back to article The sound of silence: One excited atom is so quiet that the human ear cannot detect it

Boffins believe they have successfully demonstrated the sound a single atom makes when excited - even though it is completely inaudible to the human ear. The researchers at the University of Columbia and Sweden's Chalmers University of Technology "captured" the very soft sound, according to a paper published in Science journal …

  1. Slap

    Even though we can't hear an excited atom, I'll bet the sound it makes is "wheeeeeeeeeee"

    1. frank ly

      I've started wondering about the sound made by two excited atoms but I want to keep my comments 'family friendly'.

      1. Stuart Moore
        IT Angle

        You mean with a bit of quantum entanglement going on?

        Nudge nudge wink wink say no more. Say no more.

        What's it like?

  2. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Paris Hilton

    So basically they set up a resonating ball and spring device, although a small one with no friction?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      [edit]

      Hmm, I guess it's more complicated than that. When you get down to that size, even making something simple as a spring holds leaps and bounds worth of discovery.

    2. TS37

      With no friction there can't be much fun or noise......

  3. The_Idiot

    So with apologies to...

    ... Simon and Garfunkel - is this the Sound of Science?

    Oh. Right. Coat. Of course (blush).

  4. Mark 85
    Pint

    Fascinating...

    Take some curiosity and see where it leads. Pure research and nicely done. It may not go anywhere but isn't that what this is about? Have a pint on me for following your "what if...?"

  5. Adam 1

    So if an excited atom vibrates and there isn't another atom to hear it, does it make a sound?

    1. gregthecanuck
      Angel

      Schrodinger's phonon?

      1. brooxta

        > Schrodinger's phonon?

        Someone tell him to turn it off, we're trying to do science in here.

  6. This post has been deleted by its author

  7. Michael Hoffmann Silver badge
    Headmaster

    Listen?!

    Please, I truly believe that the subtitle should use the word "Hark!"

  8. Unicornpiss
    Alert

    Puzzled...

    Since sound is vibration of atoms or molecules in whatever media, such as air, water, etc., how can one atom influence whatever medium it is in significantly enough to be distinguished from Brownian motion? Admittedly I have not read the paper...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Puzzled...

      The atom vibrates, this is the medium. It doesn't propagate, but that doesn't matter. So sound is vibration, propagation is secondary.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Spinal Tap...

    ... would want this on their next recording ;)

    1. Adam 1

      Re: Spinal Tap...

      You would need an amplifier that goes up to 11; that's for sure.

  10. Winkypop Silver badge
    Coat

    Old 80s band...

    Atom and the Ants

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'm getting tired of the word Boffins. The Register is the worst offender of using the word and it keeps showing up in Google News.

    1. Kelly Fiveash (Written by Reg staff)

      From the editor Lewis Page:

      "Here on the pages of the Reg the word 'boffin' is a title of honour accorded only to researchers we respect - generally from the proper sciences and able to do hard sums. Lesser practitioners (for instance business-studies or psychology professors purveying dubious surveys and statistical analyses) are generally known as 'eggheads' or 'trick-cyclists', for instance.

      We get a fair bit of positive mail from people we have dubbed boffins, so we're fairly sure most of them know this, but it never hurts to be sure."

      1. Fink-Nottle
        Coat

        How cool is that ... An article on excited atoms has it's own Lewis notation.

    2. Juan Inamillion

      For as long as I can remember (and I am quite old) and because I once had aspirations to forge a career in science, the term 'boffin' has always been an affectionate one aimed specifically at the truly clever-clogs what can do hard sums and stuff, like Lewis says...

      I, for one, welcome our Boffin Overlords.

      /

    3. Bucky 2

      Boffings

      I'm getting tired of the word Boffins. The Register is the worst offender of using the word and it keeps showing up in Google News.

      Actually, I love the word. It always takes me a minute to process, during which time, I speculate on the relationship of the noun with the verb, "to boff."

    4. Alister

      I'm getting tired of the word Boffins. The Register is the worst offender of using the word and it keeps showing up in Google News.

      I'm getting tired of people complaining about the word Boffins. The Register is the worst offender for commentards with no grasp of it's meaning and context.

    5. Open Sauce

      Do you mean the word doesn't do them any justice and there should be a better word ?

  12. frankothemountain2

    erf

    Well........what's the frequency Kenneth?

  13. Alister
    Facepalm

    ...and measured the acoustic waves made by the atoms vibrations, which are said to be too small to see.

    No, really??

    Who'd 'a thought it...

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