Physicists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have made a historic breakthrough. As a result, they have made successful observations of individual atoms interacting in free space for the first time. This accomplishment represents a new milestone in atomic physics. It provides experimental verification of a theoretical notion first proposed close to a century ago by French physicist Louis de Broglie.
MIT physicist and lead author Martin Zwierlein on the new research. It came out on May 5, 2023, in the journal Physical Review Letters. The study explores the philosophical and scientific questions surrounding the de Broglie wave idea. This concept, originally developed by de Broglie in 1924, accounts for the dual wave-particle nature of matter at the quantum scale. This curious phenomenon has been at the heart of some of the greatest developments of quantum mechanics.
Zwierlein and his collaborators used a cutting-edge method that employs an optical lattice to trap atoms in fixed locations. Using a fluorescent laser, they mapped out the positions of individual atoms, enabling them to cast and track how individual atoms, in turn, broke one another apart. This technique allows scientists to obtain pictures of “free-range” atoms in free space. Plus, it’s changing how researchers approach the study of atomic behavior.
Zwierlein compared the observational advance to being able to see individual water molecules inside a cloud.
“It’s like seeing a cloud in the sky, but not the individual water molecules that make up the cloud,” – Martin Zwierlein.
Two other research teams [1, 2] described analogous methods to view pairs of bosons and fermions. Their experiments with bosonic 23Na were the first observations of a Bose-Einstein condensate. Furthermore, they, along with other groups, observed a single spin state in a ultra-low temperature Fermi gas of 6Li outline.
Each of these experimental breakthroughs extends our knowledge of atomic interactions, taking a step further while offering exciting possibilities. They further open up thrilling new experimental avenues for research into fundamental quantum mechanics and beyond.
“We are able to see single atoms in these interesting clouds of atoms and what they are doing in relation to each other, which is beautiful,” – Martin Zwierlein.
These experimental advancements not only enrich the understanding of atomic interactions but also open new avenues for future research in quantum mechanics and related fields.
