Larger structure affected by quantum mechanics

2001/07/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Fisika

One of the principles of quantum mechanics indicates that it is not possible to measure the position and speed of a particle at once. However, this effect disappears in large structures. Now, the Austrian physicist Anton Zeilinger has declared that the influence limit of quantum mechanics is in molecules larger than expected. In his opinion, being able to see the effects of quantum physics on large structures is only a matter of skill and money.

Zeilinger has studied a fulerene (ball molecule) made up of sixty carbon atoms. A beam of these molecules impersonated a slot that can be expanded and decreased. A laser sensor tried to measure the speed of the molecules while crossing the slot. The smaller the slot, the more changing the moment, the speed, the molecules measured at that time.