Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle tagged posts

1. The atomic part of the hybrid experiment. The atoms are contained in a micro-cell inside the magnetic shield seen in the middle. Photo: Ola J. Joensen 2. The optomechanical part of the hybrid experiment. The cryostat seen in the middle houses the vibrating membrane whose quantum motion is measured. Photo: Ola J. Joensen 3, If laser light used to measure motion of a vibrating membrane (left) is first transmitted through an atom cloud (center) the measurement sensitivity can be better than standard quantum limits envisioned by Bohr and Heisenberg. Photo: Bastian Leonhardt Strube and Mads Vadsholt

Vacuum fluctuations may be thought of as a flickering of the quantum light field even in total darkness. The positive (red) and negative (blue) regions are randomly distributed in space and they change constantly at high speed — similar to black-and-white noise on a TV screen with no signal input. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Konstanz