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Breaking the tiny bounds of quantum mechanics, researchers at the Southern University of Science and Technology and the Quantum Science Center of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area have created a massive Schrödinger cat particle under ultracold conditions, reaching nearly absolute zero.
In quantum mechanics, particles can exist in a superposition of uncertainty, only existing in a certain position once they are measured, most famously illustrated by Schrödinger’s cat, an example in which the condition of a cat inside a box cannot be known until opening it.
Now, in a recent paper published in Nature Physics, the team revealed how they developed a seven-atom cluster that, when passing through a barrier higher than its own kinetic energy, entered a superposition state on a new scale.
When an object enters a quantum superposition, it theoretically occupies multiple points of space at once, with its precise location unsure until measurement occurs. Typically, this is relegated to extremely tiny sub-atomic systems. Yet in their new research, the Hong Kong and Chinese team produced quantum tunneling in a larger system, which could be a major boon to the development of quantum sensors at a larger scale.
thedebrief.org
In quantum mechanics, particles can exist in a superposition of uncertainty, only existing in a certain position once they are measured, most famously illustrated by Schrödinger’s cat, an example in which the condition of a cat inside a box cannot be known until opening it.
Now, in a recent paper published in Nature Physics, the team revealed how they developed a seven-atom cluster that, when passing through a barrier higher than its own kinetic energy, entered a superposition state on a new scale.
When an object enters a quantum superposition, it theoretically occupies multiple points of space at once, with its precise location unsure until measurement occurs. Typically, this is relegated to extremely tiny sub-atomic systems. Yet in their new research, the Hong Kong and Chinese team produced quantum tunneling in a larger system, which could be a major boon to the development of quantum sensors at a larger scale.
One of the Largest Schrödinger’s Cat States Ever Observed Pushes Quantum Weirdness Beyond Its Tiny Limits
Breaking the tiny bounds of Quantum mechanics researchers have created a massive Schrödinger cat particle under ultracold conditions.
thedebrief.org
