Science > Physics > Physicists in Sweden have counted individual electrons in an electricalcurrent
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Science > Physics |
| User: |
"Sam Wormley" |
| Date: |
16 Mar 2005 09:45:24 PM |
| Object: |
Physicists in Sweden have counted individual electrons in an electricalcurrent |
Counting electrons one by one (Mar 16)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/9/3/11
Physicists in Sweden have counted individual electrons in an electrical
current for the first time. Jonas Bylander, Tim Duty and Per Delsing at
Chalmers University of Technology in Goteborg directly measured the
oscillations associated with single electrons in a one-dimensional chain
of superconducting "islands" connected by tunnel junctions. The
technique could lead to the development of a new standard for electric
current (J Bylander et al. 2005 Nature 434 361).
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| User: "Jan Panteltje" |
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| Title: Re: Physicists in Sweden have counted individual electrons in an electricalcurrent |
17 Mar 2005 07:28:31 AM |
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On a sunny day (Thu, 17 Mar 2005 03:45:24 GMT) it happened Sam Wormley
<swormley1@mchsi.com> wrote in <o37_d.74499$r55.43579@attbi_s52>:
Counting electrons one by one (Mar 16)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/9/3/11
Physicists in Sweden have counted individual electrons in an electrical
current for the first time.
Even more challenging is to give them individual names and telll them apart.
That is the real stuff.
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| User: "Guy Gordon" |
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| Title: Re: Physicists in Sweden have counted individual electrons in an electrical current |
17 Mar 2005 01:27:19 PM |
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Jan Panteltje <pNaonStpealmtje@yahoo.com> wrote:
On a sunny day (Thu, 17 Mar 2005 03:45:24 GMT) it happened Sam Wormley
<swormley1@mchsi.com> wrote in <o37_d.74499$r55.43579@attbi_s52>:
Counting electrons one by one (Mar 16)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/9/3/11
Physicists in Sweden have counted individual electrons in an electrical
current for the first time.
Even more challenging is to give them individual names and telll them apart.
That is the real stuff.
Yeah. And getting them to sit in the right chairs, so all the good ones don't
sit up front.
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| User: "t" |
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| Title: Re: Physicists in Sweden have counted individual electrons in an electrical current |
17 Mar 2005 12:43:37 PM |
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Jan Panteltje wrote:
On a sunny day (Thu, 17 Mar 2005 03:45:24 GMT) it happened Sam
Wormley
<swormley1@mchsi.com> wrote in <o37_d.74499$r55.43579@attbi_s52>:
Counting electrons one by one (Mar 16)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/9/3/11
Physicists in Sweden have counted individual electrons in an
electrical
current for the first time.
Even more challenging is to give them individual names and telll them
apart.
That is the real stuff.
Now you are just trying to put a spin on this. ;-)
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| User: "bz" |
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| Title: Re: Physicists in Sweden have counted individual electrons in an electrical current |
17 Mar 2005 01:08:59 PM |
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"t" <tmorris@bellsouth.net> wrote in news:1111085017.949805.198610
@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
Jan Panteltje wrote:
On a sunny day (Thu, 17 Mar 2005 03:45:24 GMT) it happened Sam
Wormley
<swormley1@mchsi.com> wrote in <o37_d.74499$r55.43579@attbi_s52>:
Counting electrons one by one (Mar 16)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/9/3/11
Physicists in Sweden have counted individual electrons in an
electrical
current for the first time.
Even more challenging is to give them individual names and telll them
apart.
That is the real stuff.
Now you are just trying to put a spin on this. ;-)
That was far out in left field. :)
--
bz
please pardon my infinite ignorance, the set-of-things-I-do-not-know is an
infinite set.
bz+sp@ch100-5.chem.lsu.edu remove ch100-5 to avoid spam trap
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| User: "tadchem" |
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| Title: Re: Physicists in Sweden have counted individual electrons in an electrical current |
17 Mar 2005 08:48:59 AM |
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Sam Wormley wrote:
Counting electrons one by one (Mar 16)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/9/3/11
Physicists in Sweden have counted individual electrons in an
electrical
current for the first time.
Considering that individual ions have been counted in mass
spectrometers for many years, the extension of this to individual
electrons is not that remarkable. Only the technology to do it (using
superconductors and tunnel junctions) is novel.
Tom Davidson
Richmond, VA
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| User: "Andy Resnick" |
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| Title: Re: Physicists in Sweden have counted individual electrons in anelectrical current |
17 Mar 2005 11:41:05 AM |
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tadchem wrote:
Sam Wormley wrote:
Counting electrons one by one (Mar 16)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/9/3/11
Physicists in Sweden have counted individual electrons in an
electrical
current for the first time.
Considering that individual ions have been counted in mass
spectrometers for many years, the extension of this to individual
electrons is not that remarkable. Only the technology to do it (using
superconductors and tunnel junctions) is novel.
Also, isn't there a simple undergraduate experiment involving slowly
stretching a wire to breakage while monitoring the current? IIRC, it's
quite easy to demonstrate the discrete passage of electrons.
--
Andrew Resnick, Ph.D.
Department of Physiology and Biophysics
Case Western Reserve University
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| User: "bz" |
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| Title: Re: Physicists in Sweden have counted individual electrons in an electrical current |
17 Mar 2005 12:17:29 PM |
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Andy Resnick <andy.resnick@op.case.edu> wrote in news:d1cffp$k8a$1
@eeyore.INS.cwru.edu:
tadchem wrote:
Sam Wormley wrote:
Counting electrons one by one (Mar 16)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/9/3/11
Physicists in Sweden have counted individual electrons in an
electrical
current for the first time.
Considering that individual ions have been counted in mass
spectrometers for many years, the extension of this to individual
electrons is not that remarkable. Only the technology to do it (using
superconductors and tunnel junctions) is novel.
Also, isn't there a simple undergraduate experiment involving slowly
stretching a wire to breakage while monitoring the current? IIRC, it's
quite easy to demonstrate the discrete passage of electrons.
'single photon events' are easy to detect with a photo multiplier.
if a beam of electrons is directed at the photo multiplier and the current
in the beam is reduced sufficiently, there will be 'single electron
events' detected by the photo multiplier.
I think the authors of the paper, or those in the news media that picked up
the story have overstated the uniqueness of the results.
--
bz
please pardon my infinite ignorance, the set-of-things-I-do-not-know is an
infinite set.
bz+sp@ch100-5.chem.lsu.edu remove ch100-5 to avoid spam trap
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