Measuring Thermal expansion at low temperatures for future space missions

25-Nov-2015

Space holds numerous fascinating objects which we can only investigate by observing their radiation - even beyond the visible range. For space telescopes such as the European Space Agency's (ESA) infrared observatory Herschel, whose mission is to observe radiation in the far-infrared, cooling the ...

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Atomic clocks prove the stability of the mass ratio of protons to electrons

20-Nov-2014

Are the fundamental constants really constant? Recent investigations carried out at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) have shown that one essential fundamental constant - namely the mass ratio of protons to electrons - can have changed only by a maximum of one part in a million over ...

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QUEST researchers have demonstrated: New method of precision spectroscopy allows unprecedented accuracy

03-Feb-2014

Quantum logic spectroscopy – which is closely linked with the name of the 2012 Nobel prize laureate, David J. Wineland – has been significantly extended: this new method is called "photon-recoil spectroscopy" (PRS). The potential of this method has been demonstrated by the research group led by ...

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Taking a look back at the beginning of our universe: QUEST researchers at PTB generate and investigate symmetry breaking in ion Coulomb crystals

15-Aug-2013

Scientists would love to know which forces created our universe some 14 billion years ago. How could – due to a breaking of symmetry – matter, and thus stars and galaxies, be created from an originally symmetrical universe in which the same conditions prevailed everywhere shortly after the Big ...

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PTB scientists determine a new value of the Boltzmann constant

28-Sep-2011

Metrologists are measurement artists who are very precise – in the case of the Boltzmann constant up to the sixth decimal place. Whoever is able to determine it very exactly will cause a small revolution in the field of worldwide temperature measurement: The temperature unit will then no longer ...

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PTB develops first primary standard worldwide for calibration of thoron measuring instruments

09-Mar-2011

"Many people are now saying: 'Is it really that easy? Then why didn't anyone think of it a long time ago?' But you have to have the right idea at the right time," says Annette Röttger, physicist at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), in a pleased way. Annette Röttger and her ...

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Avogadro constant determined with enriched silicon-28

11-Feb-2011

A milestone in the international Avogadro project coordinated by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) has been reached: With the aid of a single crystal of highly enriched 28Si, the Avogadro constant has now been measured as exactly as never before with a relative overall uncertainty ...

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PTB researchers determine the polarizability of neon with extreme accuracy - their procedure helps to revise theoretical models and is also of use for other elements

29-Jul-2010

Small or large, quiet or communicative - the fundamental characteristics of a person form his/her behaviour. In principle, it is the same with chemical elements. And the better the "profile" of an element is known, the better its behaviour can be understood and controlled in practical ...

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Investigators from Hanover and Braunschweig measure how the electronic properties of graphene can be controlled with purposefully used roughnesses

21-Apr-2010

At present, graphene probably is the most investigated new material system worldwide. Due to its astonishing mechanical, chemical and electronic properties, it promises manifold future applications – for example in microelectronics. The electrons in graphene are particularly movable and could, ...

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PTB scientists receive award for concept of comparability and traceability of water analyses

14-Dec-2009

Clean water is a matter of survival for humans, particularly when it is used for drinking, cooking and for food manufacture. Therefore, the EU member countries have in several guidelines undertaken to guarantee their citizens sustainable clean drinking water. The requirement for this is, however, ...

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