MIT researchers have created the most accurate atomic clock ever, writes Study Fins. The structure can go wrong by 0.1 second every 14 billion years, making it stand out even among very precise atomic clocks.

An atomic clock is a type of clock in which the number of vibrations of atoms is used to produce an exact frequency. The frequency is entered into a counter that shows seconds and large time units derived from it. Radio-controlled clocks used in everyday life are sometimes called atomic clocks, but these clocks themselves do not produce true timing, but rather receive signals produced by atomic clocks via radio waves. In this the designation is appropriate, if the reception is done daily, such clock represents the time of international atomic clocks, ie its accuracy is much better than other clocks.

MIT researchers hope they can use the clock to learn more about dark matter and even study the effect of gravity on time.

The new clock works on the principle of so-called quantum entanglement, which occurs when two different particles or two different groups of particles are inextricably linked. This phenomenon in quantum mechanics, when the spin or momentum of two particles are interconnected and the operation with one affects the other, also changes as a result of the operation.

MIT researchers have adopted this new method, observing a very rare element, ytterbium. Physicists say the use of atomic clocks as randomly moving atoms is as accurate as one-fifth. Since the universe’s existence so far, their atomic clock must have been mistaken for only 100 milliseconds.

Better and better atomic clocks can help answer the world’s biggest open questions and refine our current knowledge of many other things: the speed of light, time, and the universe itself.

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