Atoms and Molecules
Category archives for Atoms and Molecules
Simulating Wires with Atoms and Light: “Conduction of Ultracold Fermions Through a Mesoscopic Channel”
Posted by Chad Orzel on September 6, 2012 
So, it’s been a while, but let’s see if we can’t hit the ground running with a good physics post. There have been a few notable physics events since I went on hiatus, but for a return to physics ResearchBlogging, we’ll go with something near and dear to my heart, ultracold atoms. Specifically, this Science…
The Towering Interferometer: “Testing General Relativity with Atom Interferometry”
Posted by Chad Orzel on June 19, 2012 
In which we look at a slightly crazy-sounding proposal from my former boss, the experimental realization of which is getting close to completion. ———— I spent more or less the entire first day of DAMOP a couple of weeks ago going to precision measurement talks. Most of these were relatively sedate (at least by the…
Treating Big Molecules Like Electrons: “Real-time single-molecule imaging of quantum interference”
Posted by Chad Orzel on March 26, 2012 Richard Feyman famously once said that the double-slit experiment done with electrons contains everything that’s “‘at the heart of quantum physics.” It shows both particle and wave character very clearly: the individual electrons are detected one at a time, like particles, but the result of a huge number of detections clearly traces out an interference…
On the Interconnectedness of Things
Posted by Chad Orzel on March 13, 2012 I finally got a copy of Cox and Forshaw’s The Quantum Universe, and a little time to read it, in hopes that it would shed some light on the great electron state controversy. I haven’t finished the book, but I got through the relevant chapter and, well, it doesn’t, really. That is, the discussion in…
On Cox vs. Swans
Posted by Chad Orzel on February 24, 2012 The other controversial thing this week that I shouldn’t get involved in is the debate over whether Brian Cox is talking nonsense in a recent discussion of the Pauli Exclusion Principle. Tom at Swans on Tea kicked this off with an inflammatory title, and Cox turned up in the comments to take umbrage at that.…
The Advent Calendar of Physics: Schrödinger
Posted by Chad Orzel on December 22, 2011 Newton’s birthday (in the Julian calendar) is Sunday, so we’re in the final days of the advent calendar. Which means it’s time for the equations that are least like anything Newton did, such as today’s: This is the Schrödinger equation from non-relativistic quantum mechanics. If you want to determine the quantum state of an object…
The Advent Calendar of Physics: Hydrogen
Posted by Chad Orzel on December 21, 2011 Today’s equation in our march to Newton’s birthday is actually a tiny bit out of order, historically speaking: This is the Rydberg formula for the wavelengths of the spectral lines in hydrogen (and hydrogen-like ions), with R a constant having the appropriate units, and the two n‘s being two dimensionless integers. This equation was developed…
The Physics of Frustration: “Quantum Simulation of Frustrated Classical Magnetism in Triangular Optical Lattices”
Posted by Chad Orzel on July 26, 2011 One of the benefits of having joined AAAS in order to get a reduced registration fee at their meeting is that I now have online access to Science at home. Including the Science Express advance online papers, which I don’t usually get on campus. Which means that I get the chance to talk about the…
It’s Magnetic Moment Season: Measuring Various g-Factors
Posted by Chad Orzel on July 12, 2011 Among the articles highlighted in this week’s Physics is one about a new test of QED through a measurement of the g-factor of the electron in silicon ions. This comes on the heels of a measurement of proton spin flips (this includes a free PDF) a couple of weeks ago, and those, in turn, build…
What’s So Interesting About Precision Measurement?
Posted by Chad Orzel on July 8, 2011 The final content area from my DAMOP overview is Precision Measurement. This is also the smallest area, with only one invited session on the topic on Fundamental Symmetry Tests, though two of the “Hot Topics” talks (by Zheng-Tian Lu and Ed Hinds) were precision measurement talks. You might be able to make an argument that…
