. | . |
Energy against the current on a quantum scale, without contradicting the laws of physics by Staff Writers Bilbao, Spain (SPX) Oct 09, 2017
This is the main result obtained by the group led by Professor Angel Rubio of the UPV/EHU and of the Max Planck Institute PMSD, together with collaborators at the BCCMS centre in Bremen, and which has been echoed by the journal Nature Quantum Materials. In macroscopic objects such as a current of water, the fact of observing the current does not affect the flow of the water and, in accordance with the laws of classical thermodynamics, this flow would take place from the upper to the lower part of the system. The same thing happens with temperature flows where the current goes from the hotter body to the colder one, or in electrical systems. However, in quantum devices, "the process of observation, the watching, changes the state of the system, and this makes it more likely that the current will be made to flow in one direction or another", explained Angel Rubio, a UPV/EHU professor, leader of the UPV/EHU's Nano-Bio Spectroscopy Research Group, and Director of the Hamburg-based Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter. As Rubio stressed, this does not constitute "an infringement of any fundamental theorem of physics nor is energy created out of nothing. What happens is that the fact of looking, of inserting an observer into the system, acts as an obstacle, as if you were to close off the channel in a pipeline through which the water is flowing. Obviously, if the load starts to build up, it would end up going in the opposite direction. In other words, the observer projects the state of the system onto a state that transmits the current or energy in opposite directions. Rubio remembers the surprise when discovering that inserting the quantum observer caused the directions of the current and the transfer of energy to change: "Initially we thought it was an error. We expected to come across changes and we thought it would be possible to halt the transport, but we didn't expect there was going to be a complete change of flow. These changes in the direction of the current can also be made in a controlled way. Depending on where the observer is inserted, the flow can be changed, but there are "specific areas in the device in which despite looking, the direction does not change," he explained.
Difficulties for experimental design But Angel Rubio believes these applications are a long way off because he sees limitations in the design of the observers: "We have worked from a theoretical perspective in which we have proposed a simple model and the theory can be easily verified because all the energy and entropy flows are preserved. Carrying out this process experimentally would be another matter. Although the type of device that would need to be designed exists, and producing it would be feasible, right now there is no possibility of doing this in a controlled way". Faced with this situation, the research group is now exploring other, similar ideas, "other mechanisms as an alternative to quantum observers which would allow similar effects to be achieved and which would be more realistic when it comes to implementing them experimentally". R. Biele, C. A. Rodriguez-Rosario, T. Frauenheim, A. Rubio. Controlling heat and particle currents in nanodevices by quantum observation. npj Quantum Materials 2, article number: 38 (2017). doi:10.1038/s41535-017-0043-6
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 09, 2017 JILA physicists have created an entirely new design for an atomic clock, in which strontium atoms are packed into a tiny three-dimensional (3-D) cube at 1,000 times the density of previous one-dimensional (1-D) clocks. In doing so, they are the first to harness the ultra-controlled behavior of a so-called "quantum gas" to make a practical measurement device. With so many atoms completely i ... read more Related Links University of the Basque Country Understanding Time and Space
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |