Quantcast
ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    Menu
    Natural Sciences
    Health
    History & Humanities
    Space & Astronomy
    Technology
    Culture
    Resources
    Natural Sciences

    Physics

    • Matter and Energy
    • Quantum Mechanics
    • Thermodynamics

    Chemistry

    • Periodic Table
    • Applied Chemistry
    • Materials
    • Physical Chemistry

    Biology

    • Anatomy
    • Biochemistry
    • Ecology
    • Genetics
    • Microbiology
    • Plants and Fungi

    Geology and Paleontology

    • Planet Earth
    • Earth Dynamics
    • Rocks and Minerals
    • Volcanoes
    • Dinosaurs
    • Fossils

    Animals

    • Mammals
    • Birds
    • Fish
    • Reptiles
    • Amphibians
    • Invertebrates
    • Pets
    • Conservation
    • Animals Facts

    Climate and Weather

    • Climate Change
    • Weather and Atmosphere

    Geography

    Mathematics

    Health
    • Drugs
    • Diseases and Conditions
    • Human Body
    • Mind and Brain
    • Food and Nutrition
    • Wellness
    History & Humanities
    • Anthropology
    • Archaeology
    • Economics
    • History
    • People
    • Sociology
    Space & Astronomy
    • The Solar System
    • The Sun
    • The Moon
    • Planets
    • Asteroids, Meteors and Comets
    • Astronomy
    • Astrophysics
    • Cosmology
    • Exoplanets and Alien Life
    • Spaceflight and Exploration
    Technology
    • Computer Science & IT
    • Engineering
    • Inventions
    • Sustainability
    • Renewable Energy
    • Green Living
    Culture
    • Culture and Society
    • Bizarre Stories
    • Lifestyle
    • Art and Music
    • Gaming
    • Books
    • Movies and Shows
    Resources
    • How To
    • Science Careers
    • Metascience
    • Fringe Science
    • Science Experiments
    • School and Study
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Science → Physics

Side stepping Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle isn’t easy

The uncertainty principle provides a constant hindrance to the sensitivity of equipment such as LIGO's interferometer and new research shows, avoiding it is going to be even harder than we had believed.

Rob Lea by Rob Lea
November 1, 2019
in Physics, Science
Two different quantum optomechanical systems used to demonstrate novel dynamics in backaction-evading measurements. Left (yellow): silicon nanobeam supporting both an optical and a 5 GHz mechanical mode, operated in a helium-3 cryostat at 4 Kelvin and probed using a laser sent in an optical fibre. Right (purple): microwave superconducting circuit coupled to a 6 MHz mechanically-compliant capacitor, operated in a dilution refrigerator at 15 milli-Kelvin. (I. Shomroni, EPFL.)

Recent developments in science such as the detection of gravitation waves by way of the minute displacement of mirrors at LIGO and the development of atomic and magnetic force microscopes to reveal atomic structure and spins of single atoms have pushed the boundaries of what can be defined as measurable. 

Yet, as scientists push the limits of mechanical measurements the spectre of Heisenberg’s Uncertainty principle remains to remind that no matter how accurate their equipment and procedures become, nature has an intrinsic, in-built limit to what they can ‘know’. 

One of the main results of early investigations in quantum physics, the uncertainty principle says that even as the sensitivity of our measuring equipment improves — these conventional measures are limited by a “measurement backaction”. The most common and easiest to explain example of the uncertainty principle is the idea that knowledge of a particle’s exact location immediately destroys knowledge of its momentum — and by extension, the ability to predict its location in the future. 

Sense and sensitivity in laser interferometers

Despite this seeming hinderance, researchers are hard at work developing potential methods to help them ‘sidestep’ Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. Thes techniques hinge on the careful collection of only certain information about a system, whilst intentionally omitting other aspects.

So, for example, waves and wavefunctions are of vital importance in quantum mechanics. Using this selective method researchers would attempt to take the measurement of the wave’s amplitude, whilst simultaneously ignoring its phase. 

These methods could, in principle at least, have unlimited sensitivity with the drawback of only being able to gauge half of the information about a system. That is the aim of Tobias Kippenberg at Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne (EPFL). In conjunction with scientists at the University of Cambridge and IBM Research, Zurich, Kippenberg has uncovered new dynamics that place further unexpected constraints on such systems and just what levels of sensitivity are achievable.

An aerial view of LIGO. The laser interferometer that runs through these massive kilometre scale arms must be incredibly sensitive to detect gravitational waves. But new research suggests another hindrance to such sensitivity. (LIGO)

The team’s work shows particular interest to the interferometers that are used to measure gravitational waves. The sensitivity of these instruments is of vital importance as gravitational waves are incredibly difficult to detect. As these pieces of equipment use disturbances in laser beams shined down their massive, kilometre-scale arms, improving their sensitivity means trying to avoid backaction in electromagnetic waves. 

The team’s study — published in the journal Physical Review X — demonstrates that small deviations optical frequency, coupled with deviations in mechanical frequency can lead to mechanical oscillations being amplified out of control. This mimics the physics displayed in a state physics refer to as “degenerate parametric oscillator”.

This behaviour was found by Kippenberg and his team in two radically different systems — one operating with optical radiation, the other operating with microwave radiation. This is a fairly disastrous discovery as it implies that the dynamics are not unique to any particular system, but rather, are common across many such systems. 

The researchers from EPFL investigated these dynamics further — tuning the frequencies and demonstrating a perfect match with pre-existing theories. EPFL scientist Itay Shomroni, the paper’s first author, explains: “Other dynamical instabilities have been known for decades and shown to plague gravitational wave sensors. 

“Now, these new results will have to be taken into account in the design of future quantum sensors and in related applications such as backaction-free quantum amplification.”


Original research: Shomroni, A. Youssefi, N. Sauerwein, L.Qiu, P. Seidler, D. Malz, A. Nunnenkamp, T. J. Kippenberg. Two-tone optomechanical instability and its fundamental implications for backaction-evading measurements. Physical Review X 9, 041022; 30 October 2019. DOI:10.1103/PhysRevX.9.041022

Was this helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
Related posts:
  1. Measuring particle momentum without breaking the uncertainty principle
  2. Certainly Uncertain: What’s Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle
  3. New technique bypasses Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle
  4. We are stepping into the digital age of beauty – powered by AI, AR, and more
  5. A third of Texans believe humans lived side by side with dinosaurs… and other stuff
Tags: gravitational wavesHeisenberg Uncertainty PrincipleLIGOopticsquantum mechanicsquantum opticsquantum physicsuncertainty principle

ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • More
  • About Us

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t you want to get smarter every day?

YES, sign me up!

Over 35,000 subscribers can’t be wrong. Don’t worry, we never spam. By signing up you agree to our privacy policy.

✕
ZME Science News

FREE
VIEW