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Zeno Effect confirmed: Atoms won't move when observed

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3

3phemeral

Member
Quantum Zeno Effect:
The quantum Zeno effect (also known as the Turing paradox) is a situation in which an unstable particle, if observed continuously, will never decay.[1] One can "freeze" the evolution of the system by measuring it frequently enough in its known initial state. The meaning of the term has since expanded, leading to a more technical definition in which time evolution can be suppressed not only by measurement: the quantum Zeno effect is the suppression of unitary time evolution caused by quantum decoherence in quantum systems provided by a variety of sources: measurement, interactions with the environment, stochastic fields, and so on.[2] As an outgrowth of study of the quantum Zeno effect, it has become clear that applying a series of sufficiently strong and fast pulses with appropriate symmetry can also decouple a system from its decohering environment.[3]
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Unstable particles were theorized to never decay if observed, but this has since been expanded to include other types of interaction like measurement, environmental interactions, etc. This behavior has now been confirmed:

Note: Observed/watched = measured. In order for a system's behavior to be measured, it must be interacted with in some way. It's that interaction fundamentally changes the behavior of the system. Atoms have not been confirmed to possess any sort of sentience or awareness.


'Zeno effect' verified—atoms won't move while you watch

One of the oddest predictions of quantum theory – that a system can't change while you're watching it – has been confirmed in an experiment by Cornell physicists. Their work opens the door to a fundamentally new method to control and manipulate the quantum states of atoms and could lead to new kinds of sensors.
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nq1g5Hw.png

Quantum tunnelling through a barrier. The energy of
the tunneled particle is the same but the amplitude
is decreased.
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Phys.org said:
Previous experiments have demonstrated the Zeno Effect with the "spins" of subatomic particles. "This is the first observation of the Quantum Zeno effect by real space measurement of atomic motion," Vengalattore said. "Also, due to the high degree of control we've been able to demonstrate in our experiments, we can gradually 'tune' the manner in which we observe these atoms. Using this tuning, we've also been able to demonstrate an effect called 'emergent classicality' in this quantum system." Quantum effects fade, and atoms begin to behave as expected under classical physics.
...

"This gives us an unprecedented tool to control a quantum system, perhaps even atom by atom," said Patil, lead author of the paper. Atoms in this state are extremely sensitive to outside forces,l he noted, so this work could lead to the development of new kinds of sensors.
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Exciting time in Quantum research given the recent breakthrough with Quantum computers.

Full article linked above and here.

-----

Further reading (Thanks to Air for the link):

Emergent Classicality:

The larger a system gets, the more it's constituent particles interact, and you get into something called the semi-classical or classic limit. The particles are constricted more and more to smaller and smaller areas by the interactions with neighbours, so exhibit less and less wave properties. This is why you don't diffract when you go through a door. This principle applies when you throw enough photons at a particle to know where it is. As soon as you know approximately where it is (by detecting where the photons go) it's been restricted to some small region by the photon interactions, and so cannot display the wave characteristics that lead to diffraction and tunnelling, because the waveform is too local. This is called collapsing the waveform. Apologies for any formatting errors, I'm on mobile.
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B

Boem

Member
I am not a smart person, so the only way I can understand it is in it's simplest cheesy scifi-way, which can't be true, can it?

Can somebody explain this to a stupid guy like me? What do they mean by 'observe'? Atoms obviously can't be aware they're being watched. Doesn't it simply mean that we can't observe the change even though it is happening? Or...wait what?
 
C

CrunchyFrog

Member
Crazy huge advancements in the understanding and manipulation of quantum mechanics. Even as crazy as technology and computing ability have advanced in the past decade, things will be even crazier in just another. The future is real folks.
 
E

Easy_D

never left the stone age
Understanding how quantum particles move around is essential if you want to build a quantum computer in the future isn't it?

Edit: it was in the op, but my mind couldn't wrap itself around all that info at once :lol
 
Razorback

Razorback

Member
I might be out of my depth here but my understanding is that the act of "observing" at that scale isn't a passive thing. You have to bounce something like photons off of the atoms in order to observe them.
 
S

Senoculum

Member
Boem said:
I am not a smart person, so the only way I can understand it is in it's simplest cheesy scifi-way, which can't be true, can it?

Can somebody explain this to a stupid guy like me? What do they mean by 'observe'? Atoms obviously can't be aware they're being watched. Doesn't it simply mean that we can't observe the change even though it is happening? Or...wait what?
Click to expand...

randomrosso said:
I'm just gonna pretend I understand how this works

Wow! Amazing! Who knew?!
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I think this explains it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc

Basically, some particles behave in a predictable manner, but when observed (through measuring instruments), they act the opposite of what they're suppose to do. People chalked it up to the instruments themselves interfering with the particle behaviour, but it seems like this article is saying that, no, these quantum particles are like the Boos in Super Mario Bros.
 
D

DarkKyo

Member
The universe is truly bizarre.

It makes you wonder what a universe without a single observer within would be like.
 
3

3phemeral

Member
Senoculum said:
I think this explains it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc

Basically, some particles behave in a predictable manner, but when observed (through measuring instruments), they act the opposite of what they're suppose to do. People chalked it up to the instruments themselves interfering with the particle behaviour, but it seems like this article is saying that, no, these quantum particles are like the Boos in Super Mario Bros.
Click to expand...

I think this is more "time stops in its tracks for an (unstable) atom when it is observed (or interacted with) in some fashion."
 
P

peakish

Member
Vermillion said:
I sort of get it, since I know the philosophical paradox and HUP... But I'm not sure why it happens...
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If you think you understand Quantum Mechanics, you do not understand Quantum Mechanics. -- My Quantum Mechanics professor

Seriously cool research. Didn't know of this effect but it seems to follow naturally from collapsing the wave form. Awesome stuff.
 
E

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
Everytime I hear about this it makes me feel like we're in The Matrix and we've discovered a glitch in the system. They're going to reset us, yo.
 
R

raphier

Banned
It has nothing to do with the eyes.

observed as interacted with, not observed as in being watched. They measured their behaviour under a microscope with a laser. When it was too dim, they moved. A higher brightness of the laser under the microscope made them stir. In other words, they behave differently once measured.
 
M

msv

Member
Isn't saying that they're merely 'observing' misleading here, since the normal usage implies passivity? I thought these were active measurements, not passive observation.
 
G

Gnome

Member
raphier said:
observed as interacted with, not observed as in being watched. They measured their behaviour under a microscope with a laser. When it was too dim, they moved. A higher brightness of a laser under the microscope made them stir. In other words, they behave differently once measured.
Click to expand...

Ah, this makes things more clear.
 
D

Dazza

Member
Everytime I hear about this it makes me feel like we're in The Matrix and we've discovered a glitch in the system. They're going to reset us, yo.
 
A

Air

Banned
raphier said:
It has nothing to do with the eyes.

observed as interacted with, not observed as in being watched. They measured their behaviour under a microscope with a laser. When it was too dim, they moved. A higher brightness of the laser under the microscope made them stir. In other words, they behave differently once measured.
Click to expand...

msv said:
Isn't saying that they're merely 'observing' misleading here, since the normal usage implies passivity? I thought these were active measurements, not passive observation.
Click to expand...


You guys are correct. It's not about looking at atoms, but measuring using instruments.
 
3

3phemeral

Member
raphier said:
It has nothing to do with the eyes.

observed as interacted with, not observed as in being watched. They measured their behaviour under a microscope with a laser. When it was too dim, they moved. A higher brightness of the laser under the microscope made them stir. In other words, they behave differently once measured.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's why I changed the thread title to "observed" as "watched" is commonly confused with atoms being "aware." However, it was unavoidable when referencing the article directly as that was their choice of wording. I should add something to the OP which clarifies.
 
S

Scrooged

Totally wronger about Nintendo's business decisions.
Razorback PT said:
I might be out of my depth here but my understanding is that the act of "observing" at that scale isn't a passive thing. You have to bounce something like photons off of the atoms in order to observe them.
Click to expand...

Yeah. The way it gets reported implies that the universe just 'knows' if you're looking at it or not. That's not what's happening.
 
M

More Fun To Compute

Member
It always slightly annoys me slightly when popular science talks about observing or watching atoms. It makes it sound like they just put the atoms under a normal microscope and you can see atoms like they were cotton threads or something.
 
C

CarpeDeezNutz

Member
I like threads like these because it starts just the way I feel, then the smarter kids come in and explain it/ make it more clear in my head.
 
F

Femmeworth

Banned
ronito said:
I'm going to pretend I understand this.
Who's with me?
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The title is misleading.
The researchers observed the atoms under a microscope by illuminating them with a separate imaging laser. A light microscope can't see individual atoms, but the imaging laser causes them to fluoresce, and the microscope captured the flashes of light. When the imaging laser was off, or turned on only dimly, the atoms tunneled freely. But as the imaging beam was made brighter and measurements made more frequently, the tunneling reduced dramatically.
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Not simply watching the atoms.
 
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