Guest_Jim_* Posted March 23, 2016 Posted March 23, 2016 As has been the case many times, this scientific discovery began as an accident when researchers at the Joint Quantum Institute found more atoms were reacting to a laser pulse than could be readily explained. Because excited atoms like these could one day be used to build quantum computers, this discovery could require new designs be developed. Something many students are taught every year in science classes is that electrons exist in specific, well-defined orbitals around the nucleus of an atom, and only by absorbing or emitting the correct amount of energy, will an electron jump from one orbital to another. By pumping enough energy into an atom, it can enter a Rydberg state where an electron occupies an orbital quite far from the nucleus. This distance makes so-called Rydberg atoms appealing for quantum devices, as the electrons can be worked with easily. When the researchers pumped a cloud of rubidium atoms to enter Rydberg states though, they found many more atoms were excited than predicted, which could negatively impact their usefulness in a device. The researchers suggest what happened is that some atoms entering the Rydberg state contaminated others, allowing them to be more easily excited. Those well-defined orbitals become sloppier and broader when atoms are able to interact with each other, so photons from the environment can excite more atoms than desired. Now more research will have to be done to test this theory and determine exactly what is happening, and how it could impact Rydberg-based, quantum devices. Source: Joint Quantum Institute Back to original news post Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET3D Posted March 23, 2016 Posted March 23, 2016 Everyone knows that excitement is contagious. I'd bet the researchers were excited, and that in turn affected the electrons. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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