In 1797, Henry Cavendish used a contraption made of lead spheres, wooden rods and wire to measure the strength of gravity. In the 21st century, scientists are doing the same thing with atoms.
Scientists are still trying to measure gravity with ever-increasing precision despite the fact that it is an early subject in introductory physics classes. A group of physicists have done it using the effects of time dilation on atoms. The researchers have been able to measure the space-time's curve in a paper published today.
The experiment is part of science. It takes advantage of a principle of quantum mechanics, where a particle can be represented as a wave packet. Light waves can create interference and matter wave packets.
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If an atom's wave packet is split in two, allowed to do something, and then recombined, the waves might not line up anymore.
Albert Roura, a physicist at the Institute of Quantum Technologies in Ulm, Germany, was not involved in the new study. Roura wrote a "Perspectives" piece about the new research, which was published online in the same issue of Science today.
Similar to the principle of gistational wave detectors, they work via it. By studying particles in this way, scientists can fine-tune the numbers behind some of the key workings of the universe, such as how electrons behave and how strong gravity really is.
Chris Overstreet and his colleagues measured the last effect in the new study. They created an "atomic fountain" consisting of a vacuum tube 33 feet (10 meters) tall with a ring around it.
The researchers used lasers to control the atomic fountain. They launched two atoms with one pulse. The two atoms were shot back down by a second pulse. A third pulse caught the atoms at the bottom.
The researchers found that the wave packets were out of phase, which is a sign that the field in the atomic fountain wasn't uniform.
Roura told Space.com that the effect of space-time curvature can be understood in general relativity.
The ring's gravity made the atom that went higher experience more acceleration. Such effects would not work in a uniform field. The atoms' wave packets were out of phase, and the atom that experienced more acceleration was out of time with its counterpart.
The result is a small change, but atom interferometry can pick it up. Roura told Space.com that the scientists are able to measure and study the effects since they can control the placement and mass of the ring.
The technology behind this discovery might seem arcane, but researchers say atom interferometry may one day be used to detect gravitational waves and help us navigate better thanGPS.
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