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Physicists count sound particles with quantum microphone
Stanford physicists have developed a "quantum microphone" so sensitive that it can measure individual particles of sound, called phonons.
The device, which is detailed July 24 in the journal Nature, could eventually lead to smaller, more efficient quantum computers that operate by manipulating sound rather than light.
"We expect this device to allow new types of quantum sensors, transducers and storage devices for future quantum machines," said study leader Amir Safavi-Naeini, an assistant professor of applied physics at Stanford's School of Humanities and Sciences.
First proposed by Albert Einstein in 1907, phonons are packets of vibrational energy emitted by jittery atoms. These indivisible packets, or quanta, of motion manifest as sound or heat, depending on their frequencies.
Like photons, which are the quantum carriers of light, phonons are quantized, meaning their vibrational energies are restricted to discrete values—similar to how a staircase is composed of distinct steps.
"Sound has this granularity that we don't normally experience," Safavi-Naeini said. "Sound, at the quantum level, crackles."
[...] Mastering the ability to precisely generate and detect phonons could help pave the way for new kinds of quantum devices that are able to store and retrieve information encoded as particles of sound or that can convert seamlessly between optical and mechanical signals.
Such devices could conceivably be made more compact and efficient than quantum machines that use photons, since phonons are easier to manipulate and have wavelengths that are thousands of times smaller than light particles.
"Right now, people are using photons to encode these states. We want to use phonons, which brings with it a lot of advantages," Safavi-Naeini said. "Our device is an important step toward making a 'mechanical quantum mechanical' computer."
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Sunday July 28 2019, @09:38PM (6 children)
When we do the "double-slit" experiment, what is a phonon to do? So much for stereo. Looks like I'm going to have to buy the "White Album" again.
(Score: 2, Funny) by fustakrakich on Sunday July 28 2019, @09:46PM
Looking for Schrödinger's Paul?
Turn me on, dead man. Turn me on, dead man...
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 29 2019, @12:36AM (1 child)
Doh, do one slit as usual and use a(nother) dildo or fingers for the other slit.
The question is telling of your age, aristarchus, you started to lose memories of times you were sexually active.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Monday July 29 2019, @01:39AM
On the off chance that you really do not understand the reference, and are not just being a dick:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-slit_experiment [wikipedia.org]
Phonons should face the same indeterminancies as photons, though I can see how gender and quantum fluidity could be equally threatening for you.
(Score: 2) by legont on Monday July 29 2019, @04:47AM
My bet is no, they don't do as photons. The math may have some value, but the implying explanation is BS.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Monday July 29 2019, @05:56AM
Lay down the track on pure water.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Monday July 29 2019, @06:14AM
The same as any other quantum particle.
With only a single phonon, you won't get stereo anyway. Not to mention that you get interference already for classical sound waves.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.