evelina dmitry


Quantum Lattice
QUANTUM LATTICE | 2016 | installation

At the end of the last century, ion traps allowed physicists for the very first time to investigate the quantum nature of single isolated atoms. Thirty years later, the ion trap has become a crucial instrument for fundamental physics, chemical analysis, aerobiology, and quantum computation.

Instead of single atoms, in Quantum Lattice hollow glass microspheres are levitated to enable naked-eye observation of trapped particle dynamics. Between the four poles of a linear ion trap, charged microspheres form a cascading latticework characterised by two simultaneous kinetic regimes: micromotion occurring in phase with the electric field's oscillation period, outlining symmetric as well as asymmetric square-shaped orbits; and vertically oriented secular orbits, occurring on longer timescales in comparison to the oscillation period, and continuously pushing particles towards regions of weaker electric fields.

This artwork was commissioned by FEAT and supported by Creative Industries Fund and FACT.

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