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 Physics at Virginia

Quantum Mechanics is Out of this World

Monday, August 19 2024

Cass Sackett is a principal investigator and science team member in the NASA Cold Atom Lab project, in which ultra-cold atoms are produced and studied on the International Space Station. A new report on the project has just been published in Nature Communications, which describes initial experiments using atom interferometry on the platform. Atom interferometry is a quantum mechanical effect in which a material particle has its wave function split into two distinct branches, effectively existing in two places at once. When the branches are recombined, the results convey precise information about the atom and its environment. The technique is expected to be especially effective in a space environment, with applications ranging from tests of general relativity to precision interplanetary navigation.

Read the paper at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-50585-6

For more, see 
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/station/iss-research/cold-atom-laboratory/nasa-demonstrates-ultra-cool-quantum-sensor-for-first-time-in-space/
and
https://www.earth.com/news/nasas-cold-atom-lab-is-revolutionizing-quantum-science-in-space-iss/

Tags: Cass Sackett Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics