First Nuclear Clocks Kick Off a Precision Race

[Marlin]

First Nuclear Clocks Kick Off a Precision Race

https://physics.aps.org/articles/v19/139

[Core Content]

Two independent research teams have successfully built the first operating nuclear clocks using thorium-229. These devices stabilize laser frequencies using transitions between quantum states in atomic nuclei rather than electronic energy levels.

While current models do not yet match the stability of leading atomic clocks, they offer significant advantages in robustness and compactness. Because nuclear transitions are less vulnerable to external environmental disturbances, these new instruments could eventually eliminate the need for complex vacuum and laser-cooling systems, opening practical applications in precision measurement and fundamental physics research.

Two independent teams have built operating nuclear clocks—devices that might one day rival the best atomic clocks and offer new ways to probe fundamental physics.

Clocks have always been about more than keeping time. In the 18th century, marine chronometers helped solve the "longitude problem," enabling sailors to determine their ships' east–west position at sea [1]. A new generation of ultraprecise clocks may now help researchers navigate uncharted territory beyond the standard model of particle physics. Building on decades of development, two independent teams—one led by Thorsten Schumm of the Vienna University of Technology and Ekkehard Peik of PTB...

Read the full article at Physics:
https://physics.aps.org/articles/v19/139