Atomic clock January 27th, 2016
Switzerland, or even Japan, will not be the birthplace of the world's first pocket watch with a built-in atomic time standard. The idea of their creation originated in the heart of the UK from the London-based brand Hoptroff
Atomic, or as they are also called "quantum clocks", is a device that measures time using natural vibrations associated with processes occurring at the level of atoms or molecules. Richard Hoptroff decided that it was time for modern gentlemen who are interested in high-tech devices to change their pocket mechanical watches to something more extravagant and extraordinary, and also in line with modern urban trends.
So, the audience was shown elegant in their own way. appearance Pocket atomic clock Hoptroff No. 10, which can surprise the modern generation, tempted by an abundance of gadgets, not only with its retro style and fantastic accuracy, but also with its service life. According to the developers, having this watch with you, you will be able to remain the most punctual person for at least 5 billion years.
What else can you find out about them interesting ...
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For all those who have never been interested in such watches, it is worth briefly describing the principle of their operation. Inside the "atomic device" there is nothing that resembles a classic mechanical watch. In Hoptroff no. 10 there are no mechanical parts as such. Instead, atomic pocket watches are equipped with a sealed chamber filled with a radioactive gaseous substance, the temperature of which is controlled by a special furnace. The exact timing is as follows: lasers excite atoms chemical element, which is a kind of "filler" of the clock, and the resonator captures and measures each atomic transition. Today, the basic element of such devices is cesium. If we recall the SI system of units, then in it the value of a second is connected with the number of periods of electromagnetic radiation during the transition of cesium-133 atoms from one energy level to another.
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If in smartphones the processor chip is considered the heart of the device, then in Hoptroff No. 10 this role is taken by the module-generator of the reference time. It is supplied by Symmetricom, and the chip itself was originally focused on use in the military industry - in unmanned aerial vehicles.
The CSAC atomic clock is equipped with a temperature-controlled thermostat containing a cesium vapor chamber. Under the influence of a laser on cesium-133 atoms, their transition from one energy state to another begins, for which a microwave resonator is used to measure it. Since 1967, the International System of Units (SI) has defined one second as 9,192,631,770 periods of electromagnetic radiation arising from the transition between two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium-133 atom. Based on this, it is difficult to imagine a more technically accurate watch based on cesium. In time, with recent advances in timekeeping, new optical clocks based on an aluminum ion pulsing at ultraviolet frequency (100,000 times the microwave frequencies of cesium clocks) will be hundreds of times more accurate than atomic timepieces. Speaking in plain language, Hoptroff's new No.10 pocket watch has an accuracy of 0.0015 seconds per year, 2.4 million times better than COSC standards.
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The functional side of the device is also on the verge of fantasy. With it, you can find out: time, date, day of the week, year, latitude and longitude in different values, pressure, humidity, sidereal hours and minutes, tide forecast and many other indicators. The watch comes in gold, and it is planned to use 3D printing to create its precious metal case.
Richard Hoptrof sincerely believes that this particular production option for his offspring is the most preferable. To slightly change the design component of the structure, it will not be necessary to rebuild at all production line, but to use the functional flexibility of a 3D printing device for this. True, it is worth noting that the shown prototype watch was made in the classical way.
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Time is very precious these days, and the pocket watch Hoptroff No. 10 is a direct confirmation of this. According to preliminary information, the first batch of nuclear devices will be 12 units, and as for the cost, the price for 1 copy will be $78,000.
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According to Richard Hoptroff, Managing Director of the brand, Hoptroff's London residence played a key role in the idea. “In our quartz movements, we use a high-precision oscillatory system with a GPS signal. But in the center of London it is not so easy to catch this very signal. Once, during a trip to the Greenwich Observatory, I saw a Hewlett Packard atomic clock there and decided to purchase something similar for myself via the Internet. And I couldn't. Instead, I came across information about a Symmetricon chip, and after three days of thinking, I realized that it would be perfect for a pocket watch.”
The chip in question is the SA.45s cesium atomic clock (CSAC), a first generation of miniature atomic clocks for GPS receivers, backpack radios and drones. Despite its modest dimensions (40 mm x 34.75 mm), in wrist watch it's still unlikely to fit. Therefore, Hoptroff decided to equip a rather solid pocket model (82 mm in diameter) with them.
In addition to being the most accurate watch in the world, Hoptroff No 10 (the brand's tenth movement) also claims to be the first gold case made using 3D printing technology. Hoptroff is not yet sure how much gold will be needed to make the case (work on the first prototype was completed when the issue went to press), but suggests that its cost will be "a minimum of several thousand pounds." And considering the whole volume scientific research required to develop the product (think of the harmonic tide function for 3,000 different ports), we can expect its final retail price to be around £50,000.
Gold case of model No. 10 at the exit from the 3D printer and in finished form
Buyers automatically become members of an exclusive club and will be required to sign a written commitment not to use the atomic clock chip as a weapon. “This is one of the terms of our contract with the supplier,” explains Mr. Hoptroff, “because the atomic chip was originally used in missile guidance systems.” Not much for being able to get a watch with impeccable accuracy.
Happy owners of No.10 by Hoptroff will get much more than just high accurate clock. The model also performs the function of a pocket navigation device that allows you to determine the longitude with an accuracy of one nautical mile even after many years at sea with a simple sextant. The model will receive two dials, but the design of one of them is still kept secret. The other is a whirlwind of counters displaying as many as 28 complications: from all possible chronometric functions and calendar indicators to a compass, thermometer, hygrometer (a device for measuring humidity levels), barometer, latitude and longitude counters and an indicator of high / low tide. And this is not to mention the vital indicators of the state of the atomic thermostat.
Hoptroff plans to launch a number of new products, including an electronic version of George Daniels' legendary complicated Space Traveler watch. They are currently being worked on to integrate Bluetooth technology into the watch to store the wearer's personal information and allow automatic adjustment of complications such as the moon phase display.
The first copies of No.10 will appear in next year, but for now the company is looking for suitable partners among retailers. “We could certainly try to sell it online, but this is a premium model, so you still need to hold it in your hands to appreciate it. This means that we will still have to use the services of retailers, and we are ready to start negotiations,” concludes Mr. Hoptroff.
And even The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -
Isidore Rabi, professor of physics at Columbia University, proposed a never-before-seen project: a clock that works on the principle of an atomic beam of magnetic resonance. This happened in 1945, and already in 1949 the National Bureau of Standards released the first working prototype. It read vibrations of the ammonia molecule. Cesium entered the business much later: the NBS-1 model appeared only in 1952.
The National Physical Laboratory in England created the first cesium beam clock in 1955. More than ten years later, during the General Conference on Weights and Measures, a more advanced clock was presented, also based on vibrations in the cesium atom. The NBS-4 model was used until 1990.
Watch types
On the this moment There are three types of atomic clocks that operate on roughly the same principle. Cesium clock, the most accurate, splits the cesium atom magnetic field. The simplest atomic clock, the rubidium clock, uses rubidium gas enclosed in a glass bulb. And, finally, hydrogen atomic clocks take as a reference point hydrogen atoms closed in a shell of special material- it does not allow atoms to quickly lose energy.
What time is it now
In 1999 National Institute US Standards and Technology (NIST) proposed an even more advanced version of the atomic clock. The NIST-F1 model has an error of only one second in twenty million years.
Most Accurate
But NIST physicists didn't stop there. The scientists decided to develop a new chronometer, this time based on strontium atoms. The new watch runs on 60% of the previous model, which means that it loses one second not in twenty million years, but in as much as five billion.
Time measurement
An international agreement has determined the only exact frequency for the resonance of a cesium particle. This is 9,192,631,770 hertz - dividing the output signal by this number gives exactly one cycle per second.
In the 21st century, satellite navigation is developing at a rapid pace. You can determine the position of any objects that are somehow connected with satellites, whether it be a mobile phone, a car or a spacecraft. But none of this could have been achieved without atomic clocks.
Also, these watches are used in various telecommunications, for example, in mobile communications.This is the most accurate watch that has ever been, is and will be. Without them, the Internet would not be synchronized, we would not know the distance to other planets and stars, etc.
In hours, 9,192,631,770 periods of electromagnetic radiation are taken per second, which occurred during the transition between two energy levels of the cesium-133 atom. Such clocks are called cesium clocks. But this is only one of three types of atomic clocks. There are also hydrogen and rubidium clocks. However, cesium clocks are used most often, so we will not dwell on other types.
How a cesium atomic clock works
The laser heats the atoms of the cesium isotope and at this time, the built-in resonator registers all the transitions of the atoms. And, as mentioned earlier, after reaching 9,192,631,770 transitions, one second is counted.
A laser built into the watch case heats the atoms of the cesium isotope. At this time, the resonator registers the number of transitions of atoms to a new energy level. When a certain frequency is reached, namely 9,192,631,770 transitions (Hz), then a second is counted, based on the international SI system.
Use in satellite navigation
The process of determining the exact location of an object using a satellite is very difficult. Several satellites are involved in this, namely more than 4 per receiver (for example, a GPS navigator in a car).
Each satellite has a high-precision atomic clock, a satellite radio transmitter and a digital code generator. The radio transmitter sends a digital code and information about the satellite to Earth, namely orbit parameters, model, etc.
The clock determines how long it takes for this code to reach the receiver. Thus, knowing the speed of propagation of radio waves, the distance to the receiver on Earth is calculated. But one satellite is not enough for this. Modern GPS receivers can receive signals from 12 satellites simultaneously, which allows you to determine the location of the object with an accuracy of 4 meters. By the way, it is worth noting that GPS navigators do not require a subscription fee.
A sensation has spread around the scientific world - time is evaporating from our Universe! So far, this is only a hypothesis of Spanish astrophysicists. But the fact that the flow of time on Earth and in space is different has already been proven by scientists. Time flows more slowly under the influence of gravity, accelerating as you move away from the planet. The task of synchronizing terrestrial and cosmic time is performed by hydrogen frequency standards, which are also called "atomic clocks".
First atomic time appeared along with the advent of astronautics, atomic clocks appeared in the mid-1920s. Now atomic clocks have become commonplace, each of us uses them every day: they work with digital communications, GLONAS, navigation, and transport.
Owners mobile phones hardly think about what hard work in space is carried out for tight time synchronization, but we are talking about only millionths of a second.
The standard of exact time is stored in the Moscow region, at the Scientific Institute of Physical-Technical and Radio-Technical Measurements. There are 450 such watches in the world.
Russia and the USA are the monopolists for atomic clocks, but in the USA the clocks work on the basis of cesium, a radioactive metal that is very harmful to the environment, and in Russia, on the basis of hydrogen, a safer durable material.
This watch does not have a dial and hands: it looks like a big barrel made of rare and valuable metals, filled with the most advanced technologies– high-precision measuring instruments and equipment with atomic standards. The process of their creation is very long, complex and takes place in conditions of absolute sterility.
For 4 years, the clock installed on the Russian satellite has been studying dark energy. By human standards, they lose accuracy by 1 second in many millions of years.
Very soon, an atomic clock will be installed on Spektr-M, a space observatory that will see how stars and exoplanets are formed, look over the edge black hole at the center of our galaxy. According to scientists, due to the monstrous gravity, time flows here so slowly that it almost stops.
tvroscosmos
Firstly, the clock uses humanity as a means of program-time control.
Secondly, today the measurement of time is also the most accurate type of measurement of all conducted: the accuracy of time measurement is now determined by an incredibly error of the order of 1 10-11%, or 1 s in 300 thousand years.
And modern people achieved such accuracy when they began to use atoms, which, as a result of their oscillations, are the regulator of the atomic clock. Cesium atoms are in the two energy states we need (+) and (-). Electromagnetic radiation with a frequency of 9,192,631,770 hertz is produced when atoms move from the state (+) to (-), creating a precise constant periodic process - the controller of the atomic clock code.
In order for atomic clocks to work accurately, cesium must be evaporated in a furnace, as a result of which its atoms are ejected. Behind the oven is a sorting magnet, which has throughput atoms in the (+) state, and in it, due to irradiation in a microwave field, the atoms go into the (-) state. The second magnet directs atoms that have changed state (+) to (-) to the receiving device. Many atoms that have changed their state are obtained only if the frequency of the microwave emitter coincides exactly with the frequency of vibrations of cesium 9 192 631 770 hertz. Otherwise, the number of atoms (-) in the receiver decreases.
Instruments constantly monitor and adjust the constancy of the frequency 9 192 631 770 hertz. So, the dream of watch designers came true, an absolutely constant periodic process was found: a frequency of 9,192,631,770 hertz, which regulates the course of atomic clocks.
Today, as a result of international agreement, the second is defined as the period of radiation multiplied by 9,192,631,770, corresponding to the transition between two hyperfine structural levels of the ground state of the cesium atom (cesium-133 isotope).
To measure the exact time, you can also use vibrations of other atoms and molecules, such as atoms of calcium, rubidium, cesium, strontium, hydrogen molecules, iodine, methane, etc. However, the radiation of the cesium atom is recognized as the frequency standard. In order to compare the vibrations of different atoms with a standard (cesium), a titanium-sapphire laser was created that generates a wide frequency range in the range from 400 to 1000 nm.
The first creator of quartz and atomic clocks was an English experimental physicist Essen Lewis (1908-1997). In 1955, he created the first atomic frequency (time) standard on a beam of cesium atoms. As a result of this work, 3 years later (1958) a time service emerged based on the atomic frequency standard.
In the USSR, Academician Nikolai Gennadievich Basov put forward his ideas for creating atomic clocks.
So, atomic clock, one of the exact types of clocks is a device for measuring time, where the natural oscillations of atoms or molecules are used as a pendulum. The stability of atomic clocks is the best among all existing types hours, which is a guarantee highest precision. The atomic clock generator produces more than 32,768 pulses per second, unlike conventional clocks. Oscillations of atoms do not depend on air temperature, vibrations, humidity and many other external factors.
AT modern world, when navigation is simply indispensable, atomic clocks have become indispensable assistants. They are able to locate spaceship, satellite, ballistic missile, aircraft, submarine, car automatically by satellite.
Thus, for the last 50 years, atomic clocks, or rather cesium clocks, have been considered the most accurate. They have long been used by timekeeping services, and time signals are also broadcast by some radio stations.
The atomic clock device includes 3 parts: 
quantum Discriminator,
quartz oscillator,
electronics complex.
A quartz oscillator generates a frequency (5 or 10 MHz). The oscillator is an RC radio generator, in which the piezoelectric modes of a quartz crystal are used as a resonant element, where the atoms that have changed the state (+) to (-) are compared. To increase stability, its frequency is constantly compared with the oscillations of a quantum discriminator (atoms or molecules) . When there is a difference in oscillations, the electronics adjusts the frequency of the quartz oscillator to zero, thereby increasing the stability and accuracy of the watch to the desired level.
In the modern world, atomic clocks can be made in any country of the world for use in Everyday life. They are very small in size and beautiful. The size of the latest novelty of atomic clocks is not more than matchbox and their low power consumption - less than 1 Watt. And this is not the limit, perhaps in the future technical progress reaches mobile phones. In the meantime, compact atomic clocks are installed only on strategic missiles to increase the accuracy of navigation many times over.
Today, men's and women's atomic watches for every taste and budget can be bought in online stores.
In 2011, the world's smallest atomic clock was created by Symmetricom and the Sandia National Laboratory. This watch, 100 times more compact than previous commercially available versions. The size of an atomic chronometer is no larger than a matchbox. It needs 100 mW of power to operate, which is 100 times less than its predecessors.
It was possible to reduce the size of the clock by installing instead of springs and gears a mechanism that operates on the principle of determining the frequency of electromagnetic waves emitted by cesium atoms under the influence of a laser beam of negligible power.
Such watches are used in navigation, as well as in the work of miners, divers, where it is necessary to accurately synchronize time with colleagues on the surface, as well as accurate time services, because the error of atomic clocks is less than 0.000001 fractions of a second per day. The cost of the record-breaking small Symmetricom atomic clock was about $1,500.
