{"data":{"id":2367,"lang":"en","title":"Physicists Catch Light's Hidden Sideways Push on a Single Atom","summary":"Physicists at PSI and ETH Zurich directly observed the optical Magnus effect for the first time, showing a focused laser interacts most strongly with an atom slightly off-beam-center — a finding with implications for quantum computer precision.","category":"science","category_label":"Science","published_at":"2026-09-13T22:01:32Z","updated_at":"2026-09-13T22:01:32Z","url":"https://techtools.cz/tools/news/article/2367-physicists-catch-light-s-hidden-sideways-push-on-a-single-atom","api_url":"https://techtools.cz/news-api/v1/articles/2367?lang=en","markdown_url":"https://techtools.cz/news-api/v1/articles/2367.md?lang=en","image_url":"https://www.sciencedaily.com/images/1920/ping-pong-ball-spin.webp","word_count":189,"reading_time_minutes":1,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260912220025.htm","domain":"sciencedaily.com"},{"url":"https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/kj5p-qqs5","domain":"journals.aps.org"}],"translation":{"lang":"cs","id":2440,"title":"Fyzici zachytili skrytý boční posun světla u jednoho atomu","url":"https://techtools.cz/tools/news/clanek/2440-fyzici-zachytili-skryty-bocni-posun-svetla-u-jednoho-atomu","api_url":"https://techtools.cz/news-api/v1/articles/2440?lang=cs"},"content":"Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute and ETH Zurich have experimentally confirmed the optical Magnus effect, a subtle quantum phenomenon where a tightly focused laser beam interacts most strongly with an atom slightly off-center from the beam itself — not dead-center as long assumed.\n\nThe team used a single calcium ion, held nearly motionless in an electromagnetic trap, as an ultra-sensitive probe. By nudging the ion through different points of a focused laser beam and measuring the interaction strength at each position, they detected a sideways shift of just hundreds of nanometers. The size of the shift depends only on the light's wavelength, not on how tightly the beam is focused, matching a theoretical prediction made years earlier by researchers at the University of Amsterdam.\n\nThe effect matters for quantum computing: lasers are widely used to control individual atoms as qubits with extreme precision, and this hidden displacement could be a source of unwanted errors, or decoherence. But the researchers say the same effect might instead be harnessed as a new tool for coupling qubits together. The work was published in Physical Review Letters, with Philip Leindecker as lead author."}}