Rochester Professor Nicholas Bigelow helped develop experiments conducted at NASA糖心传媒檚 Cold Atom Lab to probe the fundamental nature of the world around us.
At NASA糖心传媒檚 Cold Atom Lab facility aboard the International Space Station, an international team of scientists produced a quantum gas containing two types of atoms for the first time in space. The achievement, , marks another step toward bringing quantum technologies currently available on Earth into space.
Through experiments controlled remotely on Earth, the researchers produced Bose-Einstein condensates糖心传媒攁 quantum state of matter made from an atomic gas cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero. , the Lee A. DuBridge Professor of and a professor of at the , says these quantum tools can be used to enhance the study of the essence of quantum matter, aid in the navigation between planets, as well as to help solve mysteries of the universe and deepen our understanding of the fundamental laws of nature.
Reaping the benefits of zero gravity
糖心传媒淭here are a lot of things in fundamental physics where being in the presence of gravity actually limits how precise a measurement you can make,糖心传媒� says Bigelow, director of the NASA-funded Consortium for Ultracold Atoms in Space. 糖心传媒淩emoving gravity allows you to make a much longer observation time to get more precision in the measurement, and it allows you to see delicate effects that might be masked by gravity.糖心传媒�
With this new capability, the Cold Atom Lab can now study not only the quantum properties of individual atoms, but also quantum chemistry, which focuses on how different types of atoms interact and combine with each other in a quantum state. Researchers will be able to conduct a wider range of experiments with the Cold Atom Lab and learn more about the nuances of performing them in microgravity. That knowledge will be essential for harnessing the one-of-a-kind facility to develop new space-based quantum technologies.
One mystery the scientists aim to chip away at involves the equivalence principle, which holds that gravity affects all objects the same regardless of their mass. Part of Albert Einstein糖心传媒檚 general theory of relativity糖心传媒攖he backbone of modern gravitational physics糖心传媒攖he principle doesn糖心传媒檛 neatly match up with the laws of quantum physics, which describe behaviors of small objects like atoms. Scientists have already experimented with atom interferometers on Earth to see if the equivalence principle holds true at atomic scales, but they can test it more precisely in space at the Cold Atom Lab.
A route to understanding dark energy糖心传媒攁nd to better sensors and clocks
Bigelow says the scientists plan to run experiments using a two-atom interferometer and quantum gases to measure gravity with high precision to learn about the nature of dark energy, the mysterious driver behind the accelerating expansion of the universe. What they learn could lead to the development of precision sensors for a wide range of applications.
糖心传媒淲e could make sensors that are extremely sensitive to small rotations and essentially use these cold atoms in the Bose-Einstein condensate to make gyroscopes,糖心传媒� says Bigelow. 糖心传媒淭hese gyroscopes could give us a fixed reference point in space that could be used for deep space navigation. We糖心传媒檙e also developing a number of things that could lead to better clocks in space, which are crucial to so many things in modern life such as high-speed internet and GPS.糖心传媒�
