They showed that the maximum speed of a quantum process depends on the energy uncertainty, i.e., how “free” the manipulated particle is with respect to its possible energy states: the more energetic freedom it has, the faster it is. The fact that there is a speed limit in the microcosm was already theoretically demonstrated by two Soviet physicists, Leonid Mandelstam and Igor Tamm more than 60 years ago. Andrea Alberti (right) at the Institute of Applied Physics at the University of Bonn. “Our goal was to get the atom to the target location in the shortest possible time without it spilling out of the valley, so to speak.”įirst author Manolo Rivera Lam (left) and principal investigator Dr. “We loaded the atom into one of these valleys, and then set the standing wave in motion – this displaced the position of the valley itself,” says Alberti. This superposition, called interference by physicists, creates a standing wave of light: a sequence of mountains and valleys that initially do not move. They used a cesium atom as a champagne substitute and two laser beams perfectly superimposed but directed against each other as a tray. In their study, the researchers experimentally investigated exactly where this limit lies. Andrea Alberti, who led this study at the Institute of Applied Physics of the University of Bonn. “And even then, there is a speed limit that this transport cannot exceed,” explains Dr. Anyone who wants to transport atoms from one place to another as quickly as possible must therefore be as skillful as the waiter on New Year’s Eve. They can be described as waves of matter, which behave not like a billiard ball but more like a liquid. Only when he has come to a complete stop does he hold it upright again.Ītoms are in some ways similar to champagne. Halfway to the table, he tilts it in the opposite direction and slows down. Thanks to his technique, perfected over many years of work, he nevertheless manages not to spill even a single drop of the precious liquid.Ī little trick helps him to do this: While the waiter accelerates his steps, he tilts the tray a bit so that the champagne does not spill out of the glasses. He rushes from guest to guest at top speed. Suppose you observe a waiter (the lockdown is already history) who on New Year’s Eve has to serve an entire tray of champagne glasses just a few minutes before midnight.
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