University of Bonn researchers have shown how one atom can be split into two halves, taken apart and then joined together again. The researchers strived to build quantum mechanics bridges by making the atom come into contact with adjacent atoms while it is being taken apart so that it functions like a bridge spanning between two pillars. The results are published in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” journal.
The Bonn scientists along with Prof. Dr. Dieter Meschede at the University of Bonn from the Institute for Applied Physics have succeeded in holding a single atom simultaneously in two places more than one hundredth of a millimeter of ten micrometers apart. The atom was then joined together undamaged.
These delicate quantum effects can take place only at very low temperatures and with careful handling. In one technique, a cesium atom is cooled using lasers to a temperature a tenth of a million above absolute zero and then it is held with another laser. When the atom is moved simultaneously to the right and left, it will split.
The split cannot be seen directly as if a light is illuminated on the atom, there will be a collapse of the split. The atom can be observed in a number of images sometimes on the left and sometimes on the right but never in both the places. The split can be proved by joining the atom again.
The Bonn scientists are trying to simulate complicated quantum systems. Dr. Andrea Alberti stated that the atom is an oiled and well-monitored cog. A calculator can be built using these cogs but for them to work, they need to engage. The significance of splitting atoms is that when the two halves are joined they contact with nearby atoms forming a small network of atoms for simulation and control of real systems that would make their secrets accessible.
Source: http://www.pnas.org/