|
Physics breakthrough much ado about 'nothing'
March 06, 2008University of Calgary team enhances understanding of the universe by capturing unique form of void
How do scientists store nothing? It may sound like the beginning of a bad joke, but the answer is causing a stir in the realm of quantum physics after two research teams, including one from the University of Calgary, have independently proven it's possible to store a special kind of vacuum in a puff of gas and then retrieve it a split second later.
In our everyday life, light is completely gone when we turn it off. In the world of quantum physics, which governs microscopic particles, even the light that is turned off exhibits some noise. This noise brings about uncertainty that can cause trouble when trying to make extremely precise measurements.
Using crystals to manipulate laser light, researchers create a peculiar type of nothingness known as a "squeezed vacuum," which under certain conditions, exhibits less noise than no light at all. A squeezed vacuum is employed in gravitation wave detection; it is also important in the booming field of quantum information technology, where it is used to carry information and to generate an even more mysterious quantum object, entangled light.
Building on the 2001 breakthrough of Harvard-Smithsonian scientists who slowed light down to a stop, teams of physicists from the U of C and the Tokyo Institute of Technology have independently demonstrated that a squeezed vacuum can be stored for some time in a collection of rubidium atoms and retrieved when needed. In work to be published in the March 7 advanced online edition of the leading physics journal Physical Review Letters, the physicists measured the noise of the retrieved light and found it to remain "squeezed" compared to no light at all.
"Memory for light has been a big challenge in physics for many years and I am very pleased we have been able to bring it one step further," said Alexander Lvovsky, professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Canada Research Chair and leader of the U of C's Quantum Information Technology research group. "It is important not only for quantum computers, but may also provide new ways to make unbreakable codes for transmitting sensitive information".
"I'm very impressed," physicist Alexander Kuzmich of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta told the American Association for the Advancement of Science's ScienceNOW news service of the squeezed vacuum discovery. Kuzmich, who was able to store and retrieve a single photon in 2006, said the development could help create new types of quantum networks for ultra-secure information transmission and help spell out the boundary of the quantum realm. "It's a real technical achievement," he said.
Lvovsky's team is continuing work on light storage and is now investigating the possibility of storing more complex forms of quantum light, such as entangled light, which has a wide range of applications for quantum computing and information exchange.
University of Calgary
Using crystals to manipulate laser light, researchers create a peculiar type of nothingness known as a "squeezed vacuum," which under certain conditions, exhibits less noise than no light at all. A squeezed vacuum is employed in gravitation wave detection; it is also important in the booming field of quantum information technology, where it is used to carry information and to generate an even more mysterious quantum object, entangled light.
Building on the 2001 breakthrough of Harvard-Smithsonian scientists who slowed light down to a stop, teams of physicists from the U of C and the Tokyo Institute of Technology have independently demonstrated that a squeezed vacuum can be stored for some time in a collection of rubidium atoms and retrieved when needed. In work to be published in the March 7 advanced online edition of the leading physics journal Physical Review Letters, the physicists measured the noise of the retrieved light and found it to remain "squeezed" compared to no light at all.
"Memory for light has been a big challenge in physics for many years and I am very pleased we have been able to bring it one step further," said Alexander Lvovsky, professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Canada Research Chair and leader of the U of C's Quantum Information Technology research group. "It is important not only for quantum computers, but may also provide new ways to make unbreakable codes for transmitting sensitive information".
"I'm very impressed," physicist Alexander Kuzmich of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta told the American Association for the Advancement of Science's ScienceNOW news service of the squeezed vacuum discovery. Kuzmich, who was able to store and retrieve a single photon in 2006, said the development could help create new types of quantum networks for ultra-secure information transmission and help spell out the boundary of the quantum realm. "It's a real technical achievement," he said.
Lvovsky's team is continuing work on light storage and is now investigating the possibility of storing more complex forms of quantum light, such as entangled light, which has a wide range of applications for quantum computing and information exchange.
University of Calgary
Quantum Physics News and Current Quantum Physics Events RSSPhysicists produce quantum-entangled images
Using a convenient and flexible method for creating twin light beams, researchers at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Maryland have produced "quantum images," pairs of information-rich visual patterns whose features are "entangled," or inextricably linked by the laws of quantum physics.
The future of computing -- carbon nanotubes and superconductors to replace the silicon chip
The future of computing is under the spotlight at the Institute of Physics' Condensed Matter and Materials Physics conference at the Royal Holloway College of the University of London on 26-28 March.
Loopy photons clarify 'spookiness' of quantum physics
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Joint Quantum Institute (NIST/University of Maryland) have developed a new method for creating pairs of entangled photons, particles of light whose properties are interlinked in a very unusual way dictated by the rules of quantum physics.
Physicists see similarities in stream of sand grains, exotic plasma at birth of universe
Streams of granular particles bouncing off a target in a simple tabletop experiment produce liquid-like behavior also witnessed in a massive research apparatus that simulates the birth of the universe.
Landmark Modeling Study at Penn Reveals How Ferroelectric Computer Memory Works
A collaboration of University of Pennsylvania chemists and engineers has performed multi-scale modeling of ferroelectric domain walls and provided a new theory of behavior for domain-wall motion, the "sliding wall" that separates ferroelectric domains and makes high-density ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) possible.
Quantum light beams good for fast technology
Australian and French scientists have made another breakthrough in the technology that will drive next generation computers and teleportation.
Hidden order found in a quantum spin liquid
An international team, including scientists from the London Center for Nanotechnology, has detected a hidden magnetic "quantum order" that extends over chains of 100 atoms in a ceramic without classical magnetism. The findings, which are published today, July 26, by Science, have implications for the design of devices and materials for quantum information processing.
ESA takes steps toward quantum communications
A team of European scientists has proved within an ESA study that the weird quantum effect called 'entanglement' remains intact over a distance of 144 kilometres.
Researchers create new nanotechnology field
A University of Alberta research team has combined two fields of study in nanotechnology to create a third field that the researchers believe will lead to revolutionary advances in computer electronics, among many other areas.
New method to directly probe the quantum collisions of individual atoms
The first demonstration of a fundamentally new method for measuring a particular quantum property of individual atoms will be described in a research paper to be published in the 19 April 2007 edition of the journal Nature.
More Quantum Physics News Articles
 | The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics by Leonard Susskind |
 | Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel by Michio Kaku |
 | The Biology Of Belief: Unleashing The Power Of Consciousness, Matter And Miracles by Bruce H. Lipton |
 | The Spontaneous Healing of Belief: Shattering the Paradigm of False Limits by Gregg Braden |
 | Matrix Energetics: The Science and Art of Transformation by Richard Bartlett |
 | The Field Updated Ed: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe by Lynne McTaggart |
 | A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking |
 | The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality by Brian Greene |
 | The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene |
 | Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness by Bruce Rosenblum, Fred Kuttner |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |