Goal: developing the best atomic clock in the world
They are masters at working with light: the scientists at the newly founded QUEST Institute at the PTB, Braunschweig. And they want to work on some of the most exciting questions relating to physics today: on unimaginably precise methods of measurement for observing the Earth, on the pressing question of the fundamentals of physics, of whether the fundamental constants are really constant, and on the development of the best atomic clock in the world made of a single aluminium atom. These are just some examples from the catalogue of tasks which the scientists have drawn up for themselves. This gives us an idea of why optics is often described as "the" key technology of the 21st century. QUEST stands for "Quantum Engineering and Space-Time Research" and it is the name of a whole Excellence Cluster to which... more...