The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) is based in Braunschweig (Brunswick) and Berlin. It is the national institute for natural and engineering sciences and the highest technical authority for metrology and physical safety engineering in Germany. Part of its brief is the accurate measurement of time. It is responsible for four German caesium atomic clocks, CS1, CS2, CSF1 and CSF2, and the longwave time signal DCF77. In addition, the PTB operates time servers for the distribution of time on the internet. They are also responsible for the certification of voting machines for the German federal and European elections. The PTB was originally founded in 1887 as the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt (PTR) (the Physical and Technical Institute of the German Reich). The goal of the organization was supervising and directing calibration and establishing metrological standards. Research areas included spectroscopy, photometry, electrical engineering, and cryogenics. Werner von Siemens was instrumental in its establishment. Until 1934 the PTR was part of the Reichsinnenministerium (the Reich's Ministry of Interior Affairs).
Some content from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
Subscribe to rss feed
Quantum electronics promises significant advances in ultra-sensitive measurements and quantum information processing. In nanoelectronic circuits, one electron can be used to precisely modify the trajectory of another electron ...
Nanophysics
Jun 30, 2023
1
58
Can dark matter interact with photons and influence atomic structure? A case for optical atomic clocks: Two different types of such clocks were compared at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) within the scope ...
General Physics
Jun 23, 2023
12
97
Solar radiation enters the Earth's atmosphere without any hindrance and should normally leave it as heat. Unfortunately, this is impeded by the thickening "greenhouse roof" consisting of carbon dioxide and other gases.
Environment
Mar 22, 2023
0
3
Highly charged ions are a common form of matter in the cosmos, where they are found, for example, in the sun or other stars. They are so called because they have lost many electrons and therefore have a high positive charge. ...
Optics & Photonics
Nov 2, 2022
0
50
Laser beams can do more than just heat things up; they can cool them down too. That is nothing new for physicists who have devoted themselves to precision spectroscopy and the development of optical atomic clocks. But what ...
Quantum Physics
Dec 13, 2021
0
439
Manipulating individual electrons with the goal of employing quantum effects offers new possibilities and greater precision in electronics. However, these single-electron circuits are governed by the laws of quantum mechanics, ...
Quantum Physics
Jan 26, 2021
0
87
Scientists from the PTB and the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK), both Germany, have carried out pioneering optical measurements of highly charged ions with unprecedented precision. To do this, they isolated ...
Optics & Photonics
Jan 29, 2020
0
441
Scientists from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) have implemented a novel pressure measurement method, partly as a byproduct of the work on the "new" kelvin. In addition to being new, this procedure is a primary ...
General Physics
Dec 2, 2019
0
55
For centuries, humans have been expanding their understanding of the world through more and more precise measurement of light and matter. Today, quantum sensors achieve extremely accurate results. An example of this is the ...
Quantum Physics
Jul 2, 2019
0
0
In his Special Theory of Relativity, Einstein formulated the hypothesis according to which the speed of light is always the same, no matter what the conditions are. It may, however, be possible that—according to theoretical ...
Quantum Physics
Mar 13, 2019
0
305
