How the world’s most accurate clock changes basic physics – 02/16/2022 21:24 hrs

Scientists have succeeded in proving that Einstein’s general theory of relativity was the smallest ever, when the two clocks were only a millimeter apart and their ticking was minimal.

According to June Yeh of Boulder University in Colorado, this is “the most accurate watch ever made”. It will also pave the way for new discoveries in quantum mechanics governing the subatomic world.

The researcher and his colleagues published their findings in the prestigious journal Nature on Wednesday, describing technological advances that helped create an object that was 50 times more accurate than their previous watch, which in 2010 broke an already accurate record.

According to Einstein’s theory of general relativity, the gravitational field of the largest object distorts space-time, beginning in 1915.

But since atomic clocks were invented, it was not possible to verify the time by measuring the atoms going to a higher energy level when they were exposed at a certain frequency.

In 1976, sending a clock into space involved an experiment that showed that it was one second faster every 73 years than its equivalent speed on Earth.

Since then, clocks have become more and more accurate, so it is better to detect relativistic effects.

A decade ago, Jun Yin’s team set a record by noticing a time difference when they moved their watch 33 centimeters above.

– “Theory of all” –

Jun Yin’s breakthrough worked with clocks called “optical lattes” and used lasers to trap atoms in specific ways. This technique prevents it from falling due to gravity or movement, which can cause a loss of accuracy.

Inside the new clock are 100,000 strontium atoms, immovable in several layers, measuring a total height of one millimeter.

The clock was so accurate that when this layer was split in half, scientists were able to detect time differences between the upper and lower half.

At this sensitivity level, clocks function as probes.

“Time and space are connected,” Jun Yeh told AFP. “And with such an accurate time measurement, you can see how space changes in real time – Earth is a living, energetic body.”

For example, such clocks make it possible to distinguish solid rock from volcanic eruptions in volcanic areas beneath the surface, thus helping to predict eruptions.

Or to study how global warming melts glaciers and raises sea levels.

But the role these clocks can play in physics excites Jun Yew the most.

Today’s clock can detect a time difference of more than 200 micrometers – but reducing that number to 20 can explore the quantum world and help fill in some theoretical gaps.

If relativity beautifully explains how large objects, such as planets or galaxies, work, it does not apply to quantum mechanics, which deals with very small ones.

The intersection of the two fields can take another step towards the “theory of everything” capable of explaining all the physical phenomena of the universe.