Strontium Atomic Clock Won't Gain or Lose a Second for 15 Billion Years

A record-setting strontium atomic clock may actually be getting even more precise. The latest modification on the block has achieved precision and stability levels that mean the clock would neither gain nor lose one second in 15 billion years, which is roughly the age of the universe.

Precision time keeping has potential impacts on advanced communications, positioning technologies, and other technologies. The clock also has potential applications that go well beyond simply marking time, such as for experiments that explore quantum correlations between atoms.

The clock is now good enough to measure tiny changes in the passage of time and the force of gravity at slightly different heights. Einstein actually predicted these effects in his theories of relativity, which mean that clocks tick faster at higher elevations.

"Our performance means that we can measure the gravitational shift when you raise the clock just 2 centimeters on the Earth's surface," said Jun Ye, JILA/NIST fellow, in a news release. "I think we are getting really close to being useful for relativistic geodesy."

Relativistic geodesy is the concept of using a network of clocks as gravity sensors to make precise 3D measurements of the shape of the Earth. If the clock was just a bit more precise, it could be used to achieve more frequent geodetic updates that are possible with conventional technologies.

"The clock operates at normal room temperature," said Ye. "This is actually one of the strongest points of our approach, in that we can operate the clock in a simple and normal configuration while keeping the blackbody radiation shift uncertainty at a minimum."

The new updates to the clock are the next step forward for a more precise and better-working instrument. This could be huge in terms of future technologies for positioning and other applications.

The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.

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