This is the first photo of a cloud of atoms interacting with each other

A new quantum microscopy technique, developed by the Massachussets Institute (MIT), achieved the first images of atoms interacting with each other and free. The feat also showed some correlations between particles that had already mathematically predicted, but never observed. Scientists in charge of the experiment believe that this innovative way of seeing the elusive quantum world has the potential to show more eccentric phenomena never seen before.

The researchers implemented a method that allows a cloud of atoms to move and interact freely and, with a network of light, “frozen” by a fraction of second their trajectory. At that moment, the particles were suspended, and the team used high precision lasers to illuminate them. The ultra -grape image captured the exact positions of the atoms that were being grouped according to their quantum properties.

According to the results published in the magazine Physical Review Lettersphysicists used the technique to observe Bosonic and Fermionic atoms. In their experiment, they made sodium atoms behave as bosons, which allowed them to study the Bose-Einstein condensate, a state of the subject in which atoms are aligned in a single quantum entity.

The images obtained are a milestone in the field of physical research. It is already possible to study that state of matter with the resolution of a single atom. “We can see them in these interesting clouds of atoms and what they do with each other, which is beautiful,” said Martin Zwierlein, a professor of physics at the MIT and co -author of the study, in a press release.

The Silhouettes of the atoms

Atoms are difficult to observe, not only because of their tiny size (its diameter is just a millionth of the thickness of a hair), but because they behave and interact according to the laws of quantum mechanics. For example, it is not possible to know its position and speed simultaneously (this is the famous uncertainty principle of Heisenberg), and the location of its electrons can only be inferred through probabilities.

There are several techniques to obtain images of atoms through indirect methods. The most common consists of emitting a laser beam on a cloud of atoms, allowing computers to rebuild the “silhouette” of the cluster. Although these techniques have been effective, the study authors point out that they are limited to analyzing atom groups instead of individuals.

The new MIT technique is called Microscopy with atomic resolution. It is special because it is less invasive for the atoms trapped in the light network that confines them, which allows to preserve a precise moment of their interaction. Researchers say that if you are not careful, it is easy to evaporate them. Thanks to this method, quantum phenomena, such as matter waves, can be visualized directly.

“This type of pairing is the basis of a mathematical construction that was invented to explain experiments. But when you see images like these, it is a photograph, an object discovered in the mathematical world. So it is an excellent reminder that physics is about physical things. It is real,” said Richard Fletcher, co -author of the study.