Scientists discover 'weeping angel effect'

 

Don't blink.

 

The Weeping Angels on Doctor Who are a species of aliens that are “quantum locked” and can’t move if someone’s looking at them. Now physicists from Cornell University are saying that they’ve found a way to freeze matter in place, similar to how looking at a Weeping Angel stops it in its tracks.

 

 

In a study published in the journal Physical Review Letters, (http://arxiv.org/pdf/1411.2678v1.pdf) the scientists explain how they managed to limit the quantum tunneling usually found in confined particles, a phenomenon called the quantum Zeno effect. To do this, they constructed an optical lattice and introduced atoms of an ultracold rubidium gas.

 

The atoms then get trapped in the lattice, but there’s a possibility that the atoms might escape by “tunneling” out. According to Physics Central, quantum tunneling works like a sort of wind that blows the atom out of the trap.

 

In the current study, the scientists found a way to stop quantum tunneling from happening and trap the atoms in place. They do this by bombarding the atoms continuously with photons, inducing them to fluorescence and draining their energy. This lessens their chances of tunneling to freedom. — Bea Montenegro/TJD, GMA News