Timekeeping in superposition

New research conducted between Dartmouth, Santa Clara University and Saint Anselm College explores the effects of superposition—the ability of an atom to exist in more than one state at the same time—on time keeping.  The study takes into account quantum effects beyond Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity to make a new prediction about the nature of time leading to a correction in atomic clocks known as “quantum time dilation.” Recent alumni of Dartmouth Society of Fellow Alexander Smith was lead author on the article published in Nature Communications.  

Read more from the Dartmouth press release here or from Scientific American here.