force is a mysterious interaction between objects that arises directly from the quantum properties of the so-called 'void'. Within classical Physics the void is a simple absence of all matter and energy while quantum theory tells us that in fact it is a seething mass of quantum particles that constantly appear into and disappear from our observable universe. This gives the void an unimaginably large energy density. The research team carrying out this work has received a grant of 800,000€ from the European framework 6 NEST (New and Emerging Science and Technology) programme to lead a consortium from three countries (UK, France and Sweden). The programme, entitled Nanocase, will use the ultra-high vacuum Atomic Force Microscope installed in the Physics and Astronomy Department to make very high precision Casimir force measurements in non-simple cavities and assess the utility of the force in providing a method for contactless transmission in nano-machines. Chris Binns, Professor of Nanoscience at the University of Leicester explained: "The research will help to overcome a fundamental problem of all nano-machines, that is, machines whose individual components are the size of molecules, which is that at this size everything is 'sticky' and any components that come into contact stick together. If a method can be found to transmit force across a small gap without contact, then it may be possible to construct nano-machines that work freely without gumming up. "Such machines are the stuff of science fiction at present and a long way off but possible uses include the ability to rebuild damaged human cells at the molecular level. "In a sense the actual value of the zero-point energy is not important because everything we know about is on top of it. According to quantum field theory every particle is an excitation (a wave) of an underlying field (for example the electromagnetic field) in the void and it is only the energy of the wave itself that we can detect. "A useful analogy is to consider our observable universe as a mass of waves on top of an ocean, whose depth is immaterial. Our senses and all our instruments can only directly detect the waves so it seems that trying to probe whatever lies beneath, the void itself, is hopeless. Not quite so. There are subtle effects of the zero-point energy that do lead to detectable phenomena in our observable universe. "An example is a force, predicted in 1948 by the Dutch physicist, Hendrik Casimir, that arises from the zero-point energy. If you place two mirrors facing each other in empty space they produce a disturbance in the quantum fluctuations that results in a pressure pushing the mirrors together. "Detecting the Casimir force however is not easy as it only becomes significant if the mirrors approach to within less that 1 micrometre (about a fiftieth the width of a human hair). Producing sufficiently parallel surfaces to the precision required has had to wait for the emergence of the tools of nanotechnology to make accurate measurements of the force.\\\ University of Leicester Science News and Science Current Events Tag Cloud This tag cloud is a visual representation of term frequencies of random science news topics with common terms grouped together and emphasized by their display size. Preterm Birth Thyroid Cancer Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Children Restless Legs Syndrome Breast reconstruction Language Development Prenatal alcohol exposure Blood-brain Barrier Surface Tension Polymerase Biology Overweight Infectious Disease Migraine Growth Hormone Coronary Heart Disease Beta-catenin Energy Drink Heart Surgery Lead Exposure Fat Cells Blood Vessel Cancer Treatment Muscular Dystrophy
See More: Science News Tags | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Related Quantum Physics Current Events and Quantum Physics News Articles NIST physicists demonstrate quantum entanglement in mechanical system Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated entanglement-a phenomenon peculiar to the atomic-scale quantum world-in a mechanical system similar to those in the macroscopic everyday world. Evidence of macroscopic quantum tunneling detected in nanowires A team of researchers at the University of Illinois has demonstrated that, counter to classical Newtonian mechanics, an entire collection of superconducting electrons in an ultrathin superconducting wire is able to "tunnel" as a pack from a state with a higher electrical current to one with a notably lower current, providing more evidence of the phenomenon of macroscopic quantum tunneling. MIT reels in RNA surprise with microbial ocean catch An ingenious new method of obtaining marine microbe samples while preserving the microbes' natural gene expression has yielded an unexpected boon: the presence of many varieties of small RNAs - snippets of RNA that act as switches to regulate gene expression in these single-celled creatures. Caltech physicists detect entanglement of one photon shared among four locations Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed an efficient method to detect entanglement shared among multiple parts of an optical system. Quantum ghosts are helpful The idea that far distant particles can somehow 'talk' to each other worried Einstein so much that he called it 'spooky action at a distance'. Quantum computers will require complex software to manage errors Highlighting another challenge to the development of quantum computers, theorists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have shown* that a type of software operation, proposed as a solution to fundamental problems with the computers' hardware, will not function as some designers had hoped. Quantum paradox directly observed -- a milestone in quantum mechanics In quantum mechanics, a vanguard of physics where science often merges into philosophy, much of our understanding is based on conjecture and probabilities, but a group of researchers in Japan has moved one of the fundamental paradoxes in quantum mechanics into the lab for experimentation and observed some of the 'spooky action of quantum mechanics' directly. Quantum dance: Discovery led by Princeton researchers could revolutionize computing An international team of scientists, led by a Princeton University group, has observed an exciting and strange behavior in electrons' spin within a new material that could be harnessed to transform computing and electronics. U of T physicists are first to 'squeeze' light to quantum limit A team of University of Toronto physicists have demonstrated a new technique to squeeze light to the fundamental quantum limit, a finding that has potential applications for high-precision measurement, next-generation atomic clocks, novel quantum computing and our most fundamental understanding of the universe. McGill physicists find a new state of matter in a 'transistor' McGill University researchers have discovered a new state of matter, a quasi-three- dimensional electron crystal, in a material very much like those used in the fabrication of modern transistors. More Quantum Physics Current Events and Quantum Physics News Articles |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||