Atomic clock

A photo of the atomic clock setup complete with the bisecting cavity. CreditJILA/Ye GroupJILA’s breakthrough in optical atomic clocks uses quantum entanglement to surpass fundamental precision limits, setting a new standard in timekeeping and opening avenues for scientific discovery.Historically, JILA (a joint institute established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder) has been a world leader in precision timekeeping using optical atomic clocks. These clocks…

Atomic dipoles on a lattice interact to produce an observable spatially varying frequency shift (shown as blue to red). Credit: Steven Burrows/Ye GroupIn groundbreaking research, JILA and NIST scientists have enhanced the understanding of atomic clock precision by studying cooperative Lamb shifts in strontium-87 atoms within a cubic lattice.In a new study published in the journal Science on January 25, JILA and NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) Fellow and University of Colorado Boulder physics…

Studying an atomic clock on-board a spacecraft inside the orbit of Mercury and very near to the Sun might be the trick to uncovering the nature of dark matter. Studying an atomic clock on-board a spacecraft inside the orbit of Mercury and very near to the Sun might be the trick to uncovering the nature of dark matter, suggests a new study published in Nature Astronomy. Dark matter makes up more than 80 per cent of mass in the universe, but it has so far evaded detection on Earth, despite decades of experimental…

The final countdown has begun for leap seconds. A global group of scientists and government officials voted (almost unanimously) Friday to axe the small time adjustment method, in a change scheduled to take place by 2035.Leap seconds have been used since 1972, and over the past 50 years have caused big headaches for the tech industry. Now, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures has formally agreed with the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, that it’s time for the practice to end. In a resolution at the bureau’s 27th…