World’s newest most accurate and precise clock

This breakthrough clock was created by researchers at JILA, a collaboration between the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder.

This new clock goes beyond traditional timekeeping, offering potential applications in areas such as space navigation and the search for new particles. The enhanced precision of these next-generation clocks could also uncover hidden underground resources and test fundamental theories like general relativity with unprecedented accuracy. For the creators of atomic clocks, their mission is not just to improve timekeeping, but to unlock the universe's secrets and lay the groundwork for future technologies.

The global scientific community is currently exploring the possibility of redefining the second, the standard unit of time, based on these advanced optical atomic clocks. Traditional atomic clocks use microwaves to measure time, but the new generation utilises visible light waves, which have a much higher frequency, allowing for significantly more precise measurements of a second. These optical clocks are expected to greatly improve international timekeeping accuracy, potentially losing only one second over 30 billion years.

However, before achieving such exceptional accuracy, these clocks must first attain very high precision, meaning they must be capable of measuring incredibly small fractions of a second. The implications of achieving both high precision and accuracy could be profound.

The new clock at JILA employs an "optical lattice," a structure of light that traps and measures tens of thousands of atoms simultaneously. This large number of atoms provides a significant advantage in precision—the more atoms measured, the more accurate the clock's measurement of a second.

To reach their record-breaking performance, the JILA researchers used a shallower and gentler laser light "web" to trap the atoms, compared to previous optical lattice clocks. This approach significantly reduced two major sources of error: the effects of the laser light on the trapped atoms, and the problem of atoms colliding when packed too closely together.

These advancements were detailed by the researchers in Physical Review Letters.

“This clock is so precise that it can detect tiny effects predicted by theories such as general relativity, even at the microscopic scale,” said Jun Ye, a physicist at NIST and JILA. “It’s pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with timekeeping.”

Einstein’s theory of general relativity explains how gravity results from the warping of space and time. One key prediction is that gravity affects time—the stronger the gravitational field, the slower time passes.

The design of this new clock allows it to detect relativistic effects on timekeeping at scales as small as a fraction of a millimetre, roughly equivalent to the thickness of a human hair. Even a tiny change in the clock’s position by such a small distance can reveal minute changes in the flow of time due to gravity.

This ability to observe the effects of general relativity on such a small scale has the potential to bridge the gap between the quantum realm and the large-scale phenomena governed by general relativity.

More precise atomic clocks also have significant implications for space exploration and navigation. As humanity ventures deeper into the solar system, it will become increasingly crucial to maintain precise timekeeping over vast distances. Even slight errors in timekeeping can lead to significant navigational mistakes as distances increase.

“If we want to land a spacecraft on Mars with pinpoint accuracy, we're going to need clocks that are orders of magnitude more precise than what we have today in GPS,” Ye stated. “This new clock is a major step towards making that possible.”

Moreover, the techniques used to trap and control atoms in these clocks could also advance quantum computing. Quantum computers require precise manipulation of individual atoms or molecules to perform calculations, and the advancements in controlling and measuring microscopic quantum systems have propelled this field forward.

By exploring the microscopic world where quantum mechanics and general relativity intersect, researchers are opening new doors to understanding the fundamental nature of reality. From the tiny scales where time warps under gravity's influence to the vast reaches of the cosmos dominated by dark matter and dark energy, the precision of this clock holds the promise of illuminating some of the universe’s most profound mysteries.

“We're exploring the frontiers of measurement science,” Ye said. “When you can measure things with this level of precision, you start to see phenomena that we've only been able to theorise about until now.”