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Physics

Single atoms captured morphing into quantum waves in startling image

In the 1920s, Erwin Schrödinger wrote an equation that predicts how particles-turned-waves should behave. Now, researchers are perfectly recreating those predictions in the lab

By Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

22 April 2024

Atoms behaving like particles appear as a red dot, but spread into a wide blob when they act like a wave

Courtesy Joris Verstraten, et al

This is the clearest ever image of individual atoms behaving like a wave, as predicted by quantum mechanics. Such images could eventually be used to study this exotic and poorly understood quantum behaviour.

The fact that particles like atoms can behave like waves is a key insight of quantum theory. One specific shape of wave that an atom can adopt is known as a “wave packet”, which is like a series of ripples…

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