More On Time Clockwork

So tell me--does this fall under the heading of "a day late" or "a dollar short"? Well, the easy answer is that I'm always a dollar (or two) short, but in this case I was a day late too.

In yesterday's post, you might recall, I touched on the subject of computers and clocks. What I missed was the news out of the University of Nevada that researchers in its Physics Department have increased the accuracy of atomic clocks.

In its research, the team of Andrei Derevianko, Kyle Beloy, and Ulyana Safronova isolated a significant portion of the error in atomic clock output. The portion of error that the team studied has now been cut to one-fiftieth of its original size. Interestingly, the team’s research was based solely on calculations, many of which were conducted on high-performance computers. They've also published a paper on their findings.

The team's project was based on 2004 research by Italian researchers who found evidence that suggested that atomic clocks were less accurate then previously thought. "It seemed like a good time to reexamine the problem," Derevianko said. "The uncertainty of the issue was a good primer for the research."

Atomic clock technology is based on the fact that atoms emit a fixed frequency. Lasers, which also have operating frequencies, can be calibrated so that their frequencies match that of a given atom. Since atomic frequencies are constant, syncing a laser with an atom and counting the laser’s oscillations will always provide a steady measurement of time.

More accurate atomic clocks will lead to improved technologies. Most technical systems that employ satellites, including GPS technology, make use of atomic clocks; these technologies can now operate much more accurately.

The findings for the University of Nevada team are paving the way for extremely accurate measurements. The extra time-keeping precision will let scientists explore hypotheses about the big-bang theory. The improved technology might even be accurate enough to provide evidence related to the controversial theory that universal constants, as in the amount of charge in an electron, are changing.

Posted by Jon Erickson at 10:18 AM  Permalink