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An atomic orbital represents the three-dimensional regions in an atom where an electron has the highest probability to reside. The radial distribution function indicates the total probability of finding an electron within the thin shell at a distance r from the nucleus. The atomic orbitals have distinct shapes which are determined by l, the angular momentum quantum number. The orbitals are often drawn with a boundary surface, enclosing densest regions of the cloud.
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The earliest recorded discussion of the basic structure of matter comes from ancient Greek philosophers. Leucippus and Democritus argued that all matter was composed of small, finite particles that they called atomos, meaning “indivisible.” Later, Aristotle and others came to the conclusion that matter consisted of various combinations of the four “elements” — fire, earth, air, and water — and could be infinitely divided. Interestingly, these philosophers...
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Area of Science:

  • Atomic Physics
  • Metrology
  • Geophysics

Background:

  • Atomic clocks measure time by counting oscillations of frequency standards.
  • Optical atomic clocks offer superior precision, reaching fractional performance below 10⁻¹⁷.
  • Relativity theory dictates time passage is relative, affected by velocity, acceleration, and gravity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To demonstrate optical clock measurements exceeding current abilities to account for Earth's gravitational spacetime distortion.
  • To establish new benchmarks in systematic uncertainty, measurement instability, and reproducibility for optical clocks.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized two independent ytterbium optical lattice clocks.
  • Performed local clock measurements to assess performance benchmarks.
  • Conducted ten blinded frequency comparisons for reproducibility analysis.

Main Results:

  • Achieved systematic uncertainty of 1.4 × 10⁻¹⁸ (in units of clock frequency).
  • Reported measurement instability of 3.2 × 10⁻¹⁹.
  • Demonstrated reproducibility with a frequency difference of [-7 ± 5(stat) ± 8(sys)] × 10⁻¹⁹.

Conclusions:

  • The demonstrated optical clocks surpass current capabilities in measuring gravitational distortion of spacetime.
  • Their sensitivity to geopotential enables advanced geodesy with centimeter-level resolution.
  • These clocks can be applied to explore geophysical phenomena, test general relativity, and search for dark matter.