University of Chicago scientists discovered how to produce and control a quantum phenomenon called a “domain wall”– displayed in this image as the lighter line between 2 groups of atoms. (Image adjusted and color included from experiment data.) Credit: Illustration by Kai-Xuan Yao
Managed for very first time, quantum phenomenon might suggest avenues for innovation.
University of Chicago scientists have actually had the ability to develop a new sort of quantum object at will in the lab: “domain walls.”
The discovery can help researchers better understand exotic quantum particles– and could recommend avenues for new innovation in the future, such as quantum electronics or quantum memory.
University of Chicago researchers found how to control a quantum and create phenomenon understood as a “domain wall”– shown in this image as the lighter line between 2 groups of atoms. Released on February 2, 2022, in the journal Nature, the research was performed in Prof. Cheng Chins lab, which studies unique quantum systems and the physics that underlie them. Under the best conditions, groups of atoms can segregate into domains, and a “wall” kinds at the junction where they fulfilled. This domain wall behaved like an independent quantum object.
Published on February 2, 2022, in the journal Nature, the research was performed in Prof. Cheng Chins laboratory, which studies novel quantum systems and the physics that underlie them. In among their experiments, the UChicago scientists observed an interesting occurrence in atoms at incredibly low temperatures. Under the right conditions, groups of atoms can segregate into domains, and a “wall” types at the junction where they fulfilled. This domain wall acted like an independent quantum item.
” Its type of like a dune in the desert– its comprised of sand, but the dune imitates an object that behaves differently from individual grains of sand,” stated Ph.D. student Kai-Xuan Yao, the very first author of the research study.
Researchers had glimpsed these domain walls in quantum materials, but formerly, they couldnt dependably generate and evaluate them. As soon as the UChicago physicists created the recipe to make and closely study the walls, they observed surprising behaviors.
Researchers are interested in cataloguing these habits in part since they can end up being the basis of future innovation.
” We have a lot of experience in controlling atoms,” said Chin, who is designated in the Department of Physics, the James Franck Institute and the Enrico Fermi Institute. “We understand if you press atoms to the right, they will move. Here, if you push the domain wall to the right, it moves left.”
These domain walls become part of a class understood as “emergent” phenomena, which means that they appear to follow brand-new laws of physics as a result of numerous particles acting together as a collective.
Chins laboratory studies these emerging phenomena, believing they can shed light on a set of laws called dynamical gauge theory, which describes other emerging phenomena in materials as well as in the early universe; the very same phenomena likely held together the first particles as they clumped together to form galaxies, stars, and planets.
Advancements in this field could likewise allow new quantum technology. Researchers have an interest in cataloging these habits in part because they can end up being the basis of future technology– for instance, the basis of modern-day GPS comes from researchers in the 1950s trying to evaluate Einsteins theory of relativity.
” There might be applications for this phenomenon in regards to making programmable quantum product or quantum information processor– it can be used to develop a more robust way to store quantum information or allow new functions in materials,” said Chin. “But before we can find that out, the primary step is to understand how to manage them.”
Reference: “Domain-wall characteristics in Bose– Einstein condensates with artificial gauge fields” by Kai-Xuan Yao, Zhendong Zhang & & Cheng Chin, 2 February 2022, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/ s41586-021-04250-3.
The 3rd author on the paper was Ph.D. student Zhendong Zhang.
Funding: National Science Foundation, Army Research Office, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Basic Sciences.