Quantum effects demonstrated in the collision of hydrogen molecules with noble gas atoms

A research team of Freie Universität Berlin has shown how hydrogen molecules behave quantum mechanically when they collide with noble gas atoms such as helium or neon. In the study published in the journal "Science," the scientists used simulations to establish a direct link between measurements of atoms and molecules taken in experiments and theoretical models; the study includes both theoretical calculations and data from experiments conducted at the Technical University of Dortmund and the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel). In the process, the team was able to show that the collision changes the way the molecules vibrate and spin in space according to the laws of quantum mechanics. Research on quantum physics is becoming increasingly significant. The findings are applied to cell phones, televisions, satellites and medical diagnostics, among other things. The quantum effect now observed is a so-called Feshbach resonance. Here, a chemical bond is formed between the hydrogen molecule and the noble gas atom for a short time before the two colliding partners separate again," explains physicist Christiane Koch from Freie Universität Berlin.