Quantum Physics Has Brought The Ability To See Into Atoms And Molecules : 13.7: Cosmos And Culture : NPR
In 2013, a team of Dutch physicists led by Aneta Stodolna was able to visualize the elusive wave function
of the electron in a hydrogen atom. Hydrogen, being the simplest
chemical element, has only a single electron orbiting a single proton in
the nucleus. The theory of quantum mechanics predicts that the electron
should occupy "orbitals," sort of spherical shells around the proton
where it can be found with a certain probability. The wave function is
the mathematical object we use to compute this probability of finding
the electron here or there when we measure its position.
As it turns out, the theory predicts that the orbitals
have a beautiful and convoluted onion-like structure with gaps in
between the shells, places where the electron can't be found. Stodolna's
images, using a technique called photoionization microscopy, were able
to construct a visual map of such orbitals that match the theory quite
accurately. No one doubted that quantum physics was right, but seeing is
believing, as they say.
Equally amazing, and at around the same time, a group of scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, visualized a chemical reaction
atom-by-atom, showing not only how the atoms rearranged after the
reaction but also the chemical bonds between them, the bridges that
connect them together, a bit like Erector sets.
The
visualization of such reactions allows scientists a much more hands-on
control of the dynamics of chemical reactions, something crucial in
applications where new molecules and materials are being designed.
