Blencowe finds that large(ish) objects obey same principles as the
microscopic world
Miles
Blencowe, associate professor of physics and astronomy,
is part of a team working to connect the macroscopic and the microscopic worlds
by seeing if they can make larger objects obey the laws of quantum mechanics,
where things can be in two places at once.
Miles Blencowe (Photo by Joseph Mehling '69)
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In the September 14 issue of the journal Nature, the researchers report
that they are much closer to making this classical-quantum connection with an
experiment to determine the position of a vibrating beam measuring
one-thousandth of a millimeter in width. While still tiny, the beam comprises
about 10 billion atoms, and it represents a much larger system than has been
considered to date.
Blencowe explains that this field of research attempts to reconcile the
inherent contradiction between the quantum world of microscopic or atomic-sized
systems and the classical or macroscopic world. At some point, the quantum
becomes the classical as objects get larger and larger, and scientists want to
know how that crossover occurs.
"Quantum mechanics predicts that if you try to measure the position of
an object accurately, you will disturb its position, so you can never precisely
know where the object is," says Blencowe. "That disturbance was
exactly what we saw in the larger system."
The study in Nature describes how a "single electron
transistor" was employed as an extremely sensitive motion detector. It was
used to measure the position of a vibrating beam made of silicon.
Blencowe collaborated with colleagues at the University of Maryland, the
University of Nottingham (UK), and McGill University (Canada) on this study.
Future research will work with increasingly larger-scale systems.
This line of research follows earlier papers by Blencowe, Martin
Wybourne, vice provost for research and professor of physics and astronomy,
and Yong Zhang, a former Dartmouth graduate student. The research is funded by
the National Science Foundation.
By SUSAN KNAPP
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