Quantum device simulates matter snapping into existence
Researchers manipulated and measured the quantum properties of ions using lasers, showing a controlled way to study the behavior of matter in extreme environments
Scientists seeking to understand how matter behaved shortly after the Big Bang face an obvious problem: Those extreme conditions are difficult to recreate. Instead, researchers have now used a quantum device to simulate matter under those conditions, demonstrating how energy can transform into new particles. This work shows the potential for devices that use quantum phenomena to investigate extreme conditions in a controlled laboratory environment.
Supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation through the NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Robust Quantum Simulation, a research team simulated a phenomenon where matter is created from the release of energy. The simulation focused on what happens when two quarks — fundamental building blocks of matter normally confined within particles such as protons and neutrons — are forced apart. As the quarks separate, the strong nuclear force between them concentrates into a thin tube, storing more and more energy until the connection snaps and releases the energy all at once. In extremely high-energy environments, like shortly after the Big Bang, enough energy can be released to create additional particles of matter. The results were published in the journal Nature Physics.
To simulate this process, the team used precisely controlled laser beams to hold and control 13 ions, electrically charged particles, making them behave like quarks being pulled apart. By tuning the interactions among the ions, the researchers reproduced the stretching and eventual breaking of a connection between particles. They then observed the system over time to better understand how this process works in nature. Although the ions do not reproduce all the physics of the strong force (the fundamental mechanism that binds quarks together), their interactions allowed researchers to examine how an analogous connection stretches and breaks.
The team also recreated the process using a traditional computer. The results matched the quantum simulator, showing that the experiment produced accurate results. As quantum simulators become more powerful, they could help scientists study bigger problems that would be too complicated for ordinary computers to handle.
This article was originally published by Duke University. It has been edited for length and style.
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