Trapping Versus Dropping Atoms Expands "Interrogation" to 20 Seconds (2 of 2) (IMAGE)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Trapping Versus Dropping Atoms Expands "Interrogation" to 20 Seconds (2 of 2)

Caption

Laser light (purple) shines into our ultra-high vacuum chamber to laser-cool atoms to less than half a millionth of a degree above absolute zero. A pair of mirrors mounted inside the vacuum chamber enhance flashes of light which kick, suspend, and interfere the atoms. This material relates to a paper that appeared in the 8 Nov. issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, by V. Xu at University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, CA, and colleagues was titled, "Probing gravity by holding atoms for 20 seconds."

Credit

[Credit: Victoria Xu]

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