RYDBERG 1 (IMAGE)

Rice University

RYDBERG 1

Caption

Rice University physicists created synthetic dimensions in atoms by forcing them into Rydberg states, supersizing electrons’ orbits to make the atoms thousands of times larger than normal. The researchers applied microwaves to couple adjacent energy levels and control how electrons tunnel through slow (thick line) and fast (thin line) barriers to create the dimensions, designed to mimic motion in the shown molecule. They expect the phenomenon will serve as an important tool in quantum simulations.

Credit

Soumya Kanungo/Rice University

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