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Physics

Fuzzy quantum effects have been seen on the largest scale yet

A weird quantum phenomenon called delocalisation has been measured for a 100-nanometre glass bead, helping reveal where the boundary lies between quantum and classical physics

By Alex Wilkins

20 August 2024

Quantum effects result in particles behaving like waves that interfere with each other

Shutterstock/sakkmesterk​e

The fuzziness of the quantum world has been demonstrated on its largest-ever scale, probing the limits of quantum mechanics. More than a billion atoms inside a glass bead acted as a single quantum wave, a crucial step in making macroscopic matter interfere with itself and testing theories of quantum gravity.

In the early 20th century, physicists realised that, at tiny scales, matter appeared to be fuzzy. Although previous experiments had shown that particles like electrons or atomic nuclei were solid, new experiments demonstrated that…

Article amended on 2 September 2024

The size of the glass bead relative to a human hair was corrected

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