News tagged with atomic clock

Quantum measurement precision approaches Heisenberg limit

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the classical world, scientists can make measurements with a degree of accuracy that is restricted only by technical limitations. At the fundamental level, however, measurement precision ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Feb 26, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (46) | comments 16 | with audio podcast feature

Redefining time

Atomic clocks based on the oscillations of a cesium atom keep amazingly steady time and also define the precise length of a second. But cesium clocks are no longer the most accurate. That title has been transferred ...

Physics / General Physics

created Apr 30, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 41 | with audio podcast

No-photon laser: Physicists demonstrate 'superradiant' laser design

Physicists at JILA have demonstrated a novel "superradiant" laser design, which has the potential to be 100 to 1,000 times more stable than the best conventional visible lasers. This type of laser could boost ...

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Apr 04, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (14) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

Physicists create first 'frequency comb' to probe ultraviolet wavelengths

Physicists at JILA have created the first "frequency comb" in the extreme ultraviolet band of the spectrum, high-energy light less than 100 nanometers (nm) in wavelength. Laser-generated frequency combs are the most accurate ...

Physics / General Physics

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

World's smallest atomic clock on sale

(PhysOrg.com) -- A matchbook-sized atomic clock 100 times smaller than its commercial predecessors has been created by a team of researchers at Symmetricom Inc. Draper Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories.

Physics / General Physics

created May 02, 2011 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

New Research Promises Better Atomic Clocks

(PhysOrg.com) -- The most accurate timekeepers in the world are atomic clocks, which tell time based on the absorption of a very specific and unchanging microwave frequency, which induces electrons in an atom to “jump” from ...

Physics / General Physics

created Apr 22, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (9) | comments 1 feature

Atomic clock comparison via data highways

(Phys.org) -- Optical atomic clocks measure time with unprecedented accuracy. However, it is the ability to compare clocks with one another that makes them applicable for high-precision tests in fundamental ...

Physics / General Physics

created Apr 27, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Proposed nuclear clock may keep time with the Universe

(PhysOrg.com) -- A proposed new time-keeping system tied to the orbiting of a neutron around an atomic nucleus could have such unprecedented accuracy that it neither gains nor loses 1/20th of a second in 14 ...

Physics / General Physics

created Mar 08, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (27) | comments 11 | with audio podcast

Quantum quirk: Scientists pack atoms together to prevent collisions in atomic clock

In a paradox typical of the quantum world, JILA scientists have eliminated collisions between atoms in an atomic clock by packing the atoms closer together. The surprising discovery, described in the Feb. ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Feb 03, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (8) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

'Quantum Logic Clock' Based on Aluminum Ion is Now World's Most Precise Clock (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have built an enhanced version of an experimental atomic clock based on a single aluminum atom that is now the world’s most ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Feb 04, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (22) | comments 10 | with audio podcast

GPS getting an upgrade - for $8 billion

(PhysOrg.com) -- GPS is getting an upgrade costing $8 billion (US), which aims to increase the system's accuracy, improve its reliability, and make the technology even more widespread.

Technology / Telecom

created May 25, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (16) | comments 15 | with audio podcast report

Countries consider time out on the 'leap second'

It's high noon for the humble leap second. After ten years of talks, governments are headed for a showdown vote this week on an issue that pits technological precision against nature's whims.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Jan 17, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 18

New 'pendulum' for the ytterbium clock

The faster a clock ticks, the more precise it can be. Due to the fact that lightwaves vibrate faster than microwaves, optical clocks can be more precise than the caesium atomic clocks which presently determine ...

Physics / General Physics

created Mar 09, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (11) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Ytterbium's broken symmetry: The largest parity violations ever measured in an atom

Ytterbium was discovered in 1878, but until it recently became useful in atomic clocks, the soft metal rarely made the news. Now ytterbium has a new claim to scientific fame. Measurements with ytterbium-174, ...

Physics / General Physics

created Jul 22, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (29) | comments 13

Video shows nanotube spins as it grows (w/ Videos)

(PhysOrg.com) -- New video showing the atom-by-atom growth of carbon nanotubes reveals they rotate as they grow, much like the halting motion of a mechanical clock's second hand. Published online this month ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Jul 27, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (9) | comments 6