How to put 170 atoms in an atom
signoregalilei.com34 points by surprisetalk 2 hours ago
34 points by surprisetalk 2 hours ago
> So in 2018, an international team of scientists created a BEC out of strontium atoms, and hit one of those atoms with a carefully tuned laser, exciting its outermost electron and turning it into a Rydberg atom. Several other atoms from the BEC were caught within between that outer electron’s inflated orbital.
This is not so much putting 170 atoms in one, but inflating one beyond the size of its 170-atom neighbourhood.
The hard part being to cool the neighbourhood to such an extremely low temperature that the inflated atom doesn't ionize.
The article, rather shallow, is about Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC).
I found it a bit more interesting that the author's middle name is Galileo, and that he is participating in a "blogging" residency [0]:
Inkhaven residency: A 30 day residency for you to grow as a writer. For one month, you'll publish a blogpost every day. Or pack your bags.
Hey! That's me, yep. It's a combination of a BEC and a Rydberg atom called "Rydberg polaron". This isn't the scientifically deepest article I've written, but if you want to read a more detailed description, feel free to check out the sources at the bottom.
Since the end of the 30 day residency in November, I and a few other participants have been posting weekly, so I've got a decent back catalogue and there will be more to come!
As someone who did blue sky chemistry research decades ago: is this completely pointless?