Syllabus: GS3/Science and Technology
Context
- Scientists have devised a new way to check whether gravity is quantum-mechanical using nanocrystals.
About
- General relativity explains gravity, while quantum mechanics describes the electromagnetic, strong nuclear, and weak nuclear forces.
- Scientists are exploring how gravity fits into quantum mechanics, with experiments proposed to test gravity’s quantum nature.
- Quantum mechanics studies particle behavior at the quantum level, where classical physics no longer applies.
- Quantum technology utilizes quantum properties like superposition and entanglement to perform tasks previously thought impossible.
- Nanocrystals are tiny crystalline structures, typically 1 to 100 nm in size, exhibiting quantum mechanical behaviors (e.g., changes in conductivity, magnetism, light absorption).
- Use of Nanocrystals: Scientists have proposed using a quantum property of the nanocrystals called spin.
- The spin affects the nanocrystals’ motion and can be manipulated by an external magnetic field.
- The spin of each nanocrystal exists in a superposition of two states until it is measured.
- Test outcomes: Experts believe it may reveal that gravity is not a classical force, or it may suggest gravity is something entirely different from both classical and quantum forces.
Source: TH
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