News Physicists at the cantonal observatory of Neuchâtel have developed an atomic clock that is unique in the world and ten times more accurate than existing devices. It tells the time with an accuracy of 0.000000000000001 (10 to the power of 15) according to the Swiss National Foundation for Scientific Research, which supported the production of this new atomic clock for use as a reference in establishing international time. Unique in its design, it should be delivered at the end of March to the Federal Office of Metrology and Accreditation (METAS). Today, only three other similar reference systems are in operation in the world, in France, Germany and the United States.
Pierre Thomann, head of the project at Neuchâtel Observatory, concedes that this search for ultimate accuracy has little interest, at first sight, for the man in the street. "However, exceptional accuracy is sometimes indispensable, for example in satellite positioning (GPS)", he remarked. It will also pave the way for interesting progress in radio astronomy or research into the basic constants of physics.
"Two clocks of this type would fall out of synchronization with each other by less than one second over a period of 30 million years", said Natascia Castagna, a research student working on the project. "For Neuchâtel, which has a long tradition of watchmaking, as indeed does the country as a whole, this clock is the perfect symbol", concluded Pierre Thomann.
Physicists at the cantonal observatory of Neuchâtel have developed an atomic clock that is unique in the world and ten times more accurate than existing devices. It tells the time with an accuracy of 0.000000000000001 (10 to the power of 15) according to the Swiss National Foundation for Scientific Research, which supported the production of this new atomic clock for use as a reference in establishing international time. Unique in its design, it should be delivered at the end of March to the Federal Office of Metrology and Accreditation (METAS). Today, only three other similar reference systems are in operation in the world, in France, Germany and the United States.
Pierre Thomann, head of the project at Neuchâtel Observatory, concedes that this search for ultimate accuracy has little interest, at first sight, for the man in the street. "However, exceptional accuracy is sometimes indispensable, for example in satellite positioning (GPS)", he remarked. It will also pave the way for interesting progress in radio astronomy or research into the basic constants of physics.
"Two clocks of this type would fall out of synchronization with each other by less than one second over a period of 30 million years", said Natascia Castagna, a research student working on the project. "For Neuchâtel, which has a long tradition of watchmaking, as indeed does the country as a whole, this clock is the perfect symbol", concluded Pierre Thomann.
March 13, 2003
