Imagine a super-accurate stopwatch. Today, the best stopwatches are atomic clocks. They are so exact that they lose only a minute fraction of a second during many years. Still, scientists work on an even better stop-watch-the nuclear clock.
For those who demand precision in timekeeping, only an atomic clock suffices. While top-tier quartz watches may lose a millisecond every six weeks, an atomic clock could maintain accuracy within a thousandth of a millisecond for a decade. These clocks are the backbone of systems ranging from GPS and the internet to stock market transactions. This may seem adequate for most applications.
However, researchers have announced in a recent Nature publication that they are ready to develop the next advancement: the nuclear clock. According to Ekkehard Peik, a trailblazer in this field, this type of clock could surpass current atomic clocks by a factor of 1,000 in accuracy.
While atomic clocks rely on the motion of electrons orbiting the nucleus of an atom, nuclear clocks will be based on the movement of particles inside the nucleus. A much finer scale, for an even more sensitive time-keeping device.
For a long period of time, scientists have been trying to create a nuclear clock. It has been quite an uphill task, but very recently, there was a major breakthrough. For the first time, using lasers, scientists have learned how to induce the desired motion inside one specific kind of atom, thus bringing the concept of the nuclear clock a little closer to reality.
Why is this nuclear clock important?
Since atomic clocks offer sufficient accuracy for most practical applications, scientists are not looking to replace them. They are more interested in having two separate methods for time measurement: atomic clocks, which rely strictly on the electromagnetic force controlling electron movement, and nuclear clocks, which also adhere to the strong nuclear force.
One potential application for this dual system is testing Einstein’s theories of relativity. These theories suggest, among other things, that clocks will tick more slowly in stronger gravitational fields. Relativistic effects should be consistent regardless of the type of clock. If nuclear clocks behave differently, it might indicate a need to revisit these theories.
While the job already done by atomic clocks is excellent, nuclear clocks can do this work even more accurately. This bears great potential for giant leaps in completely other domains-from navigation and GPS to fundamental research.
But perhaps most exciting is to try and push the boundaries of our current understanding of physics. Comparing the timekeeping of atomic and nuclear clocks allows scientists to test theories like Einstein’s theory of relativity. If these two kinds of clocks come up with different answers, that may mean there is something we do not know about the universe.
Eventually, nuclear clocks will trailblaze new frontiers in our understanding of time, space, and the fundamental forces that rule our universe.