This atomic clock is ridiculously and shockingly accurate. Plus, it's built like a tank

Atomic clocks are a technical marvel. It has been with us for over seven decades and is the most accurate and stable time measuring device. Even today, physicists continue to develop new strategies that seek to achieve this Improve its accuracy and increase its stability Taking full advantage of the physical and chemical properties of some exotic elements such as cesium, rubidium or mercury.

Be that as it may, atomic clocks are important for a reason: they play a leading role in those applications where it is necessary to generate a frequency pattern that is as stable and accurate as possible. For this reason it is used, among other usage scenarios, as the primary standard for measuring time in the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; On some broadcast stations; In interferometric experiments or in global geographic positioning systems.

This ultra-precise atomic clock aims to change the rules of maritime navigation

A team of physicists and engineers from Vector Atomic, a company specializing in the design and manufacture of navigation and communications instruments, has developed an atomic clock that uses unprecedented technology. In the article they published in nature They explained that their device had been designed to provide an extremely accurate clock signal but without sacrificing the enormous power required by an instrument designed for use in marine navigation.

In fact, they tested it on a ship they traveled in the Pacific Ocean. In the context of maritime navigation, atomic clocks used by ships should be as accurate as those found in laboratories. Otherwise minimal inaccuracy when Measure signal propagation Between satellites can cause a positioning error of several hundred metres. In most marine usage scenarios, especially in a military context, this drift is a major problem.

The goal of Vector Atomic engineers during the design phase of their atomic clock was to provide accuracy and reliability comparable to that of laboratory devices. To achieve this, they created an oscillator made of iodine molecules that weighs about 26 kg, and is comparable in size to three shoeboxes placed next to each other. Its weight and dimensions are proportional to the needs of the device that will be used in marine navigation, but what is most important is its accuracy.

According to its creators, this atomic clock made of iodine molecules is about 1,000 times more accurate than the atomic clocks normally used in maritime navigation. During the 20 days Vector Atomic engineers spent sailing it across Pacific waters, the error they identified was 300 points daily (A picosecond is a billionth of a second.) However, they actually ran this test with three atomic clocks simultaneously, so this measurement should be very reliable and puts this device, if we stick to its accuracy, in the orbit of atomic clocks used in research laboratories.

Image | Atomic vectors

More information | nature

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