The quantum movements of a glass sphere could be controlled for the first time in Vienna by combining microscopy with control technology – setting the course for future quantum technologies.
Through a collaboration between the University of Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Vienna University of Technology, it has now been possible to measure a hot glass sphere, consisting of approximately one billion atoms, with previously unattained precision and to control it at the quantum level. Its movement was deliberately slowed down until it assumed the state of lowest possible energy. The measurement method almost reached the limit set by Heisenberg's uncertainty principle – physics does not allow for more precision. This was made possible by applying special methods from control engineering to quantum systems in this form for the first time. The results have now been published in the scientific journal "Nature".
The goal was to precisely control the pendulum motion of the glass sphere – down to the level that is still possible in quantum physics, even though the glass sphere is actually a macroscopic object. For this to succeed, the control system must be perfectly designed and matched to the experiment – this task was taken on by the team of Andreas Kugi, Head of Center for Vision, Automation & Control, Director of the Institute for Automation and Control Engineering (ACIN) and Professor of Complex Dynamical Systems at the Vienna University of Technology.
The article can be read here.