Stunning image shows atoms transforming into quantum waves — just as Schrödinger predicted

[Admin]

A new imaging technique, which captured frozen lithium atoms transforming into quantum waves, could be used to probe some of the most poorly understood aspects of the quantum world.

Stunning image shows atoms transforming into quantum waves — just as Schrödinger predicted : Read more

 

[Unclear Engineer]

It would have been helpful if this article had provided a better set of images to demonstrate this research result. After some Google work, I was able to find this https://arxiv.org/pdf/2404.05699 , which is not behind a pay wall, and does a better job of explaining the results.

 

[Mergatroid]

"which are then collapsed into discrete particles upon observation."
Are we not seeing them transform into a wave in the image? Is that not observation?

 

[Unclear Engineer]

Mergatroid, read the link I provided. It basically says that the waves are inferred from the changes of position of the observed particles from observation to observation. It is a quite complicated experimental process. I have not read it and pondered it long enough to develop an opinion as to whether this is proof, or confirmation bias. Read it and form your own opinion.

 

[Classical Motion]

If I'm not hallucinating, this is the same principle of our quantum sensors. As a matter of fact, if I recall, zero temp senors were the very first quantum senors. There are several methods now.

Today we use rarefied gas in a IC chip, and use laser strobes for alignment instead of zero temps. The unified field of this formation acts like a field blanket. The slightest acceleration applied to any of the formation....is amplified all thru out the blanket, allowing detection of much weaker and faster signals that were thought possible.

In the future it might even be possible to paint a field. Or at least watch a field go thru matter.

The ripple of the field, will need very fast detection for measurement and recording. Or hold the distortion until recorded.

After much more refinement, they probably will be stamped out and become very common. Like op amps. Maybe even change the concept of change.

Far Down Man.

 

[danR]

It would have been helpful if this article had provided a better set of images to demonstrate this research result.

There's certainly nothing "Stunning" about the image chosen, which to most people would represent an optical system struggling with its limits of object-resolution. "Stunning" does serve the purpose of alerting Google's SEO keyword algorithms to something that will generate web-traffic to an article presented by Google News.

That said, I can't find any image in the paper that graphically represents particle/wave-function of Li atoms in real time; it is, rather, a matter of laboriously parsing images and text and finding a conceptual representation.