Stanford physicists observed a tiny vibrating structure lose a single unit of sound energy in a sudden quantum jump. The finding could help advance quantum computing and precision sensing.
A tiny mechanical resonator, a structure that vibrates like a tuning fork, has given Stanford researchers a close look at how sound disappears at the quantum scale. They watched it lose a single phonon, the smallest discrete unit of sound, in the first direct observation of a quantum jump of sound.
A phonon represents the coordinated movement of a large group of atoms, just as a photon is a quantum of light. Although a ringing bell seems to fade smoothly, a resonator’s vibrational energy changes in discrete steps. These sudden transitions between energy states are called quantum jumps.
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