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2024-11-11

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University of Washington team detects atomic ‘breathing’ for quantum computing breakthrough (www.geekwire.com)

submitted 2 years ago by kinther to c/science

8 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Most of us don’t think of atoms as having their own unique vibrations, but they do. In fact, it’s a feature so fundamental to nature’s building blocks that a team of University of Washington researchers recently observed and used this phenomenon in their research study. By studying the light atoms emitted when stimulated by a laser, they were able to detect vibrations sometimes referred to as atomic “breathing.”

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[–] sebinspace 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

light atoms

No.

[–] SocializedHermit 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It probably should read "the light that atoms emitted..."

[–] Candelestine 3 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I mean, the way they worded it was fine. The sentence is meaningless when read the other way. Otherwise these "light atoms" are being emitted when what is stimulated by the laser?

Not the authors fault if some in his audience won't even finish reading a whole sentence.

[–] SocializedHermit 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Maybe you should have read the article: "By applying a precise pulse of laser light to one of the quantum dots, an electron is knocked away from the tungsten diselenide atom’s nucleus. This briefly creates a quasiparticle known as an exciton. This exciton is composed of the negatively charged electron and the corresponding positively charged hole in the opposite sheet. Because they are strongly bound, the electron quickly returns to the atom. When it does this, it releases a single photon encoded with very specific quantum information."

[–] Candelestine 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Yes, I am merely saying that the author's original wording is perfectly acceptable, and any confusion stemming from it is 100% the fault of the reader.

[–] sebinspace 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The word is “photon” ffs

[–] Candelestine 1 points 2 years ago

The word "light" all on its own is fine as well.

[–] surewhynotlem 1 points 2 years ago

undefined> The sentence is meaningless when read the other way

They stimulated the researchers using a laser, and the researchers emitted the 'light atoms'. And the conclusion of the study is that researchers are perverts.