

Atomic clock measures time on the basis of an atom's mass - ananyob
http://www.nature.com/news/the-time-about-a-quarter-past-a-kilogram-1.12191

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ars
Summary: Everything is both a particle and a wave. For larger particles the
frequency of the wave is very very high. (This is called the de Broglie
wavelength if you want to learn more about it.)

The clock attempts to measure this frequency and use it to track time.

As of right not the clock isn't as accurate as modern atomic clocks, but
because the item it measures - mass - is so fundamental and unchanging it
holds great potential.

Criticism: This clock does not appear to actually measure the de Broglie
wavelength directly. The oscillation frequency of the clock is much lower.

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emeraldd
This reminds of the Phase Locked Loop/VCO setup you find in synthesized
radio's but not. I wonder what impact the accuracy of their laser source has
on the accuracy of the clock ...

Anyone have a reasonably simplistic explanation of how the laser 'kicks' would
impact Compton cycles? I. E. what aspects of the laser affect Compton cycles?

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officialjunk
what about half-life decay? i guess if it's Cs133, then we don't have to worry
about that...

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ars
Cesium 133 is stable. Cesium only has one stable isotope - which is a very
good thing, because it means all the atoms have the same mass.

If it had multiple stable isotopes they would have to separate them, which
would make things more complicated.

