A minute with your hand on a hot stove undoubtedly lasts longer than a minute in the arms of a loved one — loosely based on a disputed quote attributed to Albert Einstein. In short: time is relative.
Yet measuring time with extraordinary precision is critical for many areas of modern life, from telecommunications and financial systems to scientific research seeking to understand the smallest particles in nature: molecules, atoms and electrons.
At Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, physicist Jeroen Koelemeij is using ultra-precise timing technology to study molecular vibrations — research that could help deepen our understanding of chemistry, biology and drug development.
“Our understanding of chemistry and biology depends on how well we understand those atoms and molecules. That matters for many areas of society, for example drug development. By looking at how fast atoms and molecules vibrate, we can learn a great deal about their properties and how they function.”
Connecting directly to the Netherlands’ national time standard
Until recently, the team relied on the atomic clock housed in their own laboratory. But the next generation of experiments demands even greater precision.
Using the Time&Frequency service operated by SURF, the Netherlands’ research and education network provider, an optical fibre connection now links the laboratory in Amsterdam directly to VSL’s atomic clocks in Delft.
An optical fibre cable — as thin as a hair and carrying data at the speed of light — effectively brings the clock in Delft into the Amsterdam laboratory itself.
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Submitted by Jane Gifford
