Scientists at the Purdue, Peking University, Tsinghua University, and the Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter in Beijing come in collaboration and have developed the world’s fastest man-made rotor. This rotor is expected to help scientists in studying quantum mechanics.
As per the reports, this spinning object makes 60 billion revolutions per minute.
Tongcang Li, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy, and electrical and computer engineering, at Purdue University said, “This study has many applications, including material science. We can study the extreme conditions different materials can survive in.”
orchestrated a modest dumbbell from silica and suspended it in high vacuum utilizing a laser. The laser can work in a straight line or around – when it’s direct, the dumbbell vibrates, and when it’s roundabout, the dumbbell turns.
A spinning dumbbell functions as a rotor, and a vibrating dumbbell functions like an instrument for measuring tiny forces and torques, known as a torsion balance. These devices were used to discover things like the gravitational constant and density of Earth, but Li hopes that as they become more advanced, they’ll be able to study things like quantum mechanics and the properties of the vacuum.
Li said, “People say that there is nothing in a vacuum, but in physics, we know it’s not really empty. There are a lot of virtual particles which may stay for a short time and then disappear. We want to figure out what’s really going on there, and that’s why we want to make the most sensitive torsion balance.”
“By observing this tiny dumbbell spin faster than anything before it, Li’s team may also be able to learn things about vacuum friction and gravity. Understanding these mechanisms is an essential goal for the modern generation of physics.”
The findings were published in the journal Physical Review Letters.